In this issue: B & N saga continued Today in History - Nov. 20 Re: More on Becquer New Yorker Victorian Fairies Art Article fairy show gaslight anthologies Re: White maniac--read it and scream! Re: White maniac--read it and scream! Fitz Hugh Ludlow (fwd) Sonnet Central Today in History - November 23 Re: Today in History - November 23 Chat: Peake Opera Today in History - Nov. 24 Sub? Re: Sub? Re: Sub? Re: Sub? "A Romance of Leichhardt" Re: Sub? Re: "A Romance of Leichhardt" Re: "A Romance of Leichhardt" Re: Sub? Re: "A Romance of Leichhardt" Re: Sub? Etext avail: Wright's _Huts of Ellerslie_, pt. 2 Re: Sub? -----------------------------THE POSTS----------------------------- Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 04:29:33 -0500 From: bluepencil <bluepencil(at)earthlink.net> Subject: B & N saga continued Being a devoted customer of dusty old bookshops and independent online used booksellers through sites such as http://www.bookfinder.com or http://www.bibliofind.com I decided to give B & N a fair shake and visit their website. One tiny point leaped to my attention. They have a link to a category called "future bestsellers" so that customers may pre-order as-yet-unpublished books B & N says will be the bestsellers of the upcoming months. Is this simple clairovyance?or just a lucky guess on their part? There is something a tad bit Orwellian about this concept, if you ask me (which no one has, of course). Time to write Congress, I do believe. As important as Monica's phone conversations may be, perhaps they might give a moment's thought to saving world literature. :) Robert G.
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Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 10:16:34 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Nov. 20
1903
In Cheyenne, Wyoming, 42-year-old hired gunman Tom Horn is
hanged for the murder of
Willie Nickell, 14. (Personal Sidenote: I was once asked to be
a juror in a 1990 reenactment of
Horn's trial and execution. I forget what I was already
booked to do that weekend instead.)
1914
Bulgaria proclaims its neutrality in the First World War.
Born on November 20
1889
Edwin Hubble, American astronomer who proved that there are
other galaxies far from our
own.
1908
Alistair Cooke, English journalist, who hosted "Masterpiece
Theater." (Another Sidenote:
His son, John Byrne Cooke, author of a wonderful trilogy called
"The Snowblind Moon" about
some of the events that led to the Little Bighorn, told the
Colorado Library Association that he
had developed his interest in history from reading books people
had sent his father for review.)
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Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 16:42:01 -0800 From: Patricia Teter <PTeter(at)getty.edu> Subject: Re: More on Becquer Bob C. writes: <<Here, from the Barnes and Noble site, is the publisher's description of the Becquer book _Legends and Letters_ that I mentioned yesterday.>> Bob, thanks for the added description! Sounds like something I need to own. <grin> best regards, Patricia
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Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 12:23:34 -0500
From: "Richard L. King" <rking(at)INDIAN.VINU.EDU>
Subject: New Yorker Victorian Fairies Art Article
Hi!
Thought some of you would be interested in a not-too-long article in the
Nov. 9, 1998 New Yorker, page 90. It is under the Art World heading and
is titled "Fairies Welcome: The Victorians' uses of enchantment," and is
written by Peter Schjeldahl. It is a discussion of a "Victorian Fairy
Painting" exhibit at the Frick gallery (in London, I think?).
To quote: "Do we like the paintings in this honey-sweet,
hemlock-dripping show? We needn't very much, I think, to find them
usefully fascinating. Mostly from the mid-nineteenth century, the oils,
watercolors, and whatnot, including a toy theatre, memorialize a British
craze for gossamer critters which, in the reliable Victorian way, exudes
psychosocial wooziness and a positively remorseless will to charm. To be
brief about it, this stuff is the living last word in antique twee. And
yet it feels right on time for us."
(That's the way people write in the NY, of course.)
The article also discusses Charles Altamont Doyle's (father of A.C.
