Now, bear in mind, I like Joseph Epstein and elberry doesn't. (Actually, I think his criticism of Epstein re George Steiner has some merit and I would love to see Epstein's response.) But the sheer passion of elberry's rage at Epstein impresses me. Literature isn't an idle pastime for elberry. It's as vital as breathing. I think that is why he so appreciates the grand style: because it is a style that throbs with life. It isn't just a five-finger word exercise done for commercial gain. Read The Better Maker and you'll know what I mean.
I bought The Better Maker but haven't yet read it. Should it queue-jump in my reading pile, do you think?
ReplyDeleteGosh, thank you, sir.
ReplyDeletei do actually like everything else of Epstein's that i've come across and i suspect would like him just fine in person. i'm quite a Fred Astaire fan, as it happens.
I think, my dear Crox, that you would find it an interesting way to spend a weekend.
ReplyDeleteI've recently been re-reading parts of Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings." If you like the grand style, that's certainly a grand example of it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment removed by author before she made it.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Kudos, elberry, on the book which, I hear, lives up to its advance billing. I'm waiting for the bovie (or revievie copy, whichever comes fastest).
i'm going to make a 10 minute youtube movie of the novel, using my mobile phone's video function. Most people would say 'now Elberry, calm down, you can't compress a 190-page novel into 10 minutes'. But i say nay, i say it is possible. Here's the outline:
ReplyDeleteIntro: Elberry in his room, looks at camera and says 'holy fuck my life is a mess'.
Elberry walks street looking gloomy. Small children point at him and jeer.
Elberry at PC, we don't see screen but he suddenly says 'holy fuck my life is a mess. Once it wasn't, though.'
Flashback:
Elberry reading a book to indicate he was once a student. He puts down book and says, 'holy fuck my life is a mess, i need a woman'
Elberry walking street looking morose. Dogs bark at him.
Shot of a woman in the distance who Elberry appears to be chasing. Off screen we hear him panting, 'no don't go, i'm not like the others, i'm friendly'.
Elberry fights a bear.
Elberry at PC, cursing.
Elberry in a bar getting drunk on cranberry juice. Shakes his head, says 'holy fuck my life is a mess'
THE END
elberry? You forgot the lingerie :( . . . and, oh, yeah, the crucifix :( . . .
ReplyDeleteAny idea when this bovie shall hit browsers near we who wanna see?
What a sad story . . . sniffle, sniffle . . . at least, I won't forget to bring the tissues to the premier screening :).
p.s. I would buy your book but I don't do online transactions and it's not available in Northern Canada is all (but <*EUREKA*> I can borrow it from Frank when he sends me something, right, Frank? It'll only take six months, LOL)
p.p.s. That's incentive to make the bovie; I won't be able to read the book for six months since we have our mail delivered by portaging coureur de bois
Yes, there must be lingerie - and crucifixes. i bought my friend the Viking a splendid hand-made replica of a 11th Century crucifix when i was in Prague last year - very macabre, just his cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteAs for lingerie, when i was at university i stole the pants of a very sexy girl who was lead singer in a Christian band. i still have and treasure these pants.
Canada - are you anywhere near Vancouver? i have a troll who lives there, Catermole. If so, you must seek him out and throw him down a liftshaft for me.
Oh, excellent, elberry, jes' great. I especially like the idea the panties belonged to a Christian band-member. Now, you'll have half of Cyberia waiting for your bovie on YouTube; and, the other half will want to see the replica Crucifix (since, if it's good enough for the Viking, it's good enough for me).
ReplyDeleteIt boggles my mind you're on the receiving end of our rez troll-op stupido-sop. He's a failed writer, academic, and logician who goes after others who write beautifully and provide him with the love he craves.
It bothers him; but, he cannot understand that, until he stops hiding behind a 'nym, he goes nowhere. He posts via Shaw Cable from Surrey, Vancouver, Victoria, etc.. Just delete his messages. Why I'm gob-smacked? You are a kind, gentle, caring human being. You don't behave mouthily nor anything. I don't get it.
Your writing must provoke and grate with him. Now, I really want to read your book. I won't name those in his pantheon over whom he regularly drools; but, you're in top-flight company and he's the bottom-feeder bleeder, you know, the window-licking psycho-bozo on the short bus?
Once the cyber-bullying laws pass through our judiciary, since I'm the Canadian he regularly tries to impress in order to be on the receiving end of my endless love, it falls to me to launch a complaint against him; and, since I do know a fine lawyer in Vancouver who owes me a favour for free, I shall do so. Legislation takes time; but, it will happen and I shall ensure this pathetic POS lands in jail, given the evidence I have against him already. Some day, we shall all look back upon this, laugh nervously, and quickly change the subject :).
p.s. I'm in Northern Ontario (in the triangle bounded by North Bay, Huntsville, and Sudbury), thousands of miles away from the left coast, thank keerist . . .
You're in the same part of Canada as the Viking, then - he's in Ontario, though i gather Canada is rather large, so that doesn't mean you're next door neighbours, i guess.
ReplyDeletei suspect Catermole is kind of intelligent, well read, but also either clinically insane or at least seriously disturbed. He will read my blog every day, then - even though my Spam automatically catches his comments - leave the occasional witless put-down, as if my blog so enrages him that he can't stop himself, even though he must know none of his comments will appear. That in itself suggests lunacy.
Then he'll disappear for weeks at a time. i suspect when he disappears he's had some kind of 'episode' and is in a dark room pumped full of mood stabilisers or anti-psychotics.
Amusingly, he once left a comment on my rune mentor's blog calling him 'gay'. He disappeared for quite a while immediately after that, no doubt with a serious headache or mysteriously fucked-up PC, or perhaps he fell down a flight of stairs.
He reminds me of the drunk psycho on the bus who shouts at everyone. i don't really take it personally because he seems to do it to anyone he notices.
i considered trying to zap him with a spell but, being a novice, i'd probably just turn myself into a frog; and besides, if i'm right in guessing he's manic depressive or some other version of nuts, his life is probably difficult enough. Still, i may experiment on him later, use him as a sort of magical punchbag.
Your assessment sounds abso-correcto, elberry; but, it's wonderful to know you have a rune mentor who will teach you to blip-zap such things. Rather envy you; but, hope it works!
ReplyDeleteHappy Good Friday T'All. Must retire from BITE since I cannot do two blogs. That doesn't mean I shan't be watching for that bovie, though . . . fair's fair :).
Take care.