1/ I’ve just joined Twitter: @nguyenhdi
Please follow me so I don’t look like I’m just talking into the abyss.
2/ My short film Footfalls won Special Recognition for Most Original Concept at Prodigy Film Festival in 2019.
3/ My short film No More Than This has just been selected for the 16th IAWRT Asian Women's Film Festival, which will be held in New Delhi from 4-7 March 2020.
4/ I have started rereading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen if anyone wants to join the read-along.
As a long-time reader of your blog, I'd like to express first my appreciation of your blog posts on classic literature and on classic films, for which I share your deep love and admiration. Particularly, I like your blog posts on which you talk about how the classic culture in general is disdained, mocked by so many people, as I so often hear their feeble arguments since I am a teacher of French literature in French high schools.
ReplyDeleteI'd be glad to follow you also on Twitter, though I am not very active on social networks in general.
If you're interested (and can read French), I also have a blog on Blogger, even if I don't have much time to post regularly. However, I wrote some articles partly in English, since I'm rereading my favorite authors (such as Jane Austen and George Eliot) in the original English. These two articles have lengthy quotes in English :
https://litteratureencastalie.blogspot.com/2018/08/emma-jane-austen.html
https://litteratureencastalie.blogspot.com/2019/04/romola-george-eliot.html
I'm also planning, as a long-term project, to reread all of Shakespeare's plays (who is my favorite author) in English, and to write an article on them (so far, I've only made two, on Titus Andronicus and Romeo and Juliet).
Would have loved to join you on rereading Mansfield Park, which is my favorite Austen novel with Emma (though I prefer the latter one since I reread it recently), but I have little time to dedicate to reading during school periods.
Oh thank you so much for your comment. That means a lot.
DeleteI've looked at your blog about twice, because it showed up on my stats, but I don't understand French unfortunately. But I saw my blog on your blog list, so thank you.
What is it like in French high schools? Is it as bad as UK and US high schools? I'm referring to attacks on the Western canon, and calls for "decolonialising" the bookshelf, and such nonsense.
Do you like Flaubert? I like Flaubert.
I've been rereading Mansfield Park, but haven't found much to say.
From a general perspective, we do have attacks on the Western canon, but probably not as bad as in English-speaking countries.
DeleteClassic authors still have respect, though they are less and less read by the "common reader". For instance, Baudelaire or Céline are not forbidden on the grounds that they are misogynist or antisemitic.
We have a general trend calling to read more "female" or "contemporary" authors, regardless of their talents or merits in pure literary terms. I'm always a bit annoyed to see some of my colleagues read and/or teach contemporary authors I regard as having little or no literary talent at all, such as Marguerite Duras or Annie Ernaux to quote the most admired ones in French literature.
From what I can see from my personal experience, the love for classic literature is in serious shambles in France (but I guess it is the same all around the world) : most of my pupils see classic literature as boring/useless/irrelevant to their lives or to get a job (or for their future job), reasoning in pure utilitarian criterias, and reading books is often associated with some kind of torture to them... Every time I ask them to read a book, the first question is often : how many pages is there ? And when it is beyond 100 pages, it is already too much...
On the other hand though, I always try to point that literature can be funny/a pleasure (I try to fight the deep-rooted cliché that classic literature is austere, serious) and relevant to their lives, and I sometimes manage to achieve such results, with more or less success...
Madame Bovary is one my favorite novels of all-time, I reread it about two years ago after I read Nabokov's lesson and reading of the novel.
It's funny that when I read it the first time, when I was about 16, I found it utterly boring, a memory I recall when I read your article "A call to be more humble" on the rush jugdment we make on classic culture. I'd like to read Salammbô in a near future, and reread L'Education sentimentale, which I've read and liked but don't really remember now...
If you want to know more about my tastes, you can check my list of 100 favorite books and movies (but maybe you've seen it already). The titles are in French but can be easily guessed I think :
https://litteratureencastalie.blogspot.com/2018/10/top-100-livres.html
https://litteratureencastalie.blogspot.com/2017/02/top-100-films_22.html
https://litteratureencastalie.blogspot.com/2019/12/bilan-2019-tops-decennie-2010.html (at the end, I specify who are, currently, my 10 favorite authors (in French then in foreign language), novels and movies)
Okay, I'm curious about France because my idea of France is that French culture is more intellectual and "classic". I've been to Paris 5 times but I don't speak the language, so can't say, but I've always felt that there is more anti-intellectualism and inverted snobbery in the US and the UK.
DeleteJust as an example, I went to film school in the UK, and there is a shocking indifference to, and ignorance of, classic films and foreign-language films. The people who talk all the time about diversity rarely, if ever, watch films that are not in English. Someone called me pretentious for being surprised that they hadn't heard of Kurosawa, Bergman, nor Fellini.
I've read 1 book by Marguerite Duras- L'Amant obviously, because it's set in Vietnam. Didn't think much of it.
I suppose many people are lazy to read now because it's easier to watch a film or spend time on social media.
I've been thinking of reading Bouvard and Pecuchet, got a copy at home that I got from Shakespeare & Company.
DeleteI just hesitate because Flaubert can be misanthropic, which might not be good for my depression at the moment.
I'll look at your lists. I just can't make a list about 100 favourite films, because I don't know what to do about films I saw from several years ago that I remember loving but don't remember the films themselves. To include or not to include? Too complicated.
Your lists are impressive.
DeleteMany authors I still haven't read.
It's fantastic that you like Mizoguchi. It's a pity that he's quite overshadowed by Kurosawa and Ozu (in the English-speaking world). I'm aware that the French New Wave directors praised Mizoguchi.
In some way, classic culture is still respected in France, but there is more and more indifference towards it : I'm not really getting insulted as you have been, or called "pretentious", I'm generally seen as having "weird" tastes and "living in the past".
