Oblomov

[Robin Landseadel]

On Oct 15, 2010, at 3:00 PM, alice wellintown wrote:

> It is of course justifiable for the man that draws up
> reports, adds up figures, answers business letters, follows
> the movement of the stock exchange, to feel an agreeable
> sense of superiority when he says to you with a sneer: "It's
> all very well for you; you have nothing better to do." But
> he would be no less contemptuous, would be even more
> so….were your recreation writing Hamlet or Merely reading
> it. Wherein busy men show a lack of forethought. For the
> disinterested culture which seems to them a comic pastime of
> idle people when they find them engaged in it is, they ought
> to reflect, the same as that which, in their own profession,
> brings to the fore men who may not be better judges or
> administrators then themselves but before whose rapid
> advancement they bow their heads, saying, "it appears he's
> extremely well read, a most distinguished individual."
>
> 			Marcel Proust    A la recherche du temps perdu

Wonderful, what could I possibly say in response, save perhaps . . .

	You’ve been with the professors
	and they’ve all liked your looks
	With great lawyers you have
	Discussed lepers and crooks
	You’ve been through all of
	F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books
	You’re very well read
	It's well known . . .

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

	…But I do want to thank the bureau…
	I mean the committee, the organization
	for the $10,000 they’ve given out…tonight
	they made over $400,000 and I think that I
	have another appointment. I would like to
	stay here, but for the sake of brevity I must
	leave. I do want to thank you,