From dtart at bigpond.net.au Wed Dec 3 01:33:51 2008 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 20:33:51 +1100 Subject: [ilds] Comparisons are odious? Message-ID: <703C02AAE78148AD9E7EFB564EFA6ED9@MumandDad> Well, this is a big call. But it's for the prose depictions of the Mediterranean landscapes, done in glorious and unforgetable language, that we read South Wind. The passages conveying the timelessness of the great grotto are simply magisterial. If you think Durrell captures the Mediterranean better than any other English writer you have not read Douglas. Do not lump Douglas, because of his subject matter in this book, with Firbank: South Wind is emphatically better than the verbal high-jinks of Firbank, whose over-indulgent books never convincingly connect with reality. Douglas, by contrast, can write as telling and visually acute a piece of descriptive prose as Mark Twain. A dated book for most, an unforgettable book for the connoisseur. If you appreciate the prose of South Wind there are several other equally well-written examples of his work in the travel books, especially Siren Land, Fountains in the Sand, and Old Calabria. Comment? David. PS: if this bloke can match Durrell, then I quess I've got a new writer on the reading list. Denise Tart Civil Celebrant - A8807 16 William Street Marrickville NSW 2204 +61 2 9564 6165 0412 707 625 dtart at bigpond.net.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20081203/eb1edb17/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Wed Dec 3 05:40:43 2008 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:40:43 -0500 Subject: [ilds] durrell & sven berlin Message-ID: <49368C5B.6010208@utc.edu> A letter in which Durrell praises Sven Berlin's gypsy-novel /Dromengro: man of the road/ (1971) has recently appeared in the auctions. Has anyone read that book? Thanks! C&c. *** http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/132-Lawrence-Durrell-1912-1990-Nice-set_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem180309488932QQitemZ180309488932QQptZLHQ5fDefaultDomainQ5f0 Berlin's obituary http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991217/ai_n14265608 -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From godshawl at email.uc.edu Wed Dec 3 12:26:23 2008 From: godshawl at email.uc.edu (william godshalk) Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:26:23 -0500 Subject: [ilds] durrell & sven berlin In-Reply-To: <49368C5B.6010208@utc.edu> References: <49368C5B.6010208@utc.edu> Message-ID: <26.5E.26658.27BE6394@gwout2> You know I have it. When and where is the crying? At 08:40 AM 12/3/2008, you wrote: >A letter in which Durrell praises Sven Berlin's gypsy-novel /Dromengro: >man of the road/ (1971) has recently appeared in the auctions. Has >anyone read that book? > >Thanks! > >C&c. > > >*** > >http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/132-Lawrence-Durrell-1912-1990-Nice-set_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem180309488932QQitemZ180309488932QQptZLHQ5fDefaultDomainQ5f0 > >Berlin's obituary >http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991217/ai_n14265608 > >-- >******************************************** >Charles L. Sligh >Assistant Professor >Department of English >University of Tennessee at Chattanooga >charles-sligh at utc.edu >******************************************** > >_______________________________________________ >ILDS mailing list >ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds *************************************** W. L. Godshalk * Department of English * University of Cincinnati Stellar disorder * Cincinnati OH 45221-0069 * 513-281-5927 *************************************** From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Wed Dec 3 19:13:15 2008 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:13:15 -0500 Subject: [ilds] a writing personality Message-ID: <49374ACB.9090109@utc.edu> Here follows more Durrell on Douglas. C&c. *** *LAWRENCE DURRELL Paris Review The Art of Fiction No. 23 Interviewed by Gene Andrewski & Julian Mitchell Issue 22, Autumn-Winter 1959-1960 * INTERVIEWER You said you admired Norman Douglas? DURRELL I admire him because he was a European. INTERVIEWER But stylistically? DURRELL Both as a man and a stylist. His was a writing personality that I admired and still admire very much. You see, he was unsnobbish, and yet he was the extreme stylist of the silver age . . . and in my day it is a very rare quality to have someone who is a good stylist without being snobbish. The delicacy and tact and the stylish gentlemanly thing was so well matched in Douglas that it carried no affectations; he was not trying to be pompous or anything. He is the happy example of the style perfectly married to the man. I never met him, but I?m sure his speaking tone was exactly like his writing tone. That easy informal Roman Silver-Age style is something everyone should be able to enjoy and appreciate. It wouldn?t do