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Evening Edged in Gold
Describes three days in the life of double amputee Eugen Fohrbach, his daughter, Martina, his wife, Grete, and her brother Egon
215 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
6 people are currently reading
354 people want to read
About the author
Arno Schmidt
235 books204 followersArno Schmidt, in full Arno Otto Schmidt, (born January 18, 1914, Hamburg-Hamm, Germany—died June 3, 1979, Celle), novelist, translator, and critic, whose experimental prose established him as the preeminent Modernist of 20th-century German literature.
With roots in both German Romanticism and Expressionism, he attempted to develop modern prose forms that correspond more closely to the workings of the conscious and subconscious mind and to revitalize a literary language that he considered debased by Nazism and war.
The influence of James Joyce and Sigmund Freud are apparent in both a collection of short stories, Kühe in Halbtrauer (1964; Country Matters), and, most especially, in Zettels Traum (1970; Bottom’s Dream)—a three-columned, more than 1,300-page, photo-offset typescript, centring on the mind and works of Poe. It was then that Schmidt developed his theory of “etyms,” the morphemes of language that betray subconscious desires. Two further works on the same grand scale are the “novella-comedy” Die Schule der Atheisten (1972; School for Atheists) and Abend mit Goldrand (1975; Evening Edged in Gold), a dream-scape that has as its focal point Hiëronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights and that has come to be regarded as his finest and most mature work.
Schmidt was a man of vast autodidactic learning and Rabelaisian humour. Though complex and sometimes daunting, his works are enriched by inventive language and imbued with a profound commitment to humanity’s intellectual achievements.
With roots in both German Romanticism and Expressionism, he attempted to develop modern prose forms that correspond more closely to the workings of the conscious and subconscious mind and to revitalize a literary language that he considered debased by Nazism and war.
The influence of James Joyce and Sigmund Freud are apparent in both a collection of short stories, Kühe in Halbtrauer (1964; Country Matters), and, most especially, in Zettels Traum (1970; Bottom’s Dream)—a three-columned, more than 1,300-page, photo-offset typescript, centring on the mind and works of Poe. It was then that Schmidt developed his theory of “etyms,” the morphemes of language that betray subconscious desires. Two further works on the same grand scale are the “novella-comedy” Die Schule der Atheisten (1972; School for Atheists) and Abend mit Goldrand (1975; Evening Edged in Gold), a dream-scape that has as its focal point Hiëronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights and that has come to be regarded as his finest and most mature work.
Schmidt was a man of vast autodidactic learning and Rabelaisian humour. Though complex and sometimes daunting, his works are enriched by inventive language and imbued with a profound commitment to humanity’s intellectual achievements.
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February 4, 2016fArse <-- geddit? It says "farce" but also "arse"! How much you enjoy this book may depend in large part on your type of sense of humor. Not myself finding genital jokes and pudenda puns particularly side-splitting I'm not finding this quite entertaining enough to be worth the effort involved in parsing the typographic novelties, although I'm certainly objectively impressed by the amount of work the author and translator put into the project(s).
I would most immediately recommend this to people who are drawn to non-standard typography and letter play.
Having previously read Scenes from the Life of a Faun I am suspecting some autobiographical elements as well and would also recommend it to dirty old men of an intellectual bent.
I would most immediately recommend this to people who are drawn to non-standard typography and letter play.
Having previously read Scenes from the Life of a Faun I am suspecting some autobiographical elements as well and would also recommend it to dirty old men of an intellectual bent.
August 25, 2014
My new year's resolution was to spend a stupid amount of my income on rare books and fine wines and liquors, so my Evening Edged in Gold came today:
....and it's signed by John E. Woods!
"Translated with pleasure, Typed with diligence, And now P.E.Nned with my best regards- John E. Woods"
Here's a size comparison with the OUP Wake, 'cause this is a big piece of book:
...and a peep at the interior:
....and it's signed by John E. Woods!
"Translated with pleasure, Typed with diligence, And now P.E.Nned with my best regards- John E. Woods"
Here's a size comparison with the OUP Wake, 'cause this is a big piece of book:
...and a peep at the interior:
August 3, 2016
A beautiful object in and of itself, for which both the publisher and the translator should be praised to the skies.
