Literary Works

by **Philip Hudson** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 12:58 am

Is there a thread already in Res Diversae discussing English literary works? I would like to discuss literature with Alpha Agora from time to time.

Who has read "Tristram Shandy", a novel by Laurence Sterne? I have tried several times but I loose interest. I think it is one of the strangest "Novels" I have ever attempted. I have resolved not to finish it. After Tristram is grown and goes to France it loses all its appeal for me.

It is a vocabulary builder.

ais all downhill soiIs it one of the wierd3est books you5sd

by **Philip Hudson** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:00 am

Please pardon the ditrus of my writing at the end of the last post.

by **Slava** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:02 am

Philip Hudson wrote:Please pardon the ditrus of my writing at the end of the last post.

Pardon the pedantry here, but shouldn't that be detritus?

by **Philip Hudson** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:43 pm

slava: I am a pedant aong pedants. Never ask me to pardon pedantry. It is always pardonable. The problem with ditrus is that it is a widely used word meaning the same as detritus. But it is not in the dictionary. I have found a large number of examples of ditrus by Goggling the word but, when I look in any dictionary, it is not there. Maybe it is a word in formation. I usually spell check my offerings and, if I had, I would have caught the word and not bothered you. You are right. I should have used detritus.

by **Perry Lassiter** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:11 pm

Re your initial post, I checked TS in my ibooks collection and found I had read about 35 pp out of 1000. I found it mostly amusing, but not ingrossing. I had heard of it off and on for years, and got it to see what it was. May or may not finish it.

by **Philip Hudson** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:53 pm

Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, I do not recommend "Tristram Shandy". One the other hand, after having mentioned it the other day, I am re-reading "Raintree County". It is a hard read because you are not always sure if you are in a flashback or a flash forward. The vocabulary is extensive and mind building. The moral is romantic but questionable. "Raintree County" is definitely worth the trouble, especially if you were ever a boy and a romantic dreamer.

by **Slava** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:35 pm

Philip Hudson wrote:slava: I am a pedant aong pedants. Never ask me to pardon pedantry. It is always pardonable. The problem with ditrus is that it is a widely used word meaning the same as detritus. But it is not in the dictionary. I have found a large number of examples of ditrus by Goggling the word but, when I look in any dictionary, it is not there. Maybe it is a word in formation. I usually spell check my offerings and, if I had, I would have caught the word and not bothered you. You are right. I should have used detritus.

I'm not particularly bothered, just troubled perhaps. Using a word because it is on Google only compounds the problem. There are far too many people who do not care what they write, or what word (or non-word) they use.

The usages of "ditrus" I found in my searches were only about stuff in aquariums, so perhaps this is some kind of fishy lingo. However, as no dictionary, recognized or otherwise, has taken it up, I'm not sure just what to call it.

by **Philip Hudson** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:33 am

Agreed.

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