Mark Twain on Henry James
Donna Richoux
-- Once you put it down, you simply can't pick it up.
[quoted without source in _Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain_, Alex
Ayres-editor]
When I looked further into this, I see that about half of the Google
hits associate this line with Jane Austen, whose books Mark Twain also
disliked. Ah, well.
Marius Hancu
I like all of them:)
Ray O'Hara
"Donna Richoux" <tr...@euronet.nl> wrote in message
news:1j9noxy.1huq8e0199lsvaN%tr...@euronet.nl...
To understand the appeal of James one must read The Emperor's New Clothes'.
Arcadian Rises
>
> -- Once you put it down, you simply can't pick it up.
>
> [quoted without source in _Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain_, Alex
> Ayres-editor]
So I'm in great company! I've confessed in another thread my inability
to read Henry James.
>
> When I looked further into this, I see that about half of the Google
> hits associate this line with Jane Austen, whose books Mark Twain also
> disliked. Ah, well.
However, I like Jane Austen. De gustibus...
Chuck Riggs
<Arcadi...@aol.com> wrote:
I may try her. The many BBC specials based on her works have been
universally awful, IMO, but perhaps she comes across better in print.
--
Regards,
Chuck Riggs,
An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE
Marius Hancu
> I may try her. The many BBC specials based on her works have been
> universally awful, IMO, but perhaps she comes across better in print.
I liked very much the 1995 version of "Pride and Prejudice." Didn't
you like that one?
Recently I understood why it was that "felt": the actors playing the
main characters, Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, were, well, dating at
the time.
The more recent one wasn't bad either, IMHO.
Marius Hancu
JimboCat
>
>
>
>
>
> <Arcadianri...@aol.com> wrote:
> >On Nov 23, 4:58?pm, t...@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) wrote:
> >> Of a much praised book by Henry James:
>
> >> -- Once you put it down, you simply can't pick it up.
>
> >> [quoted without source in _Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain_, Alex
> >> Ayres-editor]
>
> >So I'm in great company! I've confessed in another thread my inability
> >to read Henry James.
>
> >> When I looked further into this, I see that about half of the Google
> >> hits associate this line with Jane Austen, whose books Mark Twain also
> >> disliked. Ah, well.
>
> >However, I like Jane Austen. De gustibus...
>
> I may try her. The many BBC specials based on her works have been
> universally awful, IMO, but perhaps she comes across better in print.
I liked the BBC special (AmE "mini-series") of /Pride and Prejudice/,
myself. It was certainly better than the 1940 film version. I've been
unable to sit through the 2005 feature film, though I've tried.
In print, I found the prose a bit thick, the context a bit difficult,
and the humor a bit opaque, but overall it's pretty readable. I gave
up halfway though my mother's favorite, /Emma/, though: the
protagonist was such an idiot I couldn't stand it anymore. I may go
back one day just to see if she learns anything by the end of the
book.
Jim Deutch (JimboCat)
--
"I've noticed that when I use rational analyses of situations that
ignore the emotional aspects, people become hostile. This is because
they are defective." -- James Nicoll
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<10313...@compuserve.com> wrote:
>I liked the BBC special (AmE "mini-series") of /Pride and Prejudice/
I'd call that a serial (as does Wikipedia). It was a drama broadcast by
the BBC as six weekly episodes.
When it was shown in the US by the A&E Network it got the mini-series
treatment: double episodes on three consecutive nights.
I don't think the British showing of it would attract the description
"special".
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Ray O'Hara
"Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote in message
news:3gdog5l0t0freu9ie...@4ax.com...
Not all mini series are double episodes, P&P was Shown initially on the
PBS Masterpiece Theater in weekly hour long showings.
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
I'm not clear of the definition of "mini-series". How many episodes does
a series need before it ceases to be "mini"?
Steve Hayes
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>I'm not clear of the definition of "mini-series". How many episodes does
>a series need before it ceases to be "mini"?
13?
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Peter Moylan
You know, for a long time I thought that each of these multi-episode
things was called a minisery. The world became a little bleaker when my
illusions were shattered.
--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
James Hogg
> Peter Duncanson (BrE) wrote:
>> On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:47:23 -0500, "Ray O'Hara"
>> <raymon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>> Not all mini series are double episodes, P&P was Shown initially
>>> on the PBS Masterpiece Theater in weekly hour long showings.
>>>
>> I'm not clear of the definition of "mini-series". How many episodes
>> does a series need before it ceases to be "mini"?
>
> You know, for a long time I thought that each of these multi-episode
> things was called a minisery. The world became a little bleaker when
> my illusions were shattered.
Was that about the same time I discovered that "misled" wasn't the
past tense of "misle"?
--
James
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
wrote:
Perhaps that was about the time I discovered that a word that I had seen
in books: "determined", was not pronounced "deetuh-mined".
