tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post7847336621406848172..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: One could hear only the [Amateur Reader's] voice, like the high-pitched gobble of a turkey, saying of everything: c'est charmant, c'est trés beau - a Maias miscellaneyAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-27255749205705918872013-12-01T22:39:49.667-06:002013-12-01T22:39:49.667-06:00I suppose Proust and Eça were responding to common...I suppose Proust and Eça were responding to common elements in French literature, especially in Flaubert. But I also think they shared a manner of thinking.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-20229348799896574022013-12-01T10:39:47.630-06:002013-12-01T10:39:47.630-06:00I am a fan of Proust which "Recherche" I...I am a fan of Proust which "Recherche" I have read many times.<br />I am reading de Queiros (Os Maias) for the first time and I am finding a strong analogy with Proust (irony on "le monde" and diluted plot).<br />So I'm very glad to find in this post the same comparison ...Sergio Baldellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14895701664855290571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-33972581497975950292011-10-05T19:54:01.398-05:002011-10-05T19:54:01.398-05:00I had missed that post of yours. Thanks for the l...I had missed that post of yours. Thanks for the link.<br /><br />When I say bulk, I do not just mean the length of <i>F&J</i>, but the bulk of his production. At least 25 books have been translated (I think not in terms of "in print" but "in a good university library"). And then I ponder his 46 volume (!) series of historical novels on 19th century Spain.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-60169988394758102662011-10-05T16:36:17.981-05:002011-10-05T16:36:17.981-05:00The most difficult challenge regarding Perez Galdo...The most difficult challenge regarding Perez Galdos (I haven't yet figured out how to do accents on my iPad) is getting hold of English translations. Even his most famous novel, Fortunata and Jacinta, keeps going in and out of print.<br /><br />His novels aren't all long. Fortunate and Jacinta is, admittedly, a hefty tome, but Misericordia and Nazarin, two of his later novels, are both quite short, and are both excellent. See here: http://argumentativeoldgit.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/nazarin-by-benito-perez-galdos/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-15047112450556872332011-10-03T19:34:28.024-05:002011-10-03T19:34:28.024-05:00Re: Amaro, that sounds reasonable.
Re: Pérez Gald...Re: <i>Amaro</i>, that sounds reasonable.<br /><br />Re: Pérez Galdós and Clarin, I have been thinking the same thing! Maybe that'll be the next challenge. Except the sheer bulk of Pérez Galdós is a challenge all its own.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-5391909739444217262011-10-03T17:06:47.304-05:002011-10-03T17:06:47.304-05:00Tom, I'll try to read Crime/Amaro in the secon...Tom, I'll try to read <em>Crime/Amaro</em> in the second half of October to sync up with you and Litlove a little bit. Curiously, your Eça posts have been making me not only want to read his stuff but also those giant novels of his Spanish next door neighbors (like <em>Fortunata y Jacinta</em> and <em>La regenta</em>).Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-23786032994479136192011-10-01T10:47:34.543-05:002011-10-01T10:47:34.543-05:00Good, same for me. Although who knows, perhaps Pa...Good, same for me. Although who knows, perhaps <i>Padre Amaro</i> is completely different.<br /><br />I dropped an entire word in the original post. The Grand Passion character has to embody "Romantic clichés" not "Romantic [blank space]". Geez.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-68561663311798414702011-10-01T05:13:04.448-05:002011-10-01T05:13:04.448-05:00Oh good.The Crime of Father Amaro arrived through ...Oh good.The Crime of Father Amaro arrived through my door a mere five minutes ago. I am looking forward to it, as your enthusiasm for The Maias has been a great warm-up act.litlovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10952927245186474480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-92221153748572090962011-09-30T13:53:39.896-05:002011-09-30T13:53:39.896-05:00So someone completed the Memoir of an Atom, someon...So someone completed the <i>Memoir of an Atom</i>, someone actually qualified to write about atoms. Excellent.<br /><br />The horserace chapter was so good that I looked up when <i>Anna Karenina</i> was translated into French. 1885 or so - EdeQ could have seen it, but his work is almost certainly independent of Tolstoy. <br /><br />I was oh so tempted to devote a day to Reverend Boniface, among the greatest cats of literary history.<br /><br />I agree about the foot operation - it would foul the tone of <i>The Maias</i>. We'll see if there is anything like it elsewhere in EdeQ's books.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-58604584142473946642011-09-30T13:26:34.809-05:002011-09-30T13:26:34.809-05:00"...a less bitter-tasting Flaubert..." ..."...a less bitter-tasting Flaubert..." One thing that I get from "The Maias" is a palpable sort of joy in its writing. EdQ is witty in a way that Flaubert isn't, the latter's humor infused with a few potent drops of cynicism and disgust (I can't imagine EdQ ever writing a scene like the botched foot operation in "Madame Bovary"). "Bemusement" is a word I might use to describe EdQ's narrative tone; that's not a word I'd use to describe Flaubert's. Sometimes there are details in EdQ that seem put there just for the delight in putting them there. I've started calling my own idle, obese old cat "Reverend Boniface" (pp. 7-8).seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-12256390230066154502011-09-30T13:22:09.858-05:002011-09-30T13:22:09.858-05:00The horserace chapter remains probably my favorite...The horserace chapter remains probably my favorite of the book...as you say, everything is encapsulated there.<br /><br />A sidenote--the last story in Primo Levi's <i>The Periodic Table</i> traces the life of a carbon atom that works its way into Levi's brain. I realize Levi may have never even heard of <i>The Maias</i>, but thought you would get a kick out of the reference.Dwighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688525659034403580noreply@blogger.com