From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Wed Jan 14 06:34:05 2009 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:34:05 -0500 Subject: [ilds] =?windows-1252?q?=22you_might_be_in_Lawrence_Durrell=92s_A?= =?windows-1252?q?lexandria=22?= Message-ID: <496DF7DD.8040405@utc.edu> http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=10573 > *Prospect Magazine > Issue 154 , January 2009 > Gaza's brief honeymoon > by Trevor Mostyn > What might have happened to Gaza had Israel granted it real > independence after its withdrawal > * > To some of us, Israel?s recent actions in Gaza have actually served as > a poignant reminder of the ways things could have been. *Look at a > photograph of Gaza in the 1940s and you might be in Lawrence Durrell?s > Alexandria, with its palm-lined beaches and pretty, belle ?poque > buildings. *After the first Israeli withdrawal from Gaza City in 1994, > both the West Bank and Gaza indulged in a brief honeymoon. The Oslo > accords had been signed a year earlier and Arafat had returned to > Gaza. I remember sitting under parasols on the beach drinking coffee > with local journalists. Gazans had not been allowed on the beaches for > years and suddenly the atmosphere was one of carnival. Israeli > settlements were still in place but the Israeli army was rarely seen. -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Wed Jan 14 11:22:53 2009 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:22:53 -0500 Subject: [ilds] Vivian Ridler (1913-2009) Message-ID: <496E3B8D.4050404@utc.edu> Lest we forget. . . . **** Vivian Ridler, CBE, printer and typographer, was born on October 2, 1913. He died on January 11, 2009, aged 95 *** From The Times January 14, 2009 Vivian Ridler: printer and typographer* Vivian Ridler brought to the post of Printer to Oxford University a combination of technical knowledge, design ability and managerial competence unique in the long traditions of university printing. He, more than any other, fulfilled Archbishop Laud?s vision of the University?s Printing House being led by an architypographus (as Chancellor of Oxford, Laud founded the Press in 1633). Vivian Hughes Ridler was born in 1913 in Cardiff, but his family moved to Bristol in 1918 when his father became superintendent of Avonmouth Docks. He was brought up there and attended Bristol Grammar School, developing a precocious interest in printing with David Bland (who later became production director at Faber & Faber). Together, as a hobby, Ridler and Bland started printing the parish magazine, and then founded the Perpetua Press, named after Eric Gill?s typeface. They were soon undertaking commissions for ephemera for the bookseller and radio producer Douglas Cleverdon, but also for sausage labels. In 1935 their Fifteen Old Nursery Rhymes, illustrated by Biddy Darlow, was chosen as one of the 50 best books of the year ? a remarkable achievement for such young men. With typical modesty Ridler later said that in its first five years Perpetua ?produced several interesting books and a wallpaper which never reached a wall?. Meanwhile, he had been apprenticed in 1931 to the company of E. S. & A. Robinson, the packaging printer, but was tempted away to Oxford to be assistant to John Johnson, then the University Printer, who recognised his developing talent as a typographer. Unfortunately, Johnson, though brilliant, was a difficult and eccentric employer. Relations between the two men were not improved when in 1938 Ridler was married to Anne Bradby, secretary to T. S. Eliot at Faber, and niece of Oxford?s London publisher, Humphrey Milford, whom Johnson considered something of a rival. Accordingly, Ridler went to manage the Bunhill Press for the Voltaire scholar Theodore Basterman. Ridler then served with the RAF in West Africa and Germany, becoming a squadron leader. On demobilisation he worked as a freelance designer, notably for the Cresset Press, Lund Humphries and Faber (for which he designed two children?s alphabets in 1941). He also redesigned The Burlington Magazine and lectured at the Royal College of Art. He subsequently became an examiner in typographic design for the City & Guilds of London Institute, and chaired the printing advisory committee at the College of Art and Technology, now Oxford Brookes University. Charles Batey succeeded Johnson as Oxford?s Printer in 1946, and he persuaded Ridler to return to help to reorganise the Press, after its wartime security work, for new challenges of educational printing. One of Ridler?s first responsibilities was to increase productivity in a traditional house based on the highest standards. Simultaneously, he saw the potential of litho printing, and he was the first British printer to use the fine screens for litho reproduction that had been developed in America during the Second World War. He was responsible for the 1951 exhibition Printing at Oxford since 1478. He became assistant printer in 1949, and succeeded Batey in 1958. His technical competence, impeccable typography and witty turn of phrase, together with a knack of losing his temper only on purpose, had earned everyone?s respect. With a staff of 700, he kept a close eye on the people as well as the books. Usually at his desk by 7.30am, he dealt with much of the post personally, made tours of the factory and was available to staff and customers. His typography, in the tradition of the typographer and historian Stanley Morison, showed a mastery of Oxford?s unrivalled resources, and he brought a puckish wit to his work. It was Ridler who designed Morison?s great book on John Fell, the University Press, and the Fell Types. This was a large 275-page folio about 17th-century typography that Ridler agreed to have set at the press in the 17thcentury types themselves, ?for the greater honour of Fell and the greater pleasure of the reader?. This meant setting the entire book by hand ? a more extensive use of the types than any before in their long history ? which produced a book of almost unrivalled typographical beauty and a permanent glory of the Press. As Morison puts it in his preface, Ridler also ?lighted upon? a neglected portrait of Fell by John Lely, found in Bristol, which was handsomely reproduced (for the first time) as the frontispiece. The Rotz Atlas facsimile for Lord Eccles was one of many fine Roxburghe Club volumes he also printed. The Great Tournament Roll of the College of Arms, completed in 1968, was Oxford?s last use of collotype. The gold was not simulated: it was gold leaf laid by hand. However, the main work at Walton Street was the production of academic reference books, schoolbooks and the Bible. Standards were impeccable in those days, with the Printer responsible for layout, copy preparation and proofreading. The printing house record of 15 books in the National Book League annual book production awards is perhaps untouchable. Ridler also designed the Coronation Bible on which the Queen swore her Oath in 1953. Mass production fascinated Ridler, whether it was popular dictionaries, Bibles for the British and Foreign Bible Society, or the launch of The New English Bible. He oversaw the change from Monotype hot-metal setting to filmsetting, from letterpress to offset litho, and from sheetfed printing to web offset. To accommodate all the new machinery ? which was producing ever-larger quantities of books ? new factory space was needed. Successive secretaries to the delegates of the Press wisely involved Ridler in appointing architects to work in Walton Street. This led to the arrival of John Fryman. His 100,000 sq ft extension to the printing factory in 1968 was of the greatest integrity, and released a great deal of space around the quad for publishing offices. Fryman said he had never been given a clearer brief than Ridler?s, nor had a more constructive and inspiring client. Ridler?s retirement in 1978, the quincentenary year of Oxford printing (which was brilliantly marked, partly through his work) coincided with that of the academic publisher, Dan Davin. The period marked the Press as a whole change from being, in military terms, a crack regiment, to being the equivalent of a competent corps. Ridler left the Printing House profitable but on too narrow a base. He had hinted at a step towards more integration with publishing, as happened successfully at Cambridge, ensuring the survival of the printing house there, but this initiative failed at Oxford. The closure of the factory in 1989 ? leaving the great publishing house to contract out all of its printing ? came as a sad blow to Ridler in his retirement, but he was realistic about the issues. Oxford was by the 1980s a worldwide publisher with astonishingly varied printing needs, and able to resource these worldwide. But the closure of the printing business after 400 years should not detract from Ridler?s achievements. A former apprentice had become one of the leading British master printers of the century. Despite a hectic working life, Ridler found time for trade associations, being an outstanding president of the British Federation of Master Printers, 1968-69. He was the only university printer to hold this post, and it was unusual for it to be held by a