Reading any good book? II

[GrayMouser]

I've never heard of Robertson Davies, but he sounds like a fascinating individual. Sounds a bit like Roger Scruton. Anglo-Catholics are always so much more interesting than us poor Romans.

Beloved in Canada, and shorted for the Booker...maybe a bit more, um, lively than Scruton.

Though in all fairness, all I've read of Scruton is his "Short History of Western Philosophy" and his part of "German Philosophers: Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer and Nietszche" (he wrote the Intro and the section on Kant) which, while both being excellent, are not exactly the liveliest of subjects.

I watched the BBC series on Beauty you posted, and am going to reply in the next week when I've got a bit more time to re-view it (end of term, very busy), but it did bring a bit of Davies to mind.

In "What's Bred in the Bone" he deals with an artist who would have been hailed in previous ages for his skill, but is forced to become an art forger in our age when only "shock" and "imagination" count for anything.

When being appprenticed to one of the last of the Old School Masters, his first test is to draw a perfectly straight line - freehand, of course- down the middle of a page; the point being if you can't do that you're not even fit to be a beginner.

[GrayMouser]

Special shout out to inked- have you read this guy? I think you'd love it.

Start with the Cornish trilogy- while I think the Deptford trilogy is on the whole is a little better the opening may be a little rougher for non-Canadians- though any small town North American may appreciate it.

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by katya

My 9th grade English teacher tried to dissuade me from reading Russian literature when he saw me reading Anna Karenina. Said it's too depressing and it just gets worse right to the end. He encouraged his students to read Stephen King. NOT my favorite teacher.

Looks like some Russians agree...

The opening of a Moscow Metro station named after Fyodor Dostoevsky has been postponed after complaints that murals decorating the platform walls are too depressing. The images, drawn from the 19th-century novelist’s works, could prompt depressed commuters to kill themselves, critics say.

One scene, right, depicts a man preparing to hit a woman with an axe while another lays dying at his feet — inspired by Rodion Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment. Another shows a man holding a gun to his head — based on The Devils, in which Kirillov commits suicide as a declaration of freedom. A stern portrait of the author is also among the Florentine mosaics.

Mikhail Vinogradov, a Moscow psychologist, said that the station could become a magnet for people considering suicide. Bloggers on Russian internet sites condemned the designs as “grim” and “suicidal”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle7127302.ece

[Gwaimir Windgem]

It's been pointed out that there are many, many beautiful moments in the works of Dostoyevsky, as well: Alyosha falling to the ground, the kiss in the Grand Inquisitor, the redemption of Rodya at the end of C and P, etc. The imagery which, apparently, was used for these decorations doesn't seem to really capture the scope of Dostoyevsky; it remains down in the dregs, while failing to turn its gaze upwards, as he does so well.

[katya]

I finally finished The Wicked Day. It was kind of disappointing. I really couldn't get into that one much because Merlin's not in it. But I still liked it and The Last Enchantment better than a lot of books I have read. I'm glad I'm finished with the series now so I can read something else, though.

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by katya

I finally finished The Wicked Day. It was kind of disappointing. I really couldn't get into that one much because Merlin's not in it. But I still liked it and The Last Enchantment better than a lot of books I have read. I'm glad I'm finished with the series now so I can read something else, though.

Yes, she's still a good writer, but they are a bit of a let-down considering how good the first two are.

[Rían]

Dostoyevsky is well worth reading, although his works are certainly not chirpy and light-hearted! But I think that the subjects for the wall murals were not a great choice ...