Posted on 12/14/2004 5:14:03 AM PST by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
OK, thanks.
"Believe me, the British know all about bad sex."
Bad teeth = bad sex. Eeeewwww!
As for Wolfe, I think he's done for. His earlier novels were thought provoking and spot-on for the "times" they were portraying. I've yet to read a positive review of "Charolotte."
I guess anyone that sweats out the good novels he has over the decades could also produce a clunker. Sometimes people just need to stop writing and their publishers need to stop enabling them.
Bodice rippers? Best one EVER is "Shanna" by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Favorite contraband during my High School years, LOL! She's my "inner firey Irish lass!"
From the cover: "Shanna; a woman of surging desires of the spirit, the flesh, and the heart...Ruark; a man burning to possess her in vengeance and in ecstacy! Shanna; a romance of passion beyond wildest dreams!"
Enjoy in moderation, LOL!
I have wondered since I read the book about a question Wolfe raises:
Why do alumni and fans of a given college care a great deal about whether they win or lose? The athletes are basically recruited mercenaries, not at the school for the same reason as the students (in most cases), not living among the students or living the same lives they are (in most cases), and who are assembled for the purpose of plaing sports.
I am a big supporter of my college football and basketball team, and I don't understand why I care.
This is only Wolfe's third novel.
Bonfire of the Vanities
A Man in Full
I am Charlotte Simmons
Everthing else is non-fiction with The Right Stuff at the top of the list.
I hope he picks up the pace a little or he might only have one more in him.
Yes, I know. I've read his other two, as well as "The Right Stuff" and of course loved the movie. They all took him years to write. "A Man in Full" took forever to read, but it was worth it. :)
The dialogue is awful, and the collegiate "patois" (Wolfe's affected term) is stilted and unbelievable.
It is.
I didn't care for this either.
Wolfe went to Washington and Lee. So did I. I can guarantee some of the the fictional college came from his experiences there.
ping
sorry Kent, that ping was meant for Junior.
He says in the front of the book where he researched the book, I remember Appalachian State (in Boone, NC) but am drawing a blank on the others. University of Florida might have been one.
After reading that, I'm think celibacy might still be an option...
Wolfe was born in 1930. I wonder what research he did to determine the current lingo, especially the lingo when an old man like him isn't around.
Experimental writing has been attempted many times (Gertrude Stein and John Barth come to mind) but it never works well, like experimental art and music sometimes do. There is too much specificity and expectation associated with language. Maybe someone should write an expose: The Printed Painting.
"But the hand that was what she tried to concentrate on, the hand, since it has the entire terrain of her torso to explore and not just the otorhinolaryngological caverns
Per dictionary.com, otorhinolaryngological has the following meaning:
Otorhinolaryngology is the type of medical specialty that drives the layperson to despair, both of pronouncing the word properly and of having any notion of what it means. The words ear, nose, and throat are quite clear, however, and that is what is meant by oto-, rhino-, and laryngo-, which are the forms of Greek ous, “ear,” rhs, “nose,” and larunx, “larynx or upper part of the windpipe,” respectively, when used in combination with other word forms.
So in essence, this lothario is exploring her ear, nose and throat region???
Hey, if sticking your fingers in someone's nasal cavern is your kink, I"m not here to judge, we certainly have wierder things going on in our society. But sexy? Cabo San LucNO!
Heyyyy!
I'm not the only person who's read Shanna!
Shanna and Ruark!
I still have that book...
Heh, Heh, Heh. He said otorhinolaryngological.
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