Parisian Literary Salon

Fall 2007 Salons:

The Sound & the Fury by William Faulkner (possibly)
Paradise by Dante Alighieri (Mark Musa, translator- Penguin Edit.)

Poetry Evening Sept 5 - see details in previous post….

There is a story of a celebrated Russian dancer who was asked by someone what she meant by a certain dance. She answered with some exasperation, ‘If I could say it in so many words, do you think I should take the very great trouble of dancing it?’

It is an important story, because it is a valid explanation of obscurity in art. A method involving apparent obscurity is surely justified when it is the clearest, the simplest, the only method possible of saying in full what the writer has to say.

This is the case with The Sound & the Fury. I shall not attempt to give either a summary or an explanation of it: for if I could say in three pages what takes Faulkner three hundred there would obviously be no need for the book. All I propose to do is offer a few introductory, and desultory, comments, my chief purpose being to encourage the reader. For the general reader is quite rightly shy of apparently difficult writing. Too often it is used, not because of its intrinsic necessity, but to drape the poverty of the writer: too often the reader, after drilling an arduous passage through the strata of the mountain, finds only the mouse, and has little profit but his exercise.

As a result of several such fiascos I myself share this initial prejudice. Yet I have read The Sound & the Fury three times now and that not in the least for exercise, but for pure pleasure.

– Richard Hughes, Introduction to The Sound & the Fury, Picador Classics Edition

I use this quote because I have found it difficult to explain why it is useful to attempt to read a text that seems aloof or unreachable at first. Those who have studied Beloved or To the Lighthouse in previous courses or Salons may know what I mean when I say that the work comes easier when we consider it as a dynamic and motivated group — each person’s question or insight adds to our understanding. I also think that the Salon allows us to make the very private act of reading a part of the public world, and in so doing helps each of us understand our own thoughts about the work more precisely.

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The Salons start the week of September 10th- NOW is the time to register. The cost of the Salon is 75 euro to be paid in full at the first meeting (this includes copying costs). If this is your first Salon, you must reserve your place by sending a check for 25 euro to me: Toby Brothers at 3 ter rue d’Alesia, Paris 75014. If you have previously done a Salon, your emailed commitment is sufficient. Below you will find further descriptions of the texts.

• The Sound & the Fury- Tuesday afternoons 2-4 PM or Monday evenings 8-10 PM
• Hamlet
• Middlemarch (see descriptions on the site)
  

*please indicate your preference when signing up for this Salon- if both times work for you, tell me that!*

• Paradise– Tuesday Evenings 8-10 PM, Chez moi

*Please note that I will be off-line much of the summer. I will respond to registrations & questions as soon as possible but do not be concerned if I do not respond immediately.

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The Sound & the Fury
see description under ‘What we might read’ ….

Paradise

Having come this far through Inferno and Purgatory, of course we cannot stop now. But I need more than that to justify the commitment this Salon requires- and I realize I balk a bit at this last section of the Commedia. Certainly I have grown (in my understanding of literature, literary & theological history and human nature) in my study of the first two sections; I am afraid of being let down by the last. There is something more intrinsically interesting I think about souls in torment and anguish- this seems to be where we discover our greatest truths. The common cord in the literature I find great and worthy of our study is the struggle. As Mark Twain wrote, (and I badly paraphrase) ‘why would I want to hang out in Paradise? All these souls at peace and in bliss do not sound so exciting….’

What drives me forward into Paradise is the need to find resolution to our discussions about the nature of love and faith. I am also curious- more than curious- to understand Dante’s full vision of his Creator- and how his faith and meeting of his God brings him to unity. Also I want to know how the figures of the women are resolved- is Beatrice ultimately a believable human portrait? Or does her symbolic and allegorical role hold her to some cold ideal?

Having read Purgatario for the first time and grasping how much the poem adds to the universe set up in Inferno helps me to trust that Paradise will also illuminate the earlier works. Here is a bit from Musa’s introduction of Paradise:

“The main action of the Paradise is concerned with how man’s soul, as it contemplates the making of God’s universe, rises by stages in order to arrive at an understanding of the One creator of that universe. To see the universe as One is the final goal of the journey, and the movement of the journey is from fragmentation to unity. What the pilgrim sees in the cantos of the lower heavens is all in preparation for his vision in the highest heaven, the Empyrean, where he will see the redeemed, united with their bodies, as they will be after the Last Judgment. The cantos of the lower heavens are the steps of knowledge leading to Perfect Vision and union with God. “

– M. Musa, The Divine Comedy Vol. III Paradise pg. ix intro

Finally, our study thus far, though hard, has been truly joyful with the particular readers who have chosen this tough read. Our discussions around the nature of Love and its ennobling aspects have given me much to muse on - I look forward to continuing the conversation.

See you in the pages & happy summer - Toby