former trade unionist. He was president of the Double Crown Club in 1963. St Edmund Hall elected him a Fellow in 1966. He was appointed CBE in 1971. He revived the Perpetua Press imprint in his retirement, partly to print his wife?s poetry. Theirs was a fine pairing of literary, musical, devotional and practical interests. (It surprised some people to realise that, despite their many talents, neither husband nor wife had taken an undergraduate degree.) Perhaps the outstanding Perpetua book was an edition of the 17th-century Poems of William Austin (1983), which had been identified and edited by Anne, and were finely printed by Vivian. There was also a handsome book of the Oxford college graces, and in 1994 the press published a volume of verses by Rowan Williams, then the Bishop of Monmouth. The last book published by the Perpetua Press was Anne Ridler?s Memoirs (2004). An exhibition of Ridler?s work was mounted on his retirement in the Divinity School at the Bodleian Library. The Ruskin School of Art mounted another to mark his 80th birthday in 1993. In December 2008 an exhibition was held in the Bodleian of Christmas cards he had received down the years to honour his 96th Christmas, and the library is establishing an archive called Poet and Printer in honour of Anne and Vivian Ridler. Anne Ridler died in 2001. Ridler is survived by their two sons and two daughters. Vivian Ridler, CBE, printer and typographer, was born on October 2, 1913. He died on January 11, 2009, aged 95 -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From marcpiel at interdesign.fr Wed Jan 14 11:44:22 2009 From: marcpiel at interdesign.fr (Marc Piel) Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:44:22 +0100 Subject: [ilds] Vivian Ridler (1913-2009) In-Reply-To: <496E3B8D.4050404@utc.edu> References: <496E3B8D.4050404@utc.edu> Message-ID: <496E4096.8050700@interdesign.fr> Thank you Charles for this very rich post. I get a shiver up my spine when I read of people who have done so much to make better. Best regards, Marc Piel Paris, France. Charles Sligh a ?crit : > Lest we forget. . . . > > **** > Vivian Ridler, CBE, printer and typographer, was born on October 2, > 1913. He died on January 11, 2009, aged 95 > *** > > From The Times > January 14, 2009 > Vivian Ridler: printer and typographer* > > Vivian Ridler brought to the post of Printer to Oxford University a > combination of technical knowledge, design ability and managerial > competence unique in the long traditions of university printing. He, > more than any other, fulfilled Archbishop Laud?s vision of the > University?s Printing House being led by an architypographus (as > Chancellor of Oxford, Laud founded the Press in 1633). > > Vivian Hughes Ridler was born in 1913 in Cardiff, but his family moved > to Bristol in 1918 when his father became superintendent of Avonmouth > Docks. He was brought up there and attended Bristol Grammar School, > developing a precocious interest in printing with David Bland (who later > became production director at Faber & Faber). > > Together, as a hobby, Ridler and Bland started printing the parish > magazine, and then founded the Perpetua Press, named after Eric Gill?s > typeface. They were soon undertaking commissions for ephemera for the > bookseller and radio producer Douglas Cleverdon, but also for sausage > labels. In 1935 their Fifteen Old Nursery Rhymes, illustrated by Biddy > Darlow, was chosen as one of the 50 best books of the year ? a > remarkable achievement for such young men. With typical modesty Ridler > later said that in its first five years Perpetua ?produced several > interesting books and a wallpaper which never reached a wall?. > > Meanwhile, he had been apprenticed in 1931 to the company of E. S. & A. > Robinson, the packaging printer, but was tempted away to Oxford to be > assistant to John Johnson, then the University Printer, who recognised > his developing talent as a typographer. Unfortunately, Johnson, though > brilliant, was a difficult and eccentric employer. Relations between the > two men were not improved when in 1938 Ridler was married to Anne > Bradby, secretary to T. S. Eliot at Faber, and niece of Oxford?s London > publisher, Humphrey Milford, whom Johnson considered something of a rival. > > Accordingly, Ridler went to manage the Bunhill Press for the Voltaire > scholar Theodore Basterman. Ridler then served with the RAF in West > Africa and Germany, becoming a squadron leader. On demobilisation he > worked as a freelance designer, notably for the Cresset Press, Lund > Humphries and Faber (for which he designed two children?s alphabets in > 1941). He also redesigned The Burlington Magazine and lectured at the > Royal College of Art. > > He subsequently became an examiner in typographic design for the City & > Guilds of London Institute, and chaired the printing advisory committee > at the College of Art and Technology, now Oxford Brookes University. > > Charles Batey succeeded Johnson as Oxford?s Printer in 1946, and he > persuaded Ridler to return to help to reorganise the Press, after its > wartime security work, for new challenges of educational printing. One > of Ridler?s first responsibilities was to increase productivity in a > traditional house based on the highest standards. Simultaneously, he saw > the potential of litho printing, and he was the first British printer to > use the fine screens for litho reproduction that had been developed in > America during the Second World War. He was responsible for the 1951 > exhibition Printing at Oxford since 1478. > > He became assistant printer in 1949, and succeeded Batey in 1958. His > technical competence, impeccable typography and witty turn of phrase, > together with a knack of losing his temper only on purpose, had earned > everyone?s respect. With a staff of 700, he kept a close eye on the > people as well as the books. Usually at his desk by 7.30am, he dealt > with much of the post personally, made tours of the factory and was > available to staff and customers. > > His typography, in the tradition of the typographer and historian > Stanley Morison, showed a mastery of Oxford?s unrivalled resources, and > he brought a puckish wit to his work. It was Ridler who designed > Morison?s great book on John Fell, the University Press, and the Fell > Types. This was a large 275-page folio about 17th-century typography > that Ridler agreed to have set at the press in the 17thcentury types > themselves, ?for the greater honour of Fell and the greater pleasure of > the reader?. This meant setting the entire book by hand ? a more > extensive use of the types than any before in their long history ? which > produced a book of almost unrivalled typographical beauty and a > permanent glory of the Press. As Morison puts it in his preface, Ridler > also ?lighted upon? a neglected portrait of Fell by John Lely, found in > Bristol, which was handsomely reproduced (for the first time) as the > frontispiece. > > The Rotz Atlas facsimile for Lord Eccles was one of many fine Roxburghe > Club volumes he also printed. The Great Tournament Roll of the College > of Arms, completed in 1968, was Oxford?s last use of collotype. The gold > was not simulated: it was gold leaf laid by hand. > > However, the main work at Walton Street was the production of academic > reference books, schoolbooks and the Bible. Standards were impeccable in > those days, with the Printer responsible for layout, copy preparation > and proofreading. The printing house record of 15 books in the National > Book League annual book production awards is perhaps untouchable. Ridler > also designed the Coronation Bible on which the Queen swore her Oath in > 1953. > > Mass production fascinated Ridler, whether it was popular dictionaries, > Bibles for the British and Foreign Bible Society, or the launch of The > New English Bible. He oversaw the change from Monotype hot-metal setting > to filmsetting, from letterpress to offset litho, and from sheetfed > printing to web offset. > > To accommodate all the new machinery ? which was producing ever-larger > quantities of books ? new factory space was needed. Successive > secretaries to the delegates of the Press wisely involved Ridler in > appointing architects to work in Walton Street. This led to the arrival > of John Fryman. His 100,000 sq ft extension to the printing factory in > 1968 was of the greatest integrity, and released a great deal of space > around the quad for publishing offices. Fryman said he had never been > given a clearer brief than Ridler?s, nor had a more constructive and > inspiring client. > > Ridler?s retirement in 1978, the quincentenary year of Oxford printing > (which was brilliantly marked, partly through his work) coincided with > that of the academic publisher, Dan Davin. The period marked the Press > as a whole change from being, in military terms, a crack regiment, to > being the equivalent of a competent corps. Ridler left the Printing > House profitable but on too narrow a base. He had hinted at a step > towards more integration with publishing, as happened successfully at > Cambridge, ensuring the survival of the printing house there, but this > initiative failed at