After having written about aunts on my other blog, today I bumped into this excerpt while reading "War and Peace". Looks like, once again, Tolstoy was there before me...
"Everyone had to go through the same ceremony of greeting this old aunt whom not one of them knew or wanted to know or was interested in, while Anna Pavlovna in pensive silence solemnly observed and approved the exchange of formalities. Ma tante repeated the same words to each, asking after the visitor's health and reporting on her own and on that of her Majesty, 'who was better today, thank God'. Politely trying to betray no undue haste, her victims made their escape with a sense of relief at having performed a tiresome duty, and took care not to go near her again for the rest of the evening."
This is great! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome :)
DeleteThat was a coincidence to read this excerpt. That is so true "her victims made their escape with a sense of relief at having performed a tiresome duty". Words like ceremony and formality take on such a different meaning when speaking of FOOs. And how we can measure the time between the duty and escape. Very fitting excerpt. xxTR
ReplyDeleteThanks TR. That line spoke deeply to me too. That Tolstoy used the word "victims" instead of another term is very interesting. xx
DeleteYou actually are reading War and Peace! First, perfect quote, eh? Second, I remember getting completely lost in that book for two months. After work all I wanted to do was read it; I was sad when I finished it because Tolstoy gives us an entire world to contemplate. Let us know what strikes you along the way in it, ok? It's such a wise and deep book. The quote is indeed serendipitous. Time for me to order a new copy (mine is packed away somewhere). love CS
ReplyDeleteHaha yes, I'm actually reading it, though I've got a few other books on the go at the same time too... I'll definitely be posting the bits I find interesting along the way. Which translation are you getting? I read a bit about the different ones and there's a lot of dissension over which one is the best one. The one I have is by Rosemary Edmonds (1957) xx
Deletethanks for the tip on translation. I hadn't decided yet, but if you recommend Edmonds, that's what I'll look for. xo
DeleteHaha I was hoping that you could shed some light on the best translation. The book was a gift from a friend and it just happened to be that translation. I got another one as a gift for her but she'd already bought herself one, so I've kept it. This one is the Louise and Aylmer Maude translation. What I did is read the first page of each, and see which one I liked the best and I liked the Edmunds better.
DeleteThe excerpt above reads like this in the Maudes translation:
"Each visitor performed the ceremony of greeting this old aunt whom not one of them knew, not one of them wanted to know, and not one of them cared about; Anna Pavlovna observed these greetings with mournful and solemn interest and silent approval. The aunt spoke to each one of them in the same words, about their health and her own, and the health of her Majesty, 'who thank God, was better today.' And each visitor, though politeness prevented his showing impatience, left the old woman with a sense of relief at having performed a vexatious duty and did not return to her the whole evening."
I guess it's mainly a matter of personal taste, but I feel the Edmonds' one "flows" better. xx