[ilds] overprivileged aestheticism

[Bruce Redwine]

David, I'll drink a toast to you and Count D., who is really Durrell  
himself in aristocratic disguise.


Bruce


On Sep 25, 2009, at 3:56 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote:

> Terry Eagleton comes across as an old style intellectual commo of a  
> type I was very familiar with at University in the early 80's. You  
> can tell by the text Sumatra posted that he has that hate mongering  
> leftist tone such one used to find in the Guardian newspaper. I can  
> easily imagine that Durrell's Raj background and literary aspiration  
> without a university degree would have annoyed the puritanical  
> Eagleton enormously - in the same way that Albert Finney did not get  
> on with Gerald when the two were working on a film version of My  
> Family and Other Animals. Here is Douglas Botting:
>
> Gerald and Finney were unable to form much personal rapport, for  
> Finnet regarded Gerald as an overprivileged product of the Raj - or  
> so it seemed to Gerald - while Gerald grew weary of Finney's  
> exegesis of his own underprivileged working class childhood (pp 344  
> - 345 Harper Collins paperback)
>
> I reckon Larry wrote quite consciously against the style of which  
> reb brick university Eagleton would have approved. His work is  
> deliberate rejection of post war marxism - just look at the cast of  
> characters and the settings in the quartet and the quintet - as for  
> the languid,philosphic idle of Prosperos Cell, the likes of Eaglton  
> must have choked on this when they read it! This is probably why I  
> like it so much. The Count D is my hero.
>
> I would like to propose a toast in the finest wine known to humanity  
> to overprivileged aetheticism, long may it continue to grace the  
> world as a civilised and restraining influence on Wildean model or  
> the model of Norman Douglas.
>
> As for being working class, as a former premier of New South Wales  
> said; "the best thing about being working class is the chance to get  
> out of it!" as I am sure Finney and possibly Eagleton have. And as  
> for trying to put Larry down for avoiding World War Two - sure, why  
> not. War is a capitalist Imperialist plot anyway. Eagleton should  
> have approved.
>
>
> David Green
> 16 William Street
> Marrickville NSW  2204
> +61 2 9564 6165
> 0412 707 625
> dtart at bigpond.net.au

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