tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post1684480417840084331..comments2023-09-29T05:32:04.308-07:00Comments on StrangePegs: Robert Louis Stevenson and the Duality of Human NatureAndrew Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-48165911418664110572012-06-04T10:49:26.778-07:002012-06-04T10:49:26.778-07:00Elizabeth: He is a great character, but the thing ...Elizabeth: He is a great character, but the thing that makes him so interesting is not himself but his relationship with Othello. Iago makes you want to just slap Othello. It's a great dynamic.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-76944733687606443182012-06-03T14:16:17.384-07:002012-06-03T14:16:17.384-07:00I need to go back and read J&H again.
Iago, I...I need to go back and read J&H again.<br /><br />Iago, I can speak to. He's an amazing character, so empty, even he doesn't have a reason for why he does what he does. An incredible study of evil.Elizabeth Twisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133959633383307056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-40820262882601062992012-05-30T13:37:11.899-07:002012-05-30T13:37:11.899-07:00Sam: Well! Go fix that!
Callie: I know; it's ...Sam: Well! Go fix that!<br /><br />Callie: I know; it's kind of horrible. He's so bad all of the time, but he's so hard to just discount as just being "bad." I suppose that's why, at the end, Jim hopes he went off somewhere and retired to a peaceful life.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-25186487739111703892012-05-30T08:01:47.983-07:002012-05-30T08:01:47.983-07:00Hmm. May need to go ready J & H. I actually do...Hmm. May need to go ready J & H. I actually don't think I've read it.<br /><br />I remember feeling the way you described about Silver. I remember feeling conflicted for liking him even though I <b>knew</b> he was completely out for himself. That's some amazing character development. And it's interesting because it's more how people are in real life, with the duality. I mean, few people are straight-out evil.Callie Leuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09535505792102190920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-26517092332195555132012-05-29T19:20:56.208-07:002012-05-29T19:20:56.208-07:00Haven't read it :( Hangs head down in shame an...Haven't read it :( Hangs head down in shame and slinks away)Samantha Sottohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14116257082088369600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-59246591340042302752012-05-29T12:26:15.147-07:002012-05-29T12:26:15.147-07:00Alex: You know, I've never read any Lovecraft....Alex: You know, I've never read any Lovecraft. I need to, but I just haven't gotten to him, yet.<br /><br />L.G.: Well, it scared her enough that he burned the first version, so, yeah, it must have freaked her out pretty badly.<br /><br />bru: I'm not convinced that RLS was bipolar. I don't really think the evidence supports it. He was sickly, but the things about his life don't strike me that way. Not like, say, Van Gogh. But I'm sure you'd be better at recognizing the signs than me.<br /><br />Grumpy: It's been a long time since I read either of those, and, while I do remember some detachment, there is also direct action, or, at least, characters talking about things that actually happened to them.<br /><br />Briane: Well, if RLS had a contract for another book, then, yeah, he'd get stuck writing something crappy to fulfill his contract with the publisher. Like Lucas with American Graffiti 2.<br /><br />Michael: No, I haven't watched that, yet, but I do have it on my list.<br /><br />S.L.: I don't mean that story wouldn't be published; I mean it wouldn't be published the way RLS wrote it. It would be something that no one would even look at today if written in that style. To be published today, it would have to be written in a more active style and would lose the psychological edge it has to it. The creepiness that it holds because Utterson is trying to figure out what's going on. It would, in essence, have to become a horror novel rather than a psychological thriller, which would completely change what RLS wrote.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-47345532269299972262012-05-29T10:37:00.867-07:002012-05-29T10:37:00.867-07:00I actually don't agree. I think Jekyll and Hyd...I actually don't agree. I think Jekyll and Hyde is timeless. You might be right that the writing style wouldn't be published today - but then very few people write that way any more (whether that style was better or worse than modern writing styles is certainly up for debate). But the story itself - the examination of the duality of human nature - THAT would appeal to a contemporary society. In some ways that's why I prefer to think of myself as someone who tells stories rather than a writer. Because for me, the mark of a good novel is the story. Obviously I have very strong feelings about the beauty of language and written structure as well, but ultimately the story behind it is the most important. And I genuinely believe that if one of today's authors wrote Jekyll and Hyde in a modern style, people (and publishers) would really respond to it.S. L. Hennessyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06514651403542719387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-73034133007135090342012-05-29T09:14:23.491-07:002012-05-29T09:14:23.491-07:00Andrew, did you by any chance get to watch the SyF...Andrew, did you by any chance get to watch the SyFy's adaptation of Treasure Island in a mini-series? I really enjoyed it, and Eddie Izzard played Long John Silver. That's quite a different role for one of the most famous transvestites in the world.Michael Offutt, Phantom Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557969104886174930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-79364083519406616682012-05-29T08:59:08.453-07:002012-05-29T08:59:08.453-07:00Excellent essay. I don't really have anything...Excellent essay. I don't really have anything that I can add. I found it a great read. And long enough that I decided to read it, rather than skip it because it's too short. {TSDR} being my new thing.<br /><br />Do you suppose that if Jekyll did get published today that afterwards RLS would make a sequel in which Jekyll went from fascinating character to the protagonist and it would heavily emphasize the gore rather than the psychological, and in the end lose the magic of the original?<br /><br />Like "Hannibal"?Brianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01616494058636881575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-39620646247437755792012-05-29T07:07:14.469-07:002012-05-29T07:07:14.469-07:00"Dracula" is the same way in that all th..."Dracula" is the same way in that all the narration is recounted from various people's journals or diaries so you don't really "see" the action in an immediate way. In "Frankenstein" there was a bit of distance to because it was mostly a guy writing to his sister and telling her about conversations with Dr. Frankenstein. So I think that was just the style of early horror novels.PT Dillowayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09394481476862013009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-52518801796419236382012-05-29T06:33:58.953-07:002012-05-29T06:33:58.953-07:00I've read more than one place that it's th...I've read more than one place that it's thought that Stevenson was bipolar.<br /><br />Maybe that's why his wife reacted so badly to the book- maybe it was a little too close to her reality?<br /><br />Just a thought (from someone who knows what it is like to really be bipolar and live in a mixed state. It ain't easy.)<br /><br />bruFebruary Gracehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01078037856070486022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-42930890590989720622012-05-29T06:33:31.974-07:002012-05-29T06:33:31.974-07:00I read J and H about two years ago. It was part of...I read J and H about two years ago. It was part of a classic horror collection I picked up at a library sale. It has all the usuals in it...Frankenstein, The Raven, Dracula...but the RLS story was my favorite. <br /><br />You're right we don't see much of the action, in any of those stories really, but RLS's voice and style are so vibrant that it still captivates. And I think psychologically it resonates because of that whole "devil inside" thing. And let's face it, a lot of that interior tension comes from religiously induced repression and guilt which, in a strict environment, encourages secretive outlets. Probably scared the crap out of his wife, worried about what everyone would think.Luanne G. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15762881276976395955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-59496000139409690382012-05-29T03:38:10.859-07:002012-05-29T03:38:10.859-07:00Think back to Lovecraft's style - not a lot of...Think back to Lovecraft's style - not a lot of the action takes place in front of the reader in his work either. Probably just the style of writing at the time.<br />Might have to reread both, although I almost never do that either.Alex J. Cavanaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09770065693345181702noreply@blogger.com