Hard to read - more from a physical sense than anything else - the size of the pages and the organisation of the text require one to read only in certain supported positions, and one is constantly reminded of the physicality of the act of reading, rather than being able to concentrate fully on the text.
As for the writing itself - well Schmidt-heads know what they are getting, and there is much to enjoy here - punning and playfulness and all that linguistic fun and games. There is, however, an unfortunate misogyny on display which is hard to dismiss as character rather than author. There is also a focus on parts of the erotic and the sexual that I just don't find that interesting.
Regardless, something I am very glad to have on my shelf, and it's pages will, I am sure, be sampled many more times in the future.
Hard to read - more from a physical sense than anything else - the size of the pages and the organisation of the text require one to read only in certain supported positions, and one is constantly reminded of the physicality of the act of reading, rather than being able to concentrate fully on the text.
As for the writing itself - well Schmidt-heads know what they are getting, and there is much to enjoy here - punning and playfulness and all that linguistic fun and games. There is, however, an unfortunate misogyny on display which is hard to dismiss as character rather than author. There is also a focus on parts of the erotic and the sexual that I just don't find that interesting.
Regardless, something I am very glad to have on my shelf, and it's pages will, I am sure, be sampled many more times in the future.
December 29, 2019
It only took 2.5 years to read, but it was worth it.
November 10, 2017
This is great; if you like Schmidt, specifically the later stuff like The School for Atheists and Bottom's Dream, then you’re going to like this. The thing about Schmidt is, if you haven’t read his later stuff, then this is going to be incredibly tough reading. But that really goes for all of the last three works he produced – nothing is going to get you ready for them except for actually reading them; that said, once you’ve read one of the three then you’ll at least have a basis for comparison with the others. That’s not to say these get easier to read – each presents some new and unique difficulty – but you’ll at least know what you’re getting into.
Though, if you’re looking for guidance, I’d start with The School for Atheists – it has a bit more plot movement for the reader to cling to, and is slightly less unwieldy than the weighty Bottom's Dream (and this book is oversized huge and a complete pain in the ass to read if you’re not just laying it on a table – which I never did).
Comparing the three, this one has a literary focus like Bottom's Dream (plus it relies more heavily on columns); but is laid out in the typoscript format like The School for Atheists. It is super bawdy (like Bottom's Dream) but is easier to read than that leviathan. This feels kind of like a amalgamation of the two works that preceded; but it’s neither better nor worse for it. It’s just indispensable Schmidt being Schmidt.
A note: There is a list of characters (with brief descriptions) and a Table of Contents (with brief scene descriptions) at the very back of the book; I of course was not aware of this until I got to the very end of the book. Both are helpful – I spent a lot of time at the beginning of the book trying to puzzle out who everyone was; knowing there was a key in the back would have been nice to know (this information is at the front of The School for Atheists)
A second note: There is an extended section throughout scene 46, titled ‘PHAROS’, or Concerning the Power of Poets’ which is my favorite thing of Schmidt that I’ve read to date. It’s really excellent.
Basically anything else I could say about this I’ve already said in my review of Bottom’s Dream and my review of The School for Atheists; so I’m not going to repeat myself here.
I will say that Schmidt name drops a ton of authors I was not aware of in this book, so I noted them as I read to look into further. For posterity, here is my notes around those authors (mostly just through lazy googling); some sound worth checking, some not so much (this list is in the order I came across these in the book, since the order is in no way apparent):
Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer - Insanely prolific German writer (the most complete edition of his works is 60 (sixty) volumes) – looks like only a handful of his works exist in English translation – the central literary figure discussed throughout the book
Walter Homann – His work “The Attainability of the Celestial Bodies” is referenced (it’s a bookon orbital dynamics) – also referenced are Diary of a Male Bride and Love in the Next World; however I can’t find anything about if the actually exist
Sebastian Haffner – I can’t find anything on the work referenced “What Ladies Maids Tell” (though it could simply not be translated into English. “He wrote mainly about recent German history. His focus was specifically on the history of the German Reich (1871–1945); his books dealt with the origins and course of the First World War, the failure of the Weimar Republic, and the subsequent rise and fall of Nazi Germany under Hitler.”
