tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post3495553928668924482..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: That's the general panoramic view.Amateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-39715082471641583992012-02-16T13:19:29.552-06:002012-02-16T13:19:29.552-06:00I am afraid I remember TR the other way, that the ...I am afraid I remember <i>TR</i> the other way, that the joke is that unlike Emma Bovary, Thérèse is immune to books. but I likely misremember.<br /><br />I definitely take that novel as a comedy. Or at least I cannot take it seriously. Not the same thing, I guess.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53660640647237909832012-02-16T12:22:42.775-06:002012-02-16T12:22:42.775-06:00Well, right. And each time through, the sense of t...Well, right. And each time through, the sense of the book (whatever that is) is a little different; re-reading is so different from reading. This is the third time I've read Therese Raquin and I'm finding it quite funny, this go-round. All in the details, as you say.<br /><br />By the way, did you catch that Therese spoils herself with reading? Perfectly good brutish instincts, all gone by the wayside. Ho, ho.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251983804060081813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-32829794137391023722012-02-15T20:24:29.824-06:002012-02-15T20:24:29.824-06:00That's fair enough. The swimming metaphor is ...That's fair enough. The swimming metaphor is growing on me, too.<br /><br />Careful, though - you're going to encourage people's bad moonshine habits.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-55342244634409024542012-02-15T16:44:15.112-06:002012-02-15T16:44:15.112-06:00Even Proust's little patch of yellow is part o...Even Proust's little patch of yellow is part of a larger gestalt, no matter how lovingly he lingers over it. It seems to me that the same thing holds true for words, sentences and passages. A delicious Dickens passage lifted from Copperfield and shoehorned into Moby Dick is no longer the same little patch of yellow. <br /><br />Kinterpolationshttp://interpolations.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-51696715454799506802012-02-15T16:09:11.911-06:002012-02-15T16:09:11.911-06:00Nabokov's words are addressed to his literatur...Nabokov's words are addressed to his literature class. A certain breed of undergraduate wants to leap to the generalization, and may have even been trained to do so. He wants to know the "sense of the book" whatever that is and seems to skip over much of what is actually <i>in</i> the book.<br /><br />Other teachers try to slow that kid down. Flaubert is perfect for the exercise. <i>Un coeur simple</i> is especially perfect.<br /><br />Jenny, I am with you - these big late Dickens novels are so impressive. It amazes me that they were once in relative disrepute as being too dark.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-61684386243255854232012-02-15T13:32:37.471-06:002012-02-15T13:32:37.471-06:00I'm currently teaching 19thc. French lit. and ...I'm currently teaching 19thc. French lit. and we've just been through Un coeur simple (with the parrot) and Therese Raquin (with the dim and dingy shops full of musty and unpleasant knickknackery.) Squawk, indeed. It's all joined up in my head now.<br /><br />OMF is my favorite of Dickens's novels (of those I've read) after Bleak House. This passage is one good reason why.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251983804060081813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-11530337463115456702012-02-15T08:59:14.896-06:002012-02-15T08:59:14.896-06:00The thoughtful blank comment is the perfect respon...The thoughtful blank comment is the perfect response to the blank post. Someday, someday.<br /><br />Insist away, but "swimming in the wholeness" is a metaphor I do not understand. Reading the words that are actually in front of me turns out to be difficult enough.<br /><br />Also, reading one <i>passage</i> from this novel and then one <i>passage</i> from that often is exactly how I read.<br /><br />I am <a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2011/05/taste-that-loves-ornament-however-bad.html" rel="nofollow">parroting VN</a> here:<br /><br />"In reading, one should notice and fondle details. There is nothing wrong about the moonshine of generalization when it comes after the sunny trifles of the book have been lovingly collected." (Vladimir Nabokov, “Good Readers and Good Writers,” Lectures on Literature)<br /><br />Squawk!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-6100186283880449872012-02-14T23:13:55.094-06:002012-02-14T23:13:55.094-06:00I almost left a blank comment, hoping insanely you...I almost left a blank comment, hoping insanely you'd get its meaning. Instead, I'll offer a lame comment followed by one meaningful word. You can read into the wide open spaces of that one word and decipher my thought perfectly. But first the lame comment. I insist you read words, sentences and passages of whole novels. Yes, I insist. You don't read one word from this or that novel, then one sentence from this or that novel and so on. You're swimming in the wholeness of this or that novel. Yes? Yes. I insist. But what's the value of a lame comment when a single word that may or may not even be a word suffices. <br /><br />Rumi.<br /><br />Or roomy. <br /><br />Or even rheumy. <br /><br />Wait, no, Rumi. Yes that's the word. <br /><br />The "u" is very inviting.<br /><br />Best,<br />Kevininterpolationshttp://interpolations.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-5225810404887255332012-02-14T22:53:54.921-06:002012-02-14T22:53:54.921-06:00I mean, just look at this chapter in the bone-shop...I mean, just look at this chapter in the bone-shop. "The mouldy ones a-top," "Skulls, warious." We have here a candidate for <a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2010/06/were-discoverers-who-have-only-vague.html" rel="nofollow">the eighth madman</a>.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-22450303925107334342012-02-14T22:15:03.464-06:002012-02-14T22:15:03.464-06:00Ha! I thought I was showing restraint by not tack...Ha! I thought I was showing restraint by not tacking on a comment along the lines of "and the Victorian novel in general," but you picked up on my flippant aesthetic brain-waves anyway. Will now tune in extra-eagerly for tomorrow's post and will happily daydream for a good long time about a future post titled "Victorian Novels for Readers of Roberto Arlt." That might even be catchier than "The Argentinean Literature of Doom" for crying out loud! Ah, what happy thoughts are floating in the ether tonight...Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-61596685183260991322012-02-14T21:21:16.149-06:002012-02-14T21:21:16.149-06:00So, Richard, the thing about Dickens, the thing sp...So, Richard, the thing about Dickens, the thing specifically for you is - no, you know, this is what I will write about for tomorrow.<br /><br />For someone like you, with <i>entirely justified</i> suspicions of the civilizational achievement that is the Victorian novel, Dickens is exactly the writer for you. Dickens novels are full of <i>completely crazy stuff</i>.<br /><br />That would be fun, to make a list of Victorian novels for readers of Roberto Arlt.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-31037281370639145032012-02-14T18:43:44.804-06:002012-02-14T18:43:44.804-06:00I have yet to catch the Dickens bug, but that migh...I have yet to catch the Dickens bug, but that might have something to do with the fact that I am about 13.5 Dickens works behind you. On a positive note, I might double my "Dickens completed" stats if I finally read <em>Great Expectations</em> this year. In the meantime, like Stefanie, I look forward to watching you in your pursuit of the perfect blog post grail.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-17207544358576095912012-02-14T10:14:58.902-06:002012-02-14T10:14:58.902-06:00That perfect blog post will be a time saver for my...That perfect blog post will be a time saver for my readers, won't it?Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-38400959153269259712012-02-14T10:01:14.504-06:002012-02-14T10:01:14.504-06:00Love the frog detail! And I must say your first pa...Love the frog detail! And I must say your first paragraph made me chuckle. I do so look forward to your reading and writing achievement that brings you to the perfect blog post :)Stefaniehttp://somanybooksblog.comnoreply@blogger.com