Chuck Riggs
<marius...@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Nov 24, 11:54 am, Chuck Riggs <chri...@eircom.net> wrote:
>
>> I may try her. The many BBC specials based on her works have been
>> universally awful, IMO, but perhaps she comes across better in print.
>
>I liked very much the 1995 version of "Pride and Prejudice." Didn't
>you like that one?
I had the impression it was a custom drama, so I may have missed all
of the episodes, I don't remember.
>Recently I understood why it was that "felt": the actors playing the
>main characters, Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, were, well, dating at
>the time.
>
>The more recent one wasn't bad either, IMHO.
Little Dorrit. I watched a few episodes and found them quite boring.
The acting was good, I thought, so when there was nothing else on, I
watched it.
Marius Hancu
> On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:11:06 -0800 (PST), Marius Hancu
>
> >On Nov 24, 11:54 am, Chuck Riggs <chri...@eircom.net> wrote:
>
> >> I may try her. The many BBC specials based on her works have been
> >> universally awful, IMO, but perhaps she comes across better in print.
>
> >I liked very much the 1995 version of "Pride and Prejudice." Didn't
> >you like that one?
>
> I had the impression it was a custom drama, so I may have missed all
> of the episodes, I don't remember.
There are multiple clips here, you can see if you recognize it:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3D312066256A17D5
Marius Hancu
Skitt
> James Hogg wrote:
>> Peter Moylan wrote:
>>> Peter Duncanson (BrE) wrote:
>>>>> Not all mini series are double episodes, P&P was Shown initially
>>>>> on the PBS Masterpiece Theater in weekly hour long showings.
>>>>>
>>>> I'm not clear of the definition of "mini-series". How many episodes
>>>> does a series need before it ceases to be "mini"?
>>>
>>> You know, for a long time I thought that each of these multi-episode
>>> things was called a minisery. The world became a little bleaker when
>>> my illusions were shattered.
>>
>> Was that about the same time I discovered that "misled" wasn't the
>> past tense of "misle"?
>
> Perhaps that was about the time I discovered that a word that I had
> seen in books: "determined", was not pronounced "deetuh-mined".
When I see the word "synedoche", I still mentally pronounce it as "'sinnek
'doushe". I've never actually said the word.
--
Skitt (AmE)
Jerry Friedman
> On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:11:06 -0800 (PST), Marius Hancu
>
...
> >I liked very much the 1995 version of "Pride and Prejudice." Didn't
> >you like that one?
>
> I had the impression it was a custom drama,
...
Is that like a comedy of manners?
--
Jerry Friedman knows what was meant.
Ray O'Hara
Generally a mini-series is a dramatized novel. or history with a definate
end point.
HBO's 'From the Earth to the Moon' had 12 episodes, 'band of Brothers had
10.
To not be a Mini-series you need to have or at least intend a second
season{or more}
Ray O'Hara
"Skitt" <ski...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:hejrvd$7lq$1...@news.albasani.net...
Nobody else has either.
Skitt
> "Skitt" wrote:
>> When I see the word "synedoche", I still mentally pronounce it as
>> "'sinnek 'doushe". I've never actually said the word.
>
> Nobody else has either.
Yeah, and I managed to misspell it too -- it should have been "synecdoche".
I was going to correct that after I finished typing, but forgot. Listening
to the M-W Online pronunciation distracted me.
--
Skitt (AmE)
James Hogg
I tried M-W Online just to see how they pronounce "oche", but they didn't
have it. Don't you play darts over there?
--
James
Skitt
Yeah, we do, but we just get behind the line.
--
Skitt (AmE)
Arcadian Rises
> On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:46:15 -0800 (PST), Arcadian Rises
>
>
>
>
>
> <Arcadianri...@aol.com> wrote:
> >On Nov 23, 4:58?pm, t...@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) wrote:
> >> Of a much praised book by Henry James:
>
> >> -- Once you put it down, you simply can't pick it up.
>
> >> [quoted without source in _Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain_, Alex
> >> Ayres-editor]
>
> >So I'm in great company! I've confessed in another thread my inability
> >to read Henry James.
>
> >> When I looked further into this, I see that about half of the Google
> >> hits associate this line with Jane Austen, whose books Mark Twain also
> >> disliked. Ah, well.
>
> >However, I like Jane Austen. De gustibus...
>
> I may try her. The many BBC specials based on her works have been
> universally awful, IMO, but perhaps she comes across better in print.
I have no patience for the movie/tv versions of Jane Austen's work.
Ditto for "Beowulf", I can digest the Penguin translation, but the
movie put me to sleep, notwithstanding Angelina Jolie's performance,
which I didn't get a chance to watch because she did not make an
appearance during my attention span of the first five minutes.
