"... on the subject of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.... The painting was received to near universal acclaim and made Bryullov the first Russian painter to have an international reputation... Sir Walter Scott is said to have studied the painting for an hour before declaring that it was not an ordinary painting, but an epic.... It was seen there by Edward Bulwer-Lytton whose novelThe Last Days of Pompeiiwas published in 1834.... Ivan Turgenev described the painting as 'the glory of Russia and Italy' and it inspired Alexander Pushkin to write a poem about the destruction of Pompeii.... Gogol opined that it was a 'bright resurrection of painting, which has been for too long in some sort of semi-lethargic state,' but was not alone in seeing a parallel between Pompeii and contemporary Saint Petersburg and the painting as a forecast of divine retribution for the modern city's decadent Western ways. The dissident Alexander Herzen, meanwhile, saw it as an allegory about the collapse of European monarchies or the tyrannical power of the Russian state over the individual""
I'm quoting a Wikipedia article that I'm reading on the occasion of the news of the destruction of The Georgia Guidestones, the subject of the previous post. The awesome painting shows the toppling of stone structures in the upper left corner and the Guidestones are toppled stone structures....
... but it was not that connection that led me to "The Last Days of Pompeii." It was a point of grammar and a scanning of my own memory in search of a title that contains a plural.
Let me know what the first title with a plural you think of. I'm stuck on "Days," so the next one I think of it "The Days of Wine and Roses"...
... and the third one is "Seven Days in May."
ADDED 2 HOURS LATER: I'm just seeing that the painting title is not in the plural. It's "The Last Day of Pompeii," because, of course, the epic horror happened on one particular day. The plural title I thought of, when I needed a plural title, was "The Last Days of Pompeii," the novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and it was through the Wikipedia page for the novel that I encountered the painting. That slight difference in title wouldn't matter much, but it was the very reason for the blog path I took this morning. And it makes me notice a more general topic, the stationary time of most paintings versus the passage of time that is crucial to nearly every novel. There are interesting exceptions: A painting could be a triptych showing a sequence or it could have segments like a comic strip. And a novel could be frozen in one particular moment — though all I can think of right now is "The Mezzanine" by Nicholson Baker — a book that, ironically, I've been trying for more than 30 years to get to the end of!
I hope Jack got an oscar nomination for that. If I ever go St. Petersburg, I want to see that painting. Those are exactly the kind that are so much better when you see them in person.
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, famously rejecting his Oprah Book Club Selection. Which reminded me of A Million Little Pieces by James Frey.
Not sure if Victor Hugo's Les Misérables counts, as it's a French title that might be translated into English with a collective, singular noun like "The Miserable Poor" or "The Wretched".
From one book about the French Revolution to another: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. From there, I think of Great Expectations, Hard Times, and The Pickwick Papers. I should stop.
They're definitely having a bad day. The event horizon suddenly becomes visible. They look like all those network anchors on the night Trump got elected....The Singularities were a progressive rock group from the eighties. They're not well known. They're not even a one hit wonder.
I just said "title." Could be a song, a movie, a book, or — as in the original example — a work of art.
There really are so many, of course. That's why it's funny to notice the first thing you think of. It was weird for me to have to stop and think for 20 seconds before any plural title occurred to me, and then it was "The Last Days of Pompeii." Why? I though that was hilarious. Easy for me to laugh though, with all that distance.
I think my parents had that book, so I knew it as a title on a bookshelf. I think I took it down and looked at it once and saw it had all these characters doing things that weren't about dying in a volcano eruption. Why would any of that matter? Here are these people who are all going to die. Try to get interested in their various problems, but you know how it will end. But presumably some of them escape. Whatever.
"And it makes me notice a more general topic, the stationary time of most paintings..."
Once I saw a traveling exhibit that included the boxing paintings of George Bellows. Seeing them in person was remarkable. It was the first time I've ever seen paintings that were not static, but actively in motion. Hard to describe, but it was a memorable experience. The paintings depicted moments in time that were moving forward.
First plural title that came to mind: People are Strange.
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39 comments:
Little Women.