Doyle) work, too, and there is a full-age detail of Joseph Noel Paton's
"The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania" ("Orgiastic goings on with no chance
of real sex").
Best wishes,
Richard King
rking(at)indian.vinu.edu
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Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 11:02:31 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: fairy show The catalogue for this show--I should say full color art book, is incredible. I wouldn't go so far to say these images are that "twee". Most of the show is John Anster Fitzgerald's extremely bizarre, opium-dreamed fairy images. They are wonderful as only a lover of Hieronymous Bosch could dream of as wonderful. Far more the hemlock dripping than honey sweet. The topper is some of the frames these things were in--one is all pokey twigs. Absolutely perfect. And the inclusion of Dadd makes it just one step more over the line into not-a-children's idea of fairy. One of my favorite images is by Dulac, though. An entomologist wakes up in a blue-y dark room to find all the butterflies and moths he's collected have burst from their glass collecting boxes and are flying about in a rather menacing way (shades of Benson's CATERPILLARS!). Certainly there are some rather sweet images but on the whole, even "Dicky" Doyles have an underlying vicious edge (fairies prodding mice and tormenting birds) that isn't what we think of at all as the sentimental Victorians. Fairies from the dark side or should I say "grim" side abound. We have discussed the book and show previously but I had to counter some of the article's assessment. Edward Gorey would be more at home here than Cecily Mary Barker. Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 08:41:58 -0500 (EST) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: gaslight anthologies Greetings... on another list which some, but not all, of you belong this list of Victorian anthologies was slapped together. Thought some might be interested. phoebe Date: Tuesday, November 17, 1998 5:19:52 PM From: BMoonforty(at)AOL.COM Subj: Victorian text/anthology list To: VICTORIA(at)LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Many of you asked for me to send you a copy of the list I'd compiled from recommendations on a Victorian Poets and Prose Anthology. As the requests themselves indicate, there is a scarcity of decent anthologies. Thanks again to those of you who gave advice. I appreciated your comments. If I've left anyone's suggestions off the list, please forgive. Here's the list, with summary of comments from the recommenders. Houghton and Stange, eds. "Victorian Poetry and Poetics" (old, still in print, fairly comprehensive; there doesn't seem to be a better option, but add xeroxes to it; cheap binding, fell apart, but very expensive; conventional and male, absence of women-- few things by Rossetti, but no EBB! Great that it has some things in entirety, ex. "In Memoriam") Buckley, ed "Prose of the Victorian Period" Haight, ed "The Portable Vict. Reader" Cunningham, Valentine, ed. "The Victorians: An Anthology of Poetry and Poetics" (looks good from table of contents; supposed to be available now, but won't be ready till sometime next year) Collection of short prose by women, publisher Broadview. "Daughters of Decadence" The Oxford or the Norton Anthology, sophomore level surveys, and supplement with packets. [this was recommended by several people to save the students some money] ?out of print-- "Representative Poetry" 2 volumes, coming out of U of Toronto. "The New Oxford Book of Victorian Verse" , ed. Ricks (lots of interesting material but no footnotes etc. ; no commentary ) Blackwell Women Poets (excellent, but expensive and only women) Ebbatson, Roger, on Tennyson in the Penguin Critical Studies. (really good selection with considerable secondary comment yet VERY slim) Barker, Juliet. same series, on Brontes. ?Bloom, Harold and Lionel Trilling, eds. of anthology (not sure of it) Bristow, Joseph, ed. "The Victorian Poet: Poetics and Persona". London; New York: Croom Helm, 1987. (very good in giving background to the major dialogues about poetry and culture at the time, using excerpts from writings of the time introduced by very concise, very useful prefaratory remarks.
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Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 13:14:11 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: White maniac--read it and scream!
On Wed, 18 Nov 1998, Deborah McMillion Nering wrote:
>This was one creepy story.
I agree. I liked it a good deal, especially the idea that this strange,
white house is located in the middle of a very ordinary London. (I
might have misspoken there. One never knows what is just around the corner
in the London of our horror and mystery writers.)
