tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post6891503370905060945..comments2024-02-05T01:55:53.566-08:00Comments on Gently Mad: The Owner of the House by Louis SimpsonSharon Wilfonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-44273101101009394012017-04-08T07:51:17.706-07:002017-04-08T07:51:17.706-07:00Hi Marcia! And I also think that our interpretati...Hi Marcia! And I also think that our interpretation can depend on our own personal experiences. As I said in a previous comment, I recognized in Adele's actions girl-friends in my past who enjoyed manipulating people. So I tended to assume that was Adele's motives as well.<br /><br />But, it doesn't follow that is the case. Perhaps the author left it deliberately open so the reader could form their own conclusions.<br /><br />I'm so concrete I prefer things spelled out for me.<br /><br />Have a great weekend, too!Sharon Wilfonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-63624218726448498102017-04-08T04:50:12.861-07:002017-04-08T04:50:12.861-07:00Either way, it was fun to analyze this poem. Shows...Either way, it was fun to analyze this poem. Shows how well it's written when we want to know more about the characters. Seems I always side with the under dog or at least try to see their thought process. Poor Adele may have purposely chosen a tiny humiliation just so she wouldn't have a chance at winning her fabulous prize, lol. How horrible for your friend! A similar incident happened to one of my friends; she lost her top jumping off the diving board at a pool party. Unfortunately those kind of memories stay with everyone for years and years. Happy weekend, Sharon!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-55923256870926974672017-04-07T13:38:04.249-07:002017-04-07T13:38:04.249-07:00Hi Cleopatra
I am very interested in people. May...Hi Cleopatra<br /><br />I am very interested in people. Maybe voracious readers are like that because that's why we read. I tend to ask people a lot of questions about themselves. Everybody has a backstory.<br /><br />Of course, I do like to know people a little better if they start giving ultra personal information. I've met a few interesting souls in waiting rooms.<br /><br />Some of them are now characters in my short stories.<br /><br />I am actually guilty of not reading much poetry. Other bloggers reviews have inspired me to read more.<br /><br />Thanks for your comment. :)Sharon Wilfonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-19593772496140336782017-04-06T22:09:20.456-07:002017-04-06T22:09:20.456-07:00With regard to the personal information that peopl...With regard to the personal information that people share with you, I have the same experiences and I agree, it can be disconcerting. But I think it happens to me because I do really care about people and what is happening in their lives, even if I don't really know them. Are you the same way? I think people are so isolated nowadays that anyone who shows them a little compassion, they'll open up to, even if they don't know that person. Then later they might feel embarrassed about it, but it goes to show how "alone" people are and it's really quite sad. <br /><br />It's wonderful that you were able to appreciate these poems. Poetry is such an underrated form of reading and I wish we were exposed to more of it. Every year I have good intentions to read it regularly but never read as much as I want. Even so, I do read more than if I didn't have those intentions, so I will hold onto that. Thanks for the review!Cleohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13152128642971612433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-68143768911553843372017-04-06T17:26:15.492-07:002017-04-06T17:26:15.492-07:00Marcia,
I had not looked at the poem that way at ...Marcia,<br /><br />I had not looked at the poem that way at all. I wonder what that says about me? Do I interpret other people's motives through my own emotional scars?<br /><br />The poet certainly leaves the possibilities wide open.<br /><br />And, unless Frank had come up with something really bad, you're right. I think Joe would have gotten the prize.<br /><br />You know, something similar happened to a friend of mine. She lost her bikini top in the high school pool in front of the entire basketball team. (I don't remember why they were in there.)Sharon Wilfonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-73176338290379335682017-04-06T16:38:07.580-07:002017-04-06T16:38:07.580-07:00Fred, it definitely sounds premeditated.Fred, it definitely sounds premeditated.Sharon Wilfonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-41416066079287259262017-04-06T16:36:56.339-07:002017-04-06T16:36:56.339-07:00I love your choice of paintings and music. And the...I love your choice of paintings and music. And the short poem is so beautiful. Simpson’s book definitely looks worth adding to my reading list. My initial take on the second poem was a little bit different. I didn’t think Adele was going out of her way to mention Carnegie Hall. I felt Maura became furious because she and her husband had revealed what may have been up until that moment very private humiliations (although a spoiled dinner seems pretty common), whereas Adele who’d come up with the game in the first place only had hitting a single wrong note as her most embarrassing moment. Depending on how well they know each other, perhaps Maura and Joe already knew she was a brilliant musician. So, although Adele may be an over-the-top perfectionist, I think Maura is the one who comes across as being impolite (especially if Adele and Frank were the hosts and their invitation was never reciprocated). I mean, gosh, poor Frank didn’t even get a turn and who knows, maybe Joe would have got a really great prize if they’d only stayed long enough to win!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-34637716400764750652017-04-06T16:17:00.505-07:002017-04-06T16:17:00.505-07:00Sharon,
