tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post411672485419914779..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Only a man can be that inconsiderate. - Arthur Schnitzler's 1893 eternal sitcomAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-40583404438264335832013-01-23T12:48:46.469-06:002013-01-23T12:48:46.469-06:00A Beggar's Opera read-along? Yeah, that would...A <i>Beggar's Opera</i> read-along? Yeah, that would be fun. Remind me several months from now.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-89725687013637463122013-01-23T11:55:13.296-06:002013-01-23T11:55:13.296-06:00I would love to do a Beggar's Opera read-along...I would love to do a <i>Beggar's Opera</i> read-along. That stands out as a highlight from an 18th century directed study I did two decades ago, and it's high time to revisit it. In the meantime, I'll look up "Trivia," which sounds delightful. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-10361831178672068672013-01-22T23:44:37.242-06:002013-01-22T23:44:37.242-06:00I have just read the play. The narrator of Henry ...I have just read the play. The narrator of <i>Henry Esmond</i> identifies his acquaintance Gay as "the author of<br />'Trivia,' the most charming kind soul that ever laughed at a joke or cracked a bottle."Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-37885620881044625382013-01-22T16:02:30.077-06:002013-01-22T16:02:30.077-06:00John Gay is a hidden treasure. I particularly enj...John Gay is a hidden treasure. I particularly enjoyed his "Trivia," a poem on London sidewalk etiquette, but the fables are delightful as well.<br /><br />Gay was good friends with Swift and Pope; "The Beggar's Opera" is more fun when read as a companion piece to "Gulliver's Travels" and "The Dunciad."Doug Skinnerhttp://www.dougskinner.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-2354332138620249332013-01-22T14:33:49.996-06:002013-01-22T14:33:49.996-06:00You can see the path to La Ronde here, which is ne...You can see the path to <i>La Ronde</i> here, which is neato. In <i>Anatol</i> just the women rotate, so rotating the men is the logical next step.<br /><br />I have just been listening to an Ella Fitzgerald concert recording of "Mack the Knife" where she does not know the words so just makes up lyrics about how the song was a big hit for Darin and Armstrong.<br /><br />It occurs to me that it would be fun to revisit <i>The Beggar's Opera</i> and those other crazy 18th century comedies some time.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-2642376891750473112013-01-22T13:37:01.107-06:002013-01-22T13:37:01.107-06:00Though the only Schnitzler I've read is La Ron...Though the only Schnitzler I've read is <i>La Ronde</i>, I love the notion of his work as sit-com (it's easy enough to imagine <i>La Ronde</i> as a lengthy Seinfeld episode). <br /><br />My favorite devolution from the original, so far, still has to be Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill's "Ballad of Mac the Knife" from <i>The Three-Penny Opera</i> undergoing the alchemical process by Bobby Darin then ending up as "Mac Tonight" in a McDonald's commercial. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-40498827678780132512013-01-22T09:13:48.633-06:002013-01-22T09:13:48.633-06:00The original in this case is a lot older than Arth...The original in this case is a lot older than Arthur Schnitzler. Homer and <i>Genesis</i>, perhaps. <br /><br />A sign you are reading a great work is that you can recapture its strangeness. Typically, it is really the <i>style</i> that is original and inimitable, not the easily transportable content.<br /><br />Shakespeare's plays, in their content, are often themselves imitations of earlier works. Yet they are also, mostly, of the highest originality.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-69749039605991658422013-01-22T04:48:17.474-06:002013-01-22T04:48:17.474-06:00Tom - You raise an interesting question about orig...Tom - You raise an interesting question about originality. Ofttimes a classic and groundbreaking work may seem mundane and unoriginal only because it has been imitated so many times. I find this true with everything from classic literature such as Shakespeare to classic television shows. <br /><br />I agree that there is much value in experiencing the original.Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.com