Olmer – “Secret Chambers” – Not sure about this reference
Karl Joseph Simrock – German translator and Poet – “He is primarily known for his translation of the Nibelungenlied into modern German” – Does not appear his poetry is available in English
Friedrich Spielhagen – “German novelist, literary theorist and translator” – looks like a small handful of his works have been translated to English
Wilhelm Hermann Jensen - a German writer and poet – “more than one hundred and fifty works” – Freud did a long interpretation of his work Grandiva – “Delusion and Dream : an Interpretation in the Light of Psychoanalysis of Gradiva”- available through public domain
Levin Schücking - a German novelist – handful of his works are available in English translation
Joseph Victor von Scheffel - a German poet and novelist – the work referenced (Ekkehard. A tale of the tenth century) is available in English
Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse - German author – does not appear available in English translation
Caspar Scheuren – a German painter and illustrator – the work discussed: ‘Day and Night’ : does not appear to actually exist. Which is unfortunate, as out of all the references in the book this is the one that most caught my interest
Walter Hasenclever - a German Expressionist poet and playwright – probably worth exploring a bit more – some available in English
Karl Spindler - a German novelist – “His reputation rests on his historical romances”
August Lewald - a German author – his periodical ‘Europa’ is referenced
Amelie Godin (Amélie Linz) – a ‘Book of Fairytales’ – “She wrote collections of fairy tales, such as Märchen von einer Mutter erdacht (fourth edition, 1860), Slavische Märchen (1879), Polnische Volksmärchen (1880), Grosses Märchenbuch (fourth edition, 1886), Märchenkranz, and others.” – Nothing apparently in English.
‘Slave’=series a Karl May, ‘The Prince of Misery’ - a German writer best known for his adventure novels set in the American Old West – super popular in Germany, pretty much unread/unknown to English readers
Gustav Freytag ‘Ancestors’ – Not able to locate this specific work – however his work “Debit and Credit” looks interesting (“It was hailed as one of the best German novels and praised for its sturdy but unexaggerated realism”)
inspir’d by the ‘Mysteres du People’; George Lippard – not directly seeing this work anywhere; however his work “The Quaker City, or The Monks of Monk Hall” is sitting on a bookshelf at my house. Need to get to this.
Wilhelm Raabe – “a German novelist. His early works were published under the pseudonym of Jakob Corvinus” – seems at least worth a look; a few available in translation
Gottfried Keller – ‘Green Heinrich’ – “a partially autobiographical novel by the Swiss author Gottfried Keller, first published in 1855, and extensively revised in 1879. Truth is freely mingled with fiction, and there is a generalizing purpose to exhibit the psychic disease that affected the whole generation of the transition from romanticism to realism in life and art. The work stands with Adalbert Stifter's Der Nachsommer as one of the two most important examples of a Bildungsroman.” – sounds interesting
Johann Heinrich Scherber – Can find almost nothing in English about this individual
Manfred Fuhrmann (p 36 ‘Hymn to the Hollow Earth’) – “Above all he has worked as a translator — having translated a huge amount of classical Latin and Ancient Greek texts into German: His probably most outstanding achievement was to translate all of Cicero's speeches. For this translation Fuhrmann received the Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Preis für Übersetzung (Johann-Heinrich-Voß-award) from the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung 1990. Besides he has translated texts from other classical authors like Horace, Aristotle and Plato.” – I can’t find any actual info about work referenced though.
Johann David Michaelis – “a famous and eloquent Prussian biblical scholar and teacher, was a member of a family which had the chief part in maintaining that solid discipline in Hebrew and the cognate languages which distinguished the University of Halle in the period of Pietism. He was a member of the Göttingen School of History.” Doesn’t appear particularly compelling
Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg – ‘Astral Journeys of Somnambulists’ – “a Swedish scientist, philosopher, theologian, revelator, mystic and founder of Swedenborgianism. He is best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758).” Can’t find any reference to the work Schmidt names.
Hans Engelbrecht – German author, wrote “The German Lazarus; being a plain and faithful account of the extraordinary events that happened to John Engelbrecht of Brunswick: relating to his ... return to life: ... All written by himself”;
Hugo Bernatzik – “an Austrian anthropologist and photographer. Bernatzik was the founder of the concept of alternative anthropology” – stuff avail. in English. Probably nothing of interest.
Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles - a French author and novelist – some translations available
Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow (GR entry is funky: Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow Karl Gutzkow) - a German writer notable in the Young Germany movement of the mid-19th century -Magician of Rome (“Der Zauberer von Rom is a powerful study of Roman Catholic life in southern Germany) – couple of his works have been translated
Albrecht von Scharfenberg; – [this is translated by Google] – “author of the so-called "younger Titurel" (about 1260-75), a supplement and continuation of the Titurel fragments Wolframs von Eschenbach . The Sangversepos, to which a contemporary melody is handed down, contains over 6300 four-line stanzas in the form of the so-called Titurelstrophe . In a mannerist manner, it reinforces many of the idiosyncratic styling features typical of Wolfram's idol, such as the dark enigma and almost abstruse erudition.” – sounds fascinating, never translated
George Burrow – “George Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences traveling around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure prominently in his work. His best known books are The Bible in Spain, the autobiographical Lavengro, and The Romany Rye, about his time with the English Romanichal (gypsies).” – mostly buried; not sure if worth exhuming though
Ludwig Tieck – “a German poet, translator, editor, novelist, writer of Novellen, and critic, who was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. - ‘Aquarian’ – not seeing anything about the referenced work. Translations available: “"The Elves" and "The Goblet" were translated by Thomas Carlyle in German Romance (1827), "The Pictures" and "The Betrothal" by Bishop Thirlwall (1825). A translation of "Vittoria Accorombona" was published in 1845. A translation of Des Lebens Überfluss (Life's Luxuries, by E. N. Bennett) appeared in German Short Stories in the Oxford University Press World's Classics series in 1934, but the wit of the original comes over more strongly in The Superfluities of Life. A Tale Abridged from Tieck, which appeared anonymously in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in February 1845. The Journey into the Blue Distance (das Alte Buch: oder Reise ins Blaue hinein, 1834). "The Romance of Little Red Riding Hood" (1801) was translated by Jack Zipes and included in his book "The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood."”
Thomas Love Peacock – oh, his novel “Nightmare Abbey” is available through Broadview. Might need to check that out.
George Crabbe – “George Crabbe was an English poet, surgeon, and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people” – pretty Buried; not really on the experimental side, might check a couple of his works out. Note:
Kyng Alisaunder, Volume I + Kyng Alisaunder vol II Introduction commentary and glossary – “a Middle English romance or romantic epic in 4017 octosyllabic couplets. It tells the story of Alexander the Great's career from his youth, through his successful campaigns against the Persian king Darius and other adversaries, his discovery of the wonders of the East, and his untimely death.” ORDERED
Though, if you’re looking for guidance, I’d start with The School for Atheists – it has a bit more plot movement for the reader to cling to, and is slightly less unwieldy than the weighty Bottom's Dream (and this book is oversized huge and a complete pain in the ass to read if you’re not just laying it on a table – which I never did).
Comparing the three, this one has a literary focus like Bottom's Dream (plus it relies more heavily on columns); but is laid out in the typoscript format like The School for Atheists. It is super bawdy (like Bottom's Dream) but is easier to read than that leviathan. This feels kind of like a amalgamation of the two works that preceded; but it’s neither better nor worse for it. It’s just indispensable Schmidt being Schmidt.
A note: There is a list of characters (with brief descriptions) and a Table of Contents (with brief scene descriptions) at the very back of the book; I of course was not aware of this until I got to the very end of the book. Both are helpful – I spent a lot of time at the beginning of the book trying to puzzle out who everyone was; knowing there was a key in the back would have been nice to know (this information is at the front of The School for Atheists)
A second note: There is an extended section throughout scene 46, titled ‘PHAROS’, or Concerning the Power of Poets’ which is my favorite thing of Schmidt that I’ve read to date. It’s really excellent.
Basically anything else I could say about this I’ve already said in my review of Bottom’s Dream and my review of The School for Atheists; so I’m not going to repeat myself here.
