John Derbyshire might be the most perfect example of the idea that "Man can soar higher than angels; he can sink lower than beasts" (Zarathushtra) that I have yet encountered. Often he will emit some diatribe or what he obviously thinks is a mere observation, and the general reaction of people who read it is "Ew!" There is some evidence that he is, to put it mildly, a homophobe, and he seems to have a kind of Tourette's syndrome about it. But then there is his obvious love for Chinese culture and literature. In this current column of his, he talks about the opening lines to classic Chinese novels and other works. It seems that not all of them start out obeying the rules of publishing, i.e.: "Hook your reader at the very first line." For example, the opening line to one of them is: "This is the first chapter."
It makes me wonder about the novels we call "classics" now, and whether or not they would be publishable, never mind given endless literary hosannas, today. There is the famous example of Tolstoy's War and Peace: "Eh bien, mon prince!" "Rule" broken: never start your novel with a line of dialogue, especially one in a language not your own. (But of course, the characters speaking are Russian upper crusties in the nineteenth century, who all spoke French and used it in conversation as often as Russian; this establishes the character of the speaker right away. Incidentally, a lot of translations translate that line into English too, which grates on my nerves; I searched until I found a Penguin edition which left the line as is.) Also, Tolstoy's tome is famously huge, and I wonder if his publishers had a heart attack when they received the manuscript. It's longer than Lord of the Rings -- but then, Tolkien wasn't a member of the Russian nobility or any nobility. I also like this quote from my edition in "Notes on the 1978 Edition": "In his absolute moral awareness and total moral engagement with the fate of his characters Tolstoy often neglected literary style."
Posted by Andrea Harris at January 4, 2003 11:07 AMI don't know Russian, but my Russian friends assure me that Tolstoy wrote beautiful Russian, unlike Dostoevsky, who is alleged to be crabbed and unreadable in places in the original.
Posted by: Aaron Haspel at January 4, 2003 at 11:51 AMi think it can easily be said that writers die for a good opening line...or even paragraph for that matter. i know i have browsed books that ive never heard of and bought them for the strength of the opening paragraph so i guess i am the cliched consumer that publishers reach for.
i think it is also well known that, when it comes to writing, the "rules" are generally made to be broken. i appreciate structure and all the literary niceities but why do you think there are so few english majors who are big time writers? its because their writing is technical with the best of them...and that is all the reader gets...in the process the soul disappears, the heart stops beating and the prose becomes as lifeless as a dead raccoon by the side of the road.
give me passion, style and soul any day of the week....
Posted by: mr. helpful at January 4, 2003 at 02:39 PMKing Hamlet's manly virtues were ones
that only he possessed, take it as exhortation
for men in general.
(``He was a man, take him for all in all, I
shall not look upon his like again.'')
Was Nietzsche quoting Pascal? ``Man is neither
angel nor beast, and the mischief is that he who
would play the angel plays the beast.''
Man has very low standards against woman's
very high standards, being each other's rejected
selves.
Off topic.
The "Came the Dawn" and "Too much to dream"
Webb Wilder?
Posted by: CujoQuarrel at January 4, 2003 at 08:10 PMcujo...since i am so...er...helpful, i will be happy to answer your question.
"came the dawn" and "too much to dream" come from a middle sixties song called "too much to dream last night" by the electric prunes. its a great song...one of those pyschedlic things "progressive" bands were coming out with at the time
i think andrea's choice of phrases for her new blog was very clever....
Posted by: mr. helpful at January 4, 2003 at 09:13 PMThank you, Mr. Helpful. In my innocence I have no idea what Mr. Cujo was trying to imply. :|
Posted by: Andrea Harris at January 4, 2003 at 11:31 PMOn topic, I have often wondered if we've held up some works as "classics" simply because they are part of a small surviving representation of societies past...in which case, shouldn't they be the purview of sociologists/anthropologists and not foisted on unsuspecting English honors students? The entire collected works of Thomas Hardy come readily to mind...dreck!
Posted by: Sekimori at January 5, 2003 at 09:27 AMNo, it's all the endless nattering about Henry James in the English departments when he should be studied in the psych departments.
Posted by: Frank C at January 5, 2003 at 07:01 PMThen there are final lines. I have always hated the last line of Dune, which I find to be excessively stupid: "History will call us wives."
Uh. Huh?
There are excellent last lines, such as in To Kill A Mockingbird. Something about Atticus being there in the morning when Jem awoke. And Patricia McKillip has a great one at the end of the Riddle-Master trilogy. (My memory is failing. My books are still boxed.)
But yes, that opening line/paragraph is a make-or-break for novels these days. It's a tough market out there.
Posted by: Meryl Yourish at January 6, 2003 at 12:33 AM"Peace, tremulous, unexpected, sent a taproot out of nowhere into Morgon's heart." Now that book is an example of fantasy done right -- and I think it would make a great movie too. And it is not derivative of LOTR, like so much of what I see on the fantasy shelves at B&N or Borders is these days...
Posted by: Andrea Harris at January 6, 2003 at 01:19 AMI don't think he cares for homosexuals, or homosexuality - but I don't know if he is frightened of the phenomenon...
Posted by: Parker at January 8, 2003 at 04:11 PM