From dtart at bigpond.net.au Mon Sep 13 13:53:29 2010 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 06:53:29 +1000 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 8_the blue really begins in the Aegean In-Reply-To: References: <18769689.1284220874102.JavaMail.root@elwamui-muscovy.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <24F6155841474E1EB31CBA472D6F9235@DenisePC> "Externalize yourself" may well have been Douglas's lifelong philosophy. One could do worse . . . Certainly Durrell's three great Island books are more introspective than Douglas's South Wind, the later being written in the third rather than first person for a start. There is a polished lightness to Douglas's touch which may support Grove's idea of this authors externalisation. There is something deeper, darker and more personal with Durrell's reflections and introspections on Aegean or indeed Ionian Blue. Greece is indeed entered through a dark crystal and for all the the sunlight and sparkling water, the author is there, brooding and mulling over the past - trying to get back to Arcadian days but not finding them because he and the world has changed. David From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Mon Sep 13 15:07:23 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:07:23 -0700 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 8_the blue really begins in the Aegean In-Reply-To: <24F6155841474E1EB31CBA472D6F9235@DenisePC> References: <18769689.1284220874102.JavaMail.root@elwamui-muscovy.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <24F6155841474E1EB31CBA472D6F9235@DenisePC> Message-ID: Well said. I agree. BR On Sep 13, 2010, at 1:53 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > "Externalize yourself" may well have been Douglas's lifelong philosophy. One > could do worse . . . > > Certainly Durrell's three great Island books are more introspective than > Douglas's South Wind, the later being written in the third rather than first > person for a start. There is a polished lightness to Douglas's touch which > may support Grove's idea of this authors externalisation. There is > something deeper, darker and more personal with Durrell's reflections and > introspections on Aegean or indeed Ionian Blue. Greece is indeed entered > through a dark crystal and for all the the sunlight and sparkling water, the > author is there, brooding and mulling over the past - trying to get back to > Arcadian days but not finding them because he and the world has changed. > > David > > From marcpiel at interdesign.fr Mon Sep 13 15:10:56 2010 From: marcpiel at interdesign.fr (Marc Piel) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:10:56 +0200 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 8_the blue really begins in the Aegean In-Reply-To: <24F6155841474E1EB31CBA472D6F9235@DenisePC> References: <18769689.1284220874102.JavaMail.root@elwamui-muscovy.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <24F6155841474E1EB31CBA472D6F9235@DenisePC> Message-ID: <4C8EA170.2010503@interdesign.fr> Durrell is there everywhere in every book and whatever you say he will always be. That is part of his talent that most do not have. That is why we connect so well with him. Marc Le 13/09/10 22:53, Denise Tart & David Green a ?crit : > "Externalize yourself" may well have been Douglas's lifelong philosophy. One > could do worse . . . > > Certainly Durrell's three great Island books are more introspective than > Douglas's South Wind, the later being written in the third rather than first > person for a start. There is a polished lightness to Douglas's touch which > may support Grove's idea of this authors externalisation. There is > something deeper, darker and more personal with Durrell's reflections and > introspections on Aegean or indeed Ionian Blue. Greece is indeed entered > through a dark crystal and for all the the sunlight and sparkling water, the > author is there, brooding and mulling over the past - trying to get back to > Arcadian days but not finding them because he and the world has changed. > > David > > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > > From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Mon Sep 13 15:18:43 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:18:43 -0700 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 8_the blue really begins in the Aegean In-Reply-To: <4C8EA170.2010503@interdesign.fr> References: <18769689.1284220874102.JavaMail.root@elwamui-muscovy.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <24F6155841474E1EB31CBA472D6F9235@DenisePC> <4C8EA170.2010503@interdesign.fr> Message-ID: I agree with Marc. Durrell's personality suffuses his books. That's what makes them so enjoyable. If Eastern philosophy largely involves the extinction of the self, then Durrell's books fail utterly in this regard ? happily. He doesn't practice what he preaches. Bruce On Sep 13, 2010, at 3:10 PM, Marc Piel wrote: > Durrell is there everywhere in every book and > whatever you say he will always be. That is part > of his talent that most do not have. > That is why we connect so well with him. > Marc > > Le 13/09/10 22:53, Denise Tart & David Green a ?crit : >> "Externalize yourself" may well have been Douglas's lifelong philosophy. One >> could do worse . . . >> >> Certainly Durrell's three great Island books are more introspective than >> Douglas's South Wind, the later being written in the third rather than first >> person for a start. There is a polished lightness to Douglas's touch which >> may support Grove's idea of this authors externalisation. There is >> something deeper, darker and more personal with Durrell's reflections and >> introspections on Aegean or indeed Ionian Blue. Greece is indeed entered >> through a dark crystal and for all the the sunlight and sparkling water, the >> author is there, brooding and mulling over the past - trying to get back to >> Arcadian days but not finding them because he and the world has changed. >> >> David >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 From Fraser.Wilson at eht.nhs.uk Tue Sep 14 02:29:05 2010 From: Fraser.Wilson at eht.nhs.uk (Wilson, Fraser) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:29:05 +0100 Subject: [ilds] South Wind References: <18769689.1284220874102.JavaMail.root@elwamui-muscovy.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <24F6155841474E1EB31CBA472D6F9235@DenisePC> Message-ID: <73EE03F36052BC48BD48C86191489F3B01A7D218@eht-mail01p.xeht.nhs.uk> South Wind was unable to register in my senses as a coherent whole - as having a purpose or deducible message. What has stuck with me is the piercing clarity of parts of the prose, which I still dip in to frequently. I am particularly interested in his treatment of religion in the context of the northern and southern European temperament, as below. Is there any echo of this in Durrell's world picture beyond the obvious 'pudding island' connotations? "Goth and Latin?" "One does not always like to employ such terms; they are so apt to cover deficiency of ideas, or to obscure the issue. But certainly the sun which colours our complexion and orders our daily habits, influences at the same time our character and outlook. The almost hysterical changes of light and darkness, summer and winter, which have impressed themselves on the literature of the North, are unknown here. Northern people, whether from climatic or other causes, are prone to extremes, like their own myths and sagas. The Bible is essentially a book of extremes. It is a violent document. The Goth or Anglo-Saxon has taken kindly to this book because it has always suited his purposes. It has suited his purposes because, according to his abruptly varying moods, he has never been at a loss to discover therein exactly what he wanted--authority for every grade of emotional conduct, from savage vindictiveness to the most abject self-abasement. One thing he would never have found, had he cared to look for it--an incitement to live the life of reason, to strive after intellectual honesty and self-respect, and to keep his mind open to the logic of his five senses. That is why, during the troubled Middle Ages when the oscillations of national and individual life were yet abrupter--when, therefore, that classical quality of temperance was more than ever at a discount--the Bible took so firm a hold upon you. Its unquiet teachings responded to the unquiet yearnings of men. Your conservatism, your reverence for established institutions, has done the rest. No! I do not call to mind any passages in the Bible commending the temperate philosophic life; though it would be strange if so large a miscellany did not contain a few sound reflections. Temperance," he concluded, as though speaking to himself--"temperance! All the rest is embroidery." -----Original Message----- From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [mailto:ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of Denise Tart & David Green Sent: 13 September 2010 21:53 To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42,Issue 8_the blue really begins in the Aegean "Externalize yourself" may well have been Douglas's lifelong philosophy. One could do worse . . . Certainly Durrell's three great Island books are more introspective than Douglas's South Wind, the later being written in the third rather than first person for a start. There is a polished lightness to Douglas's touch which may support Grove's idea of this authors externalisation. There is something deeper, darker and more personal with Durrell's reflections and introspections on Aegean or indeed Ionian Blue. Greece is indeed entered through a dark crystal and for all the the sunlight and sparkling water, the author is there, brooding and mulling over the past - trying to get back to Arcadian days but not finding them because he and the world has changed. David _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From dtart at bigpond.net.au Tue Sep 14 00:07:05 2010 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:07:05 +1000 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 8_the blue really begins in the Aegean In-Reply-To: <4C8EA170.2010503@interdesign.fr> References: <18769689.1284220874102.JavaMail.root@elwamui-muscovy.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <24F6155841474E1EB31CBA472D6F9235@DenisePC> <4C8EA170.2010503@interdesign.fr> Message-ID: Marc, I absolutely agree. That is why we connect with him. Sometimes, when you read him, Larry is so close you can smell the wine on his breath; a gift indeed. My point was to pick up on Grove's idea of internal versus external. In South Wind Norman Douglas steers the ship but he does not appear on deck. Durrell is always on deck, especially in his island books, even if not al his characters are quite real. He certainly is which is what I meant - not as an attack but as an observation. David Whitewine -------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc Piel" Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 8:10 AM To: "Denise Tart & David Green" ; Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 8_the blue really begins in the Aegean > Durrell is there everywhere in every book and whatever you say he will > always be. That is part of his talent that most do not have. > That is why we connect so well with him. > Marc > > Le 13/09/10 22:53, Denise Tart & David Green a ?crit : >> "Externalize yourself" may well have been Douglas's lifelong philosophy. >> One >> could do worse . . . >> >> Certainly Durrell's three great Island books are more introspective than >> Douglas's South Wind, the later being written in the third rather than >> first >> person for a start. There is a polished lightness to Douglas's touch >> which >> may support Grove's idea of this authors externalisation. There is >> something deeper, darker and more personal with Durrell's reflections and >> introspections on Aegean or indeed Ionian Blue. Greece is indeed entered >> through a dark crystal and for all the the sunlight and sparkling water, >> the >> author is there, brooding and mulling over the past - trying to get back >> to >> Arcadian days but not finding them because he and the world has changed. >> >> David >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> ILDS mailing list >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds >> >> >> > From dtart at bigpond.net.au Tue Sep 14 00:43:24 2010 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:43:24 +1000 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 8_the blue really begins in the Aegean In-Reply-To: References: <18769689.1284220874102.JavaMail.root@elwamui-muscovy.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <24F6155841474E1EB31CBA472D6F9235@DenisePC> <4C8EA170.2010503@interdesign.fr> Message-ID: <45F1B54B35EC42FEB5349CFE0CDA1D23@DenisePC> Amen Bruce. LGD may have imbibed eastern ideas and read Buddhist philosophy, but he was definitely a western style individualist - writing allowed him to live as a non conformist eccentric person in a way that he could not in other jobs. Durrell does not subsume his ego. He manifested it. Alcohol may have been part of it. I came across this - "Gilman Ostrander explains that: 'alcoholism is basically a disease of individualism. if afflicts people who from early childhood develop a strong sense of being psychologically alone and on their own in the world. this solitary outlook prevents them from gaining emotional release through associations with other people, but they find they can get this release through drinking. ...the Encyclopedia Britannica points to 'inconsistency in rearing practices' as a major factor, and suggests that the potential alcoholic would begin to demonstrate 'defiant exhibitionistic deviance' from an early age. Marc, this does not mean I don't like the guy or admire his work David -------------------------------------------------- From: "Bruce Redwine" Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 8:18 AM To: ; Cc: "Bruce Redwine" ; "Denise Tart & David Green" Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 8_the blue really begins in the Aegean > I agree with Marc. Durrell's personality suffuses his books. That's what > makes them so enjoyable. If Eastern philosophy largely involves the > extinction of the self, then Durrell's books fail utterly in this regard ? > happily. He doesn't practice what he preaches. > > > Bruce > > > > On Sep 13, 2010, at 3:10 PM, Marc Piel wrote: > >> Durrell is there everywhere in every book and >> whatever you say he will always be. That is part >> of his talent that most do not have. >> That is why we connect so well with him. >> Marc >> >> Le 13/09/10 22:53, Denise Tart & David Green a ?crit : >>> "Externalize yourself" may well have been Douglas's lifelong philosophy. >>> One >>> could do worse . . . >>> >>> Certainly Durrell's three great Island books are more introspective than >>> Douglas's South Wind, the later being written in the third rather than >>> first >>> person for a start. There is a polished lightness to Douglas's touch >>> which >>> may support Grove's idea of this authors externalisation. There is >>> something deeper, darker and more personal with Durrell's reflections >>> and >>> introspections on Aegean or indeed Ionian Blue. Greece is indeed entered >>> through a dark crystal and for all the the sunlight and sparkling water, >>> the >>> author is there, brooding and mulling over the past - trying to get back >>> to >>> Arcadian days but not finding them because he and the world has changed. >>> >>> David >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 > > From sumantranag at gmail.com Tue Sep 14 06:24:46 2010 From: sumantranag at gmail.com (Sumantra Nag) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:54:46 +0530 Subject: [ilds] The Aegean_#!/video/video.php?v=417112179855&ref=mf Message-ID: <4CE48354EAAE4DD0B063200309BA6009@abc> "...The blue really begins..." http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=25934873646#!