This tale has connections with motifs used by other writers. In
considering Blanche, for instance, I epecially thought about
Beatrice in Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter." That story, too,
concerns a young man who falls in love with an imprisoned woman. Like
Blanche, Beatrice has the power to bring death, and also a protector (her
father instead of an uncle, as here), and the young man's love, in both
cases, leads to catastrophe as he tries to rescue her. The difference, of
course, is that Beatrice is completely good whereas our Blanche has, let
us say, a peculiarity.
It is a point of interest to me as to whether Blanche is honest with
Charles in her protestations of innocence and her belief that her
uncle is mad, or whether, having spotted a likely lunch, she is being
devious in the way the mad often are. It is possible, after all,
that Blanche has amnesia where her episodes of feeding are concerned,
in which case her uncle's insistence that everything in the house and
beyond be white would allow her to think that she was indeed being watched
over by a madman. (On the other hand, I thought for a brief moment that
the uncle might actually be a procurer for her!) In any case, Waif
Wanderer does a good job, until near the end, of creating doubts as to who
the "maniac" really is.
Waif Wanderer also uses to fine effect the theme of female immurement,
and the connection of that immurement with some forbidden passion. (I
first ran across the theme in grad school, reading Richardson's
_Clarissa_. I did not know at the time how pervasive it was, though
I saw in it even then resemblances to Sleeping Beauty, where the beauty
sleeps in a great tangle of thorns which have grown up protectively
around her and through which the young hero has to cut in order to reach
his future bride.) Immurement in these stories seems to be either the
prelude to a new life (what is known in anthropology as the liminal or
threshold state) or the occasion of disaster. It goes without saying
that this particular version lends itself (quite consciously on the
writer's part, I imagine) to a feminist reading. And yet the eeriness of
it enveloped by a certain beauty that takes it out of the realm of
ideology. There is something profoundly elemental about the colors
(white and red) and their connection with birth, death, and the state of
the human soul that throws over the whole the air of a legend.
Bob C.
>
> And what do all these neighbors mean they're crazy for the white thing? Is
> that judgemental? Okay. They are. Well, at least Blanche is (great
> name!!). You're thinking not?--stop it! She is. With the absolute worst
> craziness of all. The old uncle is right about that. But just because
> Blanche is nuts doesn't mean I am. Really.
>
> Marvelous fun!
>
> Deborah
>
> Deborah McMillion
> deborah(at)gloaming.com
> http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
>
_________________________________________________
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Those who are alive receive a mandate from those
who are silent forever. They can fulfill their
duties only by trying to reconstruct precisely
things as they were and by wresting the past
from fictions and legends.
--Czeslaw Milosz
_________________________________________________
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Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 11:24:06 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: Re: White maniac--read it and scream! >Rappaccini's daughter... >Waif Wanderer also uses to fine effect the theme of female immurement, I also thought of Rapunzel in her tower guarded over by the witch. Rapunzel is also good, the witch unkind. Rappaccini it is unknown--something of a madman to turn his daughter into poison. Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 00:05:30 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Fitz Hugh Ludlow (fwd)
It seems a good long time since we read Fitz Hugh Ludlow, whose
"The Phial of Dread" is one of the strangest stories to come
out of that fecund period of American lit., the 1850s. I
prepared the story--along with two other Ludlow stories--both
for Gaslight and for the website of Ludlow enthusiast Don
Dulchinos. Don provided me with the titles of a series of
Ludlow stories and even sent me his original magazine copy
of "The Music Essence," which is now mounted on his site
(though not on ours). I recently received the following post
from Don in which he informs me that his bio. of Ludlow has
been published. Here is the post.
Hello Bob,
My Ludlow biography is at last in print. More details at
www.well.com/user/dpd/fitz.html
Can you forward on that information to the Gaslight list? I think they may
be especially interested in the insights into nineteenth century
publishing practices as much as anything.
Hope all is well.
