tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post5150890965014466095..comments2024-03-17T05:07:13.710-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Books That Should Be Read More Than They Are, and Books That Should NotAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-35579106154170679772013-08-27T08:27:01.512-05:002013-08-27T08:27:01.512-05:00Galt is the one writer, in the entire history of t...Galt is the one writer, in the entire history of the blog, that I really tried to push on people. With what effect, you can guess. Oh well. Maybe I should try again.<br /><br />The Ayn Rand appropriation (likely a coincidence) does complicate internet searches for Galt.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-87771225959373527922013-08-27T06:55:50.991-05:002013-08-27T06:55:50.991-05:00For a moment I was afraid you were recommending At...For a moment I was afraid you were recommending Atlas Shrugged! I wonder if being a real person and being named John Galt makes your life more interesting, or less?LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-74791368151592702902011-02-02T23:30:39.732-06:002011-02-02T23:30:39.732-06:00I don't know what happened, but most of my pos...I don't know what happened, but most of my post has vanished. I'll just say that we diagree; the work of a few geniuses is what makes a language's literature.Rogernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-66556417529352894072011-02-02T10:12:51.069-06:002011-02-02T10:12:51.069-06:00We should stop here. You insist on some essential...We should stop here. You insist on some essential property of the French language, while I am deeply suspicious of essentializing theories. The work of a few geniuses is evidence of nothing. I can be convinced, but you really need to send me to someone who can lay out the argument.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-28248429477256895852011-02-02T08:57:51.244-06:002011-02-02T08:57:51.244-06:00Further back than Flaobert- Stendahl's style i...Further back than Flaobert- Stendahl's style is an obvious example and influence on later French novelists that had no English equivalent. I don't know if it's cultural, linguistic or the history of French literature and/or the novel, but I think there is a difference in the psychology of French and English novels- attitudes to the story and the characters- as a result of history and the way they use language. There are exceptions of course, but a French novelist is more detached from what he relates. <br />I think this applies more widely- compare French and English tragedies and comedies.Rogernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-22443536105239771732011-02-01T10:55:53.773-06:002011-02-01T10:55:53.773-06:00You've really shifted the argument. More Fren...You've really shifted the argument. More French writers use distancing techniques than English writers of similar status. I agree with that, absolutely. I don't agree that it has anything to do with the properties of the French language. It has a lot to do with the legacy of Gustave Flaubert.<br /><br />Beckett certainly switched to French to get more emotional distance - emotional distance from James Joyce!<br /><br />Richard, I was saving <i>Maldoror</i> for today's post.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-63706937971693501942011-02-01T09:41:14.552-06:002011-02-01T09:41:14.552-06:00I would think it a subjective feeling if French fr...I would think it a subjective feeling if French friends hadn't agreed. I don't know if it's a matter of the French language or the French novel, and- as you say- it doesn't apply to every French writer, but if you compare French novelists with novelists in English the latter are more emptionally involved with their characters and narrations, I think. For examples, it might be worth looking at why Beckett and Julien Green chose to write in French or examining Marguerite Yourcenaar's books in French with the translations into english that she supervised.Rogernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-40619678511352756992011-01-31T18:22:59.703-06:002011-01-31T18:22:59.703-06:00Looking forward to your Flaubert posts this week, ...Looking forward to your Flaubert posts this week, Amateur Reader, but am a little disappointed that you left <em>Maldoror</em> out of your first group's list. Tsk, tsk!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-84680047799435983612011-01-31T16:26:36.594-06:002011-01-31T16:26:36.594-06:00Vince, you're a step ahead of me - I barely kn...Vince, you're a step ahead of me - I barely know what Kantian idealism is. And I do not know a short way to explain what Carlyle is doing, running Kant through Goethe and dragging it into English.<br /><br />I do know two <a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2010/08/produce-produce-thomas-carlyle-and.html" rel="nofollow">longer</a> <a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2010/08/almost-total-want-of-arrangement-all.html" rel="nofollow">ways</a>.<br /><br />That second one is directly relevant to today's post. Meaning, I'm repeating myself.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-65914869883598850032011-01-31T15:57:32.417-06:002011-01-31T15:57:32.417-06:00Hi A R
