Hi Platt, I've read some of Eco's work, non-fiction and fiction. I remember in an undergraduate English class explaining to an instructor that I'd like to write my paper on The Name of the Rose. I remember her suggesting it had many levels of understanding and that I should probably pick one: hubris for example. I had never heard of the word before but agreedto take her suggestion. Wow! Was I mightily embarrassed when I figured out the meaning and the implications of her suggestion. Of course, what she suggested was both true and false, and today I can laugh at being a fool. The journey is sometimes painful.
I agree with you, I'd rather experience beauty than read about it. Marsha On Sep 14, 2010, at 10:44 AM, Platt Holden wrote: > Hi Marsha, > > My daughter gave me the book for Christmas. It's pretty tough going, at > least for me. I'd rather experience beauty than read about it. But the book > with it's many illustrations is beautiful in itself, even without the prose. > Even the review I referred to is too verbose for my liking, but I loved the > last line: " 'Man is hungry for beauty. There is a void.' Nine words. Take a > moment. Say them aloud. What else is there to be said?" > > I think when it comes right down to it, that's why we paint -- to fill the > void. > > Platt > > > > On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 10:17 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> Hi Platt, >> >> I've always wanted to read 'The History of Beauty', but haven't yet. >> Thanks for >> pointing to the review. Also, just this morning, I listened again to >> Chapter's 8 & 9 >> of Lila, so your quotes could be freshly related to the whole chapters. >> >> Marsha >> >> >> >> >> On Sep 14, 2010, at 10:10 AM, [email protected] wrote: >> >>> All: >>> >>> While reading a review of "The History of Beauty" by Umberto Eco, I came >> across >>> the following: >>> >>> " 'Beauty' seems suited to those experiences that stop us in our tracks." >>> >>> I immediately thought of: >>> >>> "He said, imagine that you walk down a street past, say, a car where >> someone >>> has the radio on and it plays a tune you've never heard before but which >> is so >>> fantastically good it just stops you in your tracks." (Lila, 9) >>> >>> A few sentences later, the reviewer describe beauty as framing a period >> in time >>> when . . . >>> >>> " . . . before the critical faculties kick in -- when we know there is >>> something beyond the usual twaddle." >>> >>> Which brought to mind Pirsig's: >>> >>> "It connoted any phenomenon that transcended the run of everyday >> experience." >>> In other words, 'Dynamic Quality.' " (Lila, 9) >>> >>> The similarity between experiences of DQ and Beauty have been remarked on >> a >>> number of times by contributors here. So the similarity shown above is >> hardly >>> news. Still, I found the meeting of two disparate minds remarkable.and >> worthy >>> of note. >>> >>> The full review can be read at: >>> >>> http://www.powells.com/review/2010_09_10 >>> >>> Platt >>> >>> >>> Moq_Discuss mailing list >>> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >>> Archives: >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >>> http://moq.org/md/archives.html >> >> >> >> ___ >> >> >> Moq_Discuss mailing list >> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >> Archives: >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >> http://moq.org/md/archives.html >> > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html ___ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