Best regards,
Don Dulchinos
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Those who are alive receive a mandate from those
who are silent forever. They can fulfill their
duties only by trying to reconstruct precisely
things as they were and by wresting the past
from fictions and legends.
--Czeslaw Milosz
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 20:26:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Donald Peter Dulchinos <dpd(at)well.com>
To: rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Subject: Fitz Hugh Ludlow
Hello Bob,
My Ludlow biography is at last in print. More details at
www.well.com/user/dpd/fitz.html
Can you forward on that information to the Gaslight list? I think they may
be especially interested in the insights into nineteenth century
publishing practices as much as anything.
Hope all is well.
Best regards,
Don Dulchinos
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Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 10:25:58 -0500 From: "Roberts, Leonard" <lroberts(at)email.uncc.edu> Subject: Sonnet Central Gassers, Here is a site with a wealth of sonnets, from earliest times to the modern day, including a great many Victorian authors. Take a look at: http://members.aol.com/ericblomqu/sonnet.htm I doubt you will be disappointed. Len Roberts
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Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 10:10:05 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - November 23
1863
Union forces win the Battle of Orchard Knob, Tenn.
1904
Russo-German talks break down because of Russia's insistence to
consult France.
1909
Wright brothers form a million-dollar corporation for the
commercial manufacture of
airplanes.
Born on November 23
1804
Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the United States.
1878
Ernest King, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. fleet who designed
the United States'
winning strategy in World War II.
1887
Boris Karloff, English actor most famous for his role as the
monster in the movie
Frankenstein.
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Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 12:19:00 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: Today in History - November 23
Jerry quotes:
1909
Wright brothers form a million-dollar corporation for the
commercial manufacture of
airplanes.
Since there aren't any Wright Brothers' planes around, I wonder what
happened to this venture. Is it still with us under another name,
or were O. and W. simply better engineers than businessmen?
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Those who are alive receive a mandate from those
who are silent forever. They can fulfill their
duties only by trying to reconstruct precisely
things as they were and by wresting the past
from fictions and legends.
--Czeslaw Milosz
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 23:19:59 -0500 From: "James E. Kearman" <jkearman(at)gate.net> Subject: Chat: Peake Opera There's an article in the London Times web edition, 24 November, Arts section, about an opera loosely based on Melvyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy, after which it is named. For a copy of the article, send me email with "1124A" in the Subject line. Please note my new email address. Cheers, Jim - ------------------------------------- James E. Kearman mailto:jkearman(at)gate.net http://www.gate.net/~jkearman Why do you wander further and further? Look! All good is here. Only learn to seize your joy, For joy is always near. --Goethe - --------------------------------- James E. Kearman mailto:jkearman(at)iname.com
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Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 08:33:18 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Nov. 24
1863
In the Battle Above the Clouds, Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's
forces take Lookout
Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tenn.
1864
Kit Carson and his 1st Cavalry, New Mexico Volunteers, attack a
camp of Kiowa Indians
in the First Battle of Adobe Walls.
1874
Joseph Glidden receives a patent for barbed wire.
1902
The first Congress of Professional Photographers convenes in
Paris.
1912
Austria denounces Serbian gains in the Balkans; Russia and
France back Serbia while Italy
and Germany back Austria.
Born on November 24
1784
Zachary Taylor, 12th president of the United States.
1864
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, French post-impressionist painter.
