tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post7084890401000704848..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: they may have it even in criticizing - Matthew Arnold flatters meAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-3153395170116941822014-04-16T16:08:40.397-05:002014-04-16T16:08:40.397-05:00Yes! I say with confidence! As if I knew Trilling ...Yes! I say with confidence! As if I knew Trilling so well. But he did assemble <i>The Portable Matthew Arnold</i> and wrote about Arnold frequently.<br /><br />I barely got to the book bloggers today, but I finally did. It is all very flattering, of course. Book bloggers are wonderful, we all know that.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-10047239635700830052014-04-16T10:06:42.389-05:002014-04-16T10:06:42.389-05:00I think Lionel Trilling may have been influenced b...I think Lionel Trilling may have been influenced by Arnold too. It is fascinating how far Arnold's criticism has reached through time. I do appreciate his assertion that criticism and reading are creative acts in their own right. His idea of disinterestedness would definitely make it hard going for book bloggers. Looking forward to your thoughts on that!Stefaniehttp://somanybooksblog.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-82049687985564369352014-04-15T23:05:40.685-05:002014-04-15T23:05:40.685-05:00Auerbach is quite difficult, full of real insights...Auerbach is quite difficult, full of real insights, but hard. I, too, have only read parts of <i>Memesis</i>. <br /><br />Johnson is magnificent. We have discussed the Ford book before - eccentric, but also kind of thrilling. Great critics are not necessarily great because they are <i>right</i>. They are often wildly wrong.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-3138242405203997262014-04-15T22:31:28.404-05:002014-04-15T22:31:28.404-05:00Samuel Johnson remains my reading life hero. I re...Samuel Johnson remains my reading life hero. I recently read parts of Erich Auerbach's Memesis. Not easy for me to read but very illuminating. The introduction to the 50th anniversary by Edward Said places it in the tradition of German romanticism. I also a while ago read Ford Madox Ford's March of Literature. I look forward to learning what Arnold would loath about book bloggers. Mel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-50317085800964883912014-04-15T21:24:31.350-05:002014-04-15T21:24:31.350-05:00How I would love to attend a real Chikamatsu perfo...How I would love to attend a real Chikamatsu performance. The kabuki theater in Tokyo had headphones with English explanations. That would be helpful.<br /><br />I'll mention here, for the benefit of wandering strangers, not humblehappiness, who knows this, that I was simplifying when I said Dryden only wrote about Restoration plays. He also wrote about earlier plays, poetry, epics. He wrote with a clarity of prose and thought that makes me gnash my teeth with envy, or would, if I were sure what it meant to gnash one's teeth. He is one of the finest critics in English.<br /><br />Séamus, I cannot over-emphasize how valuable reading criticism of all sorts has been to me. If nothing else, there are some critics - as Arnold suggests, maybe not a lot, but plenty - who are superb writers, whatever they might be writing about or however cracked their ideas. Now I am thinking of Ruskin.<br /><br />I believe that many scholars and critics could tell you about the point where they discovered to their surprise that they did not just love literature, but loved reading <i>about</i> literature, and thus their fates were sealed.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-13322654969736414562014-04-15T18:47:37.064-05:002014-04-15T18:47:37.064-05:00You raise an interesting point, Dryden remains a g...You raise an interesting point, Dryden remains a great critic despite the subject of his criticism. A similar point could be made about Chikamatsu who was arguably the equal of Shakespeare despite writing his plays for the puppet theater! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-8533710246003776392014-04-15T18:18:24.364-05:002014-04-15T18:18:24.364-05:00I am regularly tempted to buy (and do buy) books o...I am regularly tempted to buy (and do buy) books of criticism but it is years since I actually read one. I have some Arnold and much besides. It is one of the many areas in my reading that I must do better in. Especially having the temerity to 'publish' my own 'criticism' and expecting other people to read it. Perhaps it might inculcate some discipline into my own writing..Séamus Dugganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574186409184247059noreply@blogger.com