Pur Autre Vie

I'm not wrong, I'm just an asshole

Saturday, July 14, 2012

In Soviet Russia, Wood Gets Sorkin

So, here is James Wood, in How Fiction Works:
[A description of a baby's arms as "so fat that they seem tied with string"] is from Anna Karenina, and it is a nice example of self-plagiarism.  In that novel, not one but two babies—Levin's and Anna's—are described as looking as if string is tied around their fat little arms.  Likewise, in David Copperfield, Dickens likens Uriah Heep's open mouth to a post office, and Wemmick's open mouth, in Great Expectations—to a post office.  Stendhal writes, in The Red and the Black, about how politics ruins a novel in the way a gunshot would spoil a music concert, and then repeats the image in The Charterhouse of Parma.  Henry James wrote that Balzac, in his monkish devotion to his art, was "a Benedictine of the actual," a phrase he liked so much he used it later about Flaubert.  Cormac McCarthy writes, in Blood Meridian, "the blue cordilleras stood footed in their paler image on the sand," and returns to that lovely verb seven years later in All the Pretty Horses:  "Where a pair of herons stood footed to their long shadows."  Why shouldn't he?  Such things are rarely examples of haste and more often proof that a style has achieved self-consistency.  And that a kind of Platonic ideal has been reached—these are the best, and therefore unsurpassable words, for these subjects.
Got that? Self-consistency, Platonic ideal, best, unsurpassable. Now, how about this?

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

oakley pas cher, vans pas cher, nike trainers, true religion jeans, abercrombie and fitch, north face, michael kors, lacoste pas cher, nike free run uk, nike roshe, hollister pas cher, hogan, hermes, coach outlet, ralph lauren pas cher, vanessa bruno, michael kors, michael kors, sac guess, nike air max, nike free, air max, timberland, converse pas cher, nike roshe run, sac longchamp, coach purses, burberry, nike blazer, new balance pas cher, ralph lauren uk, true religion outlet, longchamp, lululemon, nike air max, air jordan pas cher, ray ban uk, hollister, tn pas cher, air force, louboutin pas cher, true religion jeans, michael kors, nike huarache, mulberry, ray ban pas cher, longchamp pas cher, true religion jeans, nike air max, north face, replica handbags

7:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

moncler, ugg,ugg australia,ugg italia, canada goose, juicy couture outlet, moncler, barbour jackets, coach outlet, canada goose, canada goose uk, moncler, louis vuitton, replica watches, sac louis vuitton pas cher, doudoune canada goose, louis vuitton, moncler, moncler, thomas sabo, hollister, ugg,uggs,uggs canada, wedding dresses, karen millen, canada goose outlet, swarovski crystal, louis vuitton, canada goose, louis vuitton, pandora charms, barbour, moncler outlet, pandora jewelry, pandora jewelry, ugg pas cher, supra shoes, canada goose outlet, moncler, canada goose, lancel, ugg boots uk, swarovski, pandora charms, montre pas cher, doke gabbana outlet, converse outlet, juicy couture outlet, moncler, toms shoes, bottes ugg, links of london, marc jacobs
ninest123 16.02

7:55 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home