Homework, more thoughts on Wimsey

[tarigwaemir]

Lowell House, on the Feast of St. Wencelaus

I woke up early to finish Korean homework and do some reading. Look, it's only 9 AM, and I've already learned how to say, "Your fly is open." Hah! Isn't education a wonderful thing? Imagine, I could conceivably have spent the rest of my life never knowing the phrase. (Okay, obviously I know how to say, "Your pants zipper is open," but not the Korean word that corresponds to the colloquialism of "fly". Where does that come from? I bet the OED would know but I'm too lazy to look it up.)

Last night, in another fit of misguided procrastination, I read more of Have His Carcase--more specifically, that emotionally exposing scene between Harriet and Lord Peter, where she is deliberately and unjustly cruel, and he is (for once) completely serious. He tells her, "I know you don't want either to give or to take. You've tried being the giver, and you've found that the giver is always fooled. And you won't be the taker, because that's very difficult, and because you know that the taker always ends by hating the giver. You don't want ever again to have to depend for happiness on another person."

Disconcerting because, um, that pretty much is my definition of the ideal relationship. Affection with autonomy. I get freaked out by any sign of the least power imbalance in a relationship. Does that mean I could potentially end up like Harriet Vane, who is unable to accept Wimsey's love despite her real feelings? On the other hand, after some self-observation, I'm more likely to be like Wimsey, who resignedly goes around changing the subject. (Well, he also attempts to reduce his "heart offered on a platter" into mere frivolity, but then again, Wimsey has more of a robust self-esteem, I'll bet. -_-)

It's funny because Have His Carcase isn't a bad mystery in and of itself, but the reader can't spare much interest on the details of detection when there is a Tragic Love Story in the foreground. Or rather the Tragic Absence of Love Story. Poor Harriet. Poor Peter. At least I know they'll overcome all their problems by the end of Gaudy Night.

Yours &c.

Comments

[ladyseishou.livejournal.com]

But don't you think that the soul of a society is handily displayed in its colloquial language? That's why we do it! At least that's what I say whenever anybody catches me reading through my "Japanese Street Slang" book (and just how many ways are there to ask for intercourse ;-)

Ah, we become drowned in a sea of words...

[troisroyaumes]

Oh yes, absolutely; colloquialisms are the best part of any language, I think. Actually, the expression in question is particularly amusing because the Korean equivalent of "fly" is a euphemism, "남대문" (means "great south gate") which I think is really hilarious. XD If only all the vocabulary I had to learn for this unit was so entertaining!

[ladyseishou.livejournal.com]

Oh man... I'm not going to be able to come across the phrase "great south gate" in Genji anymore (especially when describing a charcter's passage through it) without giggling. Absolutely Your Fault! ;-)

[ladydaera.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the "affection with autonomy" -- which I don't imagine has to be tragic at all, if both parties agree... *blink*
I'm probably just being simple-minded ^_^

[troisroyaumes]

Oh no, it doesn't have to be tragic; it's just that the characters in the book, who do both believe in "affection with autonomy," find themselves in a tragic situation because they are not able to be autonomous. Er, did that make sense? ^_^;;

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Agreed with your sentiments, although I tend to have a thing for reading about destructive love affairs where everyone dies at the end.

Actually, the Have His Carcase mystery annoyed me because it relied on damn word puzzles. The (spoiler) revelation that cleared up the time was pretty clever, but the word puzzles irritated me. I guess I become irritated whenever the murderers act like murderers in a mystery novel.

[troisroyaumes]

Heh yes, I like reading about or watching destructive love affairs too (hence the preoccupation with K-dramas and opera). A kind of morbid fascination, I guess? ^_^;;

I'm still only a third of the way through, and I don't think the word puzzles have popped up yet. Right now, Wimsey's tracking down a horse from a loose horseshoe found on the beach. I just find myself not paying much attention to the mystery and waiting impatiently for the next big development concerning Harriet and Peter. XD

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Although, with K-drama I don't really feel as 'satisfied' because it's always some kind of illness. (I totally think that Korea has some kind of brain tumor epidemic going on now)

!! Er, sorry for spoilering? ::slinks away::

[troisroyaumes]

Haha, yes, either some sort of illness or car accident that results in death or coma. ::sighs:: It must be the reverse side of the Korean obsession with health. (My entire family both there and here are caught up in this "well-being" craze where everyone eats brown rice and abstaisn from meat and generally take most of the pleasure out of eating. ;_; There's this popular documentary show about staying healthy and living longer too.)

Oh, don't worry, you were so vague that I don't feel spoiled for anything really. I generally don't mind spoilers for books or manga anyway. ^_^

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

I think it's also that it's an easy dramatic way to introduce crisis. But this is why I prefer the comedies. Less...tragic disease.

Oh good.