/video/video.php?v=417112179855&ref=mf -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100914/21674f2b/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Wed Sep 15 07:47:41 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 07:47:41 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Room 13 Message-ID: <947D6F74-C2AF-4579-9205-47EED3CF00B5@earthlink.net> Room 13, H?tel Royale, Montparnasse ? any idea why that hotel was Durrell's favorite and why he always stayed in that room when in Paris? And who was "Buttons?" See G. Bowker, Through the Dark Labyrinth, p. 381. BR -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100915/0b8538ca/attachment.html From sumantranag at gmail.com Wed Sep 15 10:33:39 2010 From: sumantranag at gmail.com (Sumantra Nag) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:03:39 +0530 Subject: [ilds] Fw: ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 12_The Aegean...the blue really begins Message-ID: <3446D463C74D4AE08DA017846259DB34@abc> Just thought I should add by way of explanation that the attached video on the link below, captures the intense blue colour of the Aegean at Crete and appears to focus on it (the consistent blue colour of the water) through moving views across the surface of the water and at very close quarters as well. Seemed very closely related to the recent exchanges on the Aegean. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=25934873646#!/video/video.php?v=417112179855&ref=mf Sumantra ----------------------------------------------------- Message: 8 Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:54:46 +0530 From: "Sumantra Nag" Subject: [ilds] The Aegean_#!/video/video.php?v=417112179855&ref=mf To: Message-ID: <4CE48354EAAE4DD0B063200309BA6009 at abc> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" "...The blue really begins..." http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=25934873646#!/video/video.php?v=417112179855&ref=mf From dtart at bigpond.net.au Wed Sep 15 12:17:42 2010 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 05:17:42 +1000 Subject: [ilds] Fw: ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 12_The Aegean...the blue really begins In-Reply-To: <3446D463C74D4AE08DA017846259DB34@abc> References: <3446D463C74D4AE08DA017846259DB34@abc> Message-ID: Sumantra, some great footage there. made me want to go swimming at once. LD has some excellent descriptions of the blue off Rhodes which I will dig out - something about citrus tones where the water crushed up against the shore. more anon. -------------------------------------------------- From: "Sumantra Nag" Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 3:33 AM To: Subject: [ilds] Fw: ILDS Digest, Vol 42,Issue 12_The Aegean...the blue really begins > Just thought I should add by way of explanation that the attached video on > the link below, captures the intense blue colour of the Aegean at Crete > and > appears to focus on it (the consistent blue colour of the water) through > moving views across the surface of the water and at very close quarters as > well. Seemed very closely related to the recent exchanges on the Aegean. > > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=25934873646#!/video/video.php?v=417112179855&ref=mf > > Sumantra > ----------------------------------------------------- > Message: 8 > Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:54:46 +0530 > From: "Sumantra Nag" > Subject: [ilds] The Aegean_#!/video/video.php?v=417112179855&ref=mf > To: > Message-ID: <4CE48354EAAE4DD0B063200309BA6009 at abc> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > "...The blue really begins..." > > > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=25934873646#!/video/video.php?v=417112179855&ref=mf > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > From lillios at mail.ucf.edu Wed Sep 15 16:07:49 2010 From: lillios at mail.ucf.edu (Anna Lillios) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:07:49 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Fwd: Lawrence Durrell Bibliographical Query Message-ID: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> Can anyone on the list answer this question? Dr. Anna Lillios Associate Professor of English Department of English University of Central Florida P.O. Box 161346 Orlando, Florida 32816-1346 Phone: (407) 823-5161 FAX: (407) 823-6582 -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "John Whythe" Subject: Lawrence Durrell Bibliographical Query Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:51:14 +0100 Size: 7211 Url: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100915/570bfd10/attachment.mht From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Wed Sep 15 16:15:11 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:15:11 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Fwd: Lawrence Durrell Bibliographical Query In-Reply-To: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> Message-ID: <4C91537F.7090309@utc.edu> On 9/15/10 7:07 PM, Anna Lillios wrote: > I have a problem in that one of the review extracts on the back panel > has some damage leaving a few snatches illegible; I wonder if you > would be good enough to complete them for me? I would be so grateful > if can locate this review, as I have searched in vain on the web! Bill Godshalk owns almost every instantiation of the Faber printings (editions & impressions). Most of his copies have jackets in place and intact. Could you fill in that lost data for Mr. Wythe, Bill? My Faber printings are all up at the office. Thanks. Here is his address again: "John Whythe" C&c. -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100915/911b0cce/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Wed Sep 15 16:29:17 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:29:17 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Fwd: Lawrence Durrell Bibliographical Query In-Reply-To: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> Message-ID: <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> Yes. The correct phrases read: 1. with a writer of quite unusual distinction. 2. it embodies "memories of this pure sunlight," 3. "in idle friendship and humour" That's all folks. BR On Sep 15, 2010, at 4:07 PM, Anna Lillios wrote: > Can anyone on the list answer this question? > > Dr. Anna Lillios > Associate Professor of English > Department of English > University of Central Florida > P.O. Box 161346 > Orlando, Florida 32816-1346 > > Phone: (407) 823-5161 > FAX: (407) 823-6582 > From: "John Whythe" > Date: September 15, 2010 8:51:14 AM PDT > To: > Subject: Lawrence Durrell Bibliographical Query > Reply-To: > > > Dear Ms Lillios, > > > > I am the founder of the ReproJackets project to create a repository of digitally-restored dustjackets of collectible books (www.reprojackets.com) and am in the process of restoring that of the UK 1st edition of Justine (2nd impression). I have a problem in that one of the review extracts on the back panel has some damage leaving a few snatches illegible; I wonder if you would be good enough to complete them for me? I would be so grateful if can locate this review, as I have searched in vain on the web! > > > > The review in question was by Harold Nicolson in The Observer reviewing Durrell?s Reflections on a Marine Venus, and reads as follows with the three missing sections marked [???]: > > > > ?...a gay and lovely book ... the sort that makes people feel happy. Partly because it is pleasurable to enjoy the conjunction of an ideal subject with a [???] quite unusual distinction. And partly because it embodies ?mem-[???] pure sunlight, these dancing summer days passed in idle [???] and humour by the maned Aegean?.? > > > > Many thanks for any assistance you can provide, > > > > With very best wishes, > > John Whythe > > ReproJackets > > South Wales, UK > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100915/db9d5de2/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Wed Sep 15 17:58:09 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:58:09 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Durrell Bibliographical Query In-Reply-To: <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <4C916BA1.4060005@utc.edu> On 9/15/10 7:29 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > Yes. The correct phrases read: > > 1. with a writer of quite unusual distinction. > > 2. it embodies "memories of this pure sunlight," > > 3. "in idle friendship and humour" > > Thanks, Bruce. Are those from a /Justine/ Faber 1.2? What is your source? I am recalling Mr. Wythe's query: > I am the founder of the ReproJackets project to create a > repository of digitally-restored dustjackets of collectible > books (www.reprojackets.com ) > and am in the process of restoring that of the UK 1^st edition > of */Justine/* (2^nd impression). That is to say, if Mr. Wythe's intention is "fidelity" in facsimile, the source of the text matters. As you can imagine, variants occur throughout jacket issues. On the one hand, what matters here is not fidelity to Harold Nicolson's words but rather an accurate transcription of the Faber /Justine/ 1.2 jacket, with all of its lovely particularities and peculiarities. On the other hand, the rationale and the method for the facsimile project seem rife with problems. Why not obtain a more intact example form which to scan a facsimile? What will Mr. Wythe be doing to patch up the holes in his jacket -- inserting his own text into a scan of the jacket? Oh dear. This is not to say that there will not be some sort of market for Mr. Wythe's work. If the things are affordable, one could do worse for wall decoration. Anyone attending book fairs in London will have anecdotes about how some Faber jackets fetch higher prices than the books to which they were originally wed. I appreciate the fact that attention is finally being given to some the best Design Art of the 20th century. The Faber house style from the 1950s and 1960s is on par with the Blue Note record label house style during the comparable years. But respect for such "ephemera" has been a long time coming. > The British Library is committed to collecting every British > publication, but from the 1920s until 1955 library staff > removed all dust jackets from newly-acquired books. A > selection of these dust jackets, mainly chosen from those > bearing illustrations or designs of interest, was kept > separately from the books from which they were taken. These > dust jackets are held by the V&A on loan where they can be > viewed by appointment > > in the Blythe House Reading Room. > > From 1956 to 1991 the British Library removed and retained all > British dust jackets as well as some from foreign language > volumes. A selection of these is held by the V&A, a > collection that totals more than 11,000 items. Whilst the > majority of these are taken from British publications, dust > jackets from a variety of countries can be found in the > collection, including Europe, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, > South America, India, Japan and Russia. > British Library Dust Jackets at the V&A http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/features/Dust%20Jackets/index.html BRITISH LIBRARY DUST JACKETS AT THE V&A http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/features/Dust%20Jackets/looking_collection/index.html LOOKING AT THE COLLECTION Faber & Faber http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/features/Dust%20Jackets/looking_collection/Faber_Faber/index.html -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100915/2fa5a352/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Wed Sep 15 19:48:07 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 22:48:07 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Durrell Bibliographical Query In-Reply-To: <6E25CA90-1B15-494C-8D62-694D226B5BC1@earthlink.net> References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> <4C916BA1.4060005@utc.edu> <6E25CA90-1B15-494C-8D62-694D226B5BC1@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <4C918567.7090107@utc.edu> On 9/15/10 9:49 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > Yes. I have a copy of the Faber edition of /Justine,/ dust jacket > intact, 1st ed., 2nd impression. Those were the words! > Good work, Bruce. As always, the devil comes when we don't mind the details. Charles -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100915/d1f57bb7/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Wed Sep 15 18:49:55 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:49:55 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Durrell Bibliographical Query In-Reply-To: <4C916BA1.4060005@utc.edu> References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> <4C916BA1.4060005@utc.edu> Message-ID: <6E25CA90-1B15-494C-8D62-694D226B5BC1@earthlink.net> Yes. I have a copy of the Faber edition of Justine, dust jacket intact, 1st ed., 2nd impression. Those were the words! BR On Sep 15, 2010, at 5:58 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: > On 9/15/10 7:29 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: >> >> Yes. The correct phrases read: >> >> 1. with a writer of quite unusual distinction. >> >> 2. it embodies "memories of this pure sunlight," >> >> 3. "in idle friendship and humour" >> >> > Thanks, Bruce. > > Are those from a Justine Faber 1.2? What is your source? > > I am recalling Mr. Wythe's query: > >> I am the founder of the ReproJackets project to create a repository of digitally-restored dustjackets of collectible books (www.reprojackets.com) and am in the process of restoring that of the UK 1st edition of Justine (2nd impression). > That is to say, if Mr. Wythe's intention is "fidelity" in facsimile, the source of the text matters. As you can imagine, variants occur throughout jacket issues. > > On the one hand, what matters here is not fidelity to Harold Nicolson's words but rather an accurate transcription of the Faber Justine 1.2 jacket, with all of its lovely particularities and peculiarities. > > On the other hand, the rationale and the method for the facsimile project seem rife with problems. Why not obtain a more intact example form which to scan a facsimile? What will Mr. Wythe be doing to patch up the holes in his jacket -- inserting his own text into a scan of the jacket? Oh dear. > > This is not to say that there will not be some sort of market for Mr. Wythe's work. If the things are affordable, one could do worse for wall decoration. > > Anyone attending book fairs in London will have anecdotes about how some Faber jackets fetch higher prices than the books to which they were originally wed. > > I appreciate the fact that attention is finally being given to some the best Design Art of the 20th century. The Faber house style from the 1950s and 1960s is on par with the Blue Note record label house style during the comparable years. But respect for such "ephemera" has been a long time coming. > >> The British Library is committed to collecting every British publication, but from the 1920s until 1955 library staff removed all dust jackets from newly-acquired books. A selection of these dust jackets, mainly chosen from those bearing illustrations or designs of interest, was kept separately from the books from which they were taken. These dust jackets are held by the V&A on loan where they can be viewed by appointment in the Blythe House Reading Room. >> >> From 1956 to 1991 the British Library removed and retained all British dust jackets as well as some from foreign language volumes. A selection of these is held by the V&A, a collection that totals more than 11,000 items. Whilst the majority of these are taken from British publications, dust jackets from a variety of countries can be found in the collection, including Europe, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South America, India, Japan