I will say that Schmidt name drops a ton of authors I was not aware of in this book, so I noted them as I read to look into further. For posterity, here is my notes around those authors (mostly just through lazy googling); some sound worth checking, some not so much (this list is in the order I came across these in the book, since the order is in no way apparent):
Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer - Insanely prolific German writer (the most complete edition of his works is 60 (sixty) volumes) – looks like only a handful of his works exist in English translation – the central literary figure discussed throughout the book
Walter Homann – His work “The Attainability of the Celestial Bodies” is referenced (it’s a bookon orbital dynamics) – also referenced are Diary of a Male Bride and Love in the Next World; however I can’t find anything about if the actually exist
Sebastian Haffner – I can’t find anything on the work referenced “What Ladies Maids Tell” (though it could simply not be translated into English. “He wrote mainly about recent German history. His focus was specifically on the history of the German Reich (1871–1945); his books dealt with the origins and course of the First World War, the failure of the Weimar Republic, and the subsequent rise and fall of Nazi Germany under Hitler.”
Olmer – “Secret Chambers” – Not sure about this reference
Karl Joseph Simrock – German translator and Poet – “He is primarily known for his translation of the Nibelungenlied into modern German” – Does not appear his poetry is available in English
Friedrich Spielhagen – “German novelist, literary theorist and translator” – looks like a small handful of his works have been translated to English
Wilhelm Hermann Jensen - a German writer and poet – “more than one hundred and fifty works” – Freud did a long interpretation of his work Grandiva – “Delusion and Dream : an Interpretation in the Light of Psychoanalysis of Gradiva”- available through public domain
Levin Schücking - a German novelist – handful of his works are available in English translation
Joseph Victor von Scheffel - a German poet and novelist – the work referenced (Ekkehard. A tale of the tenth century) is available in English
Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse - German author – does not appear available in English translation
Caspar Scheuren – a German painter and illustrator – the work discussed: ‘Day and Night’ : does not appear to actually exist. Which is unfortunate, as out of all the references in the book this is the one that most caught my interest
Walter Hasenclever - a German Expressionist poet and playwright – probably worth exploring a bit more – some available in English
Karl Spindler - a German novelist – “His reputation rests on his historical romances”
August Lewald - a German author – his periodical ‘Europa’ is referenced
Amelie Godin (Amélie Linz) – a ‘Book of Fairytales’ – “She wrote collections of fairy tales, such as Märchen von einer Mutter erdacht (fourth edition, 1860), Slavische Märchen (1879), Polnische Volksmärchen (1880), Grosses Märchenbuch (fourth edition, 1886), Märchenkranz, and others.” – Nothing apparently in English.
‘Slave’=series a Karl May, ‘The Prince of Misery’ - a German writer best known for his adventure novels set in the American Old West – super popular in Germany, pretty much unread/unknown to English readers
Gustav Freytag ‘Ancestors’ – Not able to locate this specific work – however his work “Debit and Credit” looks interesting (“It was hailed as one of the best German novels and praised for its sturdy but unexaggerated realism”)
inspir’d by the ‘Mysteres du People’; George Lippard – not directly seeing this work anywhere; however his work “The Quaker City, or The Monks of Monk Hall” is sitting on a bookshelf at my house. Need to get to this.
Wilhelm Raabe – “a German novelist. His early works were published under the pseudonym of Jakob Corvinus” – seems at least worth a look; a few available in translation
Gottfried Keller – ‘Green Heinrich’ – “a partially autobiographical novel by the Swiss author Gottfried Keller, first published in 1855, and extensively revised in 1879. Truth is freely mingled with fiction, and there is a generalizing purpose to exhibit the psychic disease that affected the whole generation of the transition from romanticism to realism in life and art. The work stands with Adalbert Stifter's Der Nachsommer as one of the two most important examples of a Bildungsroman.” – sounds interesting
Johann Heinrich Scherber – Can find almost nothing in English about this individual
Manfred Fuhrmann (p 36 ‘Hymn to the Hollow Earth’) – “Above all he has worked as a translator — having translated a huge amount of classical Latin and Ancient Greek texts into German: His probably most outstanding achievement was to translate all of Cicero's speeches. For this translation Fuhrmann received the Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Preis für Übersetzung (Johann-Heinrich-Voß-award) from the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung 1990. Besides he has translated texts from other classical authors like Horace, Aristotle and Plato.” – I can’t find any actual info about work referenced though.
