humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

On Feb 25, 10:24 pm, mq.at...@voila.fr wrote:

(quote, excerpts)


(quote, excerpts)


Sun, Mar 09, 2008


A couple of days ago I mentioned that I seemed to be in a phase of
aversion to long narrative. It seems that if the narrative is good
enough I can still hack it...

Friday evening and yesterday I blew through the first two novels in
Elizabeth Bear's Promethean Age series, Blood and Iron and Whiskey and
Water. They are excellent stories and the prose is lovely.

These are stories containing modern wizards, old secret societies,
swans, werewolves, one and every dragon, a variety of the Devil, and
Faerie (and its inhabitants) out of the old tales and legends from
before Tolkien gave elves souls and Disney, Inc. whitewashed and
neutered most of what was left.

These stories, like some of their Fae, have sharp pointy teeth: I was
reminded a little of Njal's Saga or Poul Anderson in some of his
grimmer modes.

They are very 21st century narratives in their post-Copenhagen view of
the complexity of truth, and also in the way that the characters are
aware of the narrative structures in which they are immersed and try
to work with or against the patterns.

It is important that one of the most magically powerful of the human
characters teaches Geology 102 at a University and travels to Faerie
and back at will, and another teaches English Literature at a College,
and uses stone lions at the NYPL as oracles. It is not a world of
simplistic either/or reality.

What the stories are about is choices, free will and the lack of it,
consequences, the meaning of sacrifice, fate, hope, duty, betrayal,
payments, the nature of damnation, families, and the possibility of
redemption. There is also a lot of talk about love and loyalty, but
rather in the mode of "I do not think that word means what you think
it means."



One nice thing about coming late to this series is that I have only a
few months to wait for the next installment: Ink and Steel Part 1 of
The Stratford Man, which should be available at the beginning of July
(just in time for my birthday), to be followed by Part Two, Hell and
Earth, a month later.

Elizabethan poets and playwrights (especially Will Shakespeare and Kit
Marlowe) and Faerie (and possibly an occasional devil). Something to
look forward to.



http://www.data-raptors.com/global-cgi-bin/cgiwrap/emgrasso/blosxom.cgi/2008/03/09#promethean

> > ```````````````````
>
> > Only listening to country music radio (.977 music network, Windows
> > media player)
>
> > is keeping me sane today!
>
> > As well as everything else, the computer keeps going wrong...
>
> `````````
>
> Still is! - but the music's still nice...
>
> ```````````````````
>
> (quote, excerpts)
>
> While we were chatting, the girls reminded me of my invitation to the
> annual Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dinner at Covington Hall next week
> on February 27. Colonel Covington told me once, "Since one usually
> eats lunch and dinner every day, he might as well make something
> special of the time. I choose to remember special people and events as
> often as possible."
>
> Thanks to the Colonel, I remembered this year the February birthdays
> of Sidney Lanier (Southern poet), Mendelssohn (composer), Christopher Marlowe (English playwright), Charles Dickens (perhaps the greatest
> novelist in our language), Thomas More (official of England who chose
> death rather than compromise his principles), Charles Lamb (essayist),
> Thomas Edison (inventor), Handel (composer), Samuel Pepys (diarist),
> Caruso (tenor), Victor Hugo (French novelist), John Tenniel
> (illustrator of Alice books), and Rossini (composer).
>
> http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/articles/2008/02/23/neighbors/neighb...
>
> ```````````````````
>
>
>
> > > (quote, excerpts)
>
> > > 6. Kit Marlowe: the man, the play, everything! I have a historical/
> > > literary crush on playwright Christopher Marlowe. Like, big time.
> > > Especially in Adam Jonas Segaller form, as when I saw Kit Marlowe
> > > performed at the Rorschach Theatre (I adore that theatre, btw). I feel
> > > like he's one of those figures I'm gonna study for the rest of my
> > > life. :)
>
> > > (I've lost the blog address, will add it on when found)
>
> >http://typhon9.blogspot.com/2008/02/wow-good-hustle.html
>
> > ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
> > > > > (quote)
>
> > > > > I really want a T-shirt that reads Kit Marlowe Is My Co-Pilot.
>
> > > > >http://kphoebe.livejournal.com/663908.html
> > > > > ```````````````````
> > > > > > (quote, excerpts)
>
> > > > > > "That's why a resonant hall is so poignant -- the notes last a half-
> > > > > > second longer, giving the brief illusion of immortality."
>
> > > > > >http://orlandoshakes.org/CURRENT_SEASON/Opus.html
> > > > > > `````````
> > > ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >Marlowe is not in the best of moods.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > Why is hard to say. It could be a dead-end in his plot. It could be
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > going out into his England and being generally irritated by humanity
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > in general (although those two points don't have to go together). Or
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > it could just be that today,Marlowe is not in the best of moods.