and Russia. > > British Library Dust Jackets at the V&A > http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/features/Dust%20Jackets/index.html > > BRITISH LIBRARY DUST JACKETS AT THE V&A > http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/features/Dust%20Jackets/looking_collection/index.html > LOOKING AT THE COLLECTION > Faber & Faber > http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/features/Dust%20Jackets/looking_collection/Faber_Faber/index.html > > -- > ******************************************** > 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100915/103cd6be/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Wed Sep 15 19:57:59 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:57:59 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Durrell Bibliographical Query In-Reply-To: <4C918567.7090107@utc.edu> References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> <4C916BA1.4060005@utc.edu> <6E25CA90-1B15-494C-8D62-694D226B5BC1@earthlink.net> <4C918567.7090107@utc.edu> Message-ID: <1E043D70-D9A8-493A-A890-F9BE8E2DC9B2@earthlink.net> Now, what about those important questions ? what's the importance of Room 13, H?tel Royale, Montparnasse, Paris? and who was "Buttons?" BR On Sep 15, 2010, at 7:48 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: > On 9/15/10 9:49 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: >> >> Yes. I have a copy of the Faber edition of Justine, dust jacket intact, 1st ed., 2nd impression. Those were the words! >> > Good work, Bruce. As always, the devil comes when we don't mind the details. > > Charles > -- > ******************************************** > Charles L. Sligh > Assistant Professor > Department of English > University of Tennessee at Chattanooga > charles-sligh at utc.edu > ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100915/15c2d838/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Wed Sep 15 20:25:35 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:25:35 -0400 Subject: [ilds] tremendously energetic In-Reply-To: <1E043D70-D9A8-493A-A890-F9BE8E2DC9B2@earthlink.net> References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> <4C916BA1.4060005@utc.edu> <6E25CA90-1B15-494C-8D62-694D226B5BC1@earthlink.net> <4C918567.7090107@utc.edu> <1E043D70-D9A8-493A-A890-F9BE8E2DC9B2@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <4C918E2F.2030505@utc.edu> On 9/15/10 10:57 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > Now, what about those important questions ? what's the importance of > Room 13, H?tel Royale, Montparnasse, Paris? and who was "Buttons?" > > > I am not certain what you are asking. Do you need more detail about Buttons than MacNiven gives? "Sometimes his solitude was noisily fractured by a visit from the young woman he called 'Buttons', an employee of the Department of Antiquities at the Sorbonne. She was almost thirty but she looked much younger, with a girl's small-breasted figure, as dark-haired as Claude Kiefer was blonde, and not languorous but tremendously energetic. Often she was none too fastidious either[. . . .]" (591). Indeed. Much more than that would be talking out of school, no? No. 13? The place "impregnated" with a sense of all that (and all those) one has done -- cf. the /Durrell-Miller Letters/ 501. -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100915/fca3cd1c/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Thu Sep 16 05:49:32 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 08:49:32 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Lawrence Durrell Bibliographical Query In-Reply-To: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> Message-ID: <4C92125C.4060706@utc.edu> Dear Mr. Wythe: Please see the attached pdf for a color scan of the jacket blurbs for /Justine/ Faber 1.2. With my compliments -- please keep us posted about your work. Charles -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100916/1e226859/attachment-0002.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100916/1e226859/attachment-0003.html From Smithchamberlin at aol.com Thu Sep 16 08:33:30 2010 From: Smithchamberlin at aol.com (Smithchamberlin at aol.com) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:33:30 EDT Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 42, Issue 14 Message-ID: <3a018.2e7b6d3a.39c392ca@aol.com> For those who don't know the reference to Blue Note records and the work of Francis Wolff and Herman Leonard, see www.birkajazz.com/archive/blueNote1500.htm for examples of Blue Note covers, or just Google (verb) Blue Note Records Covers and enjoy. Brewster In a message dated 9/16/2010 8:53:45 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca writes: I appreciate the fact that attention is finally being given to some the best Design Art of the 20th century. The Faber house style from the 1950s and 1960s is on par with the Blue Note record label house style during the comparable years. But respect for such "ephemera" has been a long time coming. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100916/2743559a/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Thu Sep 16 08:46:00 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:46:00 -0400 Subject: [ilds] blue note and faber In-Reply-To: <3a018.2e7b6d3a.39c392ca@aol.com> References: <3a018.2e7b6d3a.39c392ca@aol.com> Message-ID: <4C923BB8.5070905@utc.edu> On 9/16/10 11:33 AM, Smithchamberlin at aol.com wrote: > For those who don't know the reference to Blue Note records and the > work of Francis Wolff and Herman Leonard, see > www.birkajazz.com/archive/*blueNote*1500.htm for examples of Blue Note > covers, or just Google (verb) Blue Note Records Covers and enjoy. > Brewster > Yes! You can spot a Blue Note record at a glance in the same way you scan a bookshop shelf and immediately spot the Faber designs. Those iconic designs, combined with those iconic rosters of musicians and writers -- some of the best work done last century. Thanks, Brewster. C&c. -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100916/204010c8/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Thu Sep 16 10:34:42 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 10:34:42 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Out of school In-Reply-To: <4C918E2F.2030505@utc.edu> References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> <4C916BA1.4060005@utc.edu> <6E25CA90-1B15-494C-8D62-694D226B5BC1@earthlink.net> <4C918567.7090107@utc.edu> <1E043D70-D9A8-493A-A890-F9BE8E2DC9B2@earthlink.net> <4C918E2F.2030505@utc.edu> Message-ID: Charles, Thanks. If by "out of school" you mean "divulge secrets," then let's divulge more. Seems to me this is the whole purpose of literary and biographical analysis. "Buttons" flits in and out of Durrell's last years like that other "waif of the . . . littoral" (Bal. 140), Melissa. Buttons is even described as having a small, dark, emaciated resemblance to the Greek dancer. Maybe she too is "phthisic." Why Room 13? Is there in fact or ever was a Room 13 in the H?tel Royal, Montparnasse? Some hotels don't even have a Room 13 because of superstitiousness. Durrell liked numerology, like his other dabblings in the occult; he also fantasized a lot, possibly lied. Eve said he was unreliable when it came to facts. She described a fabulator: an "entertainer" who drew people into "his world," who would also "make things up on the spur of the moment to suit the occasion, [though] he believed what he said" (Haag, City of Memory, p. 250). I'm wondering if something like all that is going on here with Buttons and Room 13. Durrell's last years ? don't they read like one of his novels? Bruce On Sep 15, 2010, at 8:25 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: > On 9/15/10 10:57 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: >> >> Now, what about those important questions ? what's the importance of Room 13, H?tel Royale, Montparnasse, Paris? and who was "Buttons?" >> >> >> > I am not certain what you are asking. > > Do you need more detail about Buttons than MacNiven gives? > "Sometimes his solitude was noisily fractured by a visit from the young woman he called 'Buttons', an employee of the Department of Antiquities at the Sorbonne. She was almost thirty but she looked much younger, with a girl's small-breasted figure, as dark-haired as Claude Kiefer was blonde, and not languorous but tremendously energetic. Often she was none too fastidious either[. . . .]" (591). > Indeed. Much more than that would be talking out of school, no? > > No. 13? The place "impregnated" with a sense of all that (and all those) one has done -- cf. the Durrell-Miller Letters 501. > > -- > ******************************************** > Charles L. Sligh > Assistant Professor > Department of English > University of Tennessee at Chattanooga > charles-sligh at utc.edu > ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100916/6e5c27f3/attachment.html From gkoger at mindspring.com Thu Sep 16 11:01:57 2010 From: gkoger at mindspring.com (gkoger at mindspring.com) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:01:57 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [ilds] Out of school Message-ID: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100916/d90779e9/attachment.html From godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu Thu Sep 16 13:51:32 2010 From: godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu (Godshalk, William (godshawl)) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:51:32 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Out of school In-Reply-To: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> Yes! Room 13 in all good hotels, does not exist. Is Buttons also nonexistent? An aporia? W. L. Godshalk * Department of English * * University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * OH 45221-0069 * * ________________________________________ From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of gkoger at mindspring.com [gkoger at mindspring.com] Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:01 PM To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school That's very well put! And isn't there a novel here that one of us should write? Grove -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Redwine Sent: Sep 16, 2010 11:34 AM To: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu, ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: Bruce Redwine Subject: [ilds] Out of school Charles, Thanks. If by "out of school" you mean "divulge secrets," then let's divulge more. Seems to me this is the whole purpose of literary and biographical analysis. "Buttons" flits in and out of Durrell's last years like that other "waif of the . . . littoral" (Bal. 140), Melissa. Buttons is even described as having a small, dark, emaciated resemblance to the Greek dancer. Maybe she too is "phthisic." Why Room 13? Is there in fact or ever was a Room 13 in the H?tel Royal, Montparnasse? Some hotels don't even have a Room 13 because of superstitiousness. Durrell liked numerology, like his other dabblings in the occult; he also fantasized a lot, possibly lied. Eve said he was unreliable when it came to facts. She described a fabulator: an "entertainer" who drew people into "his world," who would also "make things up on the spur of the moment to suit the occasion, [though] he believed what he said" (Haag, City of Memory, p. 250). I'm wondering if something like all that is going on here with Buttons and Room 13. Durrell's last years ? don't they read like one of his novels? Bruce From godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu Thu Sep 16 13:56:16 2010 From: godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu (Godshalk, William (godshawl)) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:56:16 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Out of school In-Reply-To: References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> <4C916BA1.4060005@utc.edu> <6E25CA90-1B15-494C-8D62-694D226B5BC1@earthlink.net> <4C918567.7090107@utc.edu> <1E043D70-D9A8-493A-A890-F9BE8E2DC9B2@earthlink.net> <4C918E2F.2030505@utc.edu>, Message-ID: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67127@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> Yes, again. Robert Scholes put Larry in his The Fabulators along with Iris Murdock. From dtart at bigpond.net.au Thu Sep 16 14:50:24 2010 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:50:24 +1000 Subject: [ilds] Out of school In-Reply-To: References: <4C9119850200004D0005CA72@mail.ucf.edu> <58678DF0-CCF0-4F85-8308-28B89F80586C@earthlink.net> <4C916BA1.4060005@utc.edu> <6E25CA90-1B15-494C-8D62-694D226B5BC1@earthlink.net> <4C918567.7090107@utc.edu><1E043D70-D9A8-493A-A890-F9BE8E2DC9B2@earthlink.net><4C918E2F.2030505@utc.edu> Message-ID: <850BF379AF314478ACEB053C34C1BFFF@DenisePC> Bruce, regarding Durrell's last years - yes, they read like much of the Avignon Quintet with parts of Sicilian Carousel thrown in. Sometimes, like Ol Hemm, writers become characters in their own fiction and caricatures of themselves and come to live what they write very closely - method writing if you like. David From: Bruce Redwine Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 3:34 AM To: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu ; ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: Bruce Redwine Subject: [ilds] Out of school Charles, Thanks. If by "out of school" you mean "divulge secrets," then let's divulge more. Seems to me this is the whole purpose of literary and biographical analysis. "Buttons" flits in and out of Durrell's last years like that other "waif of the . . . littoral" (Bal. 140), Melissa. Buttons is even described as having a small, dark, emaciated resemblance to the Greek dancer. Maybe she too is "phthisic." Why Room 13? Is there in fact or ever was a Room 13 in the H?tel Royal, Montparnasse? Some hotels don't even have a Room 13 because of superstitiousness. Durrell liked numerology, like his other dabblings in the occult; he also fantasized a lot, possibly lied. Eve said he was unreliable when it came to facts. She described a fabulator: an "entertainer" who drew people into "his world," who would also "make things up on the spur of the moment to suit the occasion, [though] he believed what he said" (Haag, City of Memory, p. 250). I'm wondering if something like all that is going on here with Buttons and Room 13. Durrell's last years ? don't they read like one of his novels? Bruce On Sep 15, 2010, at 8:25 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: On 9/15/10 10:57 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: Now, what about those important questions ? what's the importance of Room 13, H?tel Royale, Montparnasse, Paris? and who was "Buttons?" I am not certain what you are asking. Do you need more detail about Buttons than MacNiven gives? "Sometimes his solitude was noisily fractured by a visit from the young woman he called 'Buttons', an employee of the Department of Antiquities at the Sorbonne. She was almost thirty but she looked much younger, with a girl's small-breasted figure, as dark-haired as Claude Kiefer was blonde, and not languorous but tremendously energetic. Often she was none too fastidious either[. . . .]" (591). Indeed. Much more than that would be talking out of school, no? No. 13? The place "impregnated" with a sense of all that (and all those) one has done -- cf. the Durrell-Miller Letters 501. -- ******************************************** 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100917/abf2b746/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Thu Sep 16 16:22:10 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:22:10 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Out of school In-Reply-To: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> Message-ID: Bill, I think we're in agreement here. "Buttons" could be real, but she also seems to me fabricated, at