From gammage.kennedy at gmail.com Fri Jul 15 15:10:14 2016 From: gammage.kennedy at gmail.com (Kennedy Gammage) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:10:14 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Durrell mention in NY Review of Books Message-ID: >From Roger Cohen?s review of The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante: ?Certainly, she dabbles in many genres: her evocation of the devastating work conditions in the sausage factory where Lila labored recalls Zola; her examination of Nino Sarratore?s ambitious rise from the provinces to political prominence in Rome owes something to Balzac. Her vivid description of place recalls Lawrence Durrell. (Naples is the third-most-important character, a festering being drawing everyone back into its squalid labyrinth of generational vendettas.)? The Violent World of Elena Ferrante May 26, 2016 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sun Jul 17 13:38:14 2016 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2016 13:38:14 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Oswald Spengler In-Reply-To: <71EABB01-1879-4FD3-98C2-537E77F1280C@earthlink.net> References: <5CF781A5-1334-4189-99CC-73529C3D9C60@earthlink.net>

<71EABB01-1879-4FD3-98C2-537E77F1280C@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <4425ABE4-E22C-4C1B-A717-0D9A58B6007B@earthlink.net> Richard Pine and Charles Sligh agree that Durrell was reading in translation Spengler?s Decline of the West at an early stage in his career, maybe before Corfu (1935). The usual take on Spengler?s influence is that it leads to a decadent view of European society, so Pine writes in Mindscape (2005): the ?Decline of the West underpinned much of the thinking in The Revolt? (123). This is undoubtedly true. Spengler?s influence, however, may be even deeper and extend to Durrell?s ?Heraldic Universe.? Spengler was very much in the Germanic tradition, particularly with respect to Goethe?s Faust and the conclusion to Part II, where the chorus sings, ?Alles Verg?ngliche / Ist nur ein Gleichnis? (12104-05), that is, ?Everything transitory / Is only a metaphor.? Spengler believes this, and so does Durrell ? to wit, another ethereal reality underlies everyday reality. Moreover, like Spengler, Durrell also delights in aphorisms and obscurity (the latter being a German obsession). I?m not suggesting that Durrell picked up some of his ideas and stylistics from Spengler (who also picked up his ideas from his predecessors), rather that Durrell found a friend in Spengler who mirrored his own instincts. This may help to explain why the Germans seem more receptive to Durrell than his native Englishmen. Bruce > On Jun 20, 2016, at 12:53 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > > Thanks for the confirmation, Charles. So Durrell knew his Spengler in translation, but I doubt he knew in depth other authors such as Paracelus or the Vulgate which he inaccurately quotes. MacNiven has commented that Durrell?s readings were wide and discursive and that he picked up bits and pieces here and there, that is, whatever suited his interests. The impression he leaves, however, is greater than the fact. Does this really matter? No. The end product is what counts. > > Bruce > > PS Good to hear from you. Hope all goes well. > > > >> On Jun 20, 2016, at 12:09 PM, Charles Sligh > wrote: >> >> Bruce asks: >> >> Nevertheless, when he refers to ?[Durrell?s] re-reading of Spengler,? does he know if Durrell read all of Spengler?s two volume Decline of the West (M?nchen 1918; New York 1926)??which is massive, about 1000 pages?or did he crib it from some other abbreviated source? >> >> Richard responds: >> >> Spengler: as far as I know, LD read the 2-vol edition quite early. >> >> Absolutely--very early. >> >> From Ian MacNiven's bibliographical description of the Lawrence Durrell collection, Morris Library: >> >> MacNiven observes that LD's reading notes from a Prospero's Cell working notebook ("A.5" / dated 1938) show LD as "reading Spengler's Decline of the West [with page numbers referring to the A. A. Knopf, 1928 edition]." >> >> Good luck to all! >> >> C&c. >> >> ***************************************** >> Charles L. Sligh >> charles.sligh at virginia.edu >> Department of English >> University of Virginia >> ***************************************** >> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pinedurrellcorfu at gmail.com Sun Jul 17 14:05:00 2016 From: pinedurrellcorfu at gmail.com (Richard Pine) Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2016 00:05:00 +0300 Subject: [ilds] Oswald Spengler In-Reply-To: <4425ABE4-E22C-4C1B-A717-0D9A58B6007B@earthlink.net> References: <5CF781A5-1334-4189-99CC-73529C3D9C60@earthlink.net>

