tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post7029384059713048441..comments2024-01-02T15:37:04.858-05:00Comments on Caravana de recuerdos: Old MastersRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-46488285531044802922015-12-15T09:53:33.783-05:002015-12-15T09:53:33.783-05:00I finally broke my Bernhard duck this year with Wo...I finally broke my Bernhard duck this year with Woodcutters and hope to manage another couple next year. Maybe even finish off the trilogy, knowing that a nice sentimental ending lies in store for me after all the bile. I found it took me a while to get fully into the Bernhard frame of mind. Perhaps because much of the humour depends upon repetition..Séamus Dugganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574186409184247059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-61690281615842493952015-12-07T20:54:23.592-05:002015-12-07T20:54:23.592-05:00Auto-correct. Worst. Invention. Ever.Auto-correct. Worst. Invention. Ever.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-58762505443028106412015-12-07T20:53:01.056-05:002015-12-07T20:53:01.056-05:00Ah, that explains it then. I had both titles in a...Ah, that explains it then. I had both titles in a twofer version but only got around to reading part of one of 'em.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-72913660847045395842015-12-07T20:49:17.809-05:002015-12-07T20:49:17.809-05:00It's a very good rant, Caroline, just maybe no...It's a very good rant, Caroline, just maybe not Bernhard's best/most consistent. The info Rise and Tom in particular added through their comments sure makes me glad I posted on the book rather than taking the easy way out and not posting on it. Cheers!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-38198133755961117892015-12-07T12:13:32.495-05:002015-12-07T12:13:32.495-05:00Rise not Ruse. Where does one turn off the auto- c...Rise not Ruse. Where does one turn off the auto- correct?Carolinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-33437202915609551212015-12-07T12:11:57.936-05:002015-12-07T12:11:57.936-05:00I'm glad you found your way into it after a wh...I'm glad you found your way into it after a while. It does sound like exquisite rant. Very interesting what Ruse added about the bio. Guess some get depressed, others get angry. Or both. Carolinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-32462971859189139202015-12-04T21:43:44.375-05:002015-12-04T21:43:44.375-05:00My Prizes is the adult confessions of St Bernhard....<i>My Prizes</i> is the adult confessions of St Bernhard. But the summa of his rant is in his childhood memories in <i>Gathering Evidence</i>.Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-35882388151358850702015-12-04T20:33:10.189-05:002015-12-04T20:33:10.189-05:00Thanks for the background info, Rise. I dipped in...Thanks for the background info, Rise. I dipped into <em>My Prizes</em> a while back, but I don't remember anything about Bernhard's bio other than what I remember from that (which isn't much).Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-36675049509754845462015-12-04T09:45:48.821-05:002015-12-04T09:45:48.821-05:00His memoirs provide ample background to his anger....His memoirs provide ample background to his anger. Harrowing first hand experience of bombings during the war. A school system that tolerates child abuse. Exposure to a lot of suicides in his community. Work apprenticeship in a poverty stricken neighborhood. Near death experience from a sickness. Almost too depressing in its confessions but oddly brilliant for being told in his inimitable style. Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-65931583896843994382015-12-03T12:34:51.000-05:002015-12-03T12:34:51.000-05:00I can relate, of course, but that was the first ti...I can relate, of course, but that was the first time that had happened to me with Bernhard. Maybe the insults & vitriol got better in the last 2/3 of the book or something, I'm not reallly sure.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-59551858085118215462015-12-02T15:24:34.859-05:002015-12-02T15:24:34.859-05:00I was reading some Bernhard too this month, but I ...I was reading some Bernhard too this month, but I rather got stuck in your initial opinion. I mean, the vitriol is amusing for a bit.obookihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03885121629202810216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-60035375922047648072015-12-02T00:47:51.311-05:002015-12-02T00:47:51.311-05:00Handke is a dehumiliation-in-waiting author for me...Handke is a dehumiliation-in-waiting author for me. 2016 maybe? Bah, too much to catch up on, it never stops...Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-38857032346958123322015-12-02T00:45:15.040-05:002015-12-02T00:45:15.040-05:00While I was kind of kidding about the extent of th...While I was <em>kind of</em> kidding about the extent of the "Austrian self-loathing" in my "what Tom says" comment to Miguel above, this latest comment of yours clears the air and then some. Thanks for wording things so nicely. Thanks, too, for sharing that "old joke" about Austria's greatest achievement--I'd never heard that one! Thanks, finally, for reminding me that I really need to make time for Schorske's <em>Fin-de-siècle Vienna</em> one of these days.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-52557050153995154812015-12-01T20:59:49.138-05:002015-12-01T20:59:49.138-05:00Apocalyptic - yes. It's in Handke, too, for e...Apocalyptic - yes. It's in Handke, too, for example. But it's not endemic like in Argentina.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-83645778788416257222015-12-01T18:05:48.994-05:002015-12-01T18:05:48.994-05:00That Dickensian goo surprised me all right, but I ...That Dickensian goo surprised me all right, but I actually found it a nice surprise given Little Nell's death wasn't telegraphed in advance or anything (your comment was a hoot, though!). By the way,the Kraus-Kokoschka-Bernhard connections are getting harder to ignore as time goes on. Guess there's an apocalyptic satirist bug/strain in Austrian drinking water or something.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-21256641497791437102015-12-01T17:56:27.843-05:002015-12-01T17:56:27.843-05:00There is the old joke that Austria's greatest ...There is the old joke that Austria's greatest achievement was to convince the world that Beethoven was Austrian and Hitler was German.<br /><br />In the 19th century, the Viennese created a culture built around the fine arts. They raised a generation that became either 1) great artists, and great neurotics or 2) Nazi supporters. Later, because the Austrians did not start WWII themselves - no, they were invaded, they were victims! - they could pretend that #2 did not exist while putting #1 in their museums, theaters, and libraries.<br /><br />That's why Bernhard - I mean the narrator - is so angry.<br /><br />How I love Vienna. How I wish I could live there.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-31933683461534188052015-12-01T17:52:23.403-05:002015-12-01T17:52:23.403-05:00It's a good book, Brian, but easily way less o...It's a good book, Brian, but easily way less of a good thing (in my opinion) than either <em>The Loser</em> or <em>Woodcutters</em> to name the other two titles in Bernhard arts trilogy. Glad you enjoyed the post, but Bernhard, a supreme ranter, is almost impossible to screw up review-wise. I can't take any credit for that!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-52100272609136579122015-12-01T17:43:15.879-05:002015-12-01T17:43:15.879-05:00Bernhard's characters always have plenty of di...Bernhard's characters always have plenty of different reasons for griping, but almost all have an element of Austrian self-loathing involved (i.e what Tom says below). This one was angry in part because his wife had died suddenly and he didn't have the "courage" to follow her into the grave via a suicide. The English translation's subtitle, <em>A Comedy</em>, while not to be found in the original German, emphasizes the satiric nature of the work.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-63958984896581871852015-12-01T10:26:50.889-05:002015-12-01T10:26:50.889-05:00He was angry because he was Viennese. Vienna is a...He was angry because he was Viennese. Vienna is a hellhole. Aside from the Venetian room at the art museum. That is clear enough.<br /><br />Bernhard turns into a big gooball at the end, doesn't he? What a sap! Please, Mr. Bernhard, don't let Little Nell die!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-68376271311640134952015-12-01T06:36:37.860-05:002015-12-01T06:36:37.860-05:00I had heard good things about this book previously...I had heard good things about this book previously.<br /><br />Sometimes I find such rants very amusing. Of course things like this really have to gel in order to work. <br /><br />Superb commentary as always Richard.Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-55088959759278324152015-12-01T05:20:41.629-05:002015-12-01T05:20:41.629-05:00Why was the man so angry?Why was the man so angry?LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.com