Oxford. > > The closure of the factory in 1989 ? leaving the great publishing house > to contract out all of its printing ? came as a sad blow to Ridler in > his retirement, but he was realistic about the issues. Oxford was by the > 1980s a worldwide publisher with astonishingly varied printing needs, > and able to resource these worldwide. > > But the closure of the printing business after 400 years should not > detract from Ridler?s achievements. A former apprentice had become one > of the leading British master printers of the century. > > Despite a hectic working life, Ridler found time for trade associations, > being an outstanding president of the British Federation of Master > Printers, 1968-69. He was the only university printer to hold this post, > and it was unusual for it to be held by a former trade unionist. He was > president of the Double Crown Club in 1963. St Edmund Hall elected him a > Fellow in 1966. He was appointed CBE in 1971. > > He revived the Perpetua Press imprint in his retirement, partly to print > his wife?s poetry. Theirs was a fine pairing of literary, musical, > devotional and practical interests. (It surprised some people to realise > that, despite their many talents, neither husband nor wife had taken an > undergraduate degree.) Perhaps the outstanding Perpetua book was an > edition of the 17th-century Poems of William Austin (1983), which had > been identified and edited by Anne, and were finely printed by Vivian. > There was also a handsome book of the Oxford college graces, and in 1994 > the press published a volume of verses by Rowan Williams, then the > Bishop of Monmouth. The last book published by the Perpetua Press was > Anne Ridler?s Memoirs (2004). > > An exhibition of Ridler?s work was mounted on his retirement in the > Divinity School at the Bodleian Library. The Ruskin School of Art > mounted another to mark his 80th birthday in 1993. > > In December 2008 an exhibition was held in the Bodleian of Christmas > cards he had received down the years to honour his 96th Christmas, and > the library is establishing an archive called Poet and Printer in honour > of Anne and Vivian Ridler. > > Anne Ridler died in 2001. Ridler is survived by their two sons and two > daughters. > > Vivian Ridler, CBE, printer and typographer, was born on October 2, > 1913. He died on January 11, 2009, aged 95 > > > From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Wed Jan 14 14:03:14 2009 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:03:14 -0500 Subject: [ilds] "Sink or Skim" (Michael Wood, LRB) Message-ID: <496E6122.2050501@utc.edu> *The ILDS listserv welcomes responses to Michael Wood's LRB essay on Durrell's writing in /Clea/ and the /Quartet/. Here follows the text of the essay. Charles *** LRB 1 January 2009 Michael Wood Sink or Skim Michael Wood Clea by Lawrence Durrell* ?At night,? Roland Barthes once wrote, ?the adjectives come back.? It?s an eerie and sobering thought for writers who have been trying to clean up their act during the day, but for Lawrence Durrell as for Conrad adjectives don?t come back because they never left. If there is a mystery in Conrad it?s inscrutable, if there?s a tangle in Durrell it?s inextricable. And to stay with the latter: if there?s a treasury it?s inexhaustible, creatures of habit are inveterate, dusk is blue, shadows and trams are violet, dawn is mauve ? but then so are voices and a mosque. And yet these adjectival writers are anything but confident about the language they lay out so lavishly. On the contrary, they seem to be caught between a desperate hope that one more word will do the trick, catch the reality or name the mystery, and the reluctant belief that nothing at all is going to work. Sometimes we see them trapped between these stances, as when Marlow harangues his listeners in Heart of Darkness (?Do you see him? Do you see the story? Do you see anything??), or Durrell?s narrator in the third volume of the Alexandria Quartet, with nearly 300 pages still to go, tells us that ?words kill love as they kill everything else.? The different narrator of the fourth volume says ?words are the mirrors of our discontents merely,? but nevertheless goes on, in his phrase, ?hunting for metaphors?. And at one point, hard at work describing ?the very failure of words?, the same narrator throws these deficient elements around with such relish (?words . . . sink one by one into the measureless caverns of the imagination and gutter out?) that you wonder if he?s forgotten he?s supposed to be failing. It?s clear that the problem is not the adjectives, or even the purple (or mauve or violet) prose more generally. A journalist explains to Durrell?s narrator what he thinks Pursewarden, the Quartet?s great writer in residence, was trying to tell him: ?What is the writer?s struggle except a struggle to use a medium as precisely as possible, but knowing fully its basic imprecision? A hopeless task, but none the less rewarding for being hopeless.? This is good Modernist doctrine, and a whole slew of writers and critics from Mallarm? to Adorno would certainly sign the manifesto. But the proposition doesn?t describe what happens in Durrell?s fiction, or for that matter in Conrad?s. The goal is not precision but effect. For this reason the adjectives are sometimes a solution, and our best clue to what is going on. Retromingent, to my slight surprise, does appear in the OED, with a use as early as 1646; but surely no one has done the word as proud as Durrell, when he describes how a small dog ?delivered itself of a retromingent puddle? on an ambassador?s carpet. This is perhaps the place to remember that the author of the grandiose Quartet is also the author of the very funny Esprit de Corps and Stiff Upper Lip. And what about the lovely word adventive, as in ?the adventive minute? or ?that adventive moment?? Durrell also uses the word in his fine poem about Cavafy, written at the same time as the Quartet: Never To attempt a masterpiece of size ? You must leave life for that. No But always to preserve the adventive Minute . . . I?m tempted to read ?you must leave life for that? as meaning we must leave such things to life itself; but that is not what the phrase says. Durrell?s Quartet is an attempt at a masterpiece of size (and shape and time), but he didn?t leave life for it. He stayed with life?s jokes and discoveries, the pee on the carpet and the Faustian moment; with life?s pretensions and flatnesses too. One of adventive?s meanings is ?imperfectly naturalised?. And it?s good to learn from G.S. Fraser?s book on Durrell that however long the novelist thought about these works, he wrote them, or at least the last three, very quickly: Balthazar in six weeks, Mountolive in 12 and Clea in four. It?s good to know too that however portentous he could sound about his ambitions (?I . . . am trying to complete a four-decker novel whose form is based on the relativity proposition?), he could also manage another idiom: ?You are uncomfortable about relativity? But my paper construct is only a toy, a shape, like a kaleidoscope made for the child of a friend . . . It was just an idea.? This is the mode of Pursewarden saying he ?always believed in letting [his] reader sink or skim?. Durrell was not trying to write precisely in an imprecise medium. He was trying, sometimes precisely and sometimes with unbelievable slackness, to tell us, like George Meredith in his day, what he knew about ?modern love?, and to find narrative forms that suited his slippery subject. The point is that the slackness may be as important as the precision; and that there are whole reaches of the novels that are neither slack nor precise but something else. Durrell wrote a lot before and after the Quartet: poems, plays, a book about Cyprus, other novels. T.S. Eliot greatly admired The Black Book, and two early novels, Pied Piper of Lovers and Panic Spring, have recently been reissued by ELS, a Canadian press. Still, so much of Durrell?s reputation rests, or fails to rest, on the Quartet that this does seem a good place to start one?s second (or third) look. The Folio Society?s handsome new edition, with its alternately haunting and embarrassing photomontages and a fine introduction by Peter Porter, is a perfect invitation to rereading. There are many people who are sure the Quartet is a masterpiece of some sort, however patchy; and there are people who are sure it?s not a masterpiece because they find it unreadable. I have, at different times, belonged to both of these groups. My dazed admiration for the first three novels, which I rushed to buy as they came out, certainly suffered a blow when I got to Clea, which seemed to me then (and seems to me now) just too full of bathos to do the noble literary work it is supposed to do. ?I found her extraordinarily beautiful at first sight, although a little on the short side.? ?He always puzzled me ? except when I had him in my arms.? But I do understand my old admiration, in a way I don?t understand my later grumpiness, which set in towards the end of the 1960s, when I found nothing but fakery in the Quartet and the later novels, as if Durrell had written not books but simulations of books, long, allusive