tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post8722794630114279348..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: “I sometimes think in effect you’re incapable of anything straightforward.” - The Awkward Age is difficultAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-52898374644142181352017-01-25T15:37:20.863-06:002017-01-25T15:37:20.863-06:00That's funny - for some reason I have gotten m...That's funny - for some reason I have gotten more warnings about <i>The Golden Bowl</i>. I assume that whole set can be rough going. <br /><br />Leafing through <i>Wings</i>, though, with its long paragraphs and long sentences, it is startling to find entire chapters with no dialogue at all. Is this the same Henry James that wrote <i>The Awkward Age</i> just three years earlier?<br /><br />Technically impressive.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53990149499745318572017-01-25T14:54:52.435-06:002017-01-25T14:54:52.435-06:00I am enjoying your conversation very much and have...I am enjoying your conversation very much and have to admit that I have not (yet) read "The Awkward Age." I have much more frequently heard readers call "The Wings of the Dove" the ultimate test of loyalty to James. He's certainly a "trickster" in "Turn of the Screw." sunt_lacrimae_rerumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05659053841051896981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-30312778491619824102017-01-25T10:39:17.716-06:002017-01-25T10:39:17.716-06:00I understand. My confusion about having an "a...I understand. My confusion about having an "approach to literature" comes out of my state of mind in recent months; I am more confused, my memory wobbles, and my senile Swiss-cheese brain undermines any stable "approach" to anything. Once upon a time, I think (hope) I was more sensible, articulate, and intelligent when I spoke and wrote about literature. Now I am wobbly and unhinged. Getting old really sucks!RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-82288028889248854022017-01-25T10:34:39.362-06:002017-01-25T10:34:39.362-06:00Everybody has an approach. If a book blog does no...Everybody has an approach. If a book blog does nothing else, it makes the writer's approach to reading clear enough. That's why I read so many of them, to learn through all those different approaches.<br /><br />I mean, is the critic more interested in beauty or meaning? Ironic or sincere? Tendency to re-read, or always reaching for something new? Big, basic differences. All of them good ways to read.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-52599028851292220872017-01-25T10:25:12.822-06:002017-01-25T10:25:12.822-06:00Postscript: Today, if I were to admit to an "...Postscript: Today, if I were to admit to an "approach to literature," I would sum it up in these words:<br /><br />Somerset Maugham said, "To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life."<br /><br />Yep! A refuge! Why not?<br /><br />You, I sense, are a much more serious and committed reader of literature (and have much more confidence in your reading-and-critical abilities than I have). I am at this stage of my reading life little more than a bewildered pilgrim in search of refuge.RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-24449458289605973582017-01-25T10:20:18.272-06:002017-01-25T10:20:18.272-06:00What? Really? You think that I have an "appro...What? Really? You think that I have an "approach to literature"? <br /><br />Well, I will take a look at "the perfect example" of James-the-trickster via "The Figure in the Carpet." Thank you for the diverting Rx.RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53401340044790733632017-01-25T10:14:11.479-06:002017-01-25T10:14:11.479-06:00Defense! There is no attack here. Just desperate...Defense! There is no attack here. Just desperate attempts at description. "Disembowelled" gets at the disembodied nature of the characters that comes from the dialogue-heavy form. "Gibbering" is a rhetorical strategy. This is an unusual novel.<br /><br />I do not have a "hands down" favorite work by James. (I realized I did not really know what "hands down" meant - from horse racing, no kidding). I like James-the-trickster a lot, and "The Figure in the Carpet" is the perfect example of that side of James. It seems entirely antithetical to your approach to literature, but maybe that would make the diversion more diverting.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-73732159961150491102017-01-25T09:37:10.999-06:002017-01-25T09:37:10.999-06:00Yes, "disemboweled gibbering," even thou...Yes, "disemboweled gibbering," even though it does not make much sense, is a great bit of critical annihilation; in this case Wilson reminds me of Harold Bloom's savagery. <br /><br />I don't know enough about James to enter the dispute, but I hope others will visit and come to his defense. That should be fun.<br /><br />BTW, what is your hands-down favorite by James? I could use a good late 19th / early 20th century diversion via James.RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.com