1868
Scott Joplin, originator of Ragtime music who wrote "The
Entertainer"
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 07:10:01 -0500 From: "James E. Kearman" <jkearman(at)gate.net> Subject: Sub? Hi, Stephen, Have not received any Gaslight mail since our exchange last night. Think server needs gentle persuasion. Suggest 5-lb sledgehammer. Cheers, Jim
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 08:40:17 -0700 (MST) From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> Subject: Re: Sub? On Wed, 25 Nov 1998, James E. Kearman wrote: > Hi, Stephen, > Have not received any Gaslight mail since our exchange last night. Think > server needs gentle persuasion. Suggest 5-lb sledgehammer. > Cheers, > Jim Revise the above to read "since Sunday 22nd", replace "gentle" by "forceful" and "5-lb" by "12-lb", and it applies equally to: Yours etc. Peter Wood <G>
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 09:15:28 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: Re: Sub? >Revise the above to read "since Sunday 22nd", replace "gentle" by >"forceful" and "5-lb" by "12-lb", and it applies equally to: I was always told that in order to receive mail one must send mail. Dear gentlemen, I posted 5 or 6 messages last week on "White Maniac" trying to elicit responses. The merest handful responded and I am grateful to them (and thank you Bob C., again--great commentary!). Did you read said story and write commentary? Hmmm? Even if one doesn't think their comments mean much it's nice to know if others read the story and thought something. It's true I don't get to every story so I can easily forgive not having anything to say sometimes. But you shouldn't then turn around and say "I want more mail" on a discussion/story list if you don't read the story and/or you don't discuss. This goes to all the lurkers out there who might wonder why no one is saying anything on this weeks story. Remember also this is a holiday week in America so many people are off from work and likely access to their computers (like certain librarians!)--holiday times are often dry. I remember one Christmas it was only good ole Gildy (the 'Sauce Guy) and I discussing one story and then...not...after another for 3 weeks. Wow, those were the hard old times! (said lightly in a mildly chastising way...) ;) Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 11:39:03 -0500
From: lpv1(at)is2.nyu.edu
Subject: Re: Sub?
Dear Deborah,
What a wonderfully encouraging post.... I must admit that I don't post my
reaction to these wonderful (in both literal and figurative sense) stories
because
I am totally awed and full of humility at my layman's(laywoman's) reaction
to them.
I read purely for enjoyment and escapism. I enjoy the posts for their
academically
erudite and learned content. I know that when a post is from RC, it will
elucidate and
entertain. I can't do that. I come from the school that says: I don't
know much about
literature, but I know what I like" (grin, laugh out loud even!!) The
little education that
I have is purely practical --- I can assemble a meal, clean up the dishes,
purge
garbage and do windows.
So, I will sink back into my comfortable reading stance and hope that
this little
outburst pays postal my dues for the year -- Until next year, I wish all
of you a very
Happy Thanksgiving and a good, merry, not too expensive, winter
intercession season.
Yours in horror and amazement., Lucie
At 09:15 AM 11/25/98 -0700, you wrote:
>>Revise the above to read "since Sunday 22nd", replace "gentle" by
>>"forceful" and "5-lb" by "12-lb", and it applies equally to:
(much wonderful stuff deleted)...>
i one story and
>then...not...after another for 3 weeks. Wow, those were the hard old times!
>Deborah McMillion
>
>
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 11:55:33 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: "A Romance of Leichhardt"
This story reads so factually that I am still uncertain as to whether
the events, or something like them, did not occur. Whatever
the descriptions and adventures of the four men involved, in any case,
I assume that the portrait of the Australian landscape is rendered
accurately and that in the 1870s men would have been faced with the
same situation as our four had they decided to journey across the
continent.
"The Mysterious Lake" is a devilish chapter on which to leave off.
Like the unfortunate Langren, I suspect that Leichhardt is still
alive and probably up in those mountains somewhere. Something
terrible must have happened to his expedition, though; and
Leichhardt must have counted his chances of surviving on the
way back, or the way forward, as pretty close to nil; I can?t imagine
he would stay in that waste by choice.-- All speculation, of course,
but the mind is eager for the fulfilling conclusion.
As I recall, this is the second tale we have had with a "man against
the desert" theme, the first being "La Tinaja Bonita" by Owen Wister
which takes place in the deserts of Arizona. That story ends
tragically, with the protagonist driven out of his head with thirst
and heat; but it is also more of a moral tale than we have encountered
here so far?the desert journey in the Wister story is undertaken
out of arrogance and ignorance, as an untested "short cut" (Americans
are always looking for short cuts: that was, after all, the downfall of
the Donner party.) On the other hand, our hearty four--er, three--in
the Wright story seem to be true adventurers who know the
challenges they will face and are willing to risk all.