evocations of acts of writing not quite taking place. There are certainly plenty of patches where he is doing this; but nowhere is this the only thing he?s doing, and my second, solemn, snippy view misses huge zones of serious and interesting achievement. The Quartet has its own sharp view of criticism, good and bad. When our narrator appears to have given up his rather clunky artistic ambitions (to frame his friends ?in the heavy steel webs of metaphors which will last half as long as [Alexandria] itself?) and says he is thinking of writing a book of criticism, his friend Clea, a painter, hits him across the mouth so hard he has to go to the bathroom to mop up the blood. Among the considerable achievements of the Quartet are the large set-pieces: the duck shoot on Lake Mareotis at the end of Justine; the carnival at the end of Balthazar; the ecstatic Coptic wake at the end of Mountolive. All of these scenes are patiently, lovingly described, for their own sake rather than for any symbolism they may deliver ? the prose is rich but not richer than the material. And yet each of these scenes contains a twist or a mystery. In the first a body is discovered and identified ? wrongly. In the second the wrong person gets killed. In the third the wrong person is killed too, but not by mistake. The ongoing and often rather vapidly declared theme of multiple perspectives is here put to real work. It is no longer a matter of whether Justine was betraying her husband with Darley, the uncharismatic narrator of three of the four books, or with Pursewarden, the novelist whose stature grows with every volume; whose supposed stature, let?s say, since even Durrell?s friend Henry Miller had his doubts about this character. ?I never get the conviction that he was the great writer you wish him to seem.? I don?t think this shortfall weakens the Quartet as much as it might, since we are not required to believe in Pursewarden?s greatness, only in his friends? eagerness to canonise him after his suicide, and Darley?s reluctant identification with the man he used to patronise. It is true that Pursewarden talks a lot, and left an extraordinary amount of aphoristic litter behind him. The story of the affair with Darley is told in Justine, of the affair with Pursewarden in Balthazar. It?s fun to work through the corrected view, but hard to care very much whom Justine preferred. After all, she?s named after a character in Sade, she?s supposed to be sleeping around. But in the murder scenes I?ve evoked, much more is at stake than a place in a bed. We think at first that Capodistria, the man killed at the duck shoot, is the victim of a belated revenge, finally paying for a rape he committed long ago. Since it?s not Capodistria who is dead, but a nameless corpse transferred from the morgue, we now need to know why Capodistria had to be spirited away. He was, it turns out, part of the plot against the British Mandate in Palestine in which many of the main characters are (inextricably) entangled, and which a diligent British officer in Egypt has uncovered. Most of this story is told in Mountolive, and if the switches of sexual partners seem a little ordinary, the thought that much of this sexual activity is a cover-up for clandestine politics is pretty exhilarating. Something of this view is lurking in Darley?s early, only half-understood suggestion that what is called love is ?a sort of mental possession in which the bonds of a ravenous sexuality played the least part?. Nessim, the Egyptian leader of the conspiracy, and the supposedly betrayed husband, has married Justine because she is Jewish and disposed to help the cause, and because her beauty and her unhappiness make her an ideal partner. Nessim is a Copt, and explains that ?for us there was no real war between Cross and Crescent. That was entirely a Western European creation. So indeed was the idea of a cruel Moslem infidel. The Moslem was never a persecutor of the Copts on religious grounds.? The accusation is that the British ? the speech is addressed to David Mountolive, later to be his majesty?s ambassador to Egypt ? have never understood any of this, and can?t tell one Arab from another. The person killed at the carnival was mistaken for Justine, and the person whose funeral we witness is Nessim?s brother, killed by the Egyptian government in a brilliant deliberate error. With this murder they find a scapegoat, and satisfy the British, who are complaining about Egyptian inaction with regard to the conspiracy. And they are also able to leave Nessim alone, and keep receiving the handsome bribes he is paying. It?s true that all this seems closer to the fiction of John le Carr? than to the theory of relativity, but a set of novels is surely none the worse for that. And then there are the carefully rendered deaths, remarkable in their variety. There is the dying of the furrier Cohen, former patron of Darley?s fragile mistress Melissa, a man who lies in a hospital ?among the migrating fragments of his old body?, and whom Darley visits because Melissa won?t go to see him. A curious intimacy, almost a tenderness arises between the two men. The old man begins to sing a popular song, Darley recalls the Cavafy poem about the god abandoning Antony, and thinks, ?Each man goes out to his own music? ? an elegant untruth but a fine epitaph. There is the death of love itself when Mountolive finally meets up again with his once beautiful Egyptian mistress, Nessim?s mother. Here we see the Gothic streak that marks the Quartet more and more as it goes on. It?s not enough that she should have had smallpox and become completely disfigured in the meantime. She is also desperate, a little drunk, and overweight. ?Her large jowls shook with every vibration of the solid rubber tyres on the road? ? they are in a horse-drawn cab. This is sheer authorial cruelty, but the shocked Mountolive doesn?t fare any better. When she asks him to do something to protect Nessim, he says: ?I cannot discuss an official matter with a private person.? Which is worse, the jowls or the priggishness? And there is, best of all, the ludicrous, horribly appropriate death of Scobie, the Englishman who works in the Egyptian police force, and has what he calls Tendencies, among them the habit of dressing up as a woman when the moon is full. Scobie is the best kind of Orientalist. He walks like ?a White Man at large?, and he loves the Egyptians. ?You see, the Egyptians are marvellous, old man,? he tells Darley. ?Kindly. They know me well. From some points of view they might look like felons, old man, but felons in a state of grace, that?s what I always say.? He is beaten to death by a crowd of British sailors who don?t welcome his advances, and it is a weakness in the always firm and lucid Clea that she, who is so fond of the old boy, will not be able to bear this news. She is told that he fell down some stairs. Durrell announces in a note that the first three novels are ?siblings?, placed ?in a purely spatial relation?. ?The fourth part alone will represent time and be a true sequel.? This is grand, perhaps ?somewhat immodest or even pompous?, he says in the same note; but actually it flattens out and understates the intricacy of the relations among the books. The second, Balthazar, has to do with time as well as space, since it involves Darley?s rewriting, with the help of his friend Balthazar?s copious notes, the story of the first novel. Even the first was full of alternative readings of the same event or person, so it?s a little dim of Darley to have to wait for the second volume to understand he?s in a perspectival work. The third novel has an omniscient narrator, and is perhaps the most successful, although formally the least inventive, of the three. But it too has flashbacks, and some wonderful comedy set in Moscow, Mountolive?s posting before he returns to Egypt. The chief place and time in all three are the same, Alexandria just before the Second World War ? the photomontages in the Folio Society edition showing tight-permed hairdos and boxy suits catch the date for us, as perhaps does the word ?frocks? in the novel ? and Clea takes us into and through the war. The last volume is, as Durrell says, a sequel, but a sequel, in one sense, is just what these adventures can?t have. The set-pieces, the deaths, the love affairs, the politics, all the running commentary on love and the city, the dream-images of Alexandria as capital of memory and capital of superstition, none of this can go anywhere. The elements can only talk to each other, sometimes beautifully and sometimes foolishly, and then die. I think it is Durrell?s unacknowledged perception of this problem that produces the proliferation of Gothic effects in the last volume: Justine?s stroke and drooping eyes, Nessim?s losing one eye and one finger in a bombing raid, the revelation of Pursewarden?s incest with his sister, even if she was, as Darley says, a little on the short side, and the truly garish ending in which Balthazar, playing with a harpoon gun while he and Darley and Clea are out for a sail and a swim, manages to nail Clea?s arm to an underwater wreck. There is nothing for it but to hack Clea?s hand off, which