tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post1970799789265017337..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: the game resumed its usual course - Pushkin's ghostsAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-61619102360578740272014-10-21T14:52:16.622-05:002014-10-21T14:52:16.622-05:00Diderot, I would never have guessed, but I have no...Diderot, I would never have guessed, but I have not read that one. That's great. Thanks for the pointer.<br /><br />Clayton's reading is mine, too. Of course there is a secret. But it's not a magic spell.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-43849240888812457842014-10-21T14:44:54.807-05:002014-10-21T14:44:54.807-05:00There's an intertextual link in “The Queen of ...There's an intertextual link in “The Queen of Spades” that goes well with your point that the ghost story is a comic genre. <a href="http://www.pushkiniana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=200:clayton-articles1213&catid=133&Itemid=256" rel="nofollow">J. Douglas Clayton says</a> that “The Queen of Spades” is full of “striking echoes” of Diderot's <i>Les Bijoux indiscrets</i>, “a satirical novel, a racy mixture of the libertine tales of Crébillon and Swiftian satire. In it a certain African sultan by the name of Mangogul acquires a magic ring, which, when pointed at a woman, causes her genitalia, her ‘jewel,’ to speak. Though set in a fantastic African world, the description of Mangogul and his consort Mirzoza was to contemporaries a transparent caricature of Louis XV and his favorite Mme. de Pompadour. The work is thus a hilarious but biting portrait of the French court and the manners and morals of French society, for each time a ‘bijou’ speaks, it reveals alarming secrets about its mistress’s adventures and misdemeanors in the bedroom.”<br /><br />I think Clayton's reading is that the countess used sex to pay her gambling debts in Paris, and this, not the three cards, is her secret. Hermann is like a woman out of Diderot: he cares more about gambling than sex, and is willing to use the latter to help with the former.Erik M.http://xixvek.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-84977364227588114082014-09-21T15:04:29.965-05:002014-09-21T15:04:29.965-05:00Yes, the perfect place to start.Yes, the <i>perfect</i> place to start.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-63127284261825733802014-09-21T10:39:58.742-05:002014-09-21T10:39:58.742-05:00I have not read Pushkin. This might be a good pla...I have not read Pushkin. This might be a good place to start. I saw Tchaikovsky's opera version a few years ago and loved it. But, I love all Russian composers. I should look for the book.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-7738686914362474792014-09-17T19:56:16.189-05:002014-09-17T19:56:16.189-05:00Ah, really! No, I believe it, that is completely ...Ah, really! No, I believe it, that is completely believable. A fine choice.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-56909095587441484182014-09-17T19:29:18.002-05:002014-09-17T19:29:18.002-05:00According to Estela Canto's memoirs (the woman...According to Estela Canto's memoirs (the woman who got away from Borges), Pique Dame was Borges' favorite Russian work of fiction, bar none.Cleanthesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15363416290397892659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-34278372120319483232014-09-17T18:59:31.829-05:002014-09-17T18:59:31.829-05:00I was a bit skeptical about seeing the film but it...I was a bit skeptical about seeing the film but it's really well done. At one point it was on youtube in segments. I don't know if it's still there or not. Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-75976433633231454732014-09-17T17:01:49.233-05:002014-09-17T17:01:49.233-05:00There is definitely a - what do I want to say - li...There is definitely a - what do I want to say - limit on what Pushkin can do stylistically. He is deliberately stripping away a lot of 18th century plushness, and tightening up the German form. There are not a lot of individually great sentences. <br /><br />Having said that, the structure is ingenious and surprising, there is a symbolic undercurrent that is pretty amusing - look out for Napoleon references - and the grotesque scenes with the countess are fine stuff. I guess I hardly wrote about any of this.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-57851445086332744322014-09-17T16:35:47.373-05:002014-09-17T16:35:47.373-05:00Now I have to re-read "The Queen of Spades&qu...Now I have to re-read "The Queen of Spades" because I don't remember it being that interesting or good. Or maybe it just went over my head and I missed its nuances.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-11049388437567381912014-09-17T15:08:11.115-05:002014-09-17T15:08:11.115-05:00Oh right. I've never seen that movie, or ever...Oh right. I've never seen that movie, or ever seen a copy of that movie. That would be interesting.<br /><br />I think there are typos in many lines, but luckily I can correct the one you saw - thanks!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-40391444091780170312014-09-17T14:53:09.101-05:002014-09-17T14:53:09.101-05:00There's a soviet film version worth catching:
...There's a soviet film version worth catching:<br />http://phoenixcinema.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/the-queen-of-spades-1982/<br /><br />PS (I think there's a typo in the first line)Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-45788831732041691312014-09-17T08:09:34.420-05:002014-09-17T08:09:34.420-05:00No, I don't have that version. I see it is a ...No, I don't have that version. I see it is a kind of "Greatest Hits" album, which is a good idea.<br /><br />It has extracts from Pushkin's plays, very good. Those are certainly worth reading in their entirety - just great. And of course <i>Eugene Onegin</i>. Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-64592064994122216522014-09-17T04:42:05.250-05:002014-09-17T04:42:05.250-05:00Loved this story :) Do you have the Pushkin Press...Loved this story :) Do you have the Pushkin Press version with the poems and other stories?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07546287562521628467noreply@blogger.com