This idea of the test of the self makes these men more likable than
the Wister hero, since it gives them more humility; they also
apparently see themselves as belonging to a great line of explorers.
So if something terrible happens to them, as it did to the desert trekker
in Wister, I will be disappointed indeed.
Many thanks, Toni, for still another very interesting look at Australia.
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Those who are alive receive a mandate from those
who are silent forever. They can fulfill their
duties only by trying to reconstruct precisely
things as they were and by wresting the past
from fictions and legends.
--Czeslaw Milosz
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 10:09:29 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: Re: Sub? Lucie, >I am totally awed and full of humility at my layman's(laywoman's) reaction >to them. I come from the school that says: I don't know much about >literature, but I know what I like" No one should be intimidated to say that they enjoyed a work even in "layman's" terms. You never know what point you may have thought of that no one else saw. I can't say that I speak from anything more than "layman's" terms or a crazed artist point of view. But I'm often delighted and pleased when someone else comes up with a completely different view! I'm remember fondly heated discussions with Bob C. over his favorite "Spirit Mountain". In terms of art we get all kinds of "I know what I likes" in my gallery and you have no idea how much artists need to hear "why do you like?" even if it's just "you make me laugh" or "I like the scary feeling". Validation! Gassers have been the most friendly sort and the richer the response the more fun for us all. And poor James and Peter won't feel so alone in the dark! Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 13:17:45 -0500 (EST) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: Re: "A Romance of Leichhardt" In a message dated 11/25/98 4:56:40 PM, Bob C wrote: <<As I recall, this is the second tale we have had with a "man against the desert" theme, the first being "La Tinaja Bonita" by Owen Wister which takes place in the deserts of Arizona. >> Then there was the one where the Napoleonic soldier in Egypt fell in love with a leopard. I loved that one. (Can't remember the title, sorry.) This story made me thirsty. I think I want to believe he's there in the outback somewhere, too. Also made me think of Patrick White's luminous novel *Voss* which I reread periodically for the sheer taste of the words. Not in our period, but one of my favorite novels. best, phoebe
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 11:46:46 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: Re: "A Romance of Leichhardt" >In a message dated 11/25/98 4:56:40 PM, Bob C wrote: ><<As I recall, this is the second tale we have had with a "man against >the desert" theme Bob, you don't count the Bunyip? Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 12:46:43 -0700 (MST) From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> Subject: Re: Sub? To which all I can say is that were I to receive any of these stories or the discussions which accompany them I would, on suitable occasions, be only too glad to respond. Unfortunately, most of the time I don't get them. I don't see how I can tell the difference between no input and no output as the symptoms are identical, until I see a posting which referes to something I don't recognise as having passed through my mail-reader. Now and again something does come through and when I have something useful to say, I say it. The last posting I made was the story "Chain of Command", following which there was a long loud silence from Gaslight until James Kearman's complaint. What is this "White Maniac" story, for instance? And what did Deborah write about it? I have no idea, but clearly *something* was posted and responded to. Of course, this has been going on for over a year now. I called up the Gaslight web-page this weekend, and was amazed to read stories to which I had seen one or two references - or none! I blame no-ne for this, because it coould well be some sort of electronic glitch. But I'm ********d if I'll accept even mild chastisement for a justified complaint about no fault of my own. Sorry, Deborah, but those are my feelings. Peter Wood On Wed, 25 Nov 1998, Deborah McMillion Nering wrote: > >Revise the above to read "since Sunday 22nd", replace "gentle" by > >"forceful" and "5-lb" by "12-lb", and it applies equally to: > I was always told that in order to receive mail one must send mail. Dear > gentlemen, I posted 5 or 6 messages last week on "White Maniac" trying to > elicit responses. The merest handful responded and I am grateful to them > (and thank you Bob C., again--great commentary!). Did you read said story > and write commentary? Hmmm? Even if one doesn't think their comments mean > much it's nice to know if others read the story and thought something. > It's true I don't get to every story so I can easily forgive not having > anything to say sometimes. But you shouldn't then turn around and say "I > want more mail" on a discussion/story list if you don't read the story > and/or you don't discuss. This goes to all the lurkers out there who might > wonder why no one is saying anything on this week's story. > Remember also this is a holiday week in America so many people are off from > work and likely access to their computers (like certain > librarians!)--holiday times are often dry. I remember one Christmas it was > only good ole Gildy (the 'Sauce Guy) and I discussing one story and > then...not...after another for 3 weeks. Wow, those were the hard old times! > (said lightly in a mildly chastising way...) ;) > Deborah
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 13:10:26 -0700
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Re: "A Romance of Leichhardt"
First: James K. was just reconnected to Gaslight; he was wondering why
there was no activity since his reconnection (because this was his second
attempt to resub to the list and he wanted verification of its success.)