Darley duly, roughly does. Elsewhere Clea herself says eloquently that ?it is terrible to depend so utterly on powers that do not wish you well,? and much of the Quartet convincingly shows us the power of love and other afflictions as what G.S. Fraser calls unwilled events. But an accidental harpoon through the wrist is not a representation of a hostile power, and not merely an unwilled event: it is the narrative equivalent of the excessive adjective ? too much, too fast, and trying too hard. If I tell you that Clea?s artificial hand, once she gets used to it, allows her to paint better than she has ever done before ? to become a truly great painter, the implication is ? you will know where you are: somewhere between Edmund Wilson?s theory of the necessarily damaged artist and the movie version of Titus Andronicus. There is also a shift over time ? the time that runs through the first three volumes and accelerates in the last ? in the sense we are given of Alexandria, which detaches itself more and more from the East, and more and more from anyone?s affection. By the end of the Quartet all the Europeans we know have left or are about to leave, and the Egyptians are abandoned to the pathologies that were once supposed to be so fascinating. Scobie?s ?felons in a state of grace? become ?the miasma of Egypt?. There is distanced talk of the ?Oriental woman? and the ?Oriental spirit? and we are reminded that Alexandria, unlike Cairo, is ?still Europe?. But not, finally, European enough. Even the dusty glamour of the city falls away ? it grows jowls, so to speak, like the once-beautiful Leila. Darley can conjure up a bit of lyrical prose for a farewell (?I feel it fade inside me, in my thoughts, like some valedictory mirage ? like the sad history of some great queen whose fortunes have foundered among the ruins of armies and the sands of time?) but this rings a little hollow since he has already told us that he now sees the city ?as it must always have been ? a shabby little seaport built upon a sand-reef, a moribund and spiritless backwater?. We can accept the pathos of the fabrication, the belated understanding that the dream-city was created by the dreamer, and suspect the banality beneath the magical exotic lives evoked for us throughout the Quartet. But the banality, however real it may be, is not truer than the magic, and it?s a little disappointing that the sequence itself can?t remain faithful to its old enthusiasm for the gleaming city and its complicated lovers. Shabby, moribund, spiritless ? not much chance of an adventive moment there. Michael Wood teaches at Princeton. His most recent book is Literature and the Taste of Knowledge. -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From richardpin at eircom.net Thu Jan 15 07:00:04 2009 From: richardpin at eircom.net (richardpin at eircom.net) Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:00:04 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [ilds] Vivian Ridler (1913-2009) In-Reply-To: <496E3B8D.4050404@utc.edu> Message-ID: <16297635.18111232031604395.JavaMail.root@webmailbox301.eircom.net> As many will be aware, Anne Ridler, in addition to being LD's editor at Faber for some time, was also the recipient of his (unpublished) novela 'Magnetic ISland', purchased (I think) before her death by SUIC and written up in Deus Loci (and sicussed at OMG Cincinati) by the then Special Collections librarian, Shelley Cox. RP ----- "Charles Sligh" wrote: > Lest we forget. . . . > > **** > Vivian Ridler, CBE, printer and typographer, was born on October 2, > 1913. He died on January 11, 2009, aged 95 > *** > > From The Times > January 14, 2009 > Vivian Ridler: printer and typographer* > > Vivian Ridler brought to the post of Printer to Oxford University a > combination of technical knowledge, design ability and managerial > competence unique in the long traditions of university printing. He, > more than any other, fulfilled Archbishop Laud?s vision of the > University?s Printing House being led by an architypographus (as > Chancellor of Oxford, Laud founded the Press in 1633). > > Vivian Hughes Ridler was born in 1913 in Cardiff, but his family moved > > to Bristol in 1918 when his father became superintendent of Avonmouth > > Docks. He was brought up there and attended Bristol Grammar School, > developing a precocious interest in printing with David Bland (who > later > became production director at Faber & Faber). > > Together, as a hobby, Ridler and Bland started printing the parish > magazine, and then founded the Perpetua Press, named after Eric Gill?s > > typeface. They were soon undertaking commissions for ephemera for the > > bookseller and radio producer Douglas Cleverdon, but also for sausage > > labels. In 1935 their Fifteen Old Nursery Rhymes, illustrated by Biddy > > Darlow, was chosen as one of the 50 best books of the year ? a > remarkable achievement for such young men. With typical modesty Ridler > > later said that in its first five years Perpetua ?produced several > interesting books and a wallpaper which never reached a wall?. > > Meanwhile, he had been apprenticed in 1931 to the company of E. S. & > A. > Robinson, the packaging printer, but was tempted away to Oxford to be > > assistant to John Johnson, then the University Printer, who recognised > > his developing talent as a typographer. Unfortunately, Johnson, though > > brilliant, was a difficult and eccentric employer. Relations between > the > two men were not improved when in 1938 Ridler was married to Anne > Bradby, secretary to T. S. Eliot at Faber, and niece of Oxford?s > London > publisher, Humphrey Milford, whom Johnson considered something of a > rival. > > Accordingly, Ridler went to manage the Bunhill Press for the Voltaire > > scholar Theodore Basterman. Ridler then served with the RAF in West > Africa and Germany, becoming a squadron leader. On demobilisation he > worked as a freelance designer, notably for the Cresset Press, Lund > Humphries and Faber (for which he designed two children?s alphabets in > > 1941). He also redesigned The Burlington Magazine and lectured at the > > Royal College of Art. > > He subsequently became an examiner in typographic design for the City > & > Guilds of London Institute, and chaired the printing advisory > committee > at the College of Art and Technology, now Oxford Brookes University. > > Charles Batey succeeded Johnson as Oxford?s Printer in 1946, and he > persuaded Ridler to return to help to reorganise the Press, after its > > wartime security work, for new challenges of educational printing. One > > of Ridler?s first responsibilities was to increase productivity in a > traditional house based on the highest standards. Simultaneously, he > saw > the potential of litho printing, and he was the first British printer > to > use the fine screens for litho reproduction that had been developed in > > America during the Second World War. He was responsible for the 1951 > exhibition Printing at Oxford since 1478. > > He became assistant printer in 1949, and succeeded Batey in 1958. His > > technical competence, impeccable typography and witty turn of phrase, > > together with a knack of losing his temper only on purpose, had earned > > everyone?s respect. With a staff of 700, he kept a close eye on the > people as well as the books. Usually at his desk by 7.30am, he dealt > with much of the post personally, made tours of the factory and was > available to staff and customers. > > His typography, in the tradition of the typographer and historian > Stanley Morison, showed a mastery of Oxford?s unrivalled resources, > and > he brought a puckish wit to his work. It was Ridler who designed > Morison?s great book on John Fell, the University Press, and the Fell > > Types. This was a large 275-page folio about 17th-century typography > that Ridler agreed to have set at the press in the 17thcentury types > themselves, ?for the greater honour of Fell and the greater pleasure > of > the reader?. This meant setting the entire book by hand ? a more > extensive use of the types than any before in their long history ? > which > produced a book of almost unrivalled typographical beauty and a > permanent glory of the Press. As Morison puts it in his preface, > Ridler > also ?lighted upon? a neglected portrait of Fell by John Lely, found > in > Bristol, which was handsomely reproduced (for the first time) as the > frontispiece. > > The Rotz Atlas facsimile for Lord Eccles was one of many fine > Roxburghe > Club volumes he also printed. The Great Tournament Roll of the College > > of Arms, completed in 1968, was Oxford?s last use of collotype. The > gold > was not simulated: it was gold leaf laid by hand. > > However, the main work at Walton Street was the production of academic > > reference books, schoolbooks and the Bible. Standards were impeccable > in > those days, with the Printer responsible for layout, copy preparation > > and proofreading. The printing house record of 15 books in the > National > Book League annual book production awards is perhaps untouchable. > Ridler > also designed the Coronation Bible on which the Queen swore her Oath > in > 1953. > > Mass production fascinated