Or subscribe to the feed:
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Edward Lear, by Jackie Wullschlager
... His fantastical characters mirror the passage of his own life. The Yonghy Bonghy Bo's hilarious courtship of Lady Jingly Jones parallels his own failed attempts at proposing to a female friend who might have accepted him; just a shred of absurdity links the sad, ridiculous Dong with a Luminous Nose, half-menacing, half-pathetic, to the world of nonsense where at the end of Lear's life "awful darkness and silence reign/ Over the great Gromboolian plain". What gives depth to his escapist fantasies is the ability to transform emptiness and pain into a unique, attractive nonsense world, with its own evolving characters and landscape: the Jumblies, the great Gromboolian plain, the hills of the Chankly Bore...
Penguinclassics.com
posted by Marco Graziosi Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Saturday, December 14, 2002
Queen of hearts and minds
The fascination with Lewis Carroll's Alice books endures because of their use of language, writes AS Byatt, and because he created the least sentimental child character in children's literature
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review
posted by Marco Graziosi Saturday, December 14, 2002
Ridiculous rhymes
From the familiar "runcible spoon" and "hills of the Chankly Bore" to previously unpublished letters, this is an irresistible collection of Edward Lear's poetry, prose and illustrations. Three alphabets introduce even the very youngest listeners or readers to the teasing word-play that makes old favourites such as "The Jumblies", "The Owl and the Pussy Cat" and "The Dong with a Luminous Nose" so memorable. Limericks, nonsense botany, nonsense cookery, and serious poems - a sheer delight. This anthology should be in every home.
Guardian Unlimited Books | Review
posted by Marco Graziosi Saturday, December 14, 2002
|
