tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4798744626372711858.post7919677098665723648..comments2022-01-09T15:55:12.856-08:00Comments on Brilsby's Whims: Review: Olivia by Olivia, by Dorothy StracheySimon Brilsbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12922819494593801127noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4798744626372711858.post-62219139725085066212016-08-11T05:51:33.429-07:002016-08-11T05:51:33.429-07:00“If those lines sound melodramatic, or ultra-passi...“If those lines sound melodramatic, or ultra-passionate’, that is because first love is generally thus, or particularly unrequited one awaken in a pure and innocent heart. Who would still be able to write like these lines nowadays? Who would still be able to catch the passion of heart and the yearning for hope so sincerely nowadays? It should be more shocking that writing in her eights, looking back, her emotion never withers and if she could not capture such emotion in words in her sixteen, she is able to achieve so in her eighties.<br />The complex feeling upon literature reflects Olivia’s own sensitivity, being able to be influenced by words so deeply, yet, it is just merely words, how could they become so powerful? It is just Mlle Julie, how could she stir my emotion so much? Is it just memory, just writing, just this and that, why should I become so passionate again?<br />Olivia’s awakening towards literature and love parallels each other, and even though she has lost love at the ending (I assume, since I did not find a plot summary), she still has literature, a door towards ‘the emotions of men and women’, experiencing love again and again.<br />As for the sincerity for Art… Oscar Wilde, W. Somerset Maugham, Marcel Proust, and across the history, people finds comfort and consolation in art, and with LGBTIQ artists declaring their passion for art, it may be because they open a possibility for them to be loved and cherished, and to freedom and lots of other ways of self-expression, to other humans’ emotions, to a world larger and higher (but such is always the case with minority groups…), so… A sincerity has lost, it is perhaps true that it ‘seems lost today’, but there are artists who approach words with a sacred heart. Literature possibly opens a door that she would not be allowed to enter (by society) as a woman (Victorian Era), a Bisexual (again, Victorian Era)…<br />Furthermore, about the ending, I once watched a film called “The History Boys” where after the happiest climax, there is a tragic turning, so suddenly and so unexpected, ending with several rushed monologues of characters…<br />By the way, about this smashing Olivia’s Arcadia, it is perhaps inevitable, if her love is not returned, or if such accidence does indeed happen in real life (the atmosphere changes when you learns your loved one has died), or it is perhaps, (though it may not be possible), that she puts Olivia and everything as a social symbol of Britain, then the sudden smashing, is because of World War I and World War II (even though the author does not experience the war when she was in school, but when she begins to write the book, World War I has definitely happened, so…). However, when the twist feels most unnatural, then something must be investigated (either on reader or on writer). Perhaps it is a limitation of first-person narration that she is so blinded by her passion, but without a third-person perspective, it is hard to suggest the downfall without compromising the sincerity of the character’s emotion (but would the emotion of falling in love still so intensified with third-person though?).<br />All in all, I have a soft spot for female writer to be ‘melodramatic’ because I know, or I hope I know, how much they must keep their feelings inside themselves and when the emotion is finally let out, it must be like a flood.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05950740333899110792noreply@blogger.com