Paul Whybrow
Full Member
Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.
Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert

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Wait wasn't he the guy with the pet lobster he'd take for walks on a leash?Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.
Gustave Flaubert
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No, that was Gérard de Nerval - and he died with a talking raven in attendance!Wait wasn't he the guy with the pet lobster he'd take for walks on a leash?
OK. I'd rather be him. Though not sure about Goethe's aversion to dogs being a measure of sanity. "Why should a lobster be any more ridiculous than a dog? ...or a cat, or a gazelle, or a lion, or any other animal that one chooses to take for a walk? I have a liking for lobsters. They are peaceful, serious creatures. They know the secrets of the sea, they don't bark, and they don't gnaw upon one's monadic privacy like dogs do. And Goethe had an aversion to dogs, and he wasn't mad."No, that was Gérard de Nerval - and he died with a talking raven in attendance!
Yes, I have the novel... I confess couldn't finish it.Flaubert was supposedly inspired by a stuffed parrot, which led to Julian Barnes writing a novel.
I have the same problem with all of his novels! They always start promisingly, but about two-thirds of the way though they lose their impetus.Yes, I have the novel... I confess couldn't finish it.