Robert de Boron and the Prose Merlin
There are so many wonderful things about the internet: there was a time when a scholar had to order through ILL and wait for weeks or months before he or she could set eyes on such works as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini or Robert de Boron's Prose Merlin . No more. from Prose Merlin Robert de Boron Full wrothe and angry was the Devell, whan that oure Lorde hadde ben in helle and had take oute Adam and Eve and other at his plesier. And whan the fendes sien that, they hadden right grete feer and gret merveile. Thei assembleden togedir and seiden: "What is he this thus us supprisith and distroyeth, in so moche that oure strengthes ne nought ellis that we have may nought withholde hym, nor again hym stonde in no diffence but that he doth all that hym lyketh? We ne trowed not that eny man myght be bore of woman but that he sholde ben oures; and he that thus us distroyeth, how is he born in whom we knewe non erthely delyte?" Than ansuerde anothir fende and seide
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