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The soul moved the pen, and broke it: Flaubert's emotional style

commonreader.co.uk

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Re: The soul moved the pen, and broke it: Flaubert's emotional style

#13

When he saw Breughel’s Temptation of Saint Anthony he fell into such a long, unresponsive rapture I wasn't familiar with this painting, for the very good reason that it doesn't exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptation_of_Saint_Anthony_in... I have a hunch the writer meant Bosch's version, given that his paintings are so visually dense that anyone would need a long time to take them in. An interesting essay, bu…

I got the detail from the Steegmuller biography. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62447/page/n13... I believe it refers to this painting, which has, I believe, changed attribution, but which is still referred to as by a "Breughel follower". https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.41602.html#:~... .

Well, looks like it's the Wikipedia article on the paintings that's wrong, sorry about that! I'll try adding the 'Brueghel follower' painting to the list.

Re: The soul moved the pen, and broke it: Flaubert's emotional style

#14
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salammbo's characters are pretty stilted and awkward too, as is the flow of the story (like Dune's, fittingly, since that was its inspiration). But I don't know how much of that is from translation or being ~200 years removed in writing style.

you got a link to such inspiration? also, slightly over 100 years between the two.

Sorry, I meant ~200 from Salammbo to writing styles/expectations today. :p

I don't think the inspirational link is very common knowledge. I found something about it here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351461270_Salammbo_...

Essentially, both are about a system that corrupts and does not deserve virtue (the Carthaginian Council; the Padishah Emperor) and virtuous characters (Hamilcar; the Atreides) contrasted against non-virtuous ones (Hanno; the Harkonnens). Baron Harkonnen's anti-gravity implants are Hanno's luxurious slave litter, and his black goo bath is Hanno's cinnamon oil one. ;D

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