least in part, starting with her moniker, which is the kind of nickname someone would give a cat or another pet, like the fictional Cun?gonde in Caesar's Vast Ghost. Then there's also her resemblance to characters in Durrell's fiction ? Melissa in the Quartet and Sabine in Monsieur (p. 41), that grimy version of a gypsy, who also flits in and out of a story. You could say he's basing these characters on real examples, but the recurrent pattern makes me suspicious. Yes, Durrell was a fabulator, but quite possibly a far greater one than Robert Scholes imagines. And by that I mean Durrell actually lived his fantasies. Bruce On Sep 16, 2010, at 1:51 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: > Yes! Room 13 in all good hotels, does not exist. Is Buttons also nonexistent? An aporia? > > > W. L. Godshalk * > Department of English * * > University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * > OH 45221-0069 * * > ________________________________________ > From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of gkoger at mindspring.com [gkoger at mindspring.com] > Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:01 PM > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca > Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school > > That's very well put! And isn't there a novel here that one of us should write? Grove > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bruce Redwine > Sent: Sep 16, 2010 11:34 AM > To: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu, ilds at lists.uvic.ca > Cc: Bruce Redwine > Subject: [ilds] Out of school > > Charles, > > Thanks. If by "out of school" you mean "divulge secrets," then let's divulge more. Seems to me this is the whole purpose of literary and biographical analysis. "Buttons" flits in and out of Durrell's last years like that other "waif of the . . . littoral" (Bal. 140), Melissa. Buttons is even described as having a small, dark, emaciated resemblance to the Greek dancer. Maybe she too is "phthisic." Why Room 13? Is there in fact or ever was a Room 13 in the H?tel Royal, Montparnasse? Some hotels don't even have a Room 13 because of superstitiousness. Durrell liked numerology, like his other dabblings in the occult; he also fantasized a lot, possibly lied. Eve said he was unreliable when it came to facts. She described a fabulator: an "entertainer" who drew people into "his world," who would also "make things up on the spur of the moment to suit the occasion, [though] he believed what he said" (Haag, City of Memory, p. 250). I'm wondering if something like all that is going on here with Buttons and Room 13. Durrell's last years ? don't they read like one of his novels? > > > Bruce > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100916/015ed8f4/attachment.html From rpinecorfu at yahoo.com Fri Sep 17 00:14:52 2010 From: rpinecorfu at yahoo.com (Richard Pine) Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:14:52 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [ilds] Out of school In-Reply-To: References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> Message-ID: <243662.44481.qm@web65811.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> 'Buttons' is - or was - a real person - the only person whose identity MacNiven refuses to reveal, even to persistent enquirers. RP ________________________________ From: Bruce Redwine To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: "gkoger at mindspring.com" ; Bruce Redwine Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 2:22:10 AM Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school Bill, I think we're in agreement here. ?"Buttons" could be real, but she also seems to me fabricated,?at least in part, starting with her moniker, which is the kind of nickname someone would give a cat or another pet, like the fictional Cun?gonde in Caesar's Vast Ghost. ?Then there's also her resemblance to characters in Durrell's fiction ? Melissa in the Quartet and Sabine?in?Monsieur (p. 41),?that grimy version of a gypsy,?who also flits in and out of a story.??You could say he's basing these characters on real examples, but the recurrent pattern makes me suspicious. ?Yes, Durrell was a fabulator, but quite possibly a far greater one than Robert Scholes imagines. ?And by that I mean Durrell actually lived his fantasies. Bruce On Sep 16, 2010, at 1:51 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: Yes! Room 13 in all good hotels, does not exist. Is Buttons also nonexistent? An aporia? > > >W. L. Godshalk * >Department of English ???* ??????????* >University of Cincinnati* ??* Stellar Disorder ?* >OH 45221-0069 * ?* >________________________________________ >From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of >gkoger at mindspring.com [gkoger at mindspring.com] >Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:01 PM >To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca >Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school > >That's very well put! And isn't there a novel here that one of us should write? >Grove > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Bruce Redwine >Sent: Sep 16, 2010 11:34 AM >To: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu, ilds at lists.uvic.ca >Cc: Bruce Redwine >Subject: [ilds] Out of school > >Charles, > >Thanks. ?If by "out of school" you mean "divulge secrets," then let's divulge >more. ?Seems to me this is the whole purpose of literary and biographical >analysis. ?"Buttons" flits in and out of Durrell's last years like that other >"waif of the . . . littoral" (Bal. 140), Melissa. ?Buttons is even described as >having a small, dark, emaciated resemblance to the Greek dancer. ?Maybe she too >is "phthisic." ?Why Room 13? ?Is there in fact or ever was a Room 13 in the >H?tel Royal, Montparnasse? ?Some hotels don't even have a Room 13 because of >superstitiousness. ?Durrell liked numerology, like his other dabblings in the >occult; he also fantasized a lot, possibly lied. ?Eve said he was unreliable >when it came to facts. ?She described a fabulator: ?an "entertainer" who drew >people into "his world," who would also "make things up on the spur of the >moment to suit the occasion, [though] he believed what he said" (Haag, City of >Memory, p. 250). ?I'm wondering if something like all that is going on here with >Buttons and Room 13. ?Durrell's last years ? don't they read like one of his >novels? > > >Bruce > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100917/801dfd40/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Fri Sep 17 11:32:47 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:32:47 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Buttons? In-Reply-To: <243662.44481.qm@web65811.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <243662.44481.qm@web65811.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> Message-ID: More doubt, more mystery. Now, why would MacNiven do that? Durrell's other romantic interests get identified, at least one adulterous ? so, why not "Buttons?" I'll speculate and assume she is real. As gleaned from Durrell's letters, his sketch of Buttons is not flattering. He seems to describe her as some prototype of Cun?gonde, that "Latex doll of great beauty," who appears at the end of CVG (pp. 188ff). Cun?gonde is not unique in Durrell's fiction; she has an antecedent in Justine. It's worthwhile to quote Da Capo on this matter, "All my ancestors went wrong here in the head. My father also. He was a great womanizer. When he was very old he had a model of the perfect woman built in rubber ? life-size. She could be filled with hot water in the winter. She was strikingly beautiful. He called her Sabina after his mother, and took her everywhere" (p. 34). Lots of echoes and reverberations here. Sabina/Sabine. Moreover, in an astonishing bit of life imitating art, Da Capo describes LD himself as an old man, a womanizer and fictional doll-maker. In Justine, Clea says, "There are only three things to be done with a woman . . . You can love her, suffer for her, or turn her into literature" (p. 22). Is Buttons, another doll-like companion, always on call for sexual services, is she being turned into "literature?" My point ? a woman may not want to be known, accurate or not, as merely a sexual plaything ? and a dirty one at that. BR On Sep 17, 2010, at 12:14 AM, Richard Pine wrote: > 'Buttons' is - or was - a real person - the only person whose identity MacNiven refuses to reveal, even to persistent enquirers. RP > > From: Bruce Redwine > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca > Cc: "gkoger at mindspring.com" ; Bruce Redwine > Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 2:22:10 AM > Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school > > Bill, > > I think we're in agreement here. "Buttons" could be real, but she also seems to me fabricated, at least in part, starting with her moniker, which is the kind of nickname someone would give a cat or another pet, like the fictional Cun?gonde in Caesar's Vast Ghost. Then there's also her resemblance to characters in Durrell's fiction ? Melissa in the Quartet and Sabine in Monsieur (p. 41), that grimy version of a gypsy, who also flits in and out of a story. You could say he's basing these characters on real examples, but the recurrent pattern makes me suspicious. Yes, Durrell was a fabulator, but quite possibly a far greater one than Robert Scholes imagines. And by that I mean Durrell actually lived his fantasies. > > > Bruce > > > > On Sep 16, 2010, at 1:51 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: > >> Yes! Room 13 in all good hotels, does not exist. Is Buttons also nonexistent? An aporia? >> >> >> W. L. Godshalk * >> Department of English * * >> University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * >> OH 45221-0069 * * >> ________________________________________ >> From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of gkoger at mindspring.com [gkoger at mindspring.com] >> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:01 PM >> To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca >> Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school >> >> That's very well put! And isn't there a novel here that one of us should write? Grove >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Bruce Redwine >> Sent: Sep 16, 2010 11:34 AM >> To: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu, ilds at lists.uvic.ca >> Cc: Bruce Redwine >> Subject: [ilds] Out of school >> >> Charles, >> >> Thanks. If by "out of school" you mean "divulge secrets," then let's divulge more. Seems to me this is the whole purpose of literary and biographical analysis. "Buttons" flits in and out of Durrell's last years like that other "waif of the . . . littoral" (Bal. 140), Melissa. Buttons is even described as having a small, dark, emaciated resemblance to the Greek dancer. Maybe she too is "phthisic." Why Room 13? Is there in fact or ever was a Room 13 in the H?tel Royal, Montparnasse? Some hotels don't even have a Room 13 because of superstitiousness. Durrell liked numerology, like his other dabblings in the occult; he also fantasized a lot, possibly lied. Eve said he was unreliable when it came to facts. She described a fabulator: an "entertainer" who drew people into "his world," who would also "make things up on the spur of the moment to suit the occasion, [though] he believed what he said" (Haag, City of Memory, p. 250). I'm wondering if something like all that is going on here with Buttons and Room 13. Durrell's last years ? don't they read like one of his novels? >> >> >> Bruce >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100917/b4f6a32a/attachment.html From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Fri Sep 17 12:15:04 2010 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:15:04 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Buttons? In-Reply-To: References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <243662.44481.qm@web65811.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4C93BE38.40302@gmail.com> > My point ? a woman may not want to be known, > accurate or not, as merely a sexual plaything > ? and a dirty one at that. You took the words right out of Iolanthe's mouth... I think she'd be the most important doll of all for Durrell, and she'd have nothing to do with Sabina or Cun?gonde. The women of /Pied Piper of Lovers/ and /Panic Spring/ strike me as having a good deal in common with Io/I as well. I'm dashing out the door, but I think there's a very productive discussion/disputation to be had here of the various "negative capabilities" in Durrell's texts where gender, autonomy, and desire overlap and contest each other. Is there an essential psychotic split between Durrell's visions of autonomous existence of the "I" and the effects of desire as a powerful solvent of such notions? I'm thinking of the city that lives the characters as its dolls vs. the life of the self that can be found in the rural islands; the pairing of autonomous individuals through love who must then negotiate the dissolving influence of desire on their autonomy; and the long tumble Durrell had the end of his life into a life lived through him and less by him. Best, James From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Fri Sep 17 13:48:18 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:48:18 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Buttons? In-Reply-To: <4C93BE38.40302@gmail.com> References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <243662.44481.qm@web65811.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> <4C93BE38.40302@gmail.com> Message-ID: James, Yes, if LD was fond of Gilbert and Sullivan and their Iolanthe ? if that's what you're referring to. Which I haven't seen, heard, or read. But you have me at another disadvantage. I haven't read Durrell's first two novels, so I can't comment. But if true, that doll-like women occur in the early novels, then this reinforces what has been repeated before and often, that is, the obsessive nature of Durrell's tropes and themes. Is there a distinction between life in the city and life on islands? Between the self/ego in one and then in the other? I'd like to think so, a wistful thought perhaps best understood metaphorically, but Cavafy comes to mind and his famous lines in "The City": "There's no new land, my friend, no / New sea; for the city will follow you." Durrell's problems followed him everywhere, no matter how he dressed them up. And he surely knew that. That's why, in my opinion, self-extinction was always an option. Bruce On Sep 17, 2010, at 12:15 PM, James Gifford wrote: >> My point ? a woman may not want to be known, >> accurate or not, as merely a sexual plaything >> ? and a dirty one at that. > > You took the words right out of Iolanthe's mouth... I think she'd be > the most important doll of all for Durrell, and she'd have nothing to do > with Sabina or Cun?gonde. The women of /Pied Piper of Lovers/ and > /Panic Spring/ strike me as having a good deal in common with Io/I as well. > > I'm dashing out the door, but I think there's a very productive > discussion/disputation to be had here of the various "negative > capabilities" in Durrell's texts where gender, autonomy, and desire > overlap and contest each other. Is there an essential psychotic split > between Durrell's visions of autonomous existence of the "I" and the > effects of desire as a powerful solvent of such notions? > > I'm thinking of the city that lives the characters as its dolls vs. the > life of the self that can be found in the rural islands; the pairing of > autonomous individuals through love who must then negotiate the > dissolving influence of desire on their autonomy; and the long tumble > Durrell had the end of his life into a life lived through him and less > by him. > > Best, > James -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100917/5b04e709/attachment.html From rpinecorfu at yahoo.com Sat Sep 18 00:27:51 2010 From: rpinecorfu at yahoo.com (Richard Pine) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 00:27:51 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [ilds] Buttons? In-Reply-To: References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <243662.44481.qm@web65811.