[lit-ideas] Re: Venomous Writing
- From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:58:46 +0900
Camille Desmoulins was, at least in this novel, a close friend of Danton and
Robespierre. His newspaper and pamphlets played important roles in
mobilizing the sans-cullotes to support the Revolution. The Wikipedia
entry<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Desmoulins>is consistent
with the novel's characterization.
John
On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 11:49 AM, Mike Geary
<jejunejesuit.geary2@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> I'm not at all knowledgeable about the existence or writings of Camille
> Desmoulins. Was he just a gossip columnist or a serious journalist? Was he
> respected for his factual accuracy or would he have been at home on Fox
> News? "Accurate scholarship can unearth the whole offense from Luther
> until now." If what he wrote was accurate, then where's the question?
> Truth whether expressed vituperatively, mockingly, or cleverly is not
> abusive. Truth is never abusive. Lies, innuendo, misrepresentation -- they
> are abusive. A wicked tongue speaking truth speaks the truth none the less.
>
>
> Mike Geary
> Memphis
> speaking to a subject I know not of -- but so what? I always do.
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 8:39 PM, John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> Just stumbled across the following. Thought I'd toss it out for some
>> literary and/or philosophical reflection.
>>
>> From Hilary Mantel (1992) *A Place of Greater Safety, *p. 237, describing
>> Camille Desmoulins, a propagandist during the French Revolution.
>>
>> *When it came time to write, and he took his pen in his hand, he never
>> thought of consequences; he thought of style. I wonder why I ever bothered
>> with sex, he thought; there's nothing in this breathing world so gratifying
>> as an artfully placed semicolon. Once paper and ink were to hand, it was
>> useless to appeal to his better nature, to tell him he was wrecking
>> reputations and ruining people's lives. A kind of sweet venom flowed through
>> his veins, smoother than the finest cognac, quicker to make the head spin.
>> And, just as some people crave opium, he craves the opportunity to exercise
>> his fine art of mockery, vituperation and abuse; laudanum might quieten the
>> senses, but a good editorial puts a catch in the throat and a skip in the
>> heartbeat. Writing's like running downhill; can't stop if you want to.*
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>> John McCreery
>> The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
>> Tel. +81-45-314-9324
>> jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>> http://www.wordworks.jp/
>>
>
>
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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