Ridler, whether it was popular > dictionaries, > Bibles for the British and Foreign Bible Society, or the launch of The > > New English Bible. He oversaw the change from Monotype hot-metal > setting > to filmsetting, from letterpress to offset litho, and from sheetfed > printing to web offset. > > To accommodate all the new machinery ? which was producing ever-larger > > quantities of books ? new factory space was needed. Successive > secretaries to the delegates of the Press wisely involved Ridler in > appointing architects to work in Walton Street. This led to the > arrival > of John Fryman. His 100,000 sq ft extension to the printing factory in > > 1968 was of the greatest integrity, and released a great deal of space > > around the quad for publishing offices. Fryman said he had never been > > given a clearer brief than Ridler?s, nor had a more constructive and > inspiring client. > > Ridler?s retirement in 1978, the quincentenary year of Oxford printing > > (which was brilliantly marked, partly through his work) coincided with > > that of the academic publisher, Dan Davin. The period marked the Press > > as a whole change from being, in military terms, a crack regiment, to > > being the equivalent of a competent corps. Ridler left the Printing > House profitable but on too narrow a base. He had hinted at a step > towards more integration with publishing, as happened successfully at > > Cambridge, ensuring the survival of the printing house there, but this > > initiative failed at Oxford. > > The closure of the factory in 1989 ? leaving the great publishing > house > to contract out all of its printing ? came as a sad blow to Ridler in > > his retirement, but he was realistic about the issues. Oxford was by > the > 1980s a worldwide publisher with astonishingly varied printing needs, > > and able to resource these worldwide. > > But the closure of the printing business after 400 years should not > detract from Ridler?s achievements. A former apprentice had become one > > of the leading British master printers of the century. > > Despite a hectic working life, Ridler found time for trade > associations, > being an outstanding president of the British Federation of Master > Printers, 1968-69. He was the only university printer to hold this > post, > and it was unusual for it to be held by a former trade unionist. He > was > president of the Double Crown Club in 1963. St Edmund Hall elected him > a > Fellow in 1966. He was appointed CBE in 1971. > > He revived the Perpetua Press imprint in his retirement, partly to > print > his wife?s poetry. Theirs was a fine pairing of literary, musical, > devotional and practical interests. (It surprised some people to > realise > that, despite their many talents, neither husband nor wife had taken > an > undergraduate degree.) Perhaps the outstanding Perpetua book was an > edition of the 17th-century Poems of William Austin (1983), which had > > been identified and edited by Anne, and were finely printed by Vivian. > > There was also a handsome book of the Oxford college graces, and in > 1994 > the press published a volume of verses by Rowan Williams, then the > Bishop of Monmouth. The last book published by the Perpetua Press was > > Anne Ridler?s Memoirs (2004). > > An exhibition of Ridler?s work was mounted on his retirement in the > Divinity School at the Bodleian Library. The Ruskin School of Art > mounted another to mark his 80th birthday in 1993. > > In December 2008 an exhibition was held in the Bodleian of Christmas > cards he had received down the years to honour his 96th Christmas, and > > the library is establishing an archive called Poet and Printer in > honour > of Anne and Vivian Ridler. > > Anne Ridler died in 2001. Ridler is survived by their two sons and two > > daughters. > > Vivian Ridler, CBE, printer and typographer, was born on October 2, > 1913. He died on January 11, 2009, aged 95 > > > > -- > ******************************************** > 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 Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Thu Jan 15 07:13:04 2009 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:13:04 -0500 Subject: [ilds] Vivian Ridler (1913-2009) In-Reply-To: <16297635.18111232031604395.JavaMail.root@webmailbox301.eircom.net> References: <16297635.18111232031604395.JavaMail.root@webmailbox301.eircom.net> Message-ID: <496F5280.2090405@utc.edu> richardpin at eircom.net wrote: > As many will be aware, Anne Ridler, in addition to being LD's editor at Faber for some time, was also the recipient of his (unpublished) novela 'Magnetic ISland', purchased (I think) before her death by SUIC and written up in Deus Loci (and sicussed at OMG Cincinati) by the then Special Collections librarian, Shelley Cox. > RP > Here follows the article citation: Cox, ?The Island Lover: Lawrence Durrell?s ?The Magnetic Island?.? /Deus Loci: The Lawrence Durrell Journal /NS 7 (1999): 45-57 ** On our summer pilgrimages to SIU-Carbondale, I have been made glad each time once we come to the folders with Anne Ridler's letters to Durrell. These letters are a vivid testimony about living with family and with art in a moment of austerity. Any historian of Oxford life and letters during the twentieth century should spend time with the Ridler letters. Charles -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From odos.fanourios at gmail.com Thu Jan 15 07:42:48 2009 From: odos.fanourios at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 07:42:48 -0800 Subject: [ilds] Vivian Ridler (1913-2009) In-Reply-To: <496F5280.2090405@utc.edu> References: <16297635.18111232031604395.JavaMail.root@webmailbox301.eircom.net> <496F5280.2090405@utc.edu> Message-ID: <496F5978.10208@gmail.com> I'd add that a smaller collection of Ridler materials in Victoria shows that during the turbulence of the 30s and 40s, LD left matters relating to the publication of his poetry (yea or nay to publishers) to Anne Ridler's discretion when he could not respond to requests. In effect, he asked her to work as his 'agent.' Her later influence on editing his works at Faber is remarkable as well. But, now my morning coffee is done and I must run! Best, James Charles Sligh wrote: > richardpin at eircom.net wrote: >> As many will be aware, Anne Ridler, in addition to being LD's editor at Faber for some time, was also the recipient of his (unpublished) novela 'Magnetic ISland', purchased (I think) before her death by SUIC and written up in Deus Loci (and sicussed at OMG Cincinati) by the then Special Collections librarian, Shelley Cox. >> RP >> > Here follows the article citation: > > Cox, ?The Island Lover: Lawrence Durrell?s ?The Magnetic Island?.? /Deus > Loci: The Lawrence Durrell Journal /NS 7 (1999): 45-57 > > ** > > On our summer pilgrimages to SIU-Carbondale, I have been made glad each > time once we come to the folders with Anne Ridler's letters to Durrell. > > These letters are a vivid testimony about living with family and with > art in a moment of austerity. Any historian of Oxford life and letters > during the twentieth century should spend time with the Ridler letters. > > Charles > From rwhedges at hotmail.co.uk Thu Jan 15 02:27:40 2009 From: rwhedges at hotmail.co.uk (RW HEDGES) Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:27:40 +0000 Subject: [ilds] Igor Pomerantsev interviews Lawrence Durrell Message-ID: Hello Lawrence Durrell enthusiasts. Being an amateur is a benefit. I have been fascinated by the posted blogs since I asked to join your group. And not always understanding your words has helped me invent a few for my own writing. Amazed that such depth could be perusaled. I have something to offer you all by way of a website destination that was bestowed on me by a Russian writer. I was working in a Wine shop in London and this larger than life, bearded man entered and began to select some excellent Chilean wines. As he paid and we began to chat he commented on the book I was reading, 'Stand still like the Humming-bird' by Henry Miller. I enquired as to his profession and it turned out he was a writer. Is a writer. His name is Igor Pomerantsev and he interviewed Lawrence Durrell in 1983 Provence. The interview is wonderful. Go to: http://www.zeitzug.com/ Igor is a poet/playwright and works for the BBC world service amongst other things. A real character likes great wine and doesn't care for that new world/ old world argument. There are other essays and interviews, translated from Russian, regarding Paul Auster, Franz Kafka and a whole lot more. Great site. Also I have a question. I picked up a copy of 'My life and times' by Henry Miller and a letter fell out onto the floor. It was from Miller, addressed to Phillip Boadley the English script Writer(The Saint, Dangerman and Bergerac). I was chuffed (happy) and even more so when I found that he had signed the book inside, right on the page where Durrell is dressed up as George Bernard Shaw. (Shaw had warned Durrell of Miller and they took these pictures for a little giggle at the old fella) The signature in the book was addressed to Margaret McCall(Broadleys wife). The man in the bookshop, in Paignton Devon, didn't care about the autographs and just wanted shot of