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <312723.18329.qm@web65808.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> As far as I understand it, because he gave the woman in question an undertaking not to reveal her identity. An honourable course of action, but no doubt frustrating for voyeurs anxious to know the (w)hole truth. Regrettable that Ian doesn't seem to be part of this group. RP ________________________________ From: Bruce Redwine To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: Bruce Redwine Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 9:32:47 PM Subject: [ilds] Buttons? More doubt, more mystery. ?Now, why would MacNiven do that? ?Durrell's other romantic interests get identified, at least one adulterous ? so, why not "Buttons?" ?I'll speculate and assume she is real. As gleaned from Durrell's letters, his sketch of Buttons is not flattering. ?He seems to describe her as some prototype of Cun?gonde, that "Latex doll of great beauty," who appears at the end of CVG (pp. 188ff). ?Cun?gonde is not unique in Durrell's fiction; she has an antecedent in Justine. ?It's worthwhile to quote Da Capo on this matter, "All my ancestors went wrong here in the head. ?My father also. ?He was a great womanizer. ?When he was very old he had a model of the perfect woman built in rubber ? life-size. ?She could be filled with hot water in the winter. ?She was strikingly beautiful. ?He called her Sabina after his mother, and took her everywhere" (p. 34).??Lots of echoes and reverberations here. ?Sabina/Sabine. ?Moreover, in an astonishing bit of life imitating art, Da Capo describes LD himself as an old man, a womanizer and fictional doll-maker. ?In Justine, Clea says, "There are only three things to be done with a woman . . . You can love her, suffer for her, or turn her into literature" (p. 22). ?Is Buttons, another doll-like companion, always on call for sexual services, is she being turned into "literature?" ?My point ? a woman may not want to be known, accurate or not, as merely a sexual plaything ? and a dirty one at that. BR On Sep 17, 2010, at 12:14 AM, Richard Pine wrote: 'Buttons' is - or was - a real person - the only person whose identity MacNiven refuses to reveal, even to persistent enquirers. RP > > > > ________________________________ From:?Bruce Redwine >To:?ilds at lists.uvic.ca >Cc:?"gkoger at mindspring.com" ; Bruce Redwine > >Sent:?Fri, September 17, 2010 2:22:10 AM >Subject:?Re: [ilds] Out of school > >Bill, > > >I think we're in agreement here. ?"Buttons" could be real, but she also seems to >me fabricated,?at least in part, starting with her moniker, which is the kind of >nickname someone would give a cat or another pet, like the fictional Cun?gonde >in?Caesar's Vast Ghost. ?Then there's also her resemblance to characters in >Durrell's fiction ? Melissa in the?Quartet?and Sabine?in?Monsieur?(p. 41),?that >grimy version of a gypsy,?who also flits in and out of a story.??You could say >he's basing these characters on real examples, but the recurrent pattern makes >me suspicious. ?Yes, Durrell was a fabulator, but quite possibly a far greater >one than Robert Scholes imagines. ?And by that I mean Durrell actually lived his >fantasies. > > > > > >Bruce > > > > > > >On Sep 16, 2010, at 1:51 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: > >Yes! Room 13 in all good hotels, does not exist. Is Buttons also nonexistent? An >aporia? >> >> >>W. L. Godshalk * >>Department of English ???* ??????????* >>University of Cincinnati* ??* Stellar Disorder ?* >>OH 45221-0069 * ?* >>________________________________________ >>From:?ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca?[ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf >>Of?gkoger at mindspring.com?[gkoger at mindspring.com] >>Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:01 PM >>To:?ilds at lists.uvic.ca >>Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school >> >>That's very well put! And isn't there a novel here that one of us should write? >>Grove >> >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Bruce Redwine >>Sent: Sep 16, 2010 11:34 AM >>To:?Charles-Sligh at utc.edu,?ilds at lists.uvic.ca >>Cc: Bruce Redwine >>Subject: [ilds] Out of school >> >>Charles, >> >>Thanks. ?If by "out of school" you mean "divulge secrets," then let's divulge >>more. ?Seems to me this is the whole purpose of literary and biographical >>analysis. ?"Buttons" flits in and out of Durrell's last years like that other >>"waif of the . . . littoral" (Bal. 140), Melissa. ?Buttons is even described as >>having a small, dark, emaciated resemblance to the Greek dancer. ?Maybe she too >>is "phthisic." ?Why Room 13? ?Is there in fact or ever was a Room 13 in the >>H?tel Royal, Montparnasse? ?Some hotels don't even have a Room 13 because of >>superstitiousness. ?Durrell liked numerology, like his other dabblings in the >>occult; he also fantasized a lot, possibly lied. ?Eve said he was unreliable >>when it came to facts. ?She described a fabulator: ?an "entertainer" who drew >>people into "his world," who would also "make things up on the spur of the >>moment to suit the occasion, [though] he believed what he said" (Haag, City of >>Memory, p. 250). ?I'm wondering if something like all that is going on here with >>Buttons and Room 13. ?Durrell's last years ? don't they read like one of his >>novels? >> >> >>Bruce >> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100918/4259c465/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sat Sep 18 08:27:16 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 08:27:16 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Buttons? In-Reply-To: <312723.18329.qm@web65808.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <243662.44481.qm@web65811.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> <312723.18329.qm@web65808.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <19E3E81F-93A4-481E-A927-0C1D988E012F@earthlink.net> On the other hand, "the (w)hole truth," without the pun, is surely the objective of any biographer, and we who read biographies are all complicit "voyeurs," in some sense of the word. BR On Sep 18, 2010, at 12:27 AM, Richard Pine wrote: > As far as I understand it, because he gave the woman in question an undertaking not to reveal her identity. An honourable course of action, but no doubt frustrating for voyeurs anxious to know the (w)hole truth. Regrettable that Ian doesn't seem to be part of this group. RP > > From: Bruce Redwine > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca > Cc: Bruce Redwine > Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 9:32:47 PM > Subject: [ilds] Buttons? > > More doubt, more mystery. Now, why would MacNiven do that? Durrell's other romantic interests get identified, at least one adulterous ? so, why not "Buttons?" I'll speculate and assume she is real. > > As gleaned from Durrell's letters, his sketch of Buttons is not flattering. He seems to describe her as some prototype of Cun?gonde, that "Latex doll of great beauty," who appears at the end of CVG (pp. 188ff). Cun?gonde is not unique in Durrell's fiction; she has an antecedent in Justine. It's worthwhile to quote Da Capo on this matter, "All my ancestors went wrong here in the head. My father also. He was a great womanizer. When he was very old he had a model of the perfect woman built in rubber ? life-size. She could be filled with hot water in the winter. She was strikingly beautiful. He called her Sabina after his mother, and took her everywhere" (p. 34). Lots of echoes and reverberations here. Sabina/Sabine. Moreover, in an astonishing bit of life imitating art, Da Capo describes LD himself as an old man, a womanizer and fictional doll-maker. In Justine, Clea says, "There are only three things to be done with a woman . . . You can love her, suffer for her, or turn her into literature" (p. 22). Is Buttons, another doll-like companion, always on call for sexual services, is she being turned into "literature?" My point ? a woman may not want to be known, accurate or not, as merely a sexual plaything ? and a dirty one at that. > > > BR > > > > > On Sep 17, 2010, at 12:14 AM, Richard Pine wrote: > >> 'Buttons' is - or was - a real person - the only person whose identity MacNiven refuses to reveal, even to persistent enquirers. RP >> >> From: Bruce Redwine >> To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca >> Cc: "gkoger at mindspring.com" ; Bruce Redwine >> Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 2:22:10 AM >> Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school >> >> Bill, >> >> I think we're in agreement here. "Buttons" could be real, but she also seems to me fabricated, at least in part, starting with her moniker, which is the kind of nickname someone would give a cat or another pet, like the fictional Cun?gonde in Caesar's Vast Ghost. Then there's also her resemblance to characters in Durrell's fiction ? Melissa in the Quartet and Sabine in Monsieur (p. 41), that grimy version of a gypsy, who also flits in and out of a story. You could say he's basing these characters on real examples, but the recurrent pattern makes me suspicious. Yes, Durrell was a fabulator, but quite possibly a far greater one than Robert Scholes imagines. And by that I mean Durrell actually lived his fantasies. >> >> >> Bruce >> >> >> >> On Sep 16, 2010, at 1:51 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: >> >>> Yes! Room 13 in all good hotels, does not exist. Is Buttons also nonexistent? An aporia? >>> >>> >>> W. L. Godshalk * >>> Department of English * * >>> University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * >>> OH 45221-0069 * * >>> ________________________________________ >>> From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of gkoger at mindspring.com [gkoger at mindspring.com] >>> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:01 PM >>> To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca >>> Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school >>> >>> That's very well put! And isn't there a novel here that one of us should write? Grove >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Bruce Redwine >>> Sent: Sep 16, 2010 11:34 AM >>> To: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu, ilds at lists.uvic.ca >>> Cc: Bruce Redwine >>> Subject: [ilds] Out of school >>> >>> Charles, >>> >>> Thanks. If by "out of school" you mean "divulge secrets," then let's divulge more. Seems to me this is the whole purpose of literary and biographical analysis. "Buttons" flits in and out of Durrell's last years like that other "waif of the . . . littoral" (Bal. 140), Melissa. Buttons is even described as having a small, dark, emaciated resemblance to the Greek dancer. Maybe she too is "phthisic." Why Room 13? Is there in fact or ever was a Room 13 in the H?tel Royal, Montparnasse? Some hotels don't even have a Room 13 because of superstitiousness. Durrell liked numerology, like his other dabblings in the occult; he also fantasized a lot, possibly lied. Eve said he was unreliable when it came to facts. She described a fabulator: an "entertainer" who drew people into "his world," who would also "make things up on the spur of the moment to suit the occasion, [though] he believed what he said" (Haag, City of Memory, p. 250). I'm wondering if something like all that is going on here with Buttons and Room 13. Durrell's last years ? don't they read like one of his novels? >>> >>> >>> Bruce >>> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100918/b06055b3/attachment.html From godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu Sat Sep 18 12:20:48 2010 From: godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu (Godshalk, William (godshawl)) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 15:20:48 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Justine impression 5 Message-ID: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> I find that I do have a fifth impression of Justine, which has NO dust jacket with a spinal hand. Justine impression six has a dust jacket with a spinal hand in light blue. It seems to have been meant to be part of this package of text and paratext. But dust jackets do travel from book to book, and issue to issue. One can never be too skeptical, I think). Bill W. L. Godshalk * Department of English * * University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * OH 45221-0069 * * ________________________________________ From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of Bruce Redwine [bredwine1968 at earthlink.net] Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2010 11:27 AM To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: Bruce Redwine Subject: Re: [ilds] Buttons? On the other hand, "the (w)hole truth," without the pun, is surely the objective of any biographer, and we who read biographies are all complicit "voyeurs," in some sense of the word. BR On Sep 18, 2010, at 12:27 AM, Richard Pine wrote: As far as I understand it, because he gave the woman in question an undertaking not to reveal her identity. An honourable course of action, but no doubt frustrating for voyeurs anxious to know the (w)hole truth. Regrettable that Ian doesn't seem to be part of this group. RP ________________________________ From: Bruce Redwine > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: Bruce Redwine > Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 9:32:47 PM Subject: [ilds] Buttons? More doubt, more mystery. Now, why would MacNiven do that? Durrell's other romantic interests get identified, at least one adulterous ? so, why not "Buttons?" I'll speculate and assume she is real. As gleaned from Durrell's letters, his sketch of Buttons is not flattering. He seems to describe her as some prototype of Cun?gonde, that "Latex doll of great beauty," who appears at the end of CVG (pp. 188ff). Cun?gonde is not unique in Durrell's fiction; she has an antecedent in Justine. It's worthwhile to quote Da Capo on this matter, "All my ancestors went wrong here in the head. My father also. He was a great womanizer. When he was very old he had a model of the perfect woman built in rubber ? life-size. She could be filled with hot water in the winter. She was strikingly beautiful. He called her Sabina after his mother, and took her everywhere" (p. 34). Lots of echoes and reverberations here. Sabina/Sabine. Moreover, in an astonishing bit of life imitating art, Da Capo describes LD himself as an old man, a womanizer and fictional doll-maker. In Justine, Clea says, "There are only three things to be done with a woman . . . You can love her, suffer for her, or turn her into literature" (p. 22). Is Buttons, another doll-like companion, always on call for sexual services, is she being turned into "literature?" My point ? a woman may not want to be known, accurate or not, as merely a sexual plaything ? and a dirty one at that. BR On Sep 17, 2010, at 12:14 AM, Richard Pine wrote: 'Buttons' is - or was - a real person - the only person whose identity MacNiven refuses to reveal, even to persistent enquirers. RP ________________________________ From: Bruce Redwine > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: "gkoger at mindspring.com" >; Bruce Redwine > Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 2:22:10 AM Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school Bill, I think we're in agreement here. "Buttons" could be real, but she also seems to me fabricated, at least in part, starting with her moniker, which is the kind of nickname someone would give a cat or another pet, like the fictional Cun?gonde