Oedipa, mia

[Thomas Eckhardt]

> Reminds me, though, one of my favorite lines from one
> of my favorite literary set pieces ever ...
>
> "Altogether, a most anti-clerical scene, perhaps
> intended as a sop to the Puritans of the time (a
> useless gesture since none of them ever went to plays,
> regarding them for some reason as
> immoral)." (Lot 49, Ch. 3, p. 69)

The only sensible way to finish a paragraph like that, wouldn't you say?
At this point we are definitely in need for a sober narratorial voice to
put all that bloodshed into perspective...

Only joking of course. I think the paragraph is absolutely wonderful (if
only because it appeals to my own deep-seated anti-clerical sentiments).
Yet, I am also very fond of "For about ten minutes the vengeful crowd
proceed to maim, strangle, poison, burn, stomp, blind and otherwise have
at Pasquale, while he describes intimately his varied sensations for our
enjoyment."

Thomas