the book (15 quid when its worth 800 probably)....He told me that Margaret may have had an affair with Durrell and I guess if this is true then Miller(the old scoundrel) knew about it, thus signing the book to her on the page containing Durrell and his preposterous moustache. There is also a blonde woman in some of the pictures whom I have suspected is Margaret? Any clues? I don't know exactly? Still its all interesting. She definitely interviewed him herself but I am yet to read that one. Oh, one last question.....Where can I get a copy of Lawrence Durrells 'Spirit of place' Film?????? I have read the 'Greek islands' Book and it is wonderful. Hope someone can shed some light on me. _________________________________________________________________ Cut through the jargon: find a PC for your needs. http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/130777504/direct/01/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20090115/27e299ff/attachment.html From dtart at bigpond.net.au Thu Jan 15 13:24:50 2009 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:24:50 +1100 Subject: [ilds] Durrell Interview Message-ID: <5A05C4D383B849D393AF0D7446402E08@MumandDad> Dear Mr Hedges, many thanks for your contribution to the list. I have downloaded the Durrell interview to read on the way to Lake Crackenback in the Australian Alps. Going to a wedding. doubtless much new world wine will be consumed. Did you know LD liked Californian Chardonnay? I am sure he would have like the Australian variety but sadly he died before the Aussie wine marketing juggenaught launched itself upon the world, to the great annoyance of the French - and that cant be a bad thing! David Green with apologies to Marc Piel 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/20090116/98fe54b4/attachment.html From rwhedges at hotmail.co.uk Sat Jan 17 09:00:12 2009 From: rwhedges at hotmail.co.uk (RW HEDGES) Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:00:12 +0000 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 22, Issue 7 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I was happy to have found something to offer fellow Durrell Fans.....I love the story of Lawrence as a young writer buying a vat of red wine and a guitar and learning lots of melacholy Elizabethen love songs. The portrait from 'My family and other animals' by Gerald Durrell, strips the Literature side of Lawrence back into a kind of cute Hemingway (without the tendency for suicide and boring writing)character....He has that kind of slightly tortured and massively spoiled, artist thing that so endears me to this less serious Durrell. Dont get me wrong, I love the Alexandria Quartet, but I feel I may have to work harder on it, Whearas the juicy Black book is my favourite along with Bitter Lemons.....California has got better at wine although they will never understand a good label. If your in Australia (Denise and David) you should see if you can get a bottle of 'Choclate Block', I forget the maker, or 'D'arenburgs' famous 'Dead Arm'.....Hope you have a wonderful trip, sure beats London suburbs! RW> From: ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca> Subject: ILDS Digest, Vol 22, Issue 7> To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca> Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:00:03 -0800> > Send ILDS mailing list submissions to> ilds at lists.uvic.ca> > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to> ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca> > You can reach the person managing the list at> ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca> > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific> than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..."> > > Today's Topics:> > 1. Durrell Interview (Denise Tart & David Green)> > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------> > Message: 1> Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:24:50 +1100> From: "Denise Tart & David Green" > Subject: [ilds] Durrell Interview> To: "Durrel" > Message-ID: <5A05C4D383B849D393AF0D7446402E08 at MumandDad>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"> > Dear Mr Hedges,> > many thanks for your contribution to the list. I have downloaded the Durrell interview to read on the way to Lake Crackenback in the Australian Alps. Going to a wedding. doubtless much new world wine will be consumed. Did you know LD liked Californian Chardonnay? I am sure he would have like the Australian variety but sadly he died before the Aussie wine marketing juggenaught launched itself upon the world, to the great annoyance of the French - and that cant be a bad thing!> > David Green> > with apologies to Marc Piel > > > 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/20090116/98fe54b4/attachment-0001.html > > ------------------------------> > _______________________________________________> ILDS mailing list> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds> > > End of ILDS Digest, Vol 22, Issue 7> *********************************** _________________________________________________________________ Choose the perfect PC or mobile phone for you http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/130777504/direct/01/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20090117/8e4224ca/attachment.html From odos.fanourios at gmail.com Sat Jan 17 09:30:43 2009 From: odos.fanourios at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:30:43 -0800 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 22, Issue 7 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <497215C3.7010809@gmail.com> Incidentally, the story of the guitar and Elizabethan love songs appears in his first novel, /Pied Piper of Lovers/, as well. Even into the 1960s, photos from interviews show him with the guitar, so I think it's safe to say this self-mocking pose is one he cultivated... Best, James RW HEDGES wrote: > > I was happy to have found something to offer fellow Durrell Fans.....I > love the story of Lawrence as a young writer buying a vat of red wine > and a guitar and learning lots of melacholy Elizabethen love songs. The > portrait from 'My family and other animals' by Gerald Durrell, strips > the Literature side of Lawrence back into a kind of cute Hemingway > (without the tendency for suicide and boring writing)character....He has > that kind of slightly tortured and massively spoiled, artist thing that > so endears me to this less serious Durrell. Dont get me wrong, I love > the Alexandria Quartet, but I feel I may have to work harder on it, > Whearas the juicy Black book is my favourite along with Bitter > Lemons.....California has got better at wine although they will never > understand a good label. If your in Australia (Denise and David) you > should see if you can get a bottle of 'Choclate Block', I forget the > maker, or 'D'arenburgs' famous 'Dead Arm'.....Hope you have a wonderful > trip, sure beats London suburbs! RW > > From: ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca > > Subject: ILDS Digest, Vol 22, Issue 7 > > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca > > Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:00:03 -0800 > > > > Send ILDS mailing list submissions to > > ilds at lists.uvic.ca > > > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > > ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca > > > > You can reach the person managing the list at > > ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca > > > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > > than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..." > > > > > > Today's Topics: > > > > 1. Durrell Interview (Denise Tart & David Green) > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > Message: 1 > > Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:24:50 +1100 > > From: "Denise Tart & David Green" > > Subject: [ilds] Durrell Interview > > To: "Durrel" > > Message-ID: <5A05C4D383B849D393AF0D7446402E08 at MumandDad> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > > > Dear Mr Hedges, > > > > many thanks for your contribution to the list. I have downloaded the > Durrell interview to read on the way to Lake Crackenback in the > Australian Alps. Going to a wedding. doubtless much new world wine will > be consumed. Did you know LD liked Californian Chardonnay? I am sure he > would have like the Australian variety but sadly he died before the > Aussie wine marketing juggenaught launched itself upon the world, to the > great annoyance of the French - and that cant be a bad thing! > > > > David Green > > > > with apologies to Marc Piel > > > > > > 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/20090116/98fe54b4/attachment-0001.html > > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > ILDS mailing list > > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > > > > > End of ILDS Digest, Vol 22, Issue 7 > > *********************************** > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > What can you do with the new Windows Live? Find out > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From dtart at bigpond.net.au Sun Jan 18 13:19:50 2009 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:19:50 +1100 