Thursday, March 01, 2007
Gory Details
Reading now Gore Vidal's second part of his memoirs, following the magic Palimpsest. Point to Point Navigation. He picked up where left off, an amazing collection of bon mots and visceral observations. It is as if Wilde and Mencken descended upon him, who was born in 1925, just like my father, the old Ram. He talks about the gliteratti, loiteratti, literatti and illuminatti; but he also brings to the fore some oddballs such as Prince Philip of Hesse, married to Princess Mafalda - who died on a concentration camp. We learn that Puccini dedicated "Turandot" to her... Here a few snippets...
"... The king's musings were addressed to the serfs at Warner Brothers, a studio known for its love of traditions [such] as the annual Christmas layoff..."
"(Remebering the King, Henry VIII, in the Prince and the Pauper)...Never trust too much, love too much, need anyone too much that you cannot betray them with a smile..."
"...Altruism is a brief phase through which some adolescents must pass. It is rather like acne. Happily, as with acne, only a few are permanently scarred..."
"... The king's musings were addressed to the serfs at Warner Brothers, a studio known for its love of traditions [such] as the annual Christmas layoff..."
"(Remebering the King, Henry VIII, in the Prince and the Pauper)...Never trust too much, love too much, need anyone too much that you cannot betray them with a smile..."
"...Altruism is a brief phase through which some adolescents must pass. It is rather like acne. Happily, as with acne, only a few are permanently scarred..."
# posted by Lamb Mouton @ 9:20 AM 