Second: Bob C. wrote:
>As I recall, this is the second tale we have had with a "man against
>the desert" theme,
It's not obvious, but the story reminded me of _A strange manuscript_
(1888) which unfolds in the Antarctic and is similarly desolate.
(http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/strgmenu.htm)
I understand this week's story to be fiction, but I am not clear why
it is subtitled "A romance of Leichhardt". Could Leichhardt be a repeating
character in James J. Wright's work?
I agree with Bob that Toni chose a devilish spot to leave off the
first part of the story. She has sent me the second half, which completes
the first installment as it was first issued in the _Australian journal_.
I'll announce this second file later today.
Toni's told me that she hasn't unearthed anything further about the
author.
Stephen
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 14:34:23 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: Re: Sub? > But I'm ********d if I'll accept even mild chastisement for a justified >>complaint about no fault of my own. Sorry, Deborah, but those are my >feelings. I guess I would have to ask why have suffered through this situation for a year, Peter? What is it about your server, mail that is being so selective (and will he even get this message?)--are you alone in this? The chastisement--or I hoped a gentle reproof--was obviously not for technical reasons, Peter. It was meant mostly to try to encourage lurkers, et. al. to join the discussion, since this is a discussion list as well. Sorry you missed White Maniac but since it was only a week ago you can download the story off the website and enjoy it still--not too late to throw in a comment or two either. No one has dared reveal the ending even though it's past the spoiler time. Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 14:34:54 -0700
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Etext avail: Wright's _Huts of Ellerslie_, pt. 2
(HUTSMENU.HTM) (Fiction, Chronos, Scheds)
James J. Wright's _The huts of Ellerslie_, Pt. 2 (1898)
hutselx2.srl
The trek across the Australian desert continues with the
search for Leichardt. Only last week's installment is open
for discussion.
Thanks to Toni Johnson-Woods for continuing this serial.
It is now available on the website and as an ASCII etext
thru FTPmail.
To retrieve the plain ASCII file with admittedly skewed centering,
send to: ftpmail(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
with no subject heading and completely in lowercase:
open aftp.mtroyal.ab.ca
cd /gaslight
get hutselX2.srl
or visit the Gaslight website at:
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/hutsmenu.htm
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Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 15:59:42 -0600 (CST)
From: James Rogers <jetan(at)ionet.net>
Subject: Re: Sub?
At 02:34 PM 11/25/98 -0700, Deborah McMillion wrote:
>> It was meant mostly to try to encourage lurkers,
>et. al. to join the discussion, since this is a discussion list as well.
>
> Sorry you missed White Maniac but since it was only a week ago you can
>download the story off the website and enjoy it still--not too late to
>throw in a comment or two either. No one has dared reveal the ending even
>though it's past the spoiler time.
>
>Deborah
>
I will de-lurk long enough to join in the recommendation of
"White Maniac".
James
James Michael Rogers
jetan(at)ionet.net
Mundus Vult Decipi
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End of Gaslight Digest V1 #22
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