DeleteAs classic culture is necessary in order to pass some exams and get jobs in public service in France (even not culture-related jobs), people still tend to read a lot during their student years, but most of them give up once they have a job. A girlfriend of one of my brother is an English teacher, and she is always amazed to see that I read Shakespeare and Dickens, writers she found utterly boring when she had to read them as a student. She tends to read more contemporary literature, since it is "easier" and "more fun, relaxing".
I've read Bouvard and Pecuchet a while ago, and it was a pretty bad reading experience. While it is funny at times, I found it very complicated to read since Flaubert digs in great details on many areas (botanic, physics etc.), and shifts his focus from one area to another for each chapter. When I read bits of his correspondance (which I strongly advice to you if you haven't read it, since there are a lot of great thoughts on literature in general), I found out that he suffers even more to write his final novel because he had so many specialized books to read about the specific fields his characters try to learn.
If you haven't read it, I would more recommand L'Education sentimentale or his short stories as a follow-up to Madame Bovary.
Have you seen a lot of Mizoguchi ? I was pretty obsessed with him for a while, having watched almost all of his movies in a short period of time, but his movies are hard to rewatch since they are so painful (because of the sufferings his characters have to go through) from the spectator's point of view. Sansho the Bailiff is one of the most impressive movies I've watched, with so many heartbreaking moments I was in awe for a long time after seeing it.
And Mikio Naruse is a very talented director too, a strange mix between Mizoguchi and Ozu.
"As classic culture is necessary in order to pass some exams and get jobs in public service in France (even not culture-related jobs."
DeleteThat's interesting. Film students here can get a degree with first class honours without having heard of Bergman, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, all that lot. Okay I know I whine a lot about this, but it's still shocking to me.
What does the English teacher read then? Not Marc Levy I hope?
About Flaubert, I've read Sentimental Education (loved it) and Three Tales. I actually quoted Sentimental Education to explain my problem with George Eliot when writing about Adam Bede, haha.
I've also read the letters. His correspondence with George Sand is wonderful.
Should I read Bouvard and Pecuchet then?
The Mizoguchi films I've seen are:
Miss Oyu
The Life of Oharu
A Geisha
Ugetsu Monogatari
Sansho the Bailiff
The Crucified Lovers
The Woman in the Rumour
Street of Shame
8 films, guess that's not bad. Mizoguchi's films are very difficult to find though.
Apart from Ugetsu Monogatari, my favourite Mizogchi films are actually 2 that are not that popular: A Geisha and Street of Shame.
I thought Sansho the Bailiff had some heartbreaking moments, but there were some moments that really annoyed me as well, but can't remember why. I can see why you like it though.
Naruse is a director I'm not familiar with. Again, because his films are difficult to find.
I see your point in film degree. There should be novelists/directors every graduated should at least see his importance/interest even if he's not his biggest fan. I'm still struggling on my side with Bunuel (I like him but do not love him so far) but I see why he is an important director and is appreciated by so many.
DeleteI followed from time to time a blog written by a film teacher and he publishes a very interesting poll every year : how every movie he has projected is "liked" by his students (on a scale inspired by Rotten Tomatoes), and directors such as Bergman, Mizoguchi or Ozu (and more broadly, non-English-speaking movies) are among the lowest-liked, while more recent (and American) films made by Anderson or Tarantino's scores are much higher.
I don't think it was actually Marc Levy, but it was authors in a smilar vein, books who mostly makes you feel good about yourself.
I think you should still read Bouvard and Pecuchet : now that you're aware of its flaws, and knowing that there is no real ending (only sketches left by Flaubert), you might enjoy it. It sometimes helps not to have high expectations and being surprised at the end.
In addition to what you've seen of Mizoguchi, I've also watched
Osaka Elegy
Sisters of Gion
The Story of the last Chrysanthemums
Utamoro and his Five Women
Miss Oyu
Princess Yang Kwei-Fei
All are great, but the latter two are the best among the remaining ones. Been looking for Shin Heike Monogatori for a while, but was unable to find it.
It's a pity Naruse and Mizoguchi are so difficult to find. There was a recent release of 5 Naruse movies, but I've heard it was a commercial flop (not surprisingly), so it is very unlikely that more of his movies are restored...
*Just saw you've already watched Miss Oyu... Never mind.
DeleteHi,
DeleteSorry for the late response, I've been busy and tired.
I like Bunuel a lot, but I get that he's not for everyone. The ones I like are The Phantom of Liberty, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and Belle de jour.
At my film school, the popular directors are also Anderson and Tarantino, or Nolan. Very very few people watch non-English language films. It is sad that they don't know about Bergman, et al, but it's sadder that the film school didn't show such films.
So at least the teacher you follow shows the films to his students, some of them would like those masters and come to discover more amazing works.
I will probably read Bouvard and Pecuchet then. This year I intend to read more books by women.
May I ask if you're male or female, btw? Just out of curiosity.
I just googled Shin Heike Monogatari. It seems to be on Youtube?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKMAxdJNs4I
Sorry if I haven't introduced myself properly : I'm a man and my actual first name is Kim-Yong. I'll be 30 this year, and as you can guess, I have an Asian name (my parents are from Cambodia) though I was born and raised in France.
DeleteThanks for the link for the Mizoguchi, I'll watch it as soon as I can !
Ah. Nice. Do you speak Cambodian then?
DeleteActually, I can't speak Cambodian, but the Teochew dialect. But I can't read nor write it, and only speak it with my parents. It was the first language I learn, but French is my main language since I learn it in primary school.
DeleteAh I see.
DeleteCongrats on your film awards!
ReplyDeleteThank you, and welcome to my blog.
Delete