tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post2604099889476093502..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: rather too fond of superfine discriminations - James says what kind of writer he isAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-28874133168719748742015-03-26T08:24:36.843-05:002015-03-26T08:24:36.843-05:00"don't seem clear to me" - as much a..."don't seem clear to me" - as much as any writer, James seems to have made that his art: a refusal to be clear. Ambiguity as the highest artistic value.<br /><br />Dan - thanks for the note on <i>Watch and Ward</i>. As I suspected. <br /><br />mel, I see you are up to <a href="http://rereadinglives.blogspot.com/2015/03/reconciled-by-honore-de-balzac-1835.html" rel="nofollow">Balzac #52</a> - very good. Balzac is the transcendent hack writer - hasty, sloppy, formulaic, and then the opposite, often in the same story. Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-25619022276882986222015-03-26T08:13:47.666-05:002015-03-26T08:13:47.666-05:00Forgiven, always forgiven. We are all Yahoos.Forgiven, always forgiven. We are all Yahoos.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-4325645773060357482015-03-26T07:30:08.470-05:002015-03-26T07:30:08.470-05:00By coincidence the next Balzac work I read will be...By coincidence the next Balzac work I read will be "The Unknown Masterpiece", I like your description of Balzac as a great hack writer, even his most formula works have great things in them. Mel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-20375743082079083412015-03-26T07:14:41.732-05:002015-03-26T07:14:41.732-05:00Alas, I should not read and write when taking cert...Alas, I should not read and write when taking certain meds. Forgive my incoherent nonsense. I had meant to Swift but became a Yahoo. Sorry. No more comments coming from sick bay.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-71874138285254229982015-03-25T23:38:00.089-05:002015-03-25T23:38:00.089-05:00I am fairly certain that no one has ever claimed t...I am fairly certain that no one has ever claimed that the 1871 novel (<em>Watch and Ward</em>) is a masterpiece. It's bizarre and mildly entertaining, but to say the plot – a middle-aged bachelor decides, as a lark, to adopt a twelve-year-old girl & later to marry her – has not aged well is an understatement. James was right to exclude it from the New York Edition.Dan Viselhttp://withhiddennoise.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-25719888427538557302015-03-25T23:28:50.337-05:002015-03-25T23:28:50.337-05:00These Jamesian matters don't seem so clear to ...These Jamesian matters don't seem so clear to me, and even less easy to clarify. Nonetheless, we work in the dark, we do what we can, we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.Cleanthesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15363416290397892659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-75888461029613022582015-03-25T22:52:18.410-05:002015-03-25T22:52:18.410-05:00I think "The Middle Years" (1893) is ano...I think "The Middle Years" (1893) is another example, one more specifically about art. I am semi-remembering stories I read 25 years ago.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-10988880224707461072015-03-25T21:39:59.770-05:002015-03-25T21:39:59.770-05:00Yes, I thought "The Beast in the Jungle"...Yes, I thought "The Beast in the Jungle" had a similar theme--of waiting for something and eventually realizing or fearing that one had missed it. In fact, the "Beast" came to mind before the Ambassadors.<br /><br />Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-12838799299698858432015-03-25T21:21:37.633-05:002015-03-25T21:21:37.633-05:00Not a heresy, merely an error. True in a trivial ...Not a heresy, merely an error. True in a trivial sense. How these theoretical statements about aesthetics are anti-theory or anti-aesthetics is a mystery,<br /><br /><i>The Ambassadors</i> is 30 years later. Impressive to carry the theme around for so long. I know it from some "tales" from the same period - "The Beast in the Jungle," right? I haven't read it for a long time.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-15604541834474820002015-03-25T17:16:29.771-05:002015-03-25T17:16:29.771-05:00"I waited and waited to be worthier to begin,..."I waited and waited to be worthier to begin, and wasted my life in preparation."<br /><br />This turns out to be the theme of <i>The Ambassadors</i>, too. You should really read that one.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-7266033555972848922015-03-25T17:07:30.123-05:002015-03-25T17:07:30.123-05:00I will commit a heresy here by saying that what ma...I will commit a heresy here by saying that what makes a story "good" can be largely attributed to reader-response. Objective standards put aside, the subjective standards often carry the day. And the "better" the reader, then the "better" the "good" assessment. How is that for being anti-theory and anti-aesthetics. Yeah, I'm in that kind of mood today. R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.com