tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post6131518499453915630..comments2024-03-14T11:50:14.761-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: Show, don't tellDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-37016160313110390622013-02-17T13:06:00.961-05:002013-02-17T13:06:00.961-05:00"Angels in printed cotton smocks" ha! S..."Angels in printed cotton smocks" ha! Sounds like the modesty police were consulted on that one! Willa Cather comes to mind - I don't think she's Catholic and yet her novels, esp "O Pioneers" and of course the "Death Comes to the Archbishop" are just so "Catholic". JMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02542004362101344466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1131223996460018992013-02-17T00:17:37.643-05:002013-02-17T00:17:37.643-05:00I agree with your main point here but I wonder if ...I agree with your main point here but I wonder if the reason Catholics are showing appreciation for less-than-great art or literature is simply because they don't want to discourage the few people who are trying. That's not what a reviewer should do, of course, but think of how few Catholics pursue artistic careers seriously. I'm sure there are a lot reasons for that, including not wanting to get involved in something "worldly" like theater or movies or just out of wanting a more stable career to be able to support a family. It's really too bad there isn't a much stronger push for art and artists (of whatever kind) in general.Charming Disarrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15481799867576915560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-5998781310411128862013-02-16T23:12:53.182-05:002013-02-16T23:12:53.182-05:00I hadn't remembered Ryder hating the chapel. M...I hadn't remembered Ryder hating the chapel. Methinks I'm overdue for a re-read. <br /><br />And I'm with BD: What was the novel? Not that you have to say, but curiosity, you know. <br /><br /><br />Melanie Bettinellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12557248434888642114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-34707344830166654572013-02-16T14:20:13.122-05:002013-02-16T14:20:13.122-05:00That does make it seem like Chapel by Hallmark.That does make it seem like Chapel by Hallmark.Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06698839146562734910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-19833119187769236752013-02-16T14:07:55.070-05:002013-02-16T14:07:55.070-05:00I do like Arts and Crafts -- my own house wants, n...I do like Arts and Crafts -- my own house wants, nay demands, William Morris wallpaper and curtains (and no substitutions, so we have neither wallpaper nor curtains), and I think it can certainly be well done. But Waugh makes it sound like the Marchmain chapel was an example of Kitsch Gone Wild: <br /><br />"The whole interior had been gutted, elaborately refurnished and redecorated in the arts-and-crafts style of the last decade of the nineteenth century. Angels in printed cotton smocks, rambler-roses, flower-spangled meadows, frisking lambs, texts in Celtic script, saints in armour, covered the wallls in an intricate pattern of clear, bright colours. There was a triptych of pale oak, carved so as to give it the peculiar property of seeming to have been moulded in Plasticine. The sanctuary lamp and all the metal furniture were of bronze, hand-beaten to the patina of a pock-marked skin; the altar steps had a carpet of grass-green, strewn with white and gold daisies.<br /><br />'Golly,' I said."mrsdarwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03446744635277205867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-12078786176847954862013-02-16T13:56:42.391-05:002013-02-16T13:56:42.391-05:00Ah, since I'm not actually reviewing, I won...Ah, since I'm not actually reviewing, I won't hold it up for scorn by name. mrsdarwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03446744635277205867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-50313602156498111272013-02-16T13:44:22.490-05:002013-02-16T13:44:22.490-05:00WHat WAS the Novel?WHat WAS the Novel?BettyDuffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17130418609022759086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-7174118740406990632013-02-16T11:11:20.075-05:002013-02-16T11:11:20.075-05:00I like Baroque, and I like Arts and Crafts style (...I like Baroque, and I like Arts and Crafts style (there are some truly lovely Protestant churches in New England influenced by the style, and it is almost perfectly suited for a small shrine or chapel), but I keep trying to think of what a Baroque chapel redone in Arts and Crafts style would be like, and I keep failing.<br /><br />It seems to me that Waugh's point is really that all the beauty is in fact a sign of decay. The Catholicism of the Marchmain family is wonderfully picturesque but part of that is due to its being in ruin and decay -- perhaps patched up here and there with more modern style, as with the chapel, but to ambiguous effect. That seems to me to be a lot of the power of the ending: ruin or not, decayed or not, their faith was not built in vain.Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06698839146562734910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-41051013702032336532013-02-15T23:15:37.999-05:002013-02-15T23:15:37.999-05:00Darwin points out to me that although in the book ...Darwin points out to me that although in the book the Arts and Crafts chapel is described vividly, in the BBC miniseries it is a baroque chapel -- they filmed on location at some Stately 'Ome, and likely the owners didn't choose to have their lovely baroque chapel renovated in full assault Arts and Crafts style.mrsdarwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03446744635277205867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-4324674805557308372013-02-15T22:27:00.355-05:002013-02-15T22:27:00.355-05:00Writing, Literature, and Drama were separate track...Writing, Literature, and Drama were separate tracks within the English major at FUS in my day, and though the three interacted, in Drama at least we were fairly concentrated on our own classes. (Now Drama is its own major -- one of the many theatrical innovations since my time, along with air conditioning in the theater and a new light board.)<br /><br />Any proficiency in writing I have is probably due to reading good literature, and (in no small part) to Acting and Directing classes, which I maintain were the best preparation for "real life" anyone could get at college.mrsdarwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03446744635277205867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-65165790689487365362013-02-15T22:11:12.263-05:002013-02-15T22:11:12.263-05:00You majored in English and Drama and never took a ...You majored in English and Drama and never took a writing class? How did that happen? Yet you write so well! I bet Homer never took a writing class either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com