Comments for bibliographing

Comment on “The South” by Jorge Luis Borges by Julia

Julia — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:37:17 +0000

Actually he didn’t gash his head open on an open window… it was on a door that was left open with a sharp edge…. sooo yeah, i’d fix that if I were you.

Comment on Bring on the drama by Mitch Heimbigner

Mitch Heimbigner — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:05:03 +0000

lovely discussion on great post, I’m happy that you’ve become more ‘poetry’ :D

Comment on The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy by Mo

Mo — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 07:30:33 +0000

You say the work is a failure, but you don’t mention anything about whether or not it was moving. The Kreutzer sonata is a powerful work. It is not an essay. It should not be judged as one. No attempt is made to sugar-coat the narrator’s insanity, his views are not presented as logical. They are personal, felt, psychologically true to the character. There are people today and then who murdered their wives due to jealousy, this is a study of one such.
Tolstoy was an honest writer, when he espouses views that he knows are grotesque, he will show them as they are. Pozdnyshev is pitiful, eccentric, coarse, pathetic. It is true that Tolstoy felt as the narrator did. That is how he makes him so convincing. That does not mean Tolstoy wasn’t challenging his own feelings and ideas even as he challenged society’s. I believe there is a moral at the end, and it is about the destructive power of the ego. I do not think it was a failure as art, I do not think it was against women. I see it as being against materialism and sensuality for its own sake.

Comment on Bring on the drama by Lauren Michelle

Lauren Michelle — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:13:30 +0000

I guilt myself over not reading “better works” all the time, but I have gotten more into reading classic literature in the last few years, probably thanks to college. I think I became a little snootified during my matriculation. :) I’m okay with that, though. I don’t like to judge people based on what they choose to read, but any time I read something like, say, 50 Shades of Grey, I say I’m reading it out of academic curiosity. And, honestly, that was why I decided to read it, at least in part. I like reading controversial books and looking at them critically. It’s just my English major’s eye. I think the important part to focus on when choosing new books to read is intention. I also tell myself that I will never read all the books I want to read in life, but that I WILL read all the books I’m meant to. That trust brings me solace.

Comment on Bring on the drama by Amateur Reader (Tom)

Amateur Reader (Tom) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 02:30:13 +0000

Bartholomew Fair was a shock. It is unlike any other play Jonson wrote, unlike anything any of his contemporaries wrote. Five acts of energy and life spilled onto the stage. Thrilling.

Comment on Bring on the drama by Colleen

Colleen — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:22:07 +0000

Everything Tom says!! Yes, yes. Absolutely do not skip either ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore or The Knight of the Burning Pestle.

Some more obscure options that are wonderful too: Bussy D’Ambois by George Chapman (a gory, bloody tragedy!); A Woman Killed with Kindness by Thomas Heywood; Women Beware Women by Thomas Middleton; Christ don’t forget the Ben Jonson comedies (esp. Bartholomew Fair!!). I’d better stop now, before I frighten you. :)

Comment on Bring on the drama by Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:10:46 +0000

For what it's worth, the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, stages many of the plays Tom mentioned, and they regularly send their productions out on nationwide tours. I don't know if Chicago is a regular stop for them, but keep an eye out. (Their Knight of the Burning Pestle is a hoot!)

Comment on Bring on the drama by nicole

nicole — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:10:07 +0000

Sweeeeeeet.

Comment on Bring on the drama by Amateur Reader (Tom)

Amateur Reader (Tom) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:09:11 +0000

Oh yes yes. I will restrain myself, and just mention the essential John Webster (The Duchess of Malfi, The White Devil), whose plays are crazy and The Atheist's Tragedy and The Revenger's Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur (or maybe Middleton wrote the latter), which is crazy, and you can cap the run with John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, which is completely insane, the exhausted and decadent end of a tradition. I have a strong taste for revenge tragedies, that is a fact. Any of these would make for good readalong opportunities, I casually mention for no reason. I could recommend some plays that are not revenge tragedies, too. Beaumont and Fletcher's The Knight of the Burning Pestle is full of surprises.

Comment on Alphabetical Africa by Walter Abish by nicole

nicole — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:04:03 +0000

Tom, no, I missed that! Great post.

I was somewhat like you. There was something about this one for me where I thought Abish did very well at the experiment, made an interesting novel of the whole thing, but in the end it was still so formal for me, as a reader, that I didn’t ever feel like I was inside it in any way.