tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post6759298169040689112..comments2024-03-26T01:52:45.563-07:00Comments on Fred's Place: Jack London: The Scarlet PlagueFredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-7188002860834114222017-02-19T08:12:59.536-07:002017-02-19T08:12:59.536-07:00Mudpuddle,
An interesting thought. I wonder how ...Mudpuddle,<br /><br />An interesting thought. I wonder how many writers were influenced by Defoe works: Moll Flanders, Robinson Crusoe, as well as the Plague Journal. Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-74221066264133076142017-02-18T13:48:11.605-07:002017-02-18T13:48:11.605-07:00cite Defoe's "Journal of the Plague Years...cite Defoe's "Journal of the Plague Years"; i read it once and it was quite chilling as i remember...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-73668576511724806872017-02-17T11:36:56.487-07:002017-02-17T11:36:56.487-07:00Mudpuddle,
Could be. Aristophanes wrote mostly c...Mudpuddle,<br /><br />Could be. Aristophanes wrote mostly comedies or satires, I think.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-71024704614944656562017-02-17T10:52:33.604-07:002017-02-17T10:52:33.604-07:00i think i was wrong about that, anyway; i haven&#...i think i was wrong about that, anyway; i haven't read it either, but it's probably about politics...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-76340362428876139852017-02-17T09:42:58.727-07:002017-02-17T09:42:58.727-07:00Brian Joseph,
That could be, but I don't reme...Brian Joseph,<br /><br />That could be, but I don't remember any folktales. I tend more toward historical sources such as the various plagues that arose over the centuries.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-54165439353764001512017-02-17T09:40:06.259-07:002017-02-17T09:40:06.259-07:00Mudpuddle,
I vaguely remember hearing that Aristo...Mudpuddle,<br /><br />I vaguely remember hearing that Aristophanes wrote a play titled Frogs or something like that. However, I've never read it, so I can't comment on how that would relate to the plagues in the two works I commented on.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-85704327338554555182017-02-17T09:38:21.946-07:002017-02-17T09:38:21.946-07:00R.T.,
It's possible. It's been decades s...R.T.,<br /><br />It's possible. It's been decades since I last read the OT. I'm not sure how that would constitute a threat, though.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-88862617201095833472017-02-17T09:34:15.635-07:002017-02-17T09:34:15.635-07:00R.T.,
It's seven volumes, so it's quite a...R.T.,<br /><br />It's seven volumes, so it's quite a commitment. Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-91929443908096987812017-02-17T03:49:28.808-07:002017-02-17T03:49:28.808-07:00I haver read Poe's story but not London's....I haver read Poe's story but not London's. The Scarlet Death sounds fascinating for a lot of reasons. I wonder if the commonalities between the symptoms of the diseases are the result of similarities between folktales heard by both writers. <br /><br />I tend to like 'plague" books as well as films if they are intelligently done. Though I found few of the realistic ones to be disturbing. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-88739366752980618882017-02-16T21:42:35.404-07:002017-02-16T21:42:35.404-07:00aristophanes' play, maybe...?aristophanes' play, maybe...?Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-31192158330023927662017-02-16T16:22:15.634-07:002017-02-16T16:22:15.634-07:00Weren't frogs involved in one? It's hard t...Weren't frogs involved in one? It's hard to understand being intimidated by frogs. But I might be mistaken about frogs.RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-77008053975593962872017-02-16T16:20:11.893-07:002017-02-16T16:20:11.893-07:00I have yet to try the DT series.I have yet to try the DT series.RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-15040847926134629882017-02-16T16:10:00.514-07:002017-02-16T16:10:00.514-07:00R.T.,
And, we can't forget the plagues in the...R.T.,<br /><br />And, we can't forget the plagues in the Bible. Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-68762814669373099122017-02-16T16:07:25.687-07:002017-02-16T16:07:25.687-07:00Mudpuddle,
Thanks for reminding me. I had forgot...Mudpuddle,<br /><br />Thanks for reminding me. I had forgotten the frame for Boccaccio's "Decameron." <br /><br />Quite a stretch, ranging from Boccaccio to Poe to London to Stewart to King, and who knows how many others, both in between and afterwards. Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-72750744330048341062017-02-16T15:58:59.448-07:002017-02-16T15:58:59.448-07:00R.T.,
The digression is not really a digression, ...R.T.,<br /><br />The digression is not really a digression, for that is the theme of the three works I've mentioned--the deadly plague. <br /><br />I wonder if the memory of the real Black Plague is the stimulus for the many catastrophic plague tales that have appeared in fiction. <br /><br />I'm not a great fan of King, but his The Stand is one of his that I did read and enjoy. But, I have yet to read the expanded version which came out several years later. King's best work though is his "Dark Tower" series, featuring Roland the Gunslinger. Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-83274989835878809472017-02-16T13:50:27.744-07:002017-02-16T13:50:27.744-07:00Mudpuddle, re: ancient plagues. We cannot overlook...Mudpuddle, re: ancient plagues. We cannot overlook _Oedipus the King_. The plague plagues Thebes; Oedipus vanquishes the plague by solving the Sphinx's riddle; Oedipus reintroduces the plague by having become the patricidal, incestuous Theban nightmare! Ancients, of course, had good reason to be terrified of plagues: they were so damned common! I post this even as I have been battling an infestation of fleas in the backyard, all the while hoping no flea is a carrier of the black death!RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-83666707810061244772017-02-16T12:39:15.206-07:002017-02-16T12:39:15.206-07:00i've read the Poe and the Stewart; they were ...i've read the Poe and the Stewart; they were both great... i've long been a fan of JL, but haven't read this one: it sounds like a must... this genre is pretty ancient: the work that occurred to me immediately was "The Decameron" by Boccaccio, written in 14 c., i think... a small group of italians gather in a secluded monastery to escape the plague and tell each other stories... he was a buddy of Petrarch... there are probably others i don't know about: the book ocean is wide and deep... dynamite post, tx a lot ...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-897228097627164771.post-22438062728468427872017-02-16T12:28:21.360-07:002017-02-16T12:28:21.360-07:00Well, Fred, I am familiar with Poe's tale but ...Well, Fred, I am familiar with Poe's tale but not familiar with either London's or Stewart's. So, I cannot contribute much to your fine posting. Nevertheless, allowing myself to be redirected from my other reading goals, I will revisit Poe and try to obtain copies of London and Stewart. Thus, any sensible comment(s) will have to wait. However, in the meantime, I wonder about the ways writers of speculative fiction have imagined both natural and man-caused apocalyptic scenarios. I still recall Stephen King's _The Stand_, one of the best biological nightmare tales. One of the man-made nightmares that I read a few years ago -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Second_After -- still has me frightened; we are only a moment away from the horrors the author depicts. I'm sorry if this digression is so far off your topic, but your posting has me thinking about both biological and technological plagues. Now, I think I will visit Poe. RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.com