in Caesar's Vast Ghost. Then there's also her resemblance to characters in Durrell's fiction ? Melissa in the Quartet and Sabine in Monsieur (p. 41), that grimy version of a gypsy, who also flits in and out of a story. You could say he's basing these characters on real examples, but the recurrent pattern makes me suspicious. Yes, Durrell was a fabulator, but quite possibly a far greater one than Robert Scholes imagines. And by that I mean Durrell actually lived his fantasies. Bruce On Sep 16, 2010, at 1:51 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: Yes! Room 13 in all good hotels, does not exist. Is Buttons also nonexistent? An aporia? W. L. Godshalk * Department of English * * University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * OH 45221-0069 * * ________________________________________ From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of gkoger at mindspring.com [gkoger at mindspring.com] Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 2:01 PM To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Subject: Re: [ilds] Out of school That's very well put! And isn't there a novel here that one of us should write? Grove -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Redwine Sent: Sep 16, 2010 11:34 AM To: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu, ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: Bruce Redwine Subject: [ilds] Out of school Charles, Thanks. If by "out of school" you mean "divulge secrets," then let's divulge more. Seems to me this is the whole purpose of literary and biographical analysis. "Buttons" flits in and out of Durrell's last years like that other "waif of the . . . littoral" (Bal. 140), Melissa. Buttons is even described as having a small, dark, emaciated resemblance to the Greek dancer. Maybe she too is "phthisic." Why Room 13? Is there in fact or ever was a Room 13 in the H?tel Royal, Montparnasse? Some hotels don't even have a Room 13 because of superstitiousness. Durrell liked numerology, like his other dabblings in the occult; he also fantasized a lot, possibly lied. Eve said he was unreliable when it came to facts. She described a fabulator: an "entertainer" who drew people into "his world," who would also "make things up on the spur of the moment to suit the occasion, [though] he believed what he said" (Haag, City of Memory, p. 250). I'm wondering if something like all that is going on here with Buttons and Room 13. Durrell's last years ? don't they read like one of his novels? Bruce From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sat Sep 18 13:01:00 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:01:00 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Justine impression 5 In-Reply-To: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> References: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> Message-ID: <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> The dust jacket of my Justine 1.1 also has the imprint of a blue hand. The hand is Sappho-Jane's, no? Cf. Justine, "The wall above the sofa was covered in the blue imprints of juvenile hands ? the talisman which in this part of the world guards a house against the evil eye" (p. 45). Apparently, the talisman didn't work. BR On Sep 18, 2010, at 12:20 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: > I find that I do have a fifth impression of Justine, which has NO dust jacket with a spinal hand. > > Justine impression six has a dust jacket with a spinal hand in light blue. > > It seems to have been meant to be part of this package of text and paratext. But dust jackets do travel from book to book, and issue to issue. > > One can never be too skeptical, I think). > > Bill > > > W. L. Godshalk * > Department of English * * > University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * > OH 45221-0069 * * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100918/baff8ff9/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Sat Sep 18 13:50:01 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 16:50:01 -0400 Subject: [ilds] "two drunken snails dipped in permanganate" In-Reply-To: <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> References: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <4C9525F9.5080906@utc.edu> On 9/18/10 4:01 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > The dust jacket of my /Justine/ 1.1 also has the imprint of a blue > hand. The hand is Sappho-Jane's, no? The hand-print is meant to recall Sappho's hand as it originally appeared, traced in Durrell's /Justine/ notebooks. However, the image is not actually an imprint of Sappho's hand. I /believe/ that I learned from Joseph Connolly or from Michael Haag that Wolpe's daughter's hand was used for the jacket. That point should be clarified. The intro to Connolly's Faber retrospect gives significant attention to letters exchanged between Durrell and Wolpe about the jacket design. To put it mildly -- which Durrell did not -- Durrell was disappointed. > > /Dear Mr Wolpe > , / > > /It was good of you to send the cover mock-up. But what am I > to tell you honestly? It seems to me beyond words horrible; > and yet this is offensive to say to an artist of experience > like yourself. This dreadful puce! And I really think that two > drunken snails dipped in permanganate could have produced more > aesthetically pleasing shapes... / > Wolpe's response: > /Dear Mr Durrell > . Thank > you for your letter which did not reach me until Tuesday. The > printer had started printing the jacket and I am sorry to say > it was therefore impossible to make any alterations./ For the sake of clarification and accuracy, where does the hand-print appear on your copy, Bruce? On the spine /and/ on the front cover of the Faber /Justine/ 1.1 jacket? Or /only/ on the front cover of the jacket? As Bill knows, the hand-print did not appear on the jacket spines of the earliest printings. I think that Bill is referring to the appearance or absence of the hand-print on the spine, and I believe that he is seeking information -- as is Mr. Whythe -- regarding the first impression to feature the hand-print on the spine. Does anyone on the list own a Faber /Justine/ first edition, fifth impression (1.5) /with/ dust-jacket? If so, what do you find on the spine? Thank you. Bill: You are right. Dust jackets are often swapped and substituted between impressions, mixing and matching to make a bare book more attractive. Good sales technique. Bad bibliography. N.B.: Just because /most/ early impressions lack the hand-print on the spines of the jackets does not mean an anomaly did not occur. Reports are welcome. C&c. -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100918/36073b64/attachment.html From dtart at bigpond.net.au Sat Sep 18 14:18:07 2010 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 07:18:07 +1000 Subject: [ilds] City versus country Message-ID: <0A6AE2107BEA41DEB59DC09CBE7553B2@DenisePC> I'm thinking of the city that lives the characters as its dolls vs. the life of the self that can be found in the rural islands; the pairing of autonomous individuals through love who must then negotiate the dissolving influence of desire on their autonomy; and the long tumble Durrell had the end of his life into a life lived through him and less by him. Best, James James, I like this. Durrell's big multi volumes novels are both centered on cities: Avignon and Alexandria with a large cast including several women and then you have Durrell the "I" on his rural islands where the cast is smaller and secondary to the musings of the author. women, if do appear do not feature. Even Nancy and Eve are reduced to mere letters. metaphorically and otherwise the islands represent a calmer place for Durrell which we are invited to share in very different way from the city books. To another matter - Durrell's borrowings if you like, last night on Rick Stein's Mediterranean Journey he read from Elizabeth David's book a passage about the taste of olives as old as the taste of cold water - remarkably similar to to Durrell's own lines in Prospero's Cell. given the publication dates of their respective works, I am thinking that Durrell and David must have got this from some older text? David Denise Tart designing ceremonies Civil Celebrant - A8807 16 William Street Marrickville NSW 2204 + 61 2 9564 6`65 0412 707 625 www.denisetart.com.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100919/1b150997/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Sat Sep 18 14:53:19 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 17:53:19 -0400 Subject: [ilds] City versus country In-Reply-To: <0A6AE2107BEA41DEB59DC09CBE7553B2@DenisePC> References: <0A6AE2107BEA41DEB59DC09CBE7553B2@DenisePC> Message-ID: <4C9534CF.4090301@utc.edu> On 9/18/10 5:18 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > the long tumble > Durrell had the end of his life into a life lived through him and less > by him. That would make the following description of Pursewarden from /Justine/ hauntingly prescient: > That last meeting, for example, in the ugly and expensive > hotel bedroom to which he always moved on Pombal's return from > leave ... I did not recognize the heavy musty odour of the > room as the odour of his impending suicide - how should I? I > knew he was unhappy; even had he not been he would have felt > obliged to simulate unhappiness. All artists today are > expected to cultivate a little fashionable unhappiness. And > being Anglo-Saxon there was a touch of maudlin self-pity and > weakness which made him drink a bit. That evening he was > savage, silly and witty by turns; and listening to him I > remember thinking suddenly: 'Here is someone who in farming > his talent has neglected his sensibility, not by accident, but > deliberately, for its self-expression might have brought him > into conflict with the world, or his loneliness threatened his > reason. He could not bear to be refused admittance, while he > lived, to the halls of fame and recognition. Underneath it all > he has been steadily putting up with an almost insupportable > consciousness of his own mental poltroonery. And now his > career has reached an interesting stage: I mean beautiful > women, whom he always felt to be out of reach as a timid > provincial would, are now glad to be seen out with him. In his > presence they wear the air of faintly distracted Muses > suffering from constipation. In public they are flattered if > he holds a gloved hand for an instant longer than form > permits. At first all this must have been balm to a lonely > man's vanity; but finally it has only furthered his sense of > insecurity. His freedom, gained through a modest financial > success, has begun to bore him. He has begun to feel more and > more wanting in true greatness while his name has been daily > swelling in size like some disgusting poster. He has realized > that people are walking the street with a Reputation now and > not a man. They see him no longer - and all his work was done > in order to draw attention to the lonely, suffering figure he > felt himself to be. His name has covered him like a tombstone. > And now comes the terrifying thought perhaps there /is/ no one > left to see? Who, after all, is he?' As strikingly melancholy as these reflections might be, I do not think that these thoughts are without precedent. Cf. also the parable of fame, vanity, and loss in "Borges & I": > The other one, the one called Borges, is the one things happen > to. I walk through the streets of Buenos Aires and stop for a > moment, perhaps mechanically now, to look at the arch of an > entrance hall and the grillwork on the gate; I know of Borges > from the mail and see his name on a list of professors or in a > biographical dictionary. I like hourglasses, maps, > eighteenth-century typography, the taste of coffee and the > prose of Stevenson; he shares these preferences, but in a vain > way that turns them into the attributes of an actor. It would > be an exaggeration to say that ours is a hostile relationship; > I live, let myself go on living, so that Borges may contrive > his literature, and this literature justifies me. It is no > effort for me to confess that he has achieved some valid > pages, but those pages cannot save me, perhaps because what is > good belongs to no one, not even to him, but rather to the > language and to tradition. Besides, I am destined to perish, > definitively, and only some instant of myself can survive in > him. Little by little, I am giving over everything to him, > though I am quite aware of his perverse custom of falsifying > and magnifying things. > > Spinoza knew that all things long to persist in their being; > the stone eternally wants to be a stone and the tiger a tiger. > I shall remain in Borges, not in myself (if it is true that I > am someone), but I recognize myself less in his books than in > many others or in the laborious strumming of a guitar. Years > ago I tried to free myself from him and went from the > mythologies of the suburbs to the games with time and > infinity, but those games belong to Borges now and I shall > have to imagine other things. Thus my life is a flight and I > lose everything and everything belongs to oblivion, or to him. > > I do not know which of us has written this page. > -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100918/2bec3896/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sat Sep 18 15:02:41 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 15:02:41 -0700 Subject: [ilds] "two drunken snails dipped in permanganate" In-Reply-To: <4C9525F9.5080906@utc.edu> References: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> <4C9525F9.5080906@utc.edu> Message-ID: Charles, I have Justine 1.2, not 1.1. My previous error. On this copy, the imprint of a blue hand appears on the front cover only, not the spine. I don't know what LD was so upset about, assuming he wanted the imprint of a hand on the front cover. Wolpe's design seems to me a good illustration of what Durrell describes on p. 45 of Justine. Maybe he expected something else entirely, i.e., something the FBI might have done. Bruce On Sep 18, 2010, at 1:50 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: > On 9/18/10 4:01 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: >> >> The dust jacket of my Justine 1.1 also has the imprint of a blue hand. The hand is Sappho-Jane's, no? > The hand-print is meant to recall Sappho's hand as it originally appeared, traced in Durrell's Justine notebooks. > > However, the image is not actually an imprint of Sappho's hand. I believe that I learned from Joseph Connolly or from Michael Haag that Wolpe's daughter's hand was used for the jacket. That point should be clarified. > > The intro to Connolly's Faber retrospect gives significant attention to letters exchanged between Durrell and Wolpe about the jacket design. To put it mildly -- which Durrell did not -- Durrell was disappointed. >> Dear Mr Wolpe, >> >> It was good of you to send the cover mock-up. But what am I to tell you honestly? It seems to me beyond words horrible; and yet this is offensive to say to an artist of experience like yourself. This dreadful puce! And I really think that two drunken snails dipped in permanganate could have produced more aesthetically pleasing shapes... >> > Wolpe's response: >> Dear Mr Durrell. Thank you for your letter which did not reach me until Tuesday. The printer had started printing the jacket and I am sorry to say it was therefore impossible to make any alterations. > For the sake of clarification and accuracy, where does the hand-print appear on your copy, Bruce? > > On the spine and on the front cover of the Faber Justine 1.1 jacket? Or only on the front cover of the jacket? > > As Bill knows, the hand-print did not appear on the jacket spines of the earliest printings. > > I think that Bill is referring to the appearance or absence of the hand-print on the