Subject: [ilds] My Family, Bitter Lemons and wine Message-ID: Dear RWH - and others The portrayal of Larry in My Family is what got me intersted in Lawrence. He was by far the most interested animal in the book. After reading My family once right through I used to skip the insect bits and cut straight to Larry and his strange artist mates, drinking wine and being vastly affected would be Bohemianism. Although Larry comes across as rather a pretentious, egotistical fop (vats of red wine, a guitar and Elizabethan love songs), he is also revealed as the surrogate father of the family and as an outrageously funny man. Gerry loved his brother but was not afraid to take the piss out of him as well. I was intrigued by this portrayal and have been reading LD ever since. Bitter Lemons is one of LD's best books. It is really a synthesis of the island books incorporating the best of their features: history and conjecture, peasant life and lore, brilliant landscape and 'spirit of place' and the captivating personality of the author himself along with the added dimension of political drama, subtly and beautifully told. It's no wonder he got the Duff Cooper prize for it. Even my wife liked it. we had some discussion of Bitter Lemons on this list a while back and it was generally agreed that it certainly written when LD was at the height of his powers. Lastly, wine; I have tracked down this Chocolate Block using google. is this it? The fact that it was made by a company named Boekenhoutskloof and was from South Africa was a definite bonus. The color was a deep and dark crimson, sparkling with no turbidity. The nose was moderate showing ripe fruits, garrigue and just the faintest tough of bret. The palate had a medium-full body; not overly acidic (a French wine would have much more), and mouth-filling quality, no doubt due to the 14.5% alcohol that wasn't really noticeable. It had a slightly bitter and sweet quality that, God help me, reminded me of bittersweet chocolate. Not overly complex, it was smooth, fun and with a reasonable finish showing smooth tannins and a structure which lingered on in the mouth and the memory.The wine is made from an interesting blend of 44% Syrah, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Grenache Noir, 12% Cinsault, and 6% Viognier. Cinsault (cinsaut in France) is a grape I don't see too often. The Oxford Companion to wine reports that it was the most common variety planted South Africa until 1993 when it was overtaken by Cabernet Sauvignon. It is used primarily as a blending grape to add aroma, suppleness, perfume, and fruitiness to wines. It was also crossed with Pinot Noir to produce Pinotage, which is now a very well respected grape in South African winemaking. David Green PS - Norman Douglas may be dated, but South Wind reads like a book of exquisite philosophy and boy can you see where LD got some of his characters from. 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/20090119/4c39922f/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Sun Jan 18 15:49:55 2009 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:49:55 -0500 Subject: [ilds] My Family, Bitter Lemons and wine In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4973C023.4040701@utc.edu> Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > > PS - Norman Douglas may be dated, but South Wind reads like a book of > exquisite philosophy and boy can you see where LD got some of his > characters from. <<<"'It's thirsty work talking like a Norman Douglas character.'">>> Can you place that quotation, David? /Salud/-- Charles -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From dtart at bigpond.net.au Sun Jan 18 16:32:54 2009 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:32:54 +1100 Subject: [ilds] My Family, Bitter Lemons and wine References: <4973C023.4040701@utc.edu> Message-ID: <00388FD9050A474AB9B2E821D5056E12@MumandDad> Charles, Re: "'It's thirsty work talking like a Norman Douglas character.'" According to a work 'In Byron's Shadow: Modern Greece in English and American Imagination' the quote if from the Count D in Prospero's Cell. It is appropriate as, from what I have so far of South Wind, his characters speak often in long reflective, contemplative or discursive dialogues, frequently fueled by vinous libations or the appalling whiskey of Mr Parker's 'club' for dissolute English expats (now I am starting to write like him). Of course the Count is also saying that after a Norman Douglas dialogue, one need a good drink to whet the whistle again, as we say here. This work 'In Byron's Shadow' looks most interesting. Have you read it? Can you, ot others recommend it? David Green 16 William Street Marrickville NSW 2204 Australia +61 2 9564 6165 0412 707 625 dtart at bigpond.net.au From odos.fanourios at gmail.com Sun Jan 18 16:58:07 2009 From: odos.fanourios at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:58:07 -0800 Subject: [ilds] My Family, Bitter Lemons and wine In-Reply-To: <00388FD9050A474AB9B2E821D5056E12@MumandDad> References: <4973C023.4040701@utc.edu> <00388FD9050A474AB9B2E821D5056E12@MumandDad> Message-ID: <4973D01F.1010403@gmail.com> Hi David, I can recommend /In Byron's Shadow/ without hesitation. I reviewed it several years ago, and can repeat the gist -- I wished it had pursued its 'postcolonial' theme more explicitly (it's implied but never said), but as a study of the primary texts (and an amazing range of primary texts!), it never fails. Roessel gives intriguing and enriching interpretations, and he has an amazing ability to move back and forth between seemingly disparate works. It's also quite enjoyable to read, which I don't believe one can say about much academic criticism... Best, James Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > Charles, > > Re: "'It's thirsty work talking like a Norman Douglas character.'" > > According to a work 'In Byron's Shadow: Modern Greece in English and > American Imagination' the quote if from the Count D in Prospero's Cell. It > is appropriate as, from what I have so far of South Wind, his characters > speak often in long reflective, contemplative or discursive dialogues, > frequently fueled by vinous libations or the appalling whiskey of Mr > Parker's 'club' for dissolute English expats (now I am starting to write > like him). Of course the Count is also saying that after a Norman Douglas > dialogue, one need a good drink to whet the whistle again, as we say here. > > This work 'In Byron's Shadow' looks most interesting. Have you read it? Can > you, ot others recommend it? > > David Green > > 16 William Street > Marrickville NSW 2204 > Australia > +61 2 9564 6165 > 0412 707 625 > dtart at bigpond.net.au > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > From godshawl at email.uc.edu Sun Jan 18 15:53:10 2009 From: godshawl at email.uc.edu (william godshalk) Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:53:10 -0500 Subject: [ilds] My Family, Bitter Lemons and wine In-Reply-To: <4973C023.4040701@utc.edu> References: <4973C023.4040701@utc.edu> Message-ID: No, but "boy" stands out. At 06:49 PM 1/18/2009, you wrote: >Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > > > > PS - Norman Douglas may be dated, but South Wind reads like a book of > > exquisite philosophy and boy can you see where LD got some of his > > characters from. ><<<"'It's thirsty work talking like a Norman Douglas character.'">>> > >Can you place that quotation, David? > >/Salud/-- > >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 *************************************** W. L. Godshalk * Department of English * University of Cincinnati Stellar disorder * Cincinnati OH 45221-0069 * 513-281-5927 *************************************** From dtart at bigpond.net.au Sun Jan 18 22:41:00 2009 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:41:00 +1100 Subject: [ilds] My Family, Bitter Lemons and wine References: <4973C023.4040701@utc.edu> Message-ID: <2605DB4B611147F39D3AEA8C70B32D9A@MumandDad> I think the quotation in question was " It's thirty work talking like a Norman Douglas character" 'boy' had nothing to do with it and you said this just to make fun of me. I wonder who is laughing? David. 16 William Street Marrickville NSW 2204 +61 2 9564 6165 0412 707 625 dtart at bigpond.net.au ----- Original Message ----- From: "william godshalk" To: ; Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 10:53 AM Subject: Re: [ilds] My Family, Bitter Lemons and wine > No, but "boy" stands out. > > > At 06:49 PM 1/18/2009, you wrote: >>Denise Tart & David Green wrote: >> > >> > PS - Norman Douglas may be dated, but South Wind reads like a book of >> > exquisite philosophy and boy can you see where LD got some of his >> > characters from. >><<<"'It's thirsty work talking like a Norman Douglas character.'">>> >> >>Can you place that quotation, David? >> >>/Salud/-- >> >>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 > > *************************************** > W. L. Godshalk * > Department of English * > University of Cincinnati Stellar disorder * > Cincinnati OH 45221-0069 * > 513-281-5927 > *************************************** > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds >