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I've been a fan of Lully for some time. Tom Send a noteboard - 23/06/2012 03:33:44 AM
I only connected him with Molière when watching the eponymous movie and recognizing the music, then realizing where it came from. I also have a couple of his operas.

The impression that I get from Lully is one of gilded chariots and extensive costumes (lots of gold- and fur-fringed togas, mostly of purple or dark blue with gold embroidery), cupids, fanfare and lots of pompous, exaggerated gestures. Based on what Petitfils described, I only now add in my mental image of the period the device of the sun on some of the shields.

And I certainly didn't get that feeling from Racine. It was very static, and not majestic or "over the top". The speech was very florid, but in a classical way. The clip you linked was, if anything, more "dramatic" than I imagined it. :P

On the Vian angle, I do note that the title indicates that it is only all of the "oeuvres romanesques", so it does appear to be missing plays and poetry. It sounds like the plays might be very interesting.

I did get the sense that Vian was anti-communist, or might be, based on the interaction between Colin and Chloé when they saw men working by the road. The statement that someone tells them how glorious it is to work, and how they believe it, was a wonderful critique of communist propaganda, which I never understood (or, to put it the way that, I believe the Jack Nicholson Eugene O'Neill in Reds put it - though I might be mistaken on that source - "the American working man's one dream is to be rich enough not to work" ). I also felt that the jokes about Sartre were not entirely good-natured.

If I am to read Vian's four main novels in order, which order would that be?



Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
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Two Reviews in One: Iphigénie by Racine, L’Écume des Jours by Vian - 20/06/2012 09:06:03 PM 8101 Views
Re: Two Reviews in One: Iphigénie by Racine, L’Écume des Jours by Vian - 21/06/2012 06:16:28 PM 1931 Views
I'm very glad to have your input. - 22/06/2012 06:10:28 AM 1746 Views
Re: I'm very glad to have your input. - 22/06/2012 07:37:08 PM 1831 Views
I've been a fan of Lully for some time. - 23/06/2012 03:33:44 AM 1672 Views
Re: I've been a fan of Lully for some time. - 24/06/2012 02:06:19 PM 2087 Views
You have now made me sad that I can't find the Beaussant book - 25/06/2012 02:58:09 AM 1709 Views
Haven't read that Racine, but I've read others. - 29/06/2012 01:49:42 AM 1610 Views

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