Best Years of Our Lives
Snakes on a Plane, of course.
Similar themes in Thomas Cole, Alma-Tadema and other 19th century artists.
Today, though, Bryullov would be toiling away for Marvel Comics.
The Lives of Others.
Days of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives
Birds
PS The Postman Always Rings Twice
The smart Pompeiians had already left, warned by the earth quakes. Those who were left, and died, are the poor and slaves. And dogs.
I hope Jack got an oscar nomination for that. If I ever go St. Petersburg, I want to see that painting. Those are exactly the kind that are so much better when you see them in person.
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, famously rejecting his Oprah Book Club Selection. Which reminded me of A Million Little Pieces by James Frey.
Not sure if Victor Hugo's Les Misérables counts, as it's a French title that might be translated into English with a collective, singular noun like "The Miserable Poor" or "The Wretched".
From one book about the French Revolution to another: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. From there, I think of Great Expectations, Hard Times, and The Pickwick Papers. I should stop.
Nights of Cabiria
Seven Little Foys, Six Days in October, The Brothers Karamazov, Boys in the Hood, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sticky Fingers, Girls Girls Girls.
Hobgoblins. Racket Girls. Cave Dwellers. Blood Waters of Dr. Z.
Oops veered into rock n roll there. Funny how plural names dominate groups in rock. Titles with plural nouns are numerous. Same with TV shows.
'The awesome painting shows the toppling of stone structures in the upper left corner...'
You mean upper right corner?
Is the photo flipped?
Pirates of Penzance.
LOVE Dickens' Hard Times.
LOVE Fellini's Nights of Cabiria.
They're definitely having a bad day. The event horizon suddenly becomes visible. They look like all those network anchors on the night Trump got elected....The Singularities were a progressive rock group from the eighties. They're not well known. They're not even a one hit wonder.
Two Girls One Cup?
Of Mice and Men
"The Last Days of Pompeii" was also the name of the 4th of July fireworks show in "The Music Man".
Paths of Glory
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
(irregular noun (plurale tantum) FTW.)
Band of Brothers
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
A Fistful of Dollars
Dreams of My Father
One of these things is not like the other ones.
The Holy Bibles
I just said "title." Could be a song, a movie, a book, or — as in the original example — a work of art.
There really are so many, of course. That's why it's funny to notice the first thing you think of. It was weird for me to have to stop and think for 20 seconds before any plural title occurred to me, and then it was "The Last Days of Pompeii." Why? I though that was hilarious. Easy for me to laugh though, with all that distance.
I think my parents had that book, so I knew it as a title on a bookshelf. I think I took it down and looked at it once and saw it had all these characters doing things that weren't about dying in a volcano eruption. Why would any of that matter? Here are these people who are all going to die. Try to get interested in their various problems, but you know how it will end. But presumably some of them escape. Whatever.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Gremlins
With the update to the post, are we now in a "Gallifrey Falls No More" situation regarding the painting, with singular items in movie titles desired?
Or may I list Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, the Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves?
30 Days in a Hole
The Little Foxes, Drums Along the Mohawk, The Women
Blazing Saddles
Harrumph
Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory
Midterms are coming... and the Red Wave is gonna look a lot like that.
Mona Lisas
I didn't know that Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote anything other than "It was a dark and stormy night."
Star Wars
Trading Places
Monsters, Inc.
Cabin in the Woods
Ordinary People
"And it makes me notice a more general topic, the stationary time of most paintings..."
Once I saw a traveling exhibit that included the boxing paintings of George Bellows. Seeing them in person was remarkable. It was the first time I've ever seen paintings that were not static, but actively in motion. Hard to describe, but it was a memorable experience. The paintings depicted moments in time that were moving forward.
First plural title that came to mind: People are Strange.
>>The smart Pompeiians had already left, warned by the earth quakes. Those who were left, and died, are the poor and slaves. And dogs.
But also Pliny the Elder, doomed by his scientific(?) curiosity.
Loved all of the other references.
--gpm
Pieces of April
Democrats facing the 2022 election.
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