[lit-ideas] Re: Grantiana
- From: "Donal McEvoy" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "donalmcevoyuk" for DMARC)
- To: "lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 00:07:35 +0000 (UTC)
Yet, andthis is why Grant reminds me of this Oxonian philosopher whose surname
alsobegins with “Gr”: everything seems understated, or shall we say, implied.>
Who, pray tell, is the mysterious Oxonian philosopher who begins with "Gr"? So
intriguing. I was going to guess "Grunebaum", but then I don't think he's
Oxonian.
Btw Grant's understatedness and impliedness reminds me of God, no less, who
lacks a surname. God's "Ten Commandments" leave so much understated or implied
- "Thou shalt not kill", for example, where it is not stated what we must not
kill, only implied that it is "other humans", and in fact originally only that
subset within the tribes of Israel. And without God making clear such killing
(as is prohibited) is a very bad thing, not just inadvisable or a bit cheeky.
That's a lot of understatement. And a lot of impliedness. You'd think God was
just speaking off-the-cuff, not making Commandments. If laws were drafted this
way, there'd be no end of trouble.*
DL
*Otoh, God probably realised it wasn't feasible to draft watertight
Commandments because the tablets would be too heavy for Moses for carry down
the mountain. Hence God make implicature central to understanding everything.
From: "dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, 16 October 2017, 22:39
Subject: [lit-ideas] Grantiana
A new edition of Grant’s memoir is being published.There is something in Grant
that reminds me of an Oxonian philosopher. Grant armouredhimself,
metaphorically, with simplicity. Grant’sstyle is strikingly, shall we say,
modern in its economy. Grant’sstyle, that is, stands out in an age of
clambering, winding prose, with, if Imay use a mixed metaphor, shameless
sentences like lines of thieves in amarketplace, grabbing everything in reach
and stuffing it all into their sacks. On the otherhand, Grant clearly adheres
to Adams’s instructions to the staff of The NorthAmerican Review: “Strike
outall superfluous words, and especially all needless adjectives.” E.g.
‘thewhite moon,’ ‘the yellow sun,’ Burns’s ‘the red rose’. Everyexpression
that Grant ‘utters’ has its purpose. Yet, andthis is why Grant reminds me of
this Oxonian philosopher whose surname alsobegins with “Gr”: everything seems
understated, or shall we say, implied. Or not, ofcourse. Cheers, Speranza
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