How we feel Is an illusion we choose
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This is a good example of why I don't pay much attention to "professional critics."
ReplyDeleteThey seem more interested in saying something startling or controversial to generate reader interest than in really talking about the work, as it is, and not as "they" think it should be.
The point is that what is of immense interest to Anna and Vronsky is only of secondary and temporary interest to others who know them and of little or no interest to the rest of humanity. Life goes on. The universe does not come to a screeching halt and gaze in shock and awe at one person who commits suicide.
Tolstoy understands this. The reviewer either doesn't or can't say something as mundane as this and keep his job.
Thanks for posting the link.
Dear Fred,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more--I pay attention, but I don't take them seriously. I pay attention because things like this amuse me endlessly. Hubris of this sort can be a kind of spectator sport. We come at classic works with post-modern sensibilities and expect them to be what we would like them to be, not what their authors wrote them to be.
It becomes a kind of circus of the bizarre--but even so, you sometimes happen on something that provokes an interesting side thought or reflection, even if only in response to.
Thank you for you note.
shalom,
Steven