tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post9169800469453398116..comments2023-10-31T06:01:54.153-04:00Comments on Pretty Lady: In Defense of Elitism, Part IIPretty Ladyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-1908765752018211772007-06-21T00:20:00.000-04:002007-06-21T00:20:00.000-04:00I decided to admit something. Though I think you ...I decided to admit something. Though I think you already knew this. I had no idea what you were talking about in part I. *sigh*<BR/><BR/>On the upside, now that I do understand, I do have to stop and think. Maybe that isn't enough at this point? I know I can be guilty of the sin you describe. I certainly have not read everything, some Russian, English, American, and even in my socialist stages, some German. I finished "Mein Kampf" before I was twelve, though happily I rejected it by the age of fourteen. Still, I know nothing. No matter how much I read, I am told by academics that I just do not understand. <BR/><BR/>I think I do, I just think I do not understand their way. As well, I have given up on authors. They fail as completely or more than I do, and I'm pretty good at it at times!<BR/><BR/>Still, I must give your words weight. I do not know what I know so I cannot judge, at least according to the arts. Anyway, I had to come clean on this. I don't know if it makes sense to you, but I feel better.<BR/><BR/>Oh, did I ever say I really enjoy your writing, and even some of your commentators? Well, I do. The ideas you plant grow well in my intellectual soil.Doomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04392444624210801173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-43910387782716976342007-06-14T16:17:00.000-04:002007-06-14T16:17:00.000-04:00Sorry.Sorry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-50252742681863205042007-06-14T14:07:00.000-04:002007-06-14T14:07:00.000-04:00DuckMan, can we say, 'self-indulgent'? I knew we ...DuckMan, can we say, 'self-indulgent'? I knew we could.Pretty Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-68645791253983581472007-06-14T12:34:00.000-04:002007-06-14T12:34:00.000-04:00Today I judge Finnegan's Wake. Before I do so, I ...Today I judge Finnegan's Wake. Before I do so, I need to comment about the author. What can I say about a fellow who goes around with a girl's name? And then he doesn't even know it's supposed to go first. I suppose if my parents saddled me with a moniker like "Joyce James" I'd change it to "James Joyce" too.<BR/><BR/>Enough of that. Let's get to the actual book. What's going on with starting in the middle of a sentence? I know this is about Ireland, but don't they have anybody who's actually literate in English? And don't even get me started on the spelling. "Armorica"? "Penisolate"? "wallstrait"? It's as if he's writing to mimic the way people pronounce words. Someone needs to tell Joyce or Mr. Joyce or whoever that this language is not very phonetic. Hasn't been since the Normans tried to impose their language on those stupid Angles, Saxons, Jutes, etc. Anyway, after about a page of this garbage I realized I'd read enough. Obviously, there's nothing worth spending time and effort on here.<BR/><BR/>From now on I evaluate only "authors" whose first language is the same as the one they're writing in.<BR/><BR/>Catch you later.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-90769851135204203822007-06-11T10:30:00.000-04:002007-06-11T10:30:00.000-04:00Okay, time for my first judgment. Today, we're go...Okay, time for my first judgment. Today, we're going to take a look at a little number by a fellow who actually calls himself Leo Tolstoy. (I wonder what name his parents gave him that he considers this an improvement.) The "book" is entitled War and Peace. Let's talk about the length. I thought I was going to strain something just trying to lift this tome. It seems to me that if you can't say what you need to say in 150 pages or less, you should just give up writing and leave a few forests for the rest of us. <BR/><BR/>That's enough on "Tolstoy". We'll discuss other worthies when we have time. (Perhaps I might even trouble myself to read what they've written. But I don't want to go overboard about it.) Until then, toodles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-46905088325496073502007-06-09T17:03:00.000-04:002007-06-09T17:03:00.000-04:00"persons who are not familiar with the forms, rang..."persons who are not familiar with the forms, range, history and conventions of literature are not fit to judge the quality of a single work of literature."<BR/><BR/><BR/>So, I get the judge the quality of many (or perhaps all) works of literature? (Kind of along the lines of Stalin's "One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic"?)<BR/><BR/>Alrighty, then.<BR/><BR/>I'll get back to you later with my judgements.<BR/><BR/>;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com