spine, and I believe that he is seeking information -- as is Mr. Whythe -- regarding the first impression to feature the hand-print on the spine. > > Does anyone on the list own a Faber Justine first edition, fifth impression (1.5) with dust-jacket? If so, what do you find on the spine? Thank you. > > Bill: You are right. Dust jackets are often swapped and substituted between impressions, mixing and matching to make a bare book more attractive. Good sales technique. Bad bibliography. > > N.B.: Just because most early impressions lack the hand-print on the spines of the jackets does not mean an anomaly did not occur. Reports are welcome. > > C&c. > -- > ******************************************** > Charles L. Sligh > Assistant Professor > Department of English > University of Tennessee at Chattanooga > charles-sligh at utc.edu > ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100918/a6f15d31/attachment.html From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sat Sep 18 15:08:46 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 15:08:46 -0700 Subject: [ilds] "two drunken snails dipped in permanganate" In-Reply-To: References: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> <4C9525F9.5080906@utc.edu> Message-ID: Forgot to mention. I have the Faber 1.1 of Clea, and it has a black hand on the spine. On Sep 18, 2010, at 3:02 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > Charles, > > I have Justine 1.2, not 1.1. My previous error. > > On this copy, the imprint of a blue hand appears on the front cover only, not the spine. I don't know what LD was so upset about, assuming he wanted the imprint of a hand on the front cover. Wolpe's design seems to me a good illustration of what Durrell describes on p. 45 of Justine. Maybe he expected something else entirely, i.e., something the FBI might have done. > > > Bruce > > > On Sep 18, 2010, at 1:50 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: > >> On 9/18/10 4:01 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: >>> >>> The dust jacket of my Justine 1.1 also has the imprint of a blue hand. The hand is Sappho-Jane's, no? >> The hand-print is meant to recall Sappho's hand as it originally appeared, traced in Durrell's Justine notebooks. >> >> However, the image is not actually an imprint of Sappho's hand. I believe that I learned from Joseph Connolly or from Michael Haag that Wolpe's daughter's hand was used for the jacket. That point should be clarified. >> >> The intro to Connolly's Faber retrospect gives significant attention to letters exchanged between Durrell and Wolpe about the jacket design. To put it mildly -- which Durrell did not -- Durrell was disappointed. >>> Dear Mr Wolpe, >>> >>> It was good of you to send the cover mock-up. But what am I to tell you honestly? It seems to me beyond words horrible; and yet this is offensive to say to an artist of experience like yourself. This dreadful puce! And I really think that two drunken snails dipped in permanganate could have produced more aesthetically pleasing shapes... >>> >> Wolpe's response: >>> Dear Mr Durrell. Thank you for your letter which did not reach me until Tuesday. The printer had started printing the jacket and I am sorry to say it was therefore impossible to make any alterations. >> For the sake of clarification and accuracy, where does the hand-print appear on your copy, Bruce? >> >> On the spine and on the front cover of the Faber Justine 1.1 jacket? Or only on the front cover of the jacket? >> >> As Bill knows, the hand-print did not appear on the jacket spines of the earliest printings. >> >> I think that Bill is referring to the appearance or absence of the hand-print on the spine, and I believe that he is seeking information -- as is Mr. Whythe -- regarding the first impression to feature the hand-print on the spine. >> >> Does anyone on the list own a Faber Justine first edition, fifth impression (1.5) with dust-jacket? If so, what do you find on the spine? Thank you. >> >> Bill: You are right. Dust jackets are often swapped and substituted between impressions, mixing and matching to make a bare book more attractive. Good sales technique. Bad bibliography. >> >> N.B.: Just because most early impressions lack the hand-print on the spines of the jackets does not mean an anomaly did not occur. Reports are welcome. >> >> C&c. >> -- >> ******************************************** >> Charles L. Sligh >> Assistant Professor >> Department of English >> University of Tennessee at Chattanooga >> charles-sligh at utc.edu >> ******************************************** > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100918/cec90fcb/attachment.html From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Sat Sep 18 17:43:49 2010 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 17:43:49 -0700 Subject: [ilds] "two drunken snails dipped in permanganate" In-Reply-To: References: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> <4C9525F9.5080906@utc.edu> Message-ID: <4C955CC5.5000404@gmail.com> Notably, the corrected proof copy held in the McPherson Library, in Victoria, bears a revision to the colour of the handprint described in the book as a charm against evil. That proof has two distinct states of the jacket wrapped around it, but alas, the first is glued over, so it's not fully visible. Cheers, James On 18/09/10 3:02 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > Charles, > > I have /Justine/ 1.2, not 1.1. My previous error. > > On this copy, the imprint of a blue hand appears on the front cover > only, /not/ the spine. I don't know what LD was so upset about, assuming > he wanted the imprint of a hand on the front cover. Wolpe's design seems > to me a good illustration of what Durrell describes on p. 45 of > /Justine./ Maybe he expected something else entirely, i.e., something > the FBI might have done. > > > Bruce > > > On Sep 18, 2010, at 1:50 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: > >> On 9/18/10 4:01 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: >>> The dust jacket of my /Justine/ 1.1 also has the imprint of a blue >>> hand. The hand is Sappho-Jane's, no? >> The hand-print is meant to recall Sappho's hand as it originally >> appeared, traced in Durrell's /Justine/ notebooks. >> >> However, the image is not actually an imprint of Sappho's hand. I >> /believe/ that I learned from Joseph Connolly >> >> or from Michael Haag that Wolpe's daughter's hand was used for the >> jacket. That point should be clarified. >> >> The intro to Connolly's Faber retrospect gives significant attention >> to letters exchanged between Durrell and Wolpe about the jacket >> design. To put it mildly -- which Durrell did not -- Durrell was >> disappointed. >>> >>> /Dear Mr Wolpe >>> , / >>> >>> /It was good of you to send the cover mock-up. But what am I >>> to tell you honestly? It seems to me beyond words horrible; >>> and yet this is offensive to say to an artist of experience >>> like yourself. This dreadful puce! And I really think that >>> two drunken snails dipped in permanganate could have produced >>> more aesthetically pleasing shapes... / >>> >>> >> Wolpe's response: >> >>> /Dear Mr Durrell >>> . Thank >>> you for your letter which did not reach me until Tuesday. The >>> printer had started printing the jacket and I am sorry to say >>> it was therefore impossible to make any alterations./ >> >> For the sake of clarification and accuracy, where does the hand-print >> appear on your copy, Bruce? >> >> On the spine /and/ on the front cover of the Faber /Justine/ 1.1 >> jacket? Or /only/ on the front cover of the jacket? >> >> As Bill knows, the hand-print did not appear on the jacket spines of >> the earliest printings. >> >> I think that Bill is referring to the appearance or absence of the >> hand-print on the spine, and I believe that he is seeking information >> -- as is Mr. Whythe -- regarding the first impression to feature the >> hand-print on the spine. >> >> Does anyone on the list own a Faber /Justine/ first edition, fifth >> impression (1.5) /with/ dust-jacket? If so, what do you find on the >> spine? Thank you. >> >> Bill: You are right. Dust jackets are often swapped and substituted >> between impressions, mixing and matching to make a bare book more >> attractive. Good sales technique. Bad bibliography. >> >> N.B.: Just because /most/ early impressions lack the hand-print on the >> spines of the jackets does not mean an anomaly did not occur. Reports >> are welcome. >> >> C&c. >> -- >> ******************************************** >> 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 james.d.gifford at gmail.com Sat Sep 18 17:49:46 2010 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 17:49:46 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Justine impression 5 In-Reply-To: <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> References: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <4C955E2A.2020704@gmail.com> I should have added to my earlier post, in the proof copy held in Victoria, the passage below reads "The wall above the sofa was covered in the *black* imprints of juvenile hands" through this is marginally corrected to "blue," perhaps to echo the book cover design. James On 18/09/10 1:01 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > The dust jacket of my /Justine/ 1.1 also has the imprint of a blue hand. > The hand is Sappho-Jane's, no? Cf. /Justine,/ "The wall above the sofa > was covered in the blue imprints of juvenile hands ? the talisman which > in this part of the world guards a house against the evil eye" (p. 45). > Apparently, the talisman didn't work. > > > BR > > > > On Sep 18, 2010, at 12:20 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: > >> I find that I do have a fifth impression of Justine, which has NO dust >> jacket with a spinal hand. >> >> Justine impression six has a dust jacket with a spinal hand in light >> blue. >> >> It seems to have been meant to be part of this package of text and >> paratext. But dust jackets do travel from book to book, and issue to >> issue. >> >> One can never be too skeptical, I think). >> >> Bill >> >> >> W. L. Godshalk * >> Department of English * * >> University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * >> OH 45221-0069 * * > > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Sat Sep 18 17:46:25 2010 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 17:46:25 -0700 Subject: [ilds] City versus country In-Reply-To: <0A6AE2107BEA41DEB59DC09CBE7553B2@DenisePC> References: <0A6AE2107BEA41DEB59DC09CBE7553B2@DenisePC> Message-ID: <4C955D61.2010106@gmail.com> On 18/09/10 2:18 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > To another matter - Durrell's borrowings if you like, last night on Rick > Stein's Mediterranean Journey he read from Elizabeth David's book a > passage about the taste of olives as old as the taste of cold water - > remarkably similar to to Durrell's own lines in Prospero's Cell. given > the publication dates of their respective works, I am thinking that > Durrell and David must have got this from some older text? Durrell and David got on well and had what seems to be a fairly significant amount of contact during the war. If they didn't get the phrase from an earlier ur-text, I think it would be hard to riddle out which of them came up with it first... Cheers, James From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Sat Sep 18 18:04:56 2010 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:04:56 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Buttons? In-Reply-To: References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <243662.44481.qm@web65811.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> <4C93BE38.40302@gmail.com> Message-ID: <4C9561B8.6070602@gmail.com> Hi Bruce, I mean Iolanthe from /Tunc/ and /Nunquam/, which casts the Melissa character as a film star who escapes the psychotic attachments of the man who would have her as his doll -- she ultimately dies and the doll is make, but the doll (then called Io / "I") is the only character who actually revolts. Iolanthe is the Aphrodite who revolts, and the masculine attention to her as a "doll" (robot) is clearly a psychosis in the context of the book that critiques a patriarchal society. The poor treatment of the women by the misogynist male characters functions, I would contend, as a symptom of the culture at large and that Durrell critiques. To that point, the first novels don't contain dolls -- anything but. Ruth is the more powerful character in /Pied Piper of Lovers/ (women seem to have a magical presence there), and Francis in /Panic Spring/ is clearly meant to elicit our sympathy when she encounters men who would have her fulfill a doll-like function. Rather than seeing the doll in /CVG/ or /Justine/ as a symptom of Durrell's misogyny, I'd see it as his critique, though I think the criticism you put forward (that he struggled with those same prejudices himself) is correct. As for the life being lived by the Other / Id / It / desire, and so forth, I think that's precisely the reason Durrell translated Cavafy as he did, and also why he was attached to that poem. I also read the epigraphs from Freud and Sade in that vein. Freud suggests "talk" in response to the problem of desire or libidinal compulsion -- Sade suggests ditching the talking self for rule by the libido. One leads to a cure (Darley is after all writing the book to expiate his illnesses via "talk") and the other leads to the noose. As Cavafy would have it, "the city is a cage" and it's also the same noose, it's the Groddeckian IT that lives through the subject. Darley's struggle is to a large degree negotiating a way for the self to speak, and in doing so, to rescue subjectivity from desire, which Sedgwick nicely phrases as "desire proves to be a powerful solvent to stable subjectivities." Does that make sense? Cheers, James On 17/09/10 1:48 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > James, > > Yes, if LD was fond of Gilbert and Sullivan and their /Iolanthe /? if > that's what you're referring to. Which I haven't seen, heard, or read. > But you have me at another disadvantage. I haven't read Durrell's first > two novels, so I can't comment. But if true, that doll-like women occur > in the early novels, then this reinforces what has been repeated before > and often, that is, the obsessive nature of Durrell's tropes and themes. > Is there a distinction between life in the city and life on islands? > Between the self/ego in one and then in the other? I'd like to think so, > a wistful thought perhaps best understood metaphorically, but Cavafy > comes to mind and his famous lines in "The City": "There's no new land, > my friend, no / New sea; for the city will follow you." Durrell's > problems followed him everywhere, no matter how he dressed them up. And > he surely knew that. That's why, in my opinion, self-extinction was > always an option. > > > Bruce > > > On Sep 17, 2010, at 12:15 PM, James Gifford wrote: > >>> My point ? a woman may not want to be known, >>> accurate or not, as merely a sexual plaything >>> ? and a dirty one at that. >> >> You took the words right out of Iolanthe's mouth... I think she'd be >> the most important doll of all for Durrell, and she'd have nothing to do >> with Sabina or Cun?gonde. The women of /Pied Piper of Lovers/ and >> /Panic Spring/ strike me as having a good deal in common with Io/I as >> well. >> >> I'm dashing out the door, but I think there's a very productive >> discussion/disputation to be had here of the various "negative >> capabilities" in Durrell's texts where gender, autonomy, and desire >> overlap and contest each other. Is there an essential psychotic split >> between Durrell's visions of autonomous existence of the "I" and the >> effects of desire as a powerful solvent of such notions? >> >> I'm thinking of the city that lives the characters as its dolls vs. the >> life