if you were going to tackle a large-scale work like War and Peace, or the later Dostoyevsky, or even the sort of thing that Henry Miller is doing. It would just not be adaptable enough for it. It?s a finished, delicate thing. It?s like chamber music. But style is in a separate box, you know. I have never really been a stylist deliberately. The stylists have taught me economy, which is what I very badly needed. Being naturally over-efflorescent, I have always probably learned more from the sort of writers I have never really imitated. They taught me just as feature journalism told me to put the most important fact in the first sentence?a simple gimmick, as it were. You can learn from Lytton Strachey, for example, to write something balanced and pointed, as shortly as possible. It is condensation I admired in them. -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From richardpin at eircom.net Thu Dec 4 06:19:20 2008 From: richardpin at eircom.net (richardpin at eircom.net) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 14:19:20 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [ilds] Digested Classics: Justine In-Reply-To: <85577.1227972461733.JavaMail.root@elwamui-mouette.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <3110672.10871228400360483.JavaMail.root@webmailbox301.eircom.net> Done much more amusingly, and perhaps more tellingly, even if hopelessly wrong stylistically, by Malcolm Bradbury in 'Who do you Think You Are?' RP ----- gkoger at mindspring.com wrote: > You may read the text of John Crace's "digested" version of /Justine/ > for the /Guardian/ at: > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/29/digested-classics-justine-lawrence-durrell > > The podcast (although I haven't tried it yet) should be available at: > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2008/nov/29/digested-read-lawrence-durrell-justine > > One memorable line: "We quailed with melodramatic intensity." > > Grove Koger > > > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From dtart at bigpond.net.au Thu Dec 4 11:15:16 2008 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 06:15:16 +1100 Subject: [ilds] Thanks Charles Message-ID: <4F53D281836E43D4B10F32151EA37155@MumandDad> Charles, Thank you for the heads up on Douglas and Durrell. That interview tells a lot and has answered several questions. Although Durrell clearly knew of Douglas and admired his style, they did not apparently ever meet, which is odd as Durrell certainly hung out for while with a group that included Elizabeth David and Douglas was quite close to her. I like the way he gives Miller a plug. I cannot quite put Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Henry Miller into the same grouping. Cheers David. Denise Tart Civil Celebrant - A8807 16 William Street Marrickville NSW 2204 +61 2 9564 6165 0412 707 625 dtart at bigpond.net.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20081205/777b286a/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Thu Dec 4 11:27:14 2008 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:27:14 -0500 Subject: [ilds] Thanks Charles In-Reply-To: <4F53D281836E43D4B10F32151EA37155@MumandDad> References: <4F53D281836E43D4B10F32151EA37155@MumandDad> Message-ID: <49382F12.7040403@utc.edu> Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > > I like the way he gives Miller a plug. I cannot quite put Tolstoy, > Dostoyevsky and Henry Miller into the same grouping. My pleasure, David. I remark and revere Durrell's ability to read and talk without blinders or barriers. In that /Paris Review/ interview and throughout the body of the interviews, he ranges freely. Sometimes the references are playful jests or bluffs, but still his reach of comparison and analogy is spontaneous, lively, and, in the earlier years, most unpredictable. Enjoy! CLS -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From billyapt at hotmail.com Thu Dec 4 11:48:26 2008 From: billyapt at hotmail.com (William Apt) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 13:48:26 -0600 Subject: [ilds] Thanks Charles In-Reply-To: <4F53D281836E43D4B10F32151EA37155@MumandDad> References: <4F53D281836E43D4B10F32151EA37155@MumandDad> Message-ID: David: According to one of Durrell's letters in SPIRIT OF PLACE (1969), Durrell did in fact meet Douglas while visiting the island of Ischia in the early 1950s, while on holiday from his post in Belgrade. Durrell describes Douglas as ruddy, deeply lined, of a quiet nature, and fluent in Italian. WILLIAM APT Austin, Texas From: dtart at bigpond.net.auTo: ilds at lists.uvic.caDate: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 06:15:16 +1100Subject: [ilds] Thanks Charles Charles, Thank you for the heads up on Douglas and Durrell. That interview tells a lot and has answered several questions. Although Durrell clearly knew of Douglas and admired his style, they did not apparently ever meet, which is odd as Durrell certainly hung out for while with a group