tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post8744313998682882568..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Stop! - for thy tread is on an Empire's dust! - the best books of 1816Amateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-69302063430083688122016-12-14T13:11:25.329-06:002016-12-14T13:11:25.329-06:00Oh, I mean Boko Haram, ISIS - people who want to b...Oh, I mean Boko Haram, ISIS - people who want to blow it all up in the name of their religion. The Covenanters in Scott's novel are 17th century versions of that. Murderous.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-70315722533591149502016-12-14T13:01:46.325-06:002016-12-14T13:01:46.325-06:00Well, I guess it depends upon how you define relig...Well, I guess it depends upon how you define religious fanaticism in 2016, and it depends upon whom you define as religious fanatics in 2016. I am not being either obtuse or provocative. I am merely curious because different people understand religious fanaticism (zeal? excesses? enthusiasm? intolerances?) in different ways. For example, I understand Flannery O'Connor was a "religious fanatic" in a very positive way, but I understand judges at the Salem witch trials as "religious fanatics" in a very negative way. And then, of course, there is the current problem of ISIS and similar latter day zealots who appropriate religion for political purposes. Well, I'm simply curious about your POV since you say "religious fanaticism is a big problem today."RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-50871498884707869112016-12-14T12:50:39.150-06:002016-12-14T12:50:39.150-06:00Is it all that mysterious? Religious fanaticism i...Is it all that mysterious? Religious fanaticism is a big problem today, even if Scottish Presbyterians are not the source of the problem anymore. The Covenanters in Scott's novel are a useful historical case study.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-29799768126425231652016-12-14T12:46:50.731-06:002016-12-14T12:46:50.731-06:00You write: "Old Mortality is Scott’s best nov...You write: "Old Mortality is Scott’s best novel, I think, along with The Heart of Midlothian (1818). It is about religious fanaticism, a topic of continuing relevance. The stakes are higher than in Waverley, the world more dangerous." I wonder what you mean by the second sentence. Well, I have not read anything by Scott, so I guess I should remedy that oversight by reading what you call the best. Still, there is that second sentence. Hmmmmm.<br />RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-78976472886041826142016-12-14T11:41:11.497-06:002016-12-14T11:41:11.497-06:00I was in a museum this summer that put its Turner ...I was in a museum this summer that put its Turner in a room all by itself, because of this very issue, I assume.<br /><br />"Kubla Khan" is a poem for kids. It is a poem for everyone. The screwy preface is as important as the poem itself.<br /><br />I should read <i>Guy Mannering</i> some day, but yes, I believe you would enjoy <i>Waverley</i>, <i>Old Mortality</i> and <i>The Heart of Midlothian</i>, at least.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-47959491201923452572016-12-14T11:26:26.099-06:002016-12-14T11:26:26.099-06:00I've stood in front of that Constable painting...I've stood in front of that Constable painting, probably with my back to it because that room in the National Gallery is also home to six or seven gobsmacking Turners. A Turner in the room makes everything else fade.<br /><br />Really, what a remarkable year for the arts. I should see about reading another Scott one of these days.<br /><br />I read "Kubla Khan" when I was 12 or something, likely not understanding much of it but subsequently thinking of it as a poem for kids. scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-64332802617806655122016-12-14T08:58:02.572-06:002016-12-14T08:58:02.572-06:00Yes - and I forgot to mention "Christabel&quo...Yes - and I forgot to mention "Christabel" and "Kubla Khan," the great "new" <a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2016/10/huge-fragments-vaulted-like-rebounding.html" rel="nofollow">Coleridge poems</a>.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-48022597239236390172016-12-14T08:19:21.508-06:002016-12-14T08:19:21.508-06:00That really was a pretty good year.That really was a pretty good year.Rohan Maitzenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12111722115617352412noreply@blogger.com