dagblog - Comments for "HYPNOTIC RHYTHMS"

Now that is interesting

Richard Day — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:12:12 +0000

Now that is interesting Miguel. Reading aloud. ha

Oh and Happy New Year!

Thanks for stopping by. I

Richard Day — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:11:09 +0000

In reply to Oh, and Graves on Malory is

Thanks for stopping by. I loved writing this one. I had this thread in my head and read Keillor by chance and it was a fun exercise.

Graves was a God in my head!!

Ahh... Mallory, not to

miguelitoh2o — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 23:03:31 +0000

In reply to HYPNOTIC RHYTHMS

Ahh... Mallory, not to mention the venerable Beede, DD. I'm currently reading the "Once and Future King" aloud as our evening's entertainment these days. Hypnotic rhythms indeed. :)

Oh, and Graves on Malory is

Ramona — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:38:24 +0000

In reply to HYPNOTIC RHYTHMS

Oh, and Graves on Malory is like an elegant little primer on writing effectively. So few words, so much gold.

Great blog as usual, DD. And

Ramona — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:35:48 +0000

In reply to HYPNOTIC RHYTHMS

Great blog as usual, DD. And I'm late to it as usual! Thanks for pointing me to it. I had to laugh at Keillor's critique. All true, all true! But I love them both (Garrison and Mark) and find them infinitely interesting, each in his own way.

It's no revelation that Mark Twain had a staggering ego and thought mighty highly of himself. It's also no secret that he loved to snipe at his "inferiors". And, let's face it, an autobiography by its nature is a study in "Me! Me! Look at Me!" And let's face it again, nobody is nearly as interested in every little breathless moment as the self-biographer is.

Twain's 18 rules for Fenimore are priceless! In the new autobiography Mark writes about someone reviewing a book and using the word "delightful" 13 times. He dissected the use each time and decides that five times out of the thirteen it was used properly. ". . .but in the remaining cases it was out of tune. It sharped or flatted, one or the other, every time, and was as unpleasantly noticeable as is a false note in music. I looked in the thesaurus, and under a single head I found four words which would replace with true notes the false ones uttered by four of the misused 'delightfuls;' and of course if I had hunted under related heads for an hour and made an exhaustive search I should have found right words, to a shade, wherewith to replace the remaining delinquents."

It's a brave or foolhardy writer who can then go on to say, "To be serious, I write good grammar myself, but not in that spirit, I am thankful to say. That is to say, my grammar is of a high order, though not at the top. Nobody's is. Perfect grammar--persistent, continuous, sustained--is the fourth dimension, so to speak: many have sought it but none has found it. Even this reviewer, this purist, with all his godless airs, has made two or three slips."

His self-deprecation needed a little work, so to speak.

Well what a nice thing to

Richard Day — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:23:37 +0000

In reply to In 2008 we were, I'm afraid,

Well what a nice thing to say.

Merry Christmas to you and yours and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In 2008 we were, I'm afraid,

wws — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:23:32 +0000

In reply to HYPNOTIC RHYTHMS

In 2008 we were, I'm afraid, distracted by Obama's ....

"understanding of the practice of lulling the ear with hypnotic rhythms. The story was regarded as of lesser importance....."

But thank you, DD, for your insights into Twain, Stowe wt al. What a lovely Christmas gift to each of us, everyone.

Merry Christmas.

It is true that Dante has

Richard Day — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:24:15 +0000

In reply to Loved reading this, Dick.

It is true that Dante has never shrunk from embodying his conceptions in determinate words, that he has even given measures and numbers, where Milton would have left his images to float undefined in a gorgeous haze of language. Both were right. Milton did not profess to have been in heaven or hell. He might therefore reasonably confine himself to magnificent generalities.

Thank you for this Obey!!

Yeah, hell yeah, there are so many ways to hypnotise.

I am afraid I ramble a little too aimlessly most of the time though!!!

MERRY XMAS OBEY!!!

Loved reading this, Dick.

Obey — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:49:04 +0000

In reply to HYPNOTIC RHYTHMS

Loved reading this, Dick.

Agree on the 'hypnotic rhythms', but there are lots of different ways to 'hypnotize', no? The percussive thump of syllables, the sweetly turned phrase, a haze of vaguely evocative notions, or just the right choice of those details which when laid out puts you there. And then of course there is the Dickday method, - the fine art of leading the reader by the nose as you ramble around seemingly aimlessly until, bam, insight! Ha.

Thought you might like this related quote from Macaulay on Dante vs Milton. It seems on the money for me.

Merry Christmas friend.

Palin on Petrarch.

Richard Day — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:21:47 +0000

In reply to Richard, thanks. As for

Palin on Petrarch. hahahhaha

The mother of the inhumane and the father of humanism.