Quote:
Originally Posted by fantasyfan
[..] It is worth pointing out that there is an opinion that Sylvie and Bruno is an astonishing masterpiece far ahead of its time. While clearly one doesn’t have to accept this position it is worth reading an apologia for the book. Here is one such:
http://popculturephilosopher.com/sylvie-and-bruno/ |
Thanks for the link, fantasyfan. It is interesting to see comments from someone that reacted favourably to the book.
I am wary of a phrase like "ahead of its time", but there are elements of
Sylvie and Bruno that do seem that way to me - though I don't think the author of that article means the same thing I do. My examples would include things like the disapproval of hunting sports, which would - I expect - have been unusual for the time but would find much wider support now.
The article also brings out the overused phrase "obeys its own logic and rules". For this to be true it is necessary to demonstrate that there is a logic or set of rules, and then to demonstrate that the book obeys them. That article, just like me, fails to find any examples. (The proposed examples in the article are all examples of inconsistency, which demonstrates neither rules nor their compliance.)
The article suggests there are poems in
Sylvie and Bruno to rival the more famous examples from the
Alice books. I don't see that. I think this is one area where Carroll failed in his stated objective to be different to
Alice, and that similarity in an unfamiliar context (a context that, for me, doesn't suit the style as well) makes them yet another aspect of
Sylvie and Bruno that is disappointing.