tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507307540604269398.post3489222423794254272..comments2019-06-01T10:43:54.927-04:00Comments on The Scriblerus Memoirs: No Novel Here.Scriblerushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02979369403613893141noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507307540604269398.post-62112193139298842912007-10-27T21:08:00.000-04:002007-10-27T21:08:00.000-04:00There's a moment argh, when is it - in Austen, whe...There's a moment argh, when is it - in Austen, when she defends the novel - ooh, "Northanger Abbey". She mentions young girls laying aside "Belinda" in shame, because it's only a novel - (Maria Edgeworth's quite batty novel, have I ranted to you about how great it is?). But then, of course, this is much later, and the voracious readers in "Northanger Abbey" namecheck lots of novels.<BR/>Clarissa is too priggish to do anything so immoral as waste her time reading novels. I wonder if Fielding didn't want Sophia to be so drippy as to have wasted a month on "Clarissa"? <BR/>What Charlotte Lennox was playing at, having Arabella be ignorant of her contemporary heroines, I have *no* idea.<BR/><BR/>This is a very interesting post. I shall have to think more on it.Marinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16387553977006099896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507307540604269398.post-63818571055231944012007-10-27T09:28:00.000-04:002007-10-27T09:28:00.000-04:00Someone called my attention to a remark made about...Someone called my attention to a remark made about <I>Sir Charles Grandison</I> in a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, but that's a bit far off in terms of time and place. I'm guessing that Crusoe and Gulliver will have been referenced a lot, but I haven't managed to find anything specific.<BR/><BR/>Apparently one of the characters in <I>Sir Charles Grandison</I> (which also incorporates a lot of features from plays) starts writing a novel within the novel--I haven't managed to find out what becomes of it, yet. <I>SGC</I> clearly out-encyclopedias <I>Clarissa</I>, though, that much is clear.Scriblerushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02979369403613893141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507307540604269398.post-70950885565997223792007-10-26T19:50:00.000-04:002007-10-26T19:50:00.000-04:00Super-mega interesting question. I used to look ou...Super-mega interesting question. I used to look out for who read what when I was reading for orals. Then, as usual, my short attention span kicked in and I forgot I was ever interested in that. So, you rekindled an old flame. I am not sure but maybe Sofia hasn't read *Clarissa* because Fielding wanted so hard to believe he was writing better than Richardson. An interesting example that could perhaps sustain this is that in *Tom Jones* when Fielding brings in an excerpt from one of La Fontaine's fables (a translation into English) he also manages to completely ignore Richardson's translation of the fables, published just a few years before (I think, but don't quote me on this)Fielding wrote TJ. Instead he resorted to a much older translation dating back to 1687 or something. There are interesting examples of circulating libraries and the characters who use them in Burney's *Evelina* which you might find useful. I don't remember them reading any Richardson but it may be helpful to see if they were reading novels. In *Camilla,* Burney has a learned heroine, Eugenia, who is tutored by an Oxford scholar. She never reads any novels, all Greek and Roman stuff. At the end of the novel, however, she begins her memoirs. Another key evasion of the novel for autobiography, no less. <BR/>I find this question fascinating and I look forward to see what you find. I'll look out for any interesting examples that may come up. You've made me think: it-narratives do reference each other in their prefaces or introductory chapters, although very seldom, but they do demonstrate some awareness of what is out there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507307540604269398.post-68792837381226768862007-10-25T18:28:00.000-04:002007-10-25T18:28:00.000-04:00You just blew my mind. The Office is at the nexus...You just blew my mind. The Office is at the nexus of the universe.Scriblerushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02979369403613893141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507307540604269398.post-705820393101164012007-10-24T22:27:00.000-04:002007-10-24T22:27:00.000-04:00I was just thinking about this today - how, on The...I was just thinking about this today - how, on The Office, they mention Tina Fey. By extension, in their universe, 30 Rock exists. So what's the mysterious fourth show in the NBC Thursday night lineup, plugging the hole they themselves should occupy?<BR/><BR/>Perhaps it's still Seinfeld.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com