Ray O'Hara
"Murray Arnow" <ar...@iname.com> wrote in message
news:hekc2s$46c$1...@remote5bge0.ripco.com...
> Ray O'Hara wrote:
> [...]
>>Generally a mini-series is a dramatized novel. or history with a definate
>>end point.
>
> dictionaries
Who knows, it has made it into general usage.
Ray O'Hara
"Arcadian Rises" <Arcadi...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:e9e91fee-532a-4276...@c34g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
=====================================================================================
I don't think the bad CGI effects really appeals to us older types.
I find them offputting.,The 300 and Sin City were too.
Reinhold {Rey} Aman
>
> Skitt wrote...
[...]
>> When I see the word "synedoche", I still mentally pronounce it
>> as "'sinnek 'doushe". I've never actually said the word.
>
Sez you. We philologists write and pronounce "synecdoche" almost as
frequently as, e.g., "metonymy" and "anaphora," not to mention "hapax
legomenon" and "palimpsest."
--
~~~ Reinhold {Rey} Aman ~~~
R H Draney
>news:e9e91fee-532a-4276...@c34g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
>
>movie put me to sleep, notwithstanding Angelina Jolie's performance,
>which I didn't get a chance to watch because she did not make an
>appearance during my attention span of the first five minutes.
You missed a treat...they had Grendel speaking Old English (and Jolie too, when
she was conversing with her son)....
Ray O'Hara filted:
>
>I don't think the bad CGI effects really appeals to us older types.
>I find them offputting.,The 300 and Sin City were too.
I accept them as a storytelling convention, much as I accept people running up
walls in wuxia movies....r
--
A pessimist sees the glass as half empty.
An optometrist asks whether you see the glass
more full like this?...or like this?
James Hogg
> When I see the word "synedoche", I still mentally pronounce it as
> "'sinnek 'doushe". I've never actually said the word.
I felt the need to write a verse to serve as a pmneumonic:*
When composing works of music, to begin with you select a key;
That applies whether you live in Lisdoonvarna or Schenectady.
You don't have to kill the patient to perform an appendectomy:
When you take a "pars pro toto" you are using a synecdoche.
*a means to assist respiration and memory simultaneously
--
James Hogg
Richard Chambers
That's no good. You haven't told us how to pronounce "pmneumonic".
Richard Chambers Leeds UK.
Roland Hutchinson
The "p" is psilent.
--
Roland Hutchinson
He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba,"
... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy.
--Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ )
James Hogg
> On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:52:23 +0000, Richard Chambers wrote:
>
>> James Hogg wrote
>>
>>> Skitt wrote:
>>>
>>>> When I see the word "synedoche", I still mentally pronounce it as
>>>> "'sinnek 'doushe". I've never actually said the word.
>>> I felt the need to write a verse to serve as a pmneumonic:*
>>>
>>> When composing works of music, to begin with you select a key; That
>>> applies whether you live in Lisdoonvarna or Schenectady. You don't have
>>> to kill the patient to perform an appendectomy: When you take a "pars
>>> pro toto" you are using a synecdoche.
>>>
>>> *a means to assist respiration and memory simultaneously
>> That's no good. You haven't told us how to pronounce "pmneumonic".
>
>
> The "p" is psilent.
As in psilanthropism.
--
James
Chuck Riggs
The clips reminded me that I did indeed see at least some of it. For
some reason it didn't turn me on.
Chuck Riggs
<jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>On Nov 25, 10:44�am, Chuck Riggs <chri...@eircom.net> wrote:
>> On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:11:06 -0800 (PST), Marius Hancu
>>
>> <marius.ha...@gmail.com> wrote:
>...
>
>> >I liked very much the 1995 version of "Pride and Prejudice." Didn't
>> >you like that one?
>>
>> I had the impression it was a custom drama,
>...
>
>Is that like a comedy of manners?
I see a "costume drama" (sorry about the misspelling) as being a piece
of pleasant fluff more dependent on pretty faces, scenery and dresses
than on good dialogue, plot and storyline, but that may not be the
BBC's definition.
Chuck Riggs
<jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>On Nov 25, 10:44�am, Chuck Riggs <chri...@eircom.net> wrote:
>> On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:11:06 -0800 (PST), Marius Hancu
>>
>> <marius.ha...@gmail.com> wrote:
>...
>
>> >I liked very much the 1995 version of "Pride and Prejudice." Didn't
>> >you like that one?
>>
>> I had the impression it was a custom drama,
>...
>
>Is that like a comedy of manners?
No, they were usually short, sardonic pieces. Weren't Moliere and
Voltaire famous for writing them?
Chuck Riggs
<Arcadi...@aol.com> wrote:
>On Nov 24, 11:54?am, Chuck Riggs <chri...@eircom.net> wrote:
>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:46:15 -0800 (PST), Arcadian Rises
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> <Arcadianri...@aol.com> wrote:
>> >On Nov 23, 4:58?pm, t...@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) wrote:
>> >> Of a much praised book by Henry James:
>>
>> >> -- Once you put it down, you simply can't pick it up.
