tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post7592901434246101705..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: ’I require gossip worthy of me’ - some last La Regenta notes, symbolic in some mysterious way, voluptuous evenAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-50436122932974104862016-08-07T16:21:11.587-05:002016-08-07T16:21:11.587-05:00Probably worth looking at the TV version just to s...Probably worth looking at the TV version just to see the clothes.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-26003921423772389502016-08-07T09:33:44.295-05:002016-08-07T09:33:44.295-05:00The TV series I saw was quite good, avoiding much ...The TV series I saw was quite good, avoiding much of the possible path you mention it easily could have taken. I don't know if it is still available online (without subtitles), but if so it's definitely worth spending a few minutes with to get a feel for it.Dwighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688525659034403580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-69127417446072353632016-08-02T10:16:02.310-05:002016-08-02T10:16:02.310-05:00Translating Pepita Jiménez is a long way from negl...Translating <i>Pepita Jiménez</i> is a long way from neglecting Spanish literature!<br /><br />I must prefer that long novels be prolix, if you are using that word the way I think you are. Take two novels of the same length - meaning the same number of words. The non-prolix one is the chronicle - this happened, then this, then this, then this, on and on forever. In the prolix novel, the thing that happens is that the author does some <i>writing</i>. Twenty pages in which a boy can't fall asleep.<br /><br />The priest in <i>La Regenta</i> is quite a bit like Slope - the priest is like what Slope would have become if his plans had succeeded.<br /><br />The Second Epilogue must be the most skippable part of any major novel. "Cetology" and the relevant parts of Victor Hugo novels would follow, distantly.<br /><br />This topic could make an amusing, and also irritating, list.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-1919494113824664032016-08-02T08:11:57.066-05:002016-08-02T08:11:57.066-05:00I haven't read La Regenta, but what you say ab...I haven't read <i>La Regenta</i>, but what you say about the priest reminds me of Obadiah Slope, the oily chaplain and power broker in Trollope's <i>Barchester Towers</i>.<br /><br />Also, <i>War and Peace</i> is the classic example of the Great Novel that sure could use some editing. (I am thinking in particular of the dreaded Second Epilogue.)Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-41994051962831286702016-08-02T03:46:25.342-05:002016-08-02T03:46:25.342-05:00No, I haven't read F & J. I've neglect...No, I haven't read F & J. I've neglected Spanish lit. Did do my own translation of Pepita Jiménez in my gap year to pass the time - another portrait of a cleric struggling with carnal urges. I don't mind long novels if they're not prolix. Some parts of La R I had to skim. Shocking confession. Simonhttp://tredynasdays.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-82984412456970126372016-07-30T13:26:19.606-05:002016-07-30T13:26:19.606-05:00Now there is a definition of the classic: a book f...Now there is a definition of the classic: a book for which "it could use some editing" is a moot point. Or: a book where the reader has to do his own editing. <br /><br />Have you read <i>Fortunata and Jacinta</i>, by any chance, also a monster? My guess is you would feel the same way. What were the Spanish writers trying to do with these gigantic comedies of manner?Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-75424759395025875602016-07-30T12:59:42.076-05:002016-07-30T12:59:42.076-05:00There have been TV and film versions and, weirdly,...There have been TV and film versions and, weirdly, a musical. Just posted my final piece. At first I didn't thank you for this choice, but I've come to admire La Regenta - mostly. But it does go on a bit...Some judicious editing would have surely improved it.Simonhttp://tredynasdays.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-85152540409275462842016-07-30T08:36:36.646-05:002016-07-30T08:36:36.646-05:00Yes, the sumptuousness of the priestly clothes, on...Yes, the sumptuousness of the priestly clothes, one more indictment of the Church by Alas.<br /><br />A TV version of this story could easily look like <i>The Thornbirds</i> if the director were not careful.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-79398141009975264942016-07-30T04:40:53.909-05:002016-07-30T04:40:53.909-05:00I enjoyed the scene with the swing when De Pas hum...I enjoyed the scene with the swing when De Pas humiliated Alvaro by freeing the trapped Obdulia (who relishes the opportunity it gives to flash her legs and underwear - her brazenness is often used to counterpoint Ana's demureness (is there such a word?); Alvaro wasn't strong enough, and hated being shown up by DP's superior strength. Interesting point about his physical strength: it's part of his unclerical masculinity, isn't it - there are lots of passages where DP longs to rid himself of his cassock or clerical robes (about which a great deal of descriptive detail is given and repeated: 'a lordly mozetta and under it a crimped white rochet which followed the lines of his strong yet graceful body...' p. 30, a picture of DP preaching in the pulpit.Simonhttp://tredynasdays.co.uknoreply@blogger.com