Contented Reader

-
Wodehouse contesting Dr.Samuel Johnson's claim that no reasonable person would write for considerations other than money:

I should imagine that even a man who compiles a railway timetable is thinking much more about what a lark it all is than of the cheque he is going to get when he turns in the completed script. Watch his eyes sparkle with an impish light as he puts a very small a against the line 4.51 arr. 6.22 knowing that the reader will not notice it and turn to the bottom of the page, where it says (a) On Saturdays only but will dash off with his suitcase and golf clubs all merry and bright, arriving in good time at the station on the afternoon of Friday. Money is the last thing that such a writer has in mind. - Wodehouse on Wodehouse

I know there are a whole lot of writers whom I have not read and perhaps never will. But the more I read Wodehouse the less I care about that.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2010 at 11:14 PM

    Check out the section on Wodehouse here. Haven't read the non-Jeeves+Bertie Wooster works of his much. Can't recall any work that made me laugh so hysterically. Good old Victoria Edward Mandram library (begind Regal Talkies)

    ReplyDelete
  2. dagaltiMay 18, 2010 at 8:00 AM

    //Check out the section on Wodehouse here. //
    Thank You. Wodehouse was acutely aware that he will never be taken as seriously as many others who deal with weighty subjects. Somewhere he writes:

    "I am all for incest and tortured souls, but an occasional laughter never did anybody much harm"

    //Haven't read the non-Jeeves+Bertie Wooster works of his much. // Oh do try. Lord Emsworth stories are where, by his own admission, he is at his best. 'Summer Lightning', for one, is a librarian's nightmare.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 19, 2010 at 11:38 PM

    Gooood read..........
    http://www.suhelseth.com/index.php/category/agony-uncle/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Will KamalHassan apologise for Mahanadhi ?

-
Image
Background For long, KamalHaasan’s classic Thevar Magan has been subjected to criticism that it was insufficiently aware of how the film - despite its patronising and pontifical tone - would be received with a warm glow of pride by the Thevars. Indeed, there is no contesting that ‘potri paadadi ponne’ - a Thevar paen - has come to become a peerless anthem of sorts.  While the extent of ‘out-of-context’ celebration may have been surprising, one cannot lose sight of the fact that song itself realised a specific purpose within and for the film first: within the film’s narrative and for, one reasonably assumes, the film's commercial prospects then. To imbue the makers in the business of mainstream films with virtues of thorough naivete is unnecessary. That said, over the years, the criticism has gradually escalated to the absurd heights of accusing him of gross social irresponsibility for not anticipating everything that the song has come to stand for. This type of reductive engagemen
Read more

Judex Ergo Sum

-
Image
Akeel Bilgrami             Akeel Bilgrami, in his recent essay  attempting to unpack Gandhi's views on caste, frames the approach as one grounded in a view of the pre-modern, pre-capitalist society as distinctly different from viewing the members of society as merely constituents of an economy. This, he argues  is the key to understanding the evolution of Gandhi's stance on caste.             This instructive essay is, in some ways, an elaboration of his  interview to Frontline in 2018 , where he mused on the tension inherent in the slogan:   Liberté, égalité and fraternité, and the points at which the Marxian and Gandhian outlook towards this tension,  overlap and distinctly depart from one another.              The crux of Gandhi's conundrum that folks across the political spectrum can relate to is what Bilgrami succinctly states thus: to retain caste was to resist the market ideal that undermined traditional social relations by setting up the freely saleable labour of at
Read more

Kamal - the writer/director

-
Image
A few days back I managed to catch Thevar Magan and, as is my wont whenever I watch it, started raving about it. This time I also managed to have a conversation about it with @kalyanasc on twitter. Following the principle of 'Have Blog. Will Archive", I thought I'd post it here. Oh, the things I do for posterity! @ dagalti How much credit would like to give the late Bharathan? It is also beautifully photographed, especially Gowthami #ThevarMagan — Kalyan Raman (@kalyanasc) June 10, 2012 @ kalyansc I know nothing of Bharathan's works actually.I don't think his only other Tamil film (Avarampoo, (cont) tl.gd/hpiuov — dagalti (@dagalti) June 10, 2012 Credit Sharing - local-flavour I know nothing of Bharathan's works actually.I don't think his only other Tamil film (Avarampoo, which is a remake of his Malayalam film based on Padmarajan's script) reflective all the nice things I hear about him. Moreover, I am very partial to writers. Par
Read more