that included Elizabeth David and Douglas was quite close to her. I like the way he gives Miller a plug. I cannot quite put Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Henry Miller into the same grouping. Cheers David. Denise TartCivil Celebrant - A880716 William StreetMarrickville NSW 2204+61 2 9564 61650412 707 625dtart at bigpond.net.au _________________________________________________________________ Send e-mail faster without improving your typing skills. http://windowslive.com/Explore/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_speed_122008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20081204/2486ddb9/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Thu Dec 4 12:17:48 2008 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:17:48 -0500 Subject: [ilds] turn them into literature Message-ID: <49383AEC.5010304@utc.edu> Here is a bit of a surprise, found in the opening sentences of an undergraduate paper on one of William Morris's poems. > Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and > Young once said, ?There are three things men can do with women: love > them, suffer for them, or turn them into literature.? It is always delightful to meet old friends in unexpected places. Or is this perhaps a case of meeting the child or grandchild of an old friend far gone and suddenly recognizing the features anew? But whatever the quality of the rest of the essay, the sense of an unexpected alignment is uncanny. Morris's Guenevere. Durrell's Justine (albeit indirectly). Tragic triangles, antinomianism, and great betrayals. On my desk. . . . And this student certainly did /not/ know her Durrell; she was most likely drawing upon an online search engine that directed her to Stephen Stills's recycling of the Durrell line. Enough mysteries. Back to marking. . . . Charles -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Thu Dec 4 12:19:30 2008 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:19:30 -0500 Subject: [ilds] spotting norman douglas Message-ID: <49383B52.10704@utc.edu> > Subject: > RE: [ilds] Thanks Charles > From: > William Apt > > > According to one of Durrell's letters in SPIRIT OF PLACE (1969), > Durrell did in fact meet Douglas while visiting the island of Ischia > in the early 1950s, while on holiday from his post in > Belgrade. Durrell describes Douglas as ruddy, deeply lined, of a > quiet nature, and fluent in Italian. > > WILLIAM APT > Austin, Texas > Good call, Billy. I am sitting away from my books, but I recall that reference. Did LD spot Douglas from a distance, or did he actually meet him? C&c. -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From Christine.Truebner.Amt51 at stadt-frankfurt.de Fri Dec 5 03:57:27 2008 From: Christine.Truebner.Amt51 at stadt-frankfurt.de (Truebner, Christine) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 12:57:27 +0100 Subject: [ilds] turn them into literature Message-ID: Hi charles, I find it lovely - apart from cheating youngsters papers on your markind desk - once love croby, stills nash and young, never knew they loved durells writing: I loved it when sawing oneself confronted with thruth especially about third world germans-shame on them, i feel. Thanky to guys like durell for open true words - sometimes hard to believe what one starts imagening whilst reading durell. Did u read his last story, can't remember now the titel before his death? A fascinated durell-loving woman, christine truebner -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht----- Von: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [mailto:ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] Gesendet: Donnerstag, 4. Dezember 2008 21:18 An: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Betreff: [ilds] turn them into literature Here is a bit of a surprise, found in the opening sentences of an undergraduate paper on one of William Morris's poems. > Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and > Young once said, "There are three things men can do with women: love > them, suffer for them, or turn them into literature." It is always delightful to meet old friends in unexpected places. Or is this perhaps a case of meeting the child or grandchild of an old friend far gone and suddenly recognizing the features anew? But whatever the quality of the rest of the essay, the sense of an unexpected alignment is uncanny. Morris's Guenevere. Durrell's Justine (albeit indirectly). Tragic triangles, antinomianism, and great betrayals. On my desk. . . . And this student certainly did /not/ know her Durrell; she was most likely drawing upon an online search engine that directed her to Stephen Stills's recycling of the Durrell line. Enough mysteries. Back to marking. . . . Charles -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From billyapt at hotmail.com Fri Dec 5 08:11:12 2008 From: billyapt at hotmail.com (William Apt) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 10:11:12 -0600 Subject: [ilds] DURRELL/DOUGLAS In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles: I looked last night at my copy of SPIRIT OF PLACE. The letter (on page 107) is one to Anais Nin. In it Durell says that he "saw" Douglas in Ischia, then goes on to describe Douglas's physical charateristics and his Italian fluency. But it does seem to leave open whether Durell actually met him or merely observed him from afar. BILLY APT Austin, Texas > From: Christine.Truebner.Amt51 at stadt-frankfurt.de> To: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu; ilds at lists.uvic.ca> Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 12:57:27 +0100> Subject: Re: [ilds] turn them into literature> > Hi charles, > I find it lovely - apart from cheating youngsters papers on your markind> desk - once love croby, stills nash and young, never knew they loved durells> writing: I loved it when sawing oneself confronted with > thruth especially about third world germans-shame on them, i feel. Thanky to> guys like durell for open true words - sometimes hard to believe what one> starts imagening whilst reading durell. Did u read his last story, can't> remember now the titel before his death?> A fascinated durell-loving woman,> christine truebner> > > > -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----> Von: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [mailto:ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] > Gesendet: Donnerstag, 4. Dezember 2008 21:18> An: ilds at lists.uvic.ca> Betreff: [ilds] turn them into literature> > Here is a bit of a surprise, found in the opening sentences of an> undergraduate paper on one of William Morris's poems.> > Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and > > Young once said, "There are three things men can do with women: love > > them, suffer for them, or turn them into literature."> It is always delightful to meet old friends in unexpected places. Or is this> perhaps a case of meeting the child or grandchild of an old friend far gone> and suddenly recognizing the features anew?> > But whatever the quality of the rest of the essay, the sense of an> unexpected alignment is uncanny. Morris's Guenevere. Durrell's Justine> (albeit indirectly). Tragic triangles, antinomianism, and great betrayals.> On my desk. . . .> > And this student certainly did /not/ know her Durrell; she was most likely> drawing upon an online search engine that directed her to Stephen Stills's> recycling of the Durrell line.> > Enough mysteries. Back to marking. . . .> > Charles> > --> ********************************************> Charles L. Sligh> Assistant Professor> Department of English> University of Tennessee at Chattanooga> charles-sligh at utc.edu> ********************************************> > _______________________________________________> ILDS mailing list> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds> > _______________________________________________> ILDS mailing list> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds _________________________________________________________________ You live life online. So we put Windows on the web. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/127032869/direct/01/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20081205/21b68158/attachment.html From dtart at bigpond.net.au Fri Dec 5 12:39:23 2008 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 07:39:23 +1100 Subject: [ilds] Durrell's Last Book Message-ID: <69B773B91DD747569F154E3486E29B90@MumandDad> Dear Christine, Nice to hear from jolly Germany. Durrell's lasy book was Caesar's Vast Ghost, a quasi travel type book about Provence in France where Larry lived for much of his life. It was criticised for being more about Roman times than about modern provence and was published in 1990, the year of Durrell's death. David Green 16 William Street Marrickville NSW 2204 AUSTRALIA +61 2 9564 6165 0412 707 625 dtart at bigpond.net.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20081206/7f249907/attachment.html From dtart at bigpond.net.au Fri Dec 5 12:49:58 2008 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 07:49:58 +1100 Subject: [ilds] DURRELL AND DOUGLAS Message-ID: William, good to hear from Texas. I find it hard to believe that Durrell could describe Douglas as he does in Spirit of Place and refer to his fluency in Italian and not actually have met him and exchanged words, especially as he clearly admired Douglas and they had a few things in common. It may be that in the interview Charles posted that Durrell prefered to say he had not met Douglas or forgot he had met him or the interview was before he met him? Anyway, I will be reading Douglas's autobiography over the Summer Holidays and will see if Douglas refers to a meeting with Larry. David Green 16 William Street Marrickville NSW 2204 AUSTRALIA +61 2 9564 6165 0412 707 625 dtart at bigpond.net.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20081206/9ab1abf8/attachment.html