Settare’s Reviews > Night and Day > Status Update
Settare
is on page 3 of 496
“Surely she could learn Persian,’ broke in a thin, elderly gentleman. ‘Is there no man of letters in Manchester with whom she could read Persian?”
-
“There is the University,’ said the thin gentleman who had previously insisted upon the existence of people knowing Persian.”
What IS it with Woolf and Persian? In all her books people mention some old scholar who knows Persian. Was it a 'thing' among literary elites?
— Oct 10, 2020 09:43AM
-
“There is the University,’ said the thin gentleman who had previously insisted upon the existence of people knowing Persian.”
What IS it with Woolf and Persian? In all her books people mention some old scholar who knows Persian. Was it a 'thing' among literary elites?
6 likes · Like flag
Settare’s Previous Updates
Settare
is 60% done
So many dramatic proposal failures. Never thought I'd recall famous TV shows when reading a Woolf novel but this one has strong Downton Abbey vibes. :)))))))
— Oct 17, 2020 09:22AM
Settare
is 35% done
*1920*
Woolf's critics and friends: why don't you write a normal novel, a love story perhaps, like Austen and any other decent female author?
Woolf: *writes about a woman who earns her own living, works for the Suffrage Office, and, guess what, her fate at the end of the book is NOT to get married and settle down.*
Typical Virginia. Love it.
— Oct 12, 2020 11:55AM
Woolf's critics and friends: why don't you write a normal novel, a love story perhaps, like Austen and any other decent female author?
Woolf: *writes about a woman who earns her own living, works for the Suffrage Office, and, guess what, her fate at the end of the book is NOT to get married and settle down.*
Typical Virginia. Love it.
Settare
is starting
“To
Vanessa Bell
But, looking for a phrase,
I found none to stand,
Beside your name.”
That's quite something, coming from Virginia, who seems to have had a phrase to describe anything and everything in the most epic way. Dedications are always so interesting, I love lingering on them for some time.
— Oct 10, 2020 09:31AM
Vanessa Bell
But, looking for a phrase,
I found none to stand,
Beside your name.”
That's quite something, coming from Virginia, who seems to have had a phrase to describe anything and everything in the most epic way. Dedications are always so interesting, I love lingering on them for some time.
Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)
date
newest »
newest »
Settare, maybe this was because of the cult instigated by the FitzGerald translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam?"Although commercially unsuccessful at first, FitzGerald's work was popularised from 1861 onward by Whitley Stokes, and the work came to be greatly admired by the Pre-Raphaelites in England. By the 1880s, the book was extremely popular throughout the English-speaking world, to the extent that numerous "Omar Khayyam clubs" were formed and there was a "fin de siècle cult of the Rubaiyat".
Ilse wrote: "Settare, maybe this was because of the cult instigated by the FitzGerald translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam?I think you're right, Ilse. That must be it. I knew a cult of Khayyam fans existed in the late 19th century, but I didn't know it was so popular and widespread. The ironic part is that FitzGerald's work isn't even an accurate translation of the original, so they were basically in a FitzGerald cult not in a Khayyam cult.
But I find it fascinating that just one popular volume of poetry had given them enough enthusiasm to go learn the language.
I had NO IDEA Woolf had a thing about Persian=))))Now I HAVE to read this book. it's been on my tbr for the longest time!!
Rozhan wrote: "I had NO IDEA Woolf had a thing about Persian=))))Now I HAVE to read this book. it's been on my tbr for the longest time!!"
=))) Me neither. But I'm guessing she didn't have a particular thing for Persian, it was more like an exotic hobby that chos-intellects of the time enjoyed to boas about or something. It's never mentioned for more than a few times, and only to describe a particularly pompous, preppy character, preferably an elderly scholar. But it's still funny :D
From The Voyage Out, about William Pepper:
“...He had turned Persian poetry into English prose, and English prose into Greek iambics;...”
“...his ideal was a woman who could read Greek, if not Persian,...”
Also in the same book, Mrs Dalloway at some point:
“Expect to hear of me next in Petersburg or Teheran,”
Mrs Dalloway in Tehran is a fun idea :D در خدمت باشیم بانو :))))
From To The Lighthouse:
“...being willing to teach the boys Persian or Hindustanee, but what really was the use of that?...”
The use is that که الان که اصن بهم برخورده که میگی فارسی به درد نمیخوره بانو رمزی جون، بیام مسخرهت کنم. چقدم بیکارم من :)))))
Yeah. 😒
I shouldn't take fictional characters so seriously.
But really what is it with Belle Époque English literary elites and their fondness of Persian?