Philosophically I know what Kantian Ideali...Hi A R<br /><br />Philosophically I know what Kantian Idealism is. It is an attempt to answer Hume’s skepticism. That is, we <b>can</b> have knowledge of the phenomenal world, the world of all possible experience, but we cannot have knowledge of the <i>noumenal</i> world, the world of the things-in-themselves. <br /><br />What I don’t know is how in the world this would translate into a literary genre or subgenre. Is there a short way to explain what such literature would be like?<br /><br />VinceVincehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12707773426729777989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-9576449332816051222011-01-31T15:48:38.614-06:002011-01-31T15:48:38.614-06:00Have the native French speakers said this in a pla...Have the native French speakers said this in a place I can read about it, so I can figure out what it means? The undefined single words are no help.<br /><br />They - you - can't mean all French prose? Surely it's a matter of voice, of style, and literary voices will vary enormously, in all languages. Emotional detachment is not really something I'm getting from Victor Hugo. But I suspect I am misunderstanding the concept.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-76731782343931160632011-01-31T15:30:10.491-06:002011-01-31T15:30:10.491-06:00Objectivity- or froideur- if you prefer: an emotio...Objectivity- or <i>froideur</i>- if you prefer: an emotional detachment that is natural to French prose and not to English. <br />It isn't just my own feeling, but native French-speakers I know say the same thing.Rogernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-48778798982045201212011-01-31T14:40:17.141-06:002011-01-31T14:40:17.141-06:00The Carthage craze was real - led by the Empress h...The Carthage craze was real - led by the Empress herself. I assume it's the French period you're interested in, not 3rd century BC Carthage?<br /><br />You tried to read it but what? But what? C'mon, spill! I mean, I have a good guess, but your experience can aid others.<br /><br />It's all guesswork, Colleen. Maybe I should have included scientistic percentages, just made up. "The read of <i>Tevye</i> who does not skim will have a 68% chance of loving the book, a 22% chance of liking it, and a 10% chance of indifference or worse. For the reader who skims, the percentages are 14%, 20%, and 66%." <br /><br />One key to success is not to recommend good books to boring readers.<br /><br />Whenever I get to Soseki, that'll be the one I read. No way it's gonna be my favorite novel, though.<br /><br />Roger - English. If detachment is the goal, the old Chartres version does just fine. If it were any more detached, I'd have to get out the Elmer's (or the duct tape - does this joke work at all? never mind).<br /><br />It's a Flaubert novel: translation is a nightmare.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-86558477749237698532011-01-31T13:54:53.638-06:002011-01-31T13:54:53.638-06:00Are you reading Salammbo in French or English? I t...Are you reading Salammbo in French or English? I think it's a book where the language does make a big difference; Les Bienveillantes is another recent example. Books written in French can have a detachment which is difficult, if not impossible, in English.Rogernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-87701990674432168852011-01-31T13:34:14.775-06:002011-01-31T13:34:14.775-06:00I've just reserved *Tevye the Dairyman* at the...I've just reserved *Tevye the Dairyman* at the library. "So funny, so sad" coming from you was more than enough to convince me. <br /><br />I don't think I'm sufficiently distanced from my own feelings about books to determine whether or not they're for everyone or quite the opposite. E.g., I really don't understand why Soseki Natsume's I Am a Cat isn't everyone's favourite novel; but it isn't, and I'm the resented subject of many people who blame me for getting them excited to read a "boring" book.Bookphiliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05155882653615842141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-9190218813503388802011-01-31T11:20:30.178-06:002011-01-31T11:20:30.178-06:00Very useful categories! I actually have a copy of ...Very useful categories! I actually have a copy of Salammbo because I like the time period and read that it influenced the French aristocracy to start having Carthage parties! I tried to read it, but... I'll be interested to see what you make of it. I'd like to finally read Sentimental Education this year too.Carolynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11538459607519844826noreply@blogger.com