Difference between revisions of "Talk:Author! Author!"
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To be rich, or at least comfortable, was not beyond Wystan’s capabilities, but it was beyond his desire. There was a comfort in his wretchedness. He was free, after all, from the necessity of keeping up appearances, of pretending that he wished to be presentable, which he did not. It was pleasant to see people wince at the sight of him; it was worth even wearing glasses, which unfortunately obscured his hideous, rheumy eyes. <span class="par">¶</span> | To be rich, or at least comfortable, was not beyond Wystan’s capabilities, but it was beyond his desire. There was a comfort in his wretchedness. He was free, after all, from the necessity of keeping up appearances, of pretending that he wished to be presentable, which he did not. It was pleasant to see people wince at the sight of him; it was worth even wearing glasses, which unfortunately obscured his hideous, rheumy eyes. <span class="par">¶</span> | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
== «The Apotheosis of John Updike», Part I == | == «The Apotheosis of John Updike», Part I == | ||
He didn’t mind the opportunity to absorb, in solitude, this lower upper-level baronial setting. For the Momsons, he felt, though completely successful, still had a budget of some sort. | He didn’t mind the opportunity to absorb, in solitude, this lower upper-level baronial setting. For the Momsons, he felt, though completely successful, still had a budget of some sort. | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
== ib. == | == ib. == | ||
It was all “honesty”, that desperately Wyethian affectation that affectedly fled affectation in all directions. | It was all “honesty”, that desperately Wyethian affectation that affectedly fled affectation in all directions. | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
== ib. == | == ib. == | ||
The grossest shit in history had been the cleanest as well. <span class="par">¶</span> | The grossest shit in history had been the cleanest as well. <span class="par">¶</span> | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
== ib. == | == ib. == | ||
There was a great deal of money around <span class="in">[at John Updike's reading at Hotel Marriott]</span>, and some taste, but as for wit, as for beauty, there was nothing. <span class="par">¶</span> | There was a great deal of money around <span class="in">[at John Updike's reading at Hotel Marriott]</span>, and some taste, but as for wit, as for beauty, there was nothing. <span class="par">¶</span> | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
== Part II == | == Part II == | ||
A young wife! How wicked! Too wicked, really, for Updike, a spoiled adulterer, who wanted both his sin and his self-respect! How vulgar, how deserving the contempt of smug virtue and wanton corruption alike! His dick slept, as well it should. <span class="par">¶</span> | A young wife! How wicked! Too wicked, really, for Updike, a spoiled adulterer, who wanted both his sin and his self-respect! How vulgar, how deserving the contempt of smug virtue and wanton corruption alike! His dick slept, as well it should. <span class="par">¶</span> | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
== ib. == | == ib. == | ||
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How powerless he was before the cliché, the little metal man on his little metal track, jostling between home and hotel and back, his little metal feet welded to a rude magnetic mass that defined him and his alternating pursuit of “freedom” and “sanctuary”. How pathetic was “vice” and equally so “virtue”!<ref>compare preceding quotation</ref> Squirrel in a cage! Squirrel in a cage with an aching ass! <span class="par">¶</span> | How powerless he was before the cliché, the little metal man on his little metal track, jostling between home and hotel and back, his little metal feet welded to a rude magnetic mass that defined him and his alternating pursuit of “freedom” and “sanctuary”. How pathetic was “vice” and equally so “virtue”!<ref>compare preceding quotation</ref> Squirrel in a cage! Squirrel in a cage with an aching ass! <span class="par">¶</span> | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
== ib. == | == ib. == | ||
Why the fuck had he married into one of his own novels? | Why the fuck had he married into one of his own novels? | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
== ib. == | == ib. == | ||
What self-confidence, what self-awareness, and what lack of self-consciousness! | What self-confidence, what self-awareness, and what lack of self-consciousness! | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
== ib. == | == ib. == | ||
By the second page <span class="in">[of Henry James's <span style="font-style:normal">The Ambassadors</span>]</span>, poor Strether was enjoying “such a consciousness of personal freedom as he had not known for years”! Well, poor Strether was well ahead of poor Updike, as hampered and hemmed by success as Strether was enabled by failure! | By the second page <span class="in">[of Henry James's <span style="font-style:normal">The Ambassadors</span>]</span>, poor Strether was enjoying “such a consciousness of personal freedom as he had not known for years”! Well, poor Strether was well ahead of poor Updike, as hampered and hemmed by success as Strether was enabled by failure! | ||
| + | <div class="sig">--[[User:Faterson|Faterson]]</div> | ||
Revision as of 19:23, 4 April 2014
«The Transfiguration of W. H. Auden»
To be rich, or at least comfortable, was not beyond Wystan’s capabilities, but it was beyond his desire. There was a comfort in his wretchedness. He was free, after all, from the necessity of keeping up appearances, of pretending that he wished to be presentable, which he did not. It was pleasant to see people wince at the sight of him; it was worth even wearing glasses, which unfortunately obscured his hideous, rheumy eyes. ¶
«The Apotheosis of John Updike», Part I
He didn’t mind the opportunity to absorb, in solitude, this lower upper-level baronial setting. For the Momsons, he felt, though completely successful, still had a budget of some sort.
ib.
It was all “honesty”, that desperately Wyethian affectation that affectedly fled affectation in all directions.
ib.
The grossest shit in history had been the cleanest as well. ¶
ib.
There was a great deal of money around [at John Updike's reading at Hotel Marriott], and some taste, but as for wit, as for beauty, there was nothing. ¶
Part II
A young wife! How wicked! Too wicked, really, for Updike, a spoiled adulterer, who wanted both his sin and his self-respect! How vulgar, how deserving the contempt of smug virtue and wanton corruption alike! His dick slept, as well it should. ¶
ib.
How powerless he was before the cliché, the little metal man on his little metal track, jostling between home and hotel and back, his little metal feet welded to a rude magnetic mass that defined him and his alternating pursuit of “freedom” and “sanctuary”. How pathetic was “vice” and equally so “virtue”!<ref>compare preceding quotation</ref> Squirrel in a cage! Squirrel in a cage with an aching ass! ¶
ib.
Why the fuck had he married into one of his own novels?
ib.
What self-confidence, what self-awareness, and what lack of self-consciousness!
ib.
By the second page [of Henry James's The Ambassadors], poor Strether was enjoying “such a consciousness of personal freedom as he had not known for years”! Well, poor Strether was well ahead of poor Updike, as hampered and hemmed by success as Strether was enabled by failure!
- at Amazon.com
