Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Cardigans
BH has started to crank up her attack on my current cardigan, a blue lambswool affair from Marks and Spencer, with side pockets, an important property of a cardigan. Apparently it has started to sag and is no longer fit to be seen in a public place, let alone anywhere near her. There is dark talk of visiting a cardigan shop.
The odd thing is that I am now quite attached to the current cardigan. A small number of years ago I was quite attached to its predecessor and hardly wore the current one. But I cannot remember anything much about it. I am fairly sure that it had pockets and that it was more bulky than its successor, but as to colour and style not a clue. Definately troubling how something which was important has faded from view.
Slightly troubling that I do not know a more technical term for bulky cardigans. Home made cardigans tend to be more bulky than factory made ones. I suppose that this is more due to the thickness (guage?) of the wool used than to where it is made, although it might also be true that it is hard to get an even finish hand knitting with fine wool. Also that wool is expensive and a cardigan made of thick wool in a factory might get a bit expensive for the average punter. Must ask DIL who knows about these matters.
Finally finished the biog. of Nora Joyce by Brenda Maddox. Started it some time ago but started to motor a few days ago. As previously reported, her style can be a little irritating at times but the subject matter is interesting. And the gently femmy take from Brenda is that Nora was a much more substantial and important person than the Joyce industry has allowed. Joyce himself remains a very strange bird. Appears to have been a gregarious type who could turn on the charm - but who could also do some dreadful things. Very hard on those near him, some of whom clung on through thick and thin. Drunkard, which was a pain for immediate family, although not an alcoholic. Booze did not get in the way of his work. No idea how to bring up children. No idea how to deal with a schizophrenic daughter (a complaint which, according to Brenda, was a lot more common in Ireland, particularly the west of Ireland, than in England). No idea how to manage his affairs. Blew the very large amounts of money thrown at him by one Miss Weaver. And others. His attitude seemed to be that he was a genius and that it would be inappropriate to give any space to anything much other than feeding his genius and its product.
But as Brenda points out, it may be that had Joyce been forced to take a more commercial approach to his work, Finnegans Wake might have been less self-indulgent and more accessible. And all the better for it. Interestly, it seems that Nora preferred Finnegan to Ulysses. She liked the music of it when read aloud. Tried it again last night on a few pints. Maybe she had a point. Couldn't understand hardly a word, let alone where it was going. But there did seem to be something which kept one at it. Maybe try again this evening.
Miss Weaver, happily, was able to move on. She switched her affections to the reds.
The odd thing is that I am now quite attached to the current cardigan. A small number of years ago I was quite attached to its predecessor and hardly wore the current one. But I cannot remember anything much about it. I am fairly sure that it had pockets and that it was more bulky than its successor, but as to colour and style not a clue. Definately troubling how something which was important has faded from view.
Slightly troubling that I do not know a more technical term for bulky cardigans. Home made cardigans tend to be more bulky than factory made ones. I suppose that this is more due to the thickness (guage?) of the wool used than to where it is made, although it might also be true that it is hard to get an even finish hand knitting with fine wool. Also that wool is expensive and a cardigan made of thick wool in a factory might get a bit expensive for the average punter. Must ask DIL who knows about these matters.
Finally finished the biog. of Nora Joyce by Brenda Maddox. Started it some time ago but started to motor a few days ago. As previously reported, her style can be a little irritating at times but the subject matter is interesting. And the gently femmy take from Brenda is that Nora was a much more substantial and important person than the Joyce industry has allowed. Joyce himself remains a very strange bird. Appears to have been a gregarious type who could turn on the charm - but who could also do some dreadful things. Very hard on those near him, some of whom clung on through thick and thin. Drunkard, which was a pain for immediate family, although not an alcoholic. Booze did not get in the way of his work. No idea how to bring up children. No idea how to deal with a schizophrenic daughter (a complaint which, according to Brenda, was a lot more common in Ireland, particularly the west of Ireland, than in England). No idea how to manage his affairs. Blew the very large amounts of money thrown at him by one Miss Weaver. And others. His attitude seemed to be that he was a genius and that it would be inappropriate to give any space to anything much other than feeding his genius and its product.
But as Brenda points out, it may be that had Joyce been forced to take a more commercial approach to his work, Finnegans Wake might have been less self-indulgent and more accessible. And all the better for it. Interestly, it seems that Nora preferred Finnegan to Ulysses. She liked the music of it when read aloud. Tried it again last night on a few pints. Maybe she had a point. Couldn't understand hardly a word, let alone where it was going. But there did seem to be something which kept one at it. Maybe try again this evening.
Miss Weaver, happily, was able to move on. She switched her affections to the reds.
# posted by Jim @ 12:40 AM 