If I read the poem correctly, she suggest...Sharon,<br /><br />If I read the poem correctly, she suggested the game, which tells me that this was, as they say in the murder mysteries, that this was premeditated. Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-83814365980178757562017-04-06T15:12:19.474-07:002017-04-06T15:12:19.474-07:00Hi Fred. You know. I think you're right. Ma...Hi Fred. You know. I think you're right. Maybe Adele used the whole thing as an excuse to inform everyone she had performed at Carnegie Hall. It cost her a couple of friends so I hope it was worth it.Sharon Wilfonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-81128854133075481292017-04-06T14:50:20.830-07:002017-04-06T14:50:20.830-07:00Sharon,
Definitely seems like a game of oneupmans...Sharon,<br /><br />Definitely seems like a game of oneupmansship being played out here.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-58891646719338777272017-04-06T12:33:01.495-07:002017-04-06T12:33:01.495-07:00Hi Mudpuddle: Josh is usually right. He's gr...Hi Mudpuddle: Josh is usually right. He's great for me because I tend to obsess and read waaaaaay too much into other people's words and he allows me to see when something (or someone) needs to be dismissed.<br /><br />Really, it's their words, not the person, that needs to be dismissed. As you and Josh say, most people don't mean anything with what they say and should be cut some slack.<br /><br />Now that you mention La Mer, I have to go and play some Debussy for myself now. So glad you're enjoying it.Sharon Wilfonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-54620518144668025942017-04-06T10:48:30.536-07:002017-04-06T10:48:30.536-07:00Sharon: i think your better half might be right; ...Sharon: i think your better half might be right; in my experience, most people don't really think about things very much, but just react and sort of hack-handedly use whatever is handy in their relations with others to get along or ahead regardless of the consequences...<br /><br />LaMer is sweeping through my brainpan as i'm writing this, causing a kind of giddy echo to the words... haha... wonderful composer...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-71596603546141323282017-04-06T07:47:57.475-07:002017-04-06T07:47:57.475-07:00Hi Brian. Mudpuddle made a good observation. I t...Hi Brian. Mudpuddle made a good observation. I think the reason the poem interests me is because I've had friends in the past (operative word: past) that got some kind of charge by controlling situations by playing people off of each other.<br /><br />I always wondered what their motive was. Because they don't want lasting friendships? Or maybe they have intimacy issues and this is their way of keeping people distant. Or they like feeling in control. I don't know. Or maybe I'm reading to much into it. My husband thinks I give people too much credit for thinking through their actions. Human psychology fascinates me.Sharon Wilfonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-46414482614440047552017-04-06T07:43:25.680-07:002017-04-06T07:43:25.680-07:00Mudpuddle: I think you're right and I also th...Mudpuddle: I think you're right and I also think we are living in a culture that does not have the sense of privacy it once possessed. Maybe because we have become inured to viewing many private, intimate situations on TV or in books; but I am surprised sometimes the personal information practical strangers have shared with me.<br /><br />At first this would fool me into thinking that I had a closer relationship with that person. After all, they just shared some pretty personal stuff. Then the next time I see them they act like they've never seen me before.<br /><br />It leaves me with a strange feeling. As though I just had a one-night stand kind of friendship with that person.<br /><br />How quickly friendships should progress is an interesting subject.<br /><br />I think the reason the poem resonates with me is because it reminds me of people I've encountered over the years who seem to thrive off manipulating others in order to have some kind of hold over them.<br /><br />I fell for their little games when I was young and inexperienced. Now I know to avoid them.<br /><br />And as far as French Impressionism goes. I need to write a whole series of reviews on it. France in the 19th century is a wonderful source of fascination.Sharon Wilfonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-33052954819097918142017-04-06T06:50:29.453-07:002017-04-06T06:50:29.453-07:00I had never read Simpson before. I like poems that...I had never read Simpson before. I like poems that you posted above.<br /><br />Foursome is enigmatic. I wonder if anyone has an explanation. I am curious. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948826710613032587.post-46699279908105836182017-04-05T21:25:40.388-07:002017-04-05T21:25:40.388-07:00an amazing era artistically, it was... love Debus...an amazing era artistically, it was... love Debussy and his friends...<br /><br />i think the last cited poem might have tried to show the dangers of too open revelation falling afoul of social criteria... people get along with each other because of, not in spite of, strictures on their behavior... this is true among any group, no matter what their nationality... if it were otherwise, humans would be fighting and killing each other even more than they do currently... Miss Manners was right; politeness is the oil that allows humanity to roll down the highway of life...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.com