tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post7897125094571188505..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: it was feared that the story was not true - Mark Twain tells the truthAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-60660476416214422592015-04-14T11:47:27.953-05:002015-04-14T11:47:27.953-05:00Yes, and I love that voice. In earlier comments (...Yes, and I <i>love</i> that voice. In earlier comments (and just above), I suggested that there ought to be a book about that voice, and then it occurred to me that I ought to write that book, which is nuts. But I would love doing the <i>reading</i> for that book.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-36985472041944986232015-04-14T11:16:32.315-05:002015-04-14T11:16:32.315-05:00There seems to me to be a sort of American Comic V...There seems to me to be a sort of American Comic Voice that you find in Twain and Barry and O'Rourke and even Hunter Thompson (and I might argue you also find it in swaths of W.S. Burroughs) that, you know, just doesn't send me. I've never become a Twain fan (or a "comic" writing fan) no matter how much I read. You make some good observations in these posts about Mr Twain; I'm just glad it's you and not me, brother.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-14674416631218998102015-04-12T18:09:11.398-05:002015-04-12T18:09:11.398-05:00It could make an interesting book, I was thinking....It could make an interesting book, I was thinking.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44307603979919208862015-04-12T18:01:56.754-05:002015-04-12T18:01:56.754-05:00not being one to quit a subject at the drop of a.....not being one to quit a subject at the drop of a..., i was considering humor as a form of problem solving; i'll be thinking about the ramifications of that for some time, probably, but i will refrain from bothering you with them. small blessings...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-14678052273374541602015-04-12T16:51:50.850-05:002015-04-12T16:51:50.850-05:00Too far, I don't know. Real comedians are wir...Too far, I don't know. Real comedians are wired differently. It is hard not to speculate a little about how and why.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-43061507741550498532015-04-12T16:19:03.251-05:002015-04-12T16:19:03.251-05:00maybe a stretch too far?: thurber suffered from b...maybe a stretch too far?: thurber suffered from bonnett's syndrome; hallucinations related to vision damage. is humor derived from damage of some sort? traumatic or physical? trying to correct or deal with something broken...?Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-58060340396721857182015-04-12T16:11:03.589-05:002015-04-12T16:11:03.589-05:00I see. A prof-bashing rhetorical move. Previous s...I see. A <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=uaPuYNV_qa0C&pg=PA1868&lpg=PA1868&dq=powers+twain+%22nearly+all+of+it+problematic%22&source=bl&ots=i_YGUJkqme&sig=35PkmmZM-C8TMHBedCkGZbULtZg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4dsqVfDIGc-JsQSH4IGgCg&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=powers%20twain%20%22nearly%20all%20of%20it%20problematic%22&f=false" rel="nofollow">prof-bashing rhetorical move</a>. Previous scholars are idiots - formulaic crusaders; I am the one who finally gets Twain right.<br /><br />I will be shocked if you find that Powers made any serious attempt to answer that question.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-1646575445985032262015-04-12T15:48:50.573-05:002015-04-12T15:48:50.573-05:00CORRECTION: omit "is" and change to &quo...CORRECTION: omit "is" and change to "it" before "unfinished." Mea culpa.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-20900232432315380552015-04-12T15:47:19.394-05:002015-04-12T15:47:19.394-05:00Here is the language from Powers (page 6): "W...Here is the language from Powers (page 6): "What is it about his writing--nearly all of it problematic, much of it mediocre, a healthy part of is unfinished, some of it simply awful--that continues to exercise the very scholars who expend so much energy trying to reduce him to their pet formulas and crusades?"R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-17562575451640768052015-04-12T15:41:27.171-05:002015-04-12T15:41:27.171-05:00Twain wrote so much, and much of it he wrote so fa...Twain wrote so much, and much of it he wrote so fast - there have to be some flubs somewhere.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-11996453980804931502015-04-12T15:38:31.672-05:002015-04-12T15:38:31.672-05:00Powers makes that general assessment in his openin...Powers makes that general assessment in his opening paragraphs without citing titles; when I get farther into the book he will I suppose be specific. So we shall have to wait.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-87179570428705167382015-04-12T15:34:12.965-05:002015-04-12T15:34:12.965-05:00The perspectives - that is a good way to look at t...The perspectives - that is a good way to look at things. The <i>voices</i> of comic writers are often so unique that they are impenetrable to analysis.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-87006039332314123522015-04-12T15:32:31.908-05:002015-04-12T15:32:31.908-05:00What does Powers say is really awful? I don't...What does Powers say is really awful? I don't want to read the awful stuff. I want to skip it.<br /><br />A fair amount of the tales and sketches, even as selected by the Library of America editor, is down at the level of ordinary. Not so far down as awful.<br /><br />I thought I was <a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-gilded-age-by-mark-twain-and-some.html" rel="nofollow">rough but fair</a> when describing <i>The Gilded Age</i>, the worst book of Twain's, or half-book, I have read.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-84333743320434857732015-04-12T15:31:06.170-05:002015-04-12T15:31:06.170-05:00i'm currently reading some james thurber. the...i'm currently reading some james thurber. there is some connection here with twain, i think. they both in different ways experiment with turning commonplace attitude(s) inside out. looking at words or reality from the bottom up as it were. it is difficult to pinpoint exactly the perspective from which this seems humorous, but i guess that's where the genius component comes in.Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-32829530383733155232015-04-12T10:16:29.923-05:002015-04-12T10:16:29.923-05:00Ron Powers argues in his biography that Twain'...Ron Powers argues in his biography that Twain's writing ranges from very good to really awful. You seem to have hit upon the good up to this point. As I am poised to read more Twain, I am both looking forward to and dreading the awful. It will put everything else by Twain in perspective. I hope you will excoriate Twain when he deserves it. (I'm still smiling about lye and liars.)R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.com