28 May 2007

Tidbits and Oddities

I love literary sound bites.

"Shock news: Grown-up critics think e.e. cummings sucks. I honestly didn't know. I read him in high school, put him in the "good" box, and left him there." - Nick Hornby, The Polysyllabic Spree

"I'm an irreverent person because I believe reverence is usually misplaced when it isn't faked, but I felt reverence for his reverence then." - William H. Gass, A Temple of Texts (Mr. Gaddis and His Goddamn Books)

"The philosopher David Hume thought Tristam Shandy the best book written by an Englishman for the past 30 years, though he rather spoiled the compliment by adding 'bad as it is.'" - Terry Eagleton, The English Novel: An Introduction (Ch. 4, Laurence Sterne)

And on addressing "instant classics" in literature:
"Maybe that's why you have to give books time to live before you decide that they're never going to die. You have to wait and see whether anyone in that multitude is really listening." - Nick Hornby, The Polysyllabic Spree

Current book-in-progress: A Temple of Texts, The English Novel, and waiting for The Buccaneers to arrive at BN so I can start on the next book for the LbW board.
Current knitted item: The shrug - I got the stitches picked up for the collar (Eydie had Addis!! Although I'm glad I went with the 32" circular, I can't imagine working it on a 24" like the pattern called for!)

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