Johann David Michaelis – “a famous and eloquent Prussian biblical scholar and teacher, was a member of a family which had the chief part in maintaining that solid discipline in Hebrew and the cognate languages which distinguished the University of Halle in the period of Pietism. He was a member of the Göttingen School of History.” Doesn’t appear particularly compelling
Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg – ‘Astral Journeys of Somnambulists’ – “a Swedish scientist, philosopher, theologian, revelator, mystic and founder of Swedenborgianism. He is best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758).” Can’t find any reference to the work Schmidt names.
Hans Engelbrecht – German author, wrote “The German Lazarus; being a plain and faithful account of the extraordinary events that happened to John Engelbrecht of Brunswick: relating to his ... return to life: ... All written by himself”;
Hugo Bernatzik – “an Austrian anthropologist and photographer. Bernatzik was the founder of the concept of alternative anthropology” – stuff avail. in English. Probably nothing of interest.
Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles - a French author and novelist – some translations available
Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow (GR entry is funky: Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow Karl Gutzkow) - a German writer notable in the Young Germany movement of the mid-19th century -Magician of Rome (“Der Zauberer von Rom is a powerful study of Roman Catholic life in southern Germany) – couple of his works have been translated
Albrecht von Scharfenberg; – [this is translated by Google] – “author of the so-called "younger Titurel" (about 1260-75), a supplement and continuation of the Titurel fragments Wolframs von Eschenbach . The Sangversepos, to which a contemporary melody is handed down, contains over 6300 four-line stanzas in the form of the so-called Titurelstrophe . In a mannerist manner, it reinforces many of the idiosyncratic styling features typical of Wolfram's idol, such as the dark enigma and almost abstruse erudition.” – sounds fascinating, never translated
George Burrow – “George Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences traveling around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure prominently in his work. His best known books are The Bible in Spain, the autobiographical Lavengro, and The Romany Rye, about his time with the English Romanichal (gypsies).” – mostly buried; not sure if worth exhuming though
Ludwig Tieck – “a German poet, translator, editor, novelist, writer of Novellen, and critic, who was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. - ‘Aquarian’ – not seeing anything about the referenced work. Translations available: “"The Elves" and "The Goblet" were translated by Thomas Carlyle in German Romance (1827), "The Pictures" and "The Betrothal" by Bishop Thirlwall (1825). A translation of "Vittoria Accorombona" was published in 1845. A translation of Des Lebens Überfluss (Life's Luxuries, by E. N. Bennett) appeared in German Short Stories in the Oxford University Press World's Classics series in 1934, but the wit of the original comes over more strongly in The Superfluities of Life. A Tale Abridged from Tieck, which appeared anonymously in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in February 1845. The Journey into the Blue Distance (das Alte Buch: oder Reise ins Blaue hinein, 1834). "The Romance of Little Red Riding Hood" (1801) was translated by Jack Zipes and included in his book "The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood."”
Thomas Love Peacock – oh, his novel “Nightmare Abbey” is available through Broadview. Might need to check that out.
George Crabbe – “George Crabbe was an English poet, surgeon, and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people” – pretty Buried; not really on the experimental side, might check a couple of his works out. Note:
Q. D. Leavis said of Crabbe: "He is (or ought to be—for who reads him?) a living classic." His classic status was also supported by T. S. Eliot in an essay on the poetry of Samuel Johnson in which Eliot grouped Crabbe together favorably with Johnson, Pope, and several other poets. Eliot said that "to have the virtues of good prose is the first and minimum requirement of good poetry." Critic Arthur Pollard believes that Crabbe definitely met this qualification. Critic William Caldwell Roscoe, answering William Hazlitt's question of why Crabbe hadn't in fact written prose rather than verse said "have you ever read Crabbe's prose? Look at his letters, especially the later ones, look at the correct but lifeless expression of his dedications and prefaces — then look at his verse, and you will see how much he has exceeded 'the minimum requirement of good poetry'." Critic F. L. Lucas summed up Crabbe's qualities: "naïve, yet shrewd; straightforward, yet sardonic; blunt, yet tender; quiet, yet passionate; realistic, yet romantic." Crabbe, who is seen as a complicated poet, has been and often still is dismissed as too narrow in his interests and in his way of responding to them in his poetry. "At the same time as the critic is making such judgments, he is all too often aware that Crabbe, nonetheless, defies classification," says Pollard.
