tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post3602801715576605914..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: The disillusioned ethos of The Gallery - And what was this war really about?Amateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-23616518067629626052021-07-08T09:16:17.920-05:002021-07-08T09:16:17.920-05:00Right, Malaparte. I'll bet The Skin makes an ...Right, Malaparte. I'll bet <i>The Skin</i> makes an interesting counterpoint to <i>The Gallery</i>. <br /><br />The anti-Puritan who turns out to be more Puritan than the Puritans is a common American phenomenon. Malaparte cannot be surprised or disappointed that humans are a species of animal. Burns is, or acts like, he is surprised.<br /><br />Whatever Burns is, though, he is not a homophobe. Interesting, as I said, counterpoint.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-59948608415504085122021-07-08T06:42:09.552-05:002021-07-08T06:42:09.552-05:00Malaparte cheerfully admitted he made stuff up, bu...Malaparte cheerfully admitted he made stuff up, but that's not the ethical problem with the book -- the <a href="http://languagehat.com/roturier/" rel="nofollow">virulent homophobia</a> is. Still, he's always enjoyable reading (I recently finished <i>The Kremlin Ball</i> and liked it despite the blatant repetitions -- he died without finishing and polishing it).Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-64714017343192710882021-07-08T04:46:32.052-05:002021-07-08T04:46:32.052-05:00I read Curzio Malaparte's The Skin recently, w...I read Curzio Malaparte's The Skin recently, which is also about the American "liberation" of Naples and the Italian idealisation of the American GI. From what I remember, the Italians are less bothered with the purchasing of sex with cigarettes business. It also has a variety of interesting ethical issues - not least whether the book is reportage (as it's made to seem), or just fiction - something even Malaparte seems to want you to question.obookihttps://obooki.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-73747232873625562772021-07-07T19:10:19.002-05:002021-07-07T19:10:19.002-05:00Whichever logic you are referring to, it is strang...Whichever logic you are referring to, it is strange. If it is the logic of the narrator of Burns's book, it is the expression of a strong sensibility, at least.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-69365970222376939852021-07-07T18:42:04.522-05:002021-07-07T18:42:04.522-05:00Huh. That sounds like some very strange logic to ...Huh. That sounds like some very strange logic to me. Jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14247515387599954817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-55152118986300799812021-07-03T00:19:47.389-05:002021-07-03T00:19:47.389-05:00These days every time I don't buy a book I fee...These days every time I don't buy a book I feel virtuous. But maybe I'll have to have another look at it the next time I'm there. reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818057262934008241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-73547708611744177242021-07-02T22:46:01.873-05:002021-07-02T22:46:01.873-05:00I also bought an outstanding handmade bird feeder ...I also bought an outstanding handmade bird feeder at that Mennonite relief sale, but the birds and squirrels and prairie winters eventually destroyed it.<br /><br />If I were to do another post on <i>The Gallery</i>, which I am not, it would be on the positive side, about the way the narrator falls in love with the Italians, and Naples, even if some of his comparative reasons are dubious. One of the best stories is from the perspective of an Italian woman making her way through chaos.<br /><br />So I don't know. Maybe don't resist! It depends.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-45486433325265545502021-07-02T16:40:25.054-05:002021-07-02T16:40:25.054-05:00Interesting. The book was, and probably still is, ...Interesting. The book was, and probably still is, sitting over at my local remaindered book store. I looked at it a couple of times, but resisted. (Very rare.) Sounds like it might have been the right choice.<br /><br />And I wouldn't have had the benefit of a great origin story, like a Moravian quilt shop.reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818057262934008241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-41408020160268218222021-07-02T10:19:06.872-05:002021-07-02T10:19:06.872-05:00The software, aargh, the software. At least my ne...The software, aargh, the software. At least my new email nonsense seems to be working more or less.<br /><br />I take the ethics as part of a description of a book. But in most books, even pretty good ones, the ethical issues are not interesting enough to mention. They are, you know, the usual thing.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-86003379365506944512021-07-02T09:58:46.262-05:002021-07-02T09:58:46.262-05:00Checking to see if I can use my Google account...Checking to see if I can use my Google account...Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-45609796134803851122021-07-02T09:56:19.499-05:002021-07-02T09:56:19.499-05:00You're the last person I would have expected t...You're the last person I would have expected to complain about ethical issues in a novel. But yes, parts of the book are quite bad, and had I been in a different mood that might have bothered me more. (Your software seems to have forgotten who I am and it nixed my previous attempt, so I'm commenting with a different sign-in. I hope it works.)languagehathttp://languagehat.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-67141562719798350662021-07-02T09:46:43.459-05:002021-07-02T09:46:43.459-05:00Maybe, although I think the ethical issues are pre...Maybe, although I think the ethical issues are pretty serious. And parts of the book are quite bad, which in a sense means not my thing, but with some aesthetic justification behind it. The last story quickly dissolves in sentiment. "Louella" is too contemptuous of its Red Cross nurse character (the other story with a female protagonist is good). Mixed, anyways. But the pre-disillusioned, solipsistic narrator is the most curious specimen.<br /><br />I typically adjust my mood to the book pretty well, and the mood of this book is sour.<br /><br />I don't remember you writing about the book at all. Was I on vacation or something? So thanks for the link.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-91257991664273900862021-07-02T07:16:37.946-05:002021-07-02T07:16:37.946-05:00I think you were maybe not in the mood for the boo...I think you were maybe not in the mood for the book, or maybe it just isn't your thing. I liked it a lot, myself, though of course it's no masterpiece, but then how could I resist a book that has <a href="http://languagehat.com/italian-chewed-to-shreds/" rel="nofollow">a bravura passage about the Neapolitan dialect</a>?Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.com