Marginalia

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Viewing 15 posts – 16 through 30 (of 92 total)
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  • in reply to: Khayal needs room for the voice to change its mind #3152
    Marginalia
    Participant

      Not quite the audience. I meant a new route through the same bandish, which is a different sort of mischief.

      in reply to: My First Cousin: was Borya actually lucky? #3978
      Marginalia
      Participant

        Yes. “But what does Borya want in this scene?”

        Apparently trouble

        in reply to: Khayal needs room for the voice to change its mind #3149
        Marginalia
        Participant

          Start with one well-known bandish and keep notes on the pakad, nothing fancy.

          in reply to: Khayal needs room for the voice to change its mind #3146
          Marginalia
          Participant

            At a recital years ago I heard the voice before the raga, which was probably my…

            in reply to: I need a favor: tell me what you really think #3913
            Marginalia
            Participant

              “Yellowed Pages” is one of the pieces I would not discuss too specifically in public because part of its force is how it changes while you are reading it.

              I liked it a lot. I also think the ending will split people.

              For me it earned the risk, but it is definitely a risk

              in reply to: My First Cousin: was Borya actually lucky? #3974
              Marginalia
              Participant

                And he never announces the affection.

                That matters to me. Borya is not just a device for making Soviet life look absurd. The family irritation feels real enough that the satire has somebody to hurt.

                in reply to: My First Cousin: was Borya actually lucky? #3970
                Marginalia
                Participant

                  The bathhouse bit is where I lost it.

                  Same vocabulary, same upward movement, completely different institution. Dovlatov barely changes his face.

                  in reply to: Historical novels set somewhere other than Britain or France? #113
                  Marginalia
                  Participant

                    Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose may suit this request, although it arrives with a murder plot and a great deal of theology. The important men are certainly present, but the book is most convincing when it attends to the library, the meals, the cold and the labor of preserving books.

                    It is a novel about people moving through a place they do not fully understand. That seems more durable to me than the historical furniture.

                    in reply to: How should we guard the gate? #3855
                    Marginalia
                    Participant

                      Yes, especially that point. Maybe let applicants choose which public profile or posts they want reviewed. Any review system should be quick enough that normal people do not lose interest before they arrive.

                      in reply to: How should we guard the gate? #3847
                      Marginalia
                      Participant

                        I agree with the direction, though not every detail. A recommendation from a member should help, but not be mandatory.

                        in reply to: I need a favor: tell me what you really think #3901
                        Marginalia
                        Participant

                          That distinction is probably right.

                          There is a point where excess is the aesthetic, so “too much” cannot be the whole criticism. The better question is whether each new excess changes the rhythm or merely repeats the permission

                          in reply to: Crazy Glue: romantic or horrifying? #3961
                          Marginalia
                          Participant

                            Yes. I think estrangement is closer to it.

                            Whether surprise can interrupt estrangement is the question I keep hearing underneath the joke.

                            in reply to: How should we guard the gate? #3830
                            Marginalia
                            Participant

                              Yes, especially that point. Yes to human judgment, no to secret vibes. Any review system should be quick enough that normal people do not lose interest before they arrive.

                              in reply to: Crazy Glue: romantic or horrifying? #3954
                              Marginalia
                              Participant

                                I also like how little access we get to her interior life.

                                That could have made her feel thin, but for me it does the opposite. She remains the person he has failed to understand, including at the end.

                                in reply to: Crazy Glue: romantic or horrifying? #3947
                                Marginalia
                                Participant

                                  I was about to say I could tolerate one more sentence at the end.

                                  Then I imagined one and changed my mind.

                                Viewing 15 posts – 16 through 30 (of 92 total)