tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post8946323959171865832..comments2023-09-15T01:33:18.857-07:00Comments on Humble Musings of a Literary Kind: Dickens, Conan-Doyle and the Personality of ArchitectureAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-84361225513492447562013-01-21T08:54:59.849-08:002013-01-21T08:54:59.849-08:00Thank you Geoffrey, for your kind visit. I have pe...Thank you Geoffrey, for your kind visit. I have perused your wife's Wiki article - extremely impressive accomplishments and credentials indeed! I have your book 'Gift to the Sultan' on my beside table to be imminently read and greatly look forward to the opportunity to lose myself in the early fifteenth century. It is a fascinating aspect to architecture insofar as it is a deliberate manifestation of what we consider important - perhaps for the Dickensian poor it was simply a matter of absent-rent and a tendency not to be ejected. Thank you so much for your kind stop-in and your most interesting contribution to my humble musing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-16726135678224583202013-01-20T11:26:18.280-08:002013-01-20T11:26:18.280-08:00Thanks for reminding us, PJ. I've become more ...Thanks for reminding us, PJ. I've become more sensitive to architecture since being long married to someone who make it (see Wiki article on Susana Torre). Probably because of all the observation that Susana has taught me, I dared to construct — in words — the mansion of a rich merchant in Constantinople in 1402 (in my "Sultan" novel). Not only human-made spaces, like city streets, buildings, unending highways or rooms, but any space — plains, mountains, seas — can become a character in our work. I'm thinking now of the desert in the movie "Lawrence of Arabia" (since we just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the filming of the battle of Aqaba in the town where I live, and just two weeks ago we were in Wadi Rum in Jordan, setting for an earlier section of the movie).Geoffrey Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04041450398780043453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-46433055861198059762013-01-02T04:59:59.840-08:002013-01-02T04:59:59.840-08:00Yes - me too! It is one of subtle elements that ca...Yes - me too! It is one of subtle elements that can so enrich a narrative. Thanks so much for your visit, Christine.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-9822321135908101122013-01-01T14:42:40.368-08:002013-01-01T14:42:40.368-08:00I love stories where architecture features promine...I love stories where architecture features prominently as a means to tell more about the characterization. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy was a favorite of mine growing up, and since then, I've always paid a lot of attention to these details. It's definitely had a strong influence on my own writing! Christine Frosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15338188548514114093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-17283495064031043112012-12-31T11:03:36.702-08:002012-12-31T11:03:36.702-08:00Yes - I utterly agree Shari - the creepy old mansi...Yes - I utterly agree Shari - the creepy old mansions are an integral part of the genre itself, one cannot imagine the successful rendition of it without those critical elements! And you make a most excellent point insofar as the resonance of great monuments of the past and what they imply - ie: political and economic grandeur of the past, or perhaps like Shelley's poem Ozymandias, it reflects instead the inevitable demise of power, the fluctuations of political winds, or the ultimate prevalence of natural forces.... something to think about! I include Ozymandias below (being one of my favorite poems!)<br /><br />I met a traveler from an antique land<br />Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone<br />Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,<br />Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,<br />And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,<br />Tell that its sculptor well those passions read<br />Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,<br />The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;<br />And on the pedestal these words appear:<br />“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:<br />Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”<br />Nothing beside remains. Round the decay<br />Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare<br />The lone and level sands stretch far away.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-6126438092008043182012-12-30T00:30:38.757-08:002012-12-30T00:30:38.757-08:00One of the reasons I really enjoyed older horror m...One of the reasons I really enjoyed older horror movies with stars like Vincent Price and Peter Cushing was because of the creepy old mansions or castles in which the scary action took place that added to the mystery and suspense of the story line (House of Usher, Sherlock Holmes, House of the Long Shadows, etc.) Even Abbott and Costello made a few interesting attempts at horror-comedies and turned their ordinary sets into some extraordinary settings by adding exotic, architectural symbols suggestive of the far east, and other props that implied occult worship when they introduced the mummy, Frankenstein and Dracula. <br /><br />Architecture can play a powerful role in identifying a certain social group, whether we realize it or not! When we think of Rome, do we automatically think of the largest Roman Catholic Capitol of the world, the Vatican? When we think of the Nobel Peace Prize, do we automatically think of Alfred Nobel's Foundation in Oslo, Norway, and the Nobel Museum? What about Colorado? Do we think about the beauty of our ancestors, and one of the largest architectural wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon? These architectural structures are symbolic representations of the mission and values of the people. [You may say that is true for the first two, being man-made structures, but not for the Grand Canyon. However, the G.C. is a "protected" structure, and enjoys an even higher status than a man-made structure.] Consequently, they have a direct impact upon the society about the historicity conveyed within and without that culture. This is something that is of great interest to scholars and many others who appreciate genuine beauty. Shari LeKanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05764921433989389867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-81949801574911501292012-12-29T07:06:07.692-08:002012-12-29T07:06:07.692-08:00Thank you Sarah - thrilled that my musing was of i...Thank you Sarah - thrilled that my musing was of interest :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-84734314777982610062012-12-29T05:50:49.937-08:002012-12-29T05:50:49.937-08:00Intriguing post PJ, never really thought of archit...Intriguing post PJ, never really thought of architecture as having such a prominent role in the storyline....encourages me to examine every aspect of what I am writing and look for the conveyance of meaning in disparate ways. Thank you!Sarah Dornnoreply@blogger.com