>>
>> >> [quoted without source in _Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain_, Alex
>> >> Ayres-editor]
>>
>> >So I'm in great company! I've confessed in another thread my inability
>> >to read Henry James.
>>
>> >> When I looked further into this, I see that about half of the Google
>> >> hits associate this line with Jane Austen, whose books Mark Twain also
>> >> disliked. Ah, well.
>>
>> >However, I like Jane Austen. De gustibus...
>>
>> I may try her. The many BBC specials based on her works have been
>> universally awful, IMO, but perhaps she comes across better in print.
>
>I have no patience for the movie/tv versions of Jane Austen's work.
OK, I'll order one or two of her novels. Would "Pride and Prejudice"
be as good a choice as any?
Arcadian Rises
Lengthwise is right for a first reading.
But my favorite is Emma (very long), a true comedy of manners.
Mike Lyle
Is it measured with a theometer?
--
Mike.
Chuck Riggs
<Arcadi...@aol.com> wrote:
Thank you for the recommendations. I'll see what the Kindle Store has.
Nick
Oche Oche Oche.
[awaits a.u.e response]
--
Online waterways route planner: http://canalplan.org.uk
development version: http://canalplan.eu
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<3-no...@temporary-address.org.uk> wrote:
>James Hogg <Jas....@gOUTmail.com> writes:
>
>> Skitt wrote:
>>> Ray O'Hara wrote:
>>>> "Skitt" wrote:
>>>
>>>>> When I see the word "synedoche", I still mentally pronounce it as
>>>>> "'sinnek 'doushe". I've never actually said the word.
>>>>
>>>> Nobody else has either.
>>>
>>> Yeah, and I managed to misspell it too -- it should have been
>>> "synecdoche". I was going to correct that after I finished typing,
>>> but forgot. Listening to the M-W Online pronunciation distracted me.
>>
>> I tried M-W Online just to see how they pronounce "oche", but they didn't
>> have it. Don't you play darts over there?
>
>Oche Oche Oche.
>
>[awaits a.u.e response]
Oy! Oy! Oy!
(I couldn't think of any way of modifying the sound of "oy" analogous to
"oggy" to "oche".)
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Mark Brader
>>>> I liked the BBC special (AmE "mini-series") of /Pride and Prejudice/
Peter Duncanson:
>>> I'd call that a serial (as does Wikipedia). It was a drama broadcast by
>>> the BBC as six weekly episodes.
No! A serial is like a normal series -- it goes on indefinitely, i.e.
until the ratings drop or the makers decide to quit -- but with the
additional characteristic of telling one continuous story.
Peter Duncanson:
> I'm not clear of the definition of "mini-series". How many episodes does
> a series need before it ceases to be "mini"?
The primary defining characteristic is the intention that it will tell
a single story in two or more parts and then there won't be any more.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "To great evils we submit; we resent
m...@vex.net little provocations." -- W. Hazlitt, 1822
My text in this article is in the public domain.
Mark Brader
> Perhaps that was about the time I discovered that a word that I had seen
> in books: "determined", was not pronounced "deetuh-mined".
At my last job, my co-workers from India always pronounced it (1) non-
rhotically, (2) with the accent on the first syllable, and (3) with an
accented vowel that did not come across to me as a short E -- with the
result that I always first heard it as "data-mined".
--
Mark Brader | "Once established, it has prospered and spread, even
Toronto | in the face of determined opposition from the
m...@vex.net | computing establishment. We feel sure that the UNIX
| system is a computing phenomenon whose full influence
| has not yet been experienced." -- John Lions, 1979
Mark Brader
> That's no good. You haven't told us how to pronounce "pmneumonic".
With stone pmnives and bearskins.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "I don't have a life; I have a program." --the Doctor
m...@vex.net | (Michael Piller, Star Trek: Voyager, "Tattoo")
Chuck Riggs
wrote:
I had trouble last night finding an edition of Pride and Prejudice
that looked good, so I downloaded Emma.
Arcadian Rises
> On Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:48:24 +0000, Chuck Riggs <chri...@eircom.net>
>
> - Show quoted text -
I'm always overwhelmed by a warm, nice feeling when people follow my
advice and recommendations, I feel that my wisdom and sophistication
are not wasted.
OTOH, if you won't like the book, just remember that nobody forced you
at gunpoint to download that long-winded thing.
Chuck Riggs
<Arcadi...@aol.com> wrote:
For what Kindle books cost, it won't be the end of the world if I
don't read it all. Anyway, thanks for the heads-up. "Gone With the
Wind" is first, and then I may return to "A Tale of Two Cities"
(boring, so far), before I get to it.