Pollard has attempted to examine the negative views of Crabbe and the reasons for limited readership since his lifetime: "Why did Crabbe's 'realism' and his discovery of what in effect was the short story in verse fail to appeal to the fiction-dominated Victorian age? Or is it that somehow psychological analysis and poetry are uneasy bedfellows? But then why did Browning succeed and Crabbe descend to the doldrums or to the coteries of admiring enthusiasts? And why have we in this century (the 20th century) failed to get much nearer to him? Does this mean that each succeeding generation must struggle to find his characteristic and essential worth? FitzGerald was only one of many among those who would make 'cullings from' or 'readings in' Crabbe. The implications of such selection are clearly that, though much has vanished, much deserves to remain."
Kyng Alisaunder, Volume I + Kyng Alisaunder vol II Introduction commentary and glossary – “a Middle English romance or romantic epic in 4017 octosyllabic couplets. It tells the story of Alexander the Great's career from his youth, through his successful campaigns against the Persian king Darius and other adversaries, his discovery of the wonders of the East, and his untimely death.” ORDERED
Want to read
August 27, 2016Originally posted in the Completists group:
Spoilered due to being sort of NSFW:
So this is Schmidt's last completed novel in 1975, the third of his three mega-works, Abend mit Goldrand, Evening Edged in Gold, the first of John E. Woods' Schmidt translations in 1980. It was hidden in the back of the fifth floor of the annex of the Bowdoin College Library in Brunswick, Maine, enormous, something like 12 x 17 inches (see the glasses for size), checked out only once since it was acquired, filled with even weirder layouts than School for Atheists. I have no idea where I'll ever see another copy of it, certainly not for long enough to actually read it.
Spoilered due to being sort of NSFW:
So this is Schmidt's last completed novel in 1975, the third of his three mega-works, Abend mit Goldrand, Evening Edged in Gold, the first of John E. Woods' Schmidt translations in 1980. It was hidden in the back of the fifth floor of the annex of the Bowdoin College Library in Brunswick, Maine, enormous, something like 12 x 17 inches (see the glasses for size), checked out only once since it was acquired, filled with even weirder layouts than School for Atheists. I have no idea where I'll ever see another copy of it, certainly not for long enough to actually read it.
i-want-money
April 2, 2017So. Just discovered this. Arno's Abend Mit Goldrand in French. Here's the current availability ::
Canada ::
3 Used from CDN$ 325.68
6 New from CDN$ 325.68
https://www.amazon.ca/Soir-borde-dor-...
France ::
3 d'occasion à partir de EUR 344,96
2 neufs à partir de EUR 344,96
Usofa ::
2 Used from $292.63 5
New from $258.04
https://www.amazon.com/Soir-bord%C3%A...
and abe.com ::
starting at US$197.54+shipping from France
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...
So price=wise, we're in the same bucket as with the German and English editions.
Canada ::
3 Used from CDN$ 325.68
6 New from CDN$ 325.68
https://www.amazon.ca/Soir-borde-dor-...
France ::
3 d'occasion à partir de EUR 344,96
2 neufs à partir de EUR 344,96
Usofa ::
2 Used from $292.63 5
New from $258.04
https://www.amazon.com/Soir-bord%C3%A...
and abe.com ::
starting at US$197.54+shipping from France
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...
So price=wise, we're in the same bucket as with the German and English editions.
March 16, 2025
Am I being hypocritically gauche in the face of this works shortcomings, therefore missing the chasms which it soars over in its incomparable ingenuity? Nope. This is a well designed porno. Simple as that. The investigation of sexual perversion through history and the dialectic between desire and repression are handled with hands holding sparklers. Sparklers that demand a multitude of investments from the reader no other author makes, which begs the question why this composition style? The straightforward answer: from the man's widow no less, is that this is the result of an incredible intellect shell shocked into an obsession over their own erotic creative ability. He lived, in her mind, cravenly invested in the work of stroking ego. Arno's impish solipsism and individualism is challenged by his own interests in pretensions of others, often pretensions he shares, however, it never elevates it never transcends it rather festers and burns out
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