tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post7854829582286544442..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Oscar Wilde's Collected Letters - reading lots of WildeAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-6642008052756458832016-10-08T10:12:14.878-05:002016-10-08T10:12:14.878-05:00All right, better than I would have thought. Inte...All right, better than I would have thought. Interesting.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-85769114273864181812016-10-08T09:28:48.490-05:002016-10-08T09:28:48.490-05:00"Le Secret de Villon" is a sorry end to ..."Le Secret de Villon" is a sorry end to a brilliant career. I'm now reading "L'homme approximatif," a long poem which may be his best.<br /><br />Well, those early Wilde plays aren't dull, exactly, just cornball. "Vera" is a pretty good first play. It's short and punchy, has some juicy roles, and he keeps the conflict and plot twists coming. But a melodrama about the plight of the Russian people probably isn't the best use of Wilde's talents.<br /><br />"The Duchess of Padua" is a Jacobean revenge tragedy, which isn't the best vehicle for him either. His verse is musical enough, but it's still heavy on the hambone.<br /><br />One of the problems with both plays is that the heroes spout platitudinous speeches about love and democracy, while the villains get all the epigrams. Wilde soon fixed that.<br /><br />So, they're certainly not unreadable, just immature. It's still fun to watch Wilde at work.Doug Skinnerhttp://www.dougskinner.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-27257931397503484452016-10-07T19:24:09.915-05:002016-10-07T19:24:09.915-05:00You're right, thank you. The puppet imagery i...You're right, thank you. The puppet imagery is wonderful.<br /><br />No mention of the poem in the surviving letters.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-24100851222575195132016-10-07T19:09:14.733-05:002016-10-07T19:09:14.733-05:00Wilde wrote one great poem: The harlot's house...Wilde wrote one great poem: The harlot's house.<br /><br />I think that you will like it. Mark Justinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11919863351315361449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-64828317172464507602016-10-07T13:29:50.131-05:002016-10-07T13:29:50.131-05:00The Tzara is wilder than I knew. A perfect exampl...The Tzara is wilder than I knew. A perfect example of the "unreadable." I fear that the Wilde plays will be merely readable but dull. Please let me know.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-88194252236586168362016-10-07T13:02:57.588-05:002016-10-07T13:02:57.588-05:00Oh, the Lindsay is kind of a mess. There are a few...Oh, the Lindsay is kind of a mess. There are a few flashes of his usual gusto, but it's confused and directionless.<br /><br />"Le Secret de Villon" is sad, 500 pages of Tzara finding anagrams in Villon and Rabelais. He became like one of the more misguided Baconians, finding hidden messages in Shakespeare. The book was rejected when he wrote it, and not published until 1991.<br /><br />But I'm going to crack open those Wilde plays...Doug Skinnerhttp://www.dougskinner.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-74498721363503894422016-10-07T09:59:19.250-05:002016-10-07T09:59:19.250-05:00I think I agree with that opinion.I think I agree with that opinion.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-48346024060568243432016-10-07T09:25:42.563-05:002016-10-07T09:25:42.563-05:00You can never have too much Wilde, in my opinion! ...You can never have too much Wilde, in my opinion! :)<br /><br />kaggsysbookishramblingsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-80468455193353260182016-10-07T09:10:30.164-05:002016-10-07T09:10:30.164-05:00Yes, "unreadable" is more of a metaphor ...Yes, "unreadable" is more of a metaphor than an accurate description. But it is a useful genre description. I am impressed you got through Lindsay, and tempted by the Tzara. I just read the "Manifestos," but those are almost too readable.<br /><br />I had already - well I guess that was a year ago - forgotten that <i>Vera</i> is prose. It is about Russian revolutionaries. Maybe it is readable but merely a bad idea. Contemporary America reviews: "long-drawn dramatic rot," "unreal, long-winded and wearisome" (Letters, p. 215). In other words, who knows? I don't trust <i>those</i> guys.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-38879832506175661262016-10-07T08:59:32.329-05:002016-10-07T08:59:32.329-05:00Unreadable plays, you say? You just threw that out...Unreadable plays, you say? You just threw that out as a challenge to your readers, didn't you? Well, I have them here, and now you've made me curious. I just read a couple of books that were pretty rough going (Vachel Lindsay's only novel, "The Golden Book of Springfield," and Tristan Tzara's final descent into looniness, "Le Secret de Villon"), so I'm prepared. And is one of those plays "Vera"? That one's in prose... Doug Skinnerhttp://www.dougskinner.netnoreply@blogger.com