of the self that can be found in the rural islands; the pairing of >> autonomous individuals through love who must then negotiate the >> dissolving influence of desire on their autonomy; and the long tumble >> Durrell had the end of his life into a life lived through him and less >> by him. >> >> Best, >> James > > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sun Sep 19 09:23:00 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 09:23:00 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Hamsa Hand In-Reply-To: <4C955E2A.2020704@gmail.com> References: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> <4C955E2A.2020704@gmail.com> Message-ID: I'll add that in Sephardic culture the "hamsa hand," an open hand with two thumbs, palm forward, is a talisman against the "evil eye." In Israel, it is a common type of jewelry, usually a pendant for women. BR On Sep 18, 2010, at 5:49 PM, James Gifford wrote: > I should have added to my earlier post, in the proof copy held in > Victoria, the passage below reads "The wall above the sofa was covered > in the *black* imprints of juvenile hands" through this is marginally > corrected to "blue," perhaps to echo the book cover design. > > James > > On 18/09/10 1:01 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: >> The dust jacket of my /Justine/ 1.1 also has the imprint of a blue hand. >> The hand is Sappho-Jane's, no? Cf. /Justine,/ "The wall above the sofa >> was covered in the blue imprints of juvenile hands ? the talisman which >> in this part of the world guards a house against the evil eye" (p. 45). >> Apparently, the talisman didn't work. >> >> >> BR >> >> >> >> On Sep 18, 2010, at 12:20 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: >> >>> I find that I do have a fifth impression of Justine, which has NO dust >>> jacket with a spinal hand. >>> >>> Justine impression six has a dust jacket with a spinal hand in light >>> blue. >>> >>> It seems to have been meant to be part of this package of text and >>> paratext. But dust jackets do travel from book to book, and issue to >>> issue. >>> >>> One can never be too skeptical, I think). >>> >>> Bill >>> >>> >>> W. L. Godshalk * >>> Department of English * * >>> University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * >>> OH 45221-0069 * * >> From godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu Sun Sep 19 10:39:56 2010 From: godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu (Godshalk, William (godshawl)) Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:39:56 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Justine's blue hand Message-ID: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67133@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> Has no one commented on Bruce's Justine 1.1 with a blue handed dust jacket? Perhaps a bookseller moved a sixth impression dj to cover a 1.1 Justine. Or perhaps we have an interesting variant? With a bit of trouble we could find out -- I think. But I have other things to do (i.e. plan courses). Bill W. L. Godshalk * Department of English * * University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * OH 45221-0069 * * ________________________________________ From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of Bruce Redwine [bredwine1968 at earthlink.net] Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2010 4:01 PM To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: Bruce Redwine Subject: Re: [ilds] Justine impression 5 The dust jacket of my Justine 1.1 also has the imprint of a blue hand. The hand is Sappho-Jane's, no? Cf. Justine, "The wall above the sofa was covered in the blue imprints of juvenile hands ? the talisman which in this part of the world guards a house against the evil eye" (p. 45). Apparently, the talisman didn't work. BR On Sep 18, 2010, at 12:20 PM, Godshalk, William (godshawl) wrote: I find that I do have a fifth impression of Justine, which has NO dust jacket with a spinal hand. Justine impression six has a dust jacket with a spinal hand in light blue. It seems to have been meant to be part of this package of text and paratext. But dust jackets do travel from book to book, and issue to issue. One can never be too skeptical, I think). Bill W. L. Godshalk * Department of English * * University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * OH 45221-0069 * * From godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu Sun Sep 19 10:40:24 2010 From: godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu (Godshalk, William (godshawl)) Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:40:24 -0400 Subject: [ilds] "two drunken snails dipped in permanganate" In-Reply-To: References: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67131@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <817B220B-6867-42DE-BE75-22FE4A767A51@earthlink.net> <4C9525F9.5080906@utc.edu>, Message-ID: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67134@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> Sorry, I responded before I read all my email. Bill W. L. Godshalk * Department of English * * University of Cincinnati* * Stellar Disorder * OH 45221-0069 * * ________________________________________ From: ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca [ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of Bruce Redwine [bredwine1968 at earthlink.net] Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2010 6:02 PM To: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu; ilds at lists.uvic.ca Cc: Bruce Redwine Subject: Re: [ilds] "two drunken snails dipped in permanganate" Charles, I have Justine 1.2, not 1.1. My previous error. On this copy, the imprint of a blue hand appears on the front cover only, not the spine. I don't know what LD was so upset about, assuming he wanted the imprint of a hand on the front cover. Wolpe's design seems to me a good illustration of what Durrell describes on p. 45 of Justine. Maybe he expected something else entirely, i.e., something the FBI might have done. Bruce On Sep 18, 2010, at 1:50 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: On 9/18/10 4:01 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: The dust jacket of my Justine 1.1 also has the imprint of a blue hand. The hand is Sappho-Jane's, no? The hand-print is meant to recall Sappho's hand as it originally appeared, traced in Durrell's Justine notebooks. However, the image is not actually an imprint of Sappho's hand. I believe that I learned from Joseph Connolly or from Michael Haag that Wolpe's daughter's hand was used for the jacket. That point should be clarified. The intro to Connolly's Faber retrospect gives significant attention to letters exchanged between Durrell and Wolpe about the jacket design. To put it mildly -- which Durrell did not -- Durrell was disappointed. Dear Mr Wolpe, It was good of you to send the cover mock-up. But what am I to tell you honestly? It seems to me beyond words horrible; and yet this is offensive to say to an artist of experience like yourself. This dreadful puce! And I really think that two drunken snails dipped in permanganate could have produced more aesthetically pleasing shapes... Wolpe's response: Dear Mr Durrell. Thank you for your letter which did not reach me until Tuesday. The printer had started printing the jacket and I am sorry to say it was therefore impossible to make any alterations. For the sake of clarification and accuracy, where does the hand-print appear on your copy, Bruce? On the spine and on the front cover of the Faber Justine 1.1 jacket? Or only on the front cover of the jacket? As Bill knows, the hand-print did not appear on the jacket spines of the earliest printings. I think that Bill is referring to the appearance or absence of the hand-print on the spine, and I believe that he is seeking information -- as is Mr. Whythe -- regarding the first impression to feature the hand-print on the spine. Does anyone on the list own a Faber Justine first edition, fifth impression (1.5) with dust-jacket? If so, what do you find on the spine? Thank you. Bill: You are right. Dust jackets are often swapped and substituted between impressions, mixing and matching to make a bare book more attractive. Good sales technique. Bad bibliography. N.B.: Just because most early impressions lack the hand-print on the spines of the jackets does not mean an anomaly did not occur. Reports are welcome. C&c. -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sun Sep 19 13:57:25 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:57:25 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Desire and the Ego In-Reply-To: <4C9561B8.6070602@gmail.com> References: <11119859.1284660118156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C632F67126@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> <243662.44481.qm@web65811.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> <4C93BE38.40302@gmail.com> <4C9561B8.6070602@gmail.com> Message-ID: James, Yes, thanks for the clarification, a good one. I guess I'll have to read The Revolt of Aphrodite one of these days, along with the first two novels, so that I can keep up with you guys. Seems to me there are at least two ways to look at Durrell's theories or rationalizations about the self/ego and desire. 1. To take them at face value as examples of Durrell's personal mythology and then apply this framework to his work. This would be an exercise in understanding the author on his own terms. 2. To look at them critically and see if they make any sense. This would involve an understanding and evaluation of the author and his project. These alternatives are not either/or, not mutually exclusive, but I prefer to emphasize the latter approach. Now, I take the desire/ego problem as Durrell's rephrasing of Buddhism's Four Holy Truths, namely, craving (the Second Holy Truth) as the source of human suffering (the First), the root of all evil, if you will, evil in the sense of endless worldly suffering. The way to enlightenment (the Third) is through the cessation or elimination of wanting, craving, lusting, aspiring, etc. Even the craving for self-extinction ("the noose") falls under the rubric of the Second Holy Truth. LD, however, as I understand him, becomes fixated on sex, indeed, genital sex. The "libido" you describe below seems to me sexual in Durrell's mythology, although self-extnction may also fit in. So, he narrows the Buddhist problem to one aspect of desire. Which, I guess is understandable, if you're a young man feeling your hormones. To be fair, it's probably useful to define what Durrell/Sedgwick means by "desire." I think Durrell means simply sexual desire, as emphasized by D. H. Lawrence and Henry Miller. That is, sex as "dark knowledge" or "blood knowledge," whatever those mean, or sex as an index of the health of a culture. I also think this whole approach is over-rated. But I grow old. As for Durrell and his infatuation with Groddeck's "It," that seems to me simply a way to avoid responsibility for one's actions. Charles and I have discussed this before under the topic of Hamlet and the uncertainty of experience, that is, the principle that "Truth is what most contradicts itself." Bruce On Sep 18, 2010, at 6:04 PM, James Gifford wrote: > Hi Bruce, > > I mean Iolanthe from /Tunc/ and /Nunquam/, which casts the Melissa > character as a film star who escapes the psychotic attachments of the > man who would have her as his doll -- she ultimately dies and the doll > is make, but the doll (then called Io / "I") is the only character who > actually revolts. Iolanthe is the Aphrodite who revolts, and the > masculine attention to her as a "doll" (robot) is clearly a psychosis in > the context of the book that critiques a patriarchal society. The poor > treatment of the women by the misogynist male characters functions, I > would contend, as a symptom of the culture at large and that Durrell > critiques. > > To that point, the first novels don't contain dolls -- anything but. > Ruth is the more powerful character in /Pied Piper of Lovers/ (women > seem to have a magical presence there), and Francis in /Panic Spring/ is > clearly meant to elicit our sympathy when she encounters men who would > have her fulfill a doll-like function. > > Rather than seeing the doll in /CVG/ or /Justine/ as a symptom of > Durrell's misogyny, I'd see it as his critique, though I think the > criticism you put forward (that he struggled with those same prejudices > himself) is correct. > > As for the life being lived by the Other / Id / It / desire, and so > forth, I think that's precisely the reason Durrell translated Cavafy as > he did, and also why he was attached to that poem. I also read the > epigraphs from Freud and Sade in that vein. Freud suggests "talk" in > response to the problem of desire or libidinal compulsion -- Sade > suggests ditching the talking self for rule by the libido. One leads to > a cure (Darley is after all writing the book to expiate his illnesses > via "talk") and the other leads to the noose. As Cavafy would have it, > "the city is a cage" and it's also the same noose, it's the Groddeckian > IT that lives through the subject. Darley's struggle is to a large > degree negotiating a way for the self to speak, and in doing so, to > rescue subjectivity from desire, which Sedgwick nicely phrases as > "desire proves to be a powerful solvent to stable subjectivities." > > Does that make sense? > > Cheers, > James > > On 17/09/10 1:48 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: >> James, >> >> Yes, if LD was fond of Gilbert and Sullivan and their /Iolanthe /? if >> that's what you're referring to. Which I haven't seen, heard, or read. >> But you have me at another disadvantage. I haven't read Durrell's first >> two novels, so I can't comment. But if true, that doll-like women occur >> in the early novels, then this reinforces what has been repeated before >> and often, that is, the obsessive nature of Durrell's tropes and themes. >> Is there a distinction between life in the city and life on islands? >> Between the self/ego in one and then in the other? I'd like to think so, >> a wistful thought perhaps best understood metaphorically, but Cavafy >> comes to mind and his famous lines in "The City": "There's no new land, >> my friend, no / New sea; for the city will follow you." Durrell's >> problems followed him everywhere, no matter how he dressed them up. And >> he surely knew that. That's why, in my opinion, self-extinction was >> always an option. >> >> >> Bruce >> >> >> On Sep 17, 2010, at 12:15 PM, James Gifford wrote: >> >>>> My point ? a woman may not want to be known, >>>> accurate or not, as merely a sexual plaything >>>> ? and a dirty one at that. >>> >>> You took the words right out of Iolanthe's mouth... I think she'd be >>> the most important doll of all for Durrell, and she'd have nothing to do >>> with Sabina or Cun?gonde. The women of /Pied Piper of Lovers/ and >>> /Panic Spring/ strike me as having a good deal in common with Io/I as >>> well. >>> >>> I'm dashing out the door, but I think there's a very productive >>> discussion/disputation to be had here of the various "negative >>> capabilities" in Durrell's texts where gender, autonomy, and desire >>> overlap and contest each other. Is there an essential psychotic split >>> between Durrell's visions of autonomous existence of the "I" and the >>> effects of desire as a powerful solvent of such notions? >>> >>> I'm thinking of the city that lives the characters as its dolls vs. the >>> life of the self that can be found in the rural islands; the pairing of >>> autonomous individuals through love who must then negotiate the >>> dissolving influence of desire on their autonomy; and the long tumble >>> Durrell had the end of his life into a life lived through him and less >>> by him. >>> >>> Best, >>> James >> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100919/6f1bb67b/attachment.html