<71EABB01-1879-4FD3-98C2-537E77F1280C@earthlink.net> <4425ABE4-E22C-4C1B-A717-0D9A58B6007B@earthlink.net> Message-ID: Bruce Redwine quotes from my "Mindscape". The full text of the book is now available on the new website of the Durrell Library of Corfu ( www.durrelllibrarycorfu.org) where Bruce has recently posted an interesting query regarding LD's collected poems (on the Notes & Queries page). RP On Sun, Jul 17, 2016 at 11:38 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > Richard Pine and Charles Sligh agree that Durrell was reading in > translation Spengler?s *Decline of the West* at an early stage in his > career, maybe before Corfu (1935). The usual take on Spengler?s influence > is that it leads to a decadent view of European society, so Pine writes in > *Mindscape* (2005): the *?Decline of the West* underpinned much of the > thinking in *The Revolt?* (123). This is undoubtedly true. Spengler?s > influence, however, may be even deeper and extend to Durrell?s ?Heraldic > Universe.? Spengler was very much in the Germanic tradition, particularly > with respect to Goethe?s *Faust* and the conclusion to Part II, where the > chorus sings, ?Alles Verg?ngliche / Ist nur ein Gleichnis? (12104-05), that > is, ?Everything transitory / Is only a metaphor.? Spengler believes this, > and so does Durrell ? to wit, another ethereal reality underlies everyday > reality. Moreover, like Spengler, Durrell also delights in aphorisms and > obscurity (the latter being a German obsession). I?m not suggesting that > Durrell picked up some of his ideas and stylistics from Spengler (who also > picked up his ideas from his predecessors), rather that Durrell found a > friend in Spengler who mirrored his own instincts. This may help to > explain why the Germans seem more receptive to Durrell than his native > Englishmen. > > Bruce > > > > > > On Jun 20, 2016, at 12:53 PM, Bruce Redwine > wrote: > > Thanks for the confirmation, Charles. So Durrell knew his Spengler in > translation, but I doubt he knew in depth other authors such as Paracelus > or the *Vulgate* which he inaccurately quotes. MacNiven has commented > that Durrell?s readings were wide and discursive and that he picked up bits > and pieces here and there, that is, whatever suited his interests. The > *impression* he leaves, however, is greater than the fact. Does this > really matter? No. The end product is what counts. > > Bruce > > PS Good to hear from you. Hope all goes well. > > > > On Jun 20, 2016, at 12:09 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: > > Bruce asks: > > Nevertheless, when he refers to ?[Durrell?s] re-reading of Spengler,? does > he know if Durrell read all of Spengler?s two volume Decline of the West > (M?nchen 1918; New York 1926)??which is massive, about 1000 pages?or did he > crib it from some other abbreviated source? > > > Richard responds: > > Spengler: as far as I know, LD read the 2-vol edition quite early. > > > Absolutely--*very* early. > > From Ian MacNiven's bibliographical description of the Lawrence Durrell > collection, Morris Library: > > MacNiven observes that LD's reading notes from a *Prospero's Cell* working > notebook ("A.5" / dated 1938) show LD as "reading Spengler's Decline of the > West [with page numbers referring to the A. A. Knopf, 1928 edition]." > > > Good luck to all! > > C&c. > > ***************************************** > Charles L. Sligh > charles.sligh at virginia.edu > Department of English > University of Virginia > ***************************************** > > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: