I'm especially happy that you enjoyed the prose style, especially as I gave up on being exactingly true to the period about one sentence in and it settled as this odd mix of ye olde speak and fairy-tale-ish language. So I'm really glad it still reads as somewhat convincingly in-period, and that you liked the chiming repetition!
I'm happy as well that you liked the fish and the sexism (not entirely unrelated...) - I mean, *adding* horror to Lear is a tricky proposition, and dwelling on the sexism seemed like one obvious way to go.
And in terms of the POV character - I'm happy you think using a relative outsider worked. I guess he does have quite a bit of Lear's Oswald in him, given his cringing awareness of rank and the fact that he's simultaneously entitled enough to address himself to ALL THE JUDGES, but Gloucester and Kent are in there as well a tiny bit, as also the Falstaff of Henry IV part 2 and maybe even Faustus, an even tinier bit. I AM NOT SHORT OF AMBITION HERE, YO.
And, wow, thank you - in terms of pulling off prose-style in general, if I ever do manage it, I guess I blame reading way too much in my formative years!
But, uh, in terms of this piece you've given me a chance to confess that I STOLE LOTS OF IT. From Lear, obviously, but a lot of the misty, foggy imagery and the silken lines and silver hooks draw on 'The Terrors of the Night' by Thomas Nashe, who was big news in the 1580s and 90s and is pretty awesome if you haven't come across him. And a lot of the description of possession is taken fairly closely from contemporary accounts. So, in this case, heh, the answer would be SHAMELESS THIEVERY!
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Date: 2010-10-29 12:48 pm (UTC)I'm especially happy that you enjoyed the prose style, especially as I gave up on being exactingly true to the period about one sentence in and it settled as this odd mix of ye olde speak and fairy-tale-ish language. So I'm really glad it still reads as somewhat convincingly in-period, and that you liked the chiming repetition!
I'm happy as well that you liked the fish and the sexism (not entirely unrelated...) - I mean, *adding* horror to Lear is a tricky proposition, and dwelling on the sexism seemed like one obvious way to go.
And in terms of the POV character - I'm happy you think using a relative outsider worked. I guess he does have quite a bit of Lear's Oswald in him, given his cringing awareness of rank and the fact that he's simultaneously entitled enough to address himself to ALL THE JUDGES, but Gloucester and Kent are in there as well a tiny bit, as also the Falstaff of Henry IV part 2 and maybe even Faustus, an even tinier bit. I AM NOT SHORT OF AMBITION HERE, YO.
And, wow, thank you - in terms of pulling off prose-style in general, if I ever do manage it, I guess I blame reading way too much in my formative years!
But, uh, in terms of this piece you've given me a chance to confess that I STOLE LOTS OF IT. From Lear, obviously, but a lot of the misty, foggy imagery and the silken lines and silver hooks draw on 'The Terrors of the Night' by Thomas Nashe, who was big news in the 1580s and 90s and is pretty awesome if you haven't come across him. And a lot of the description of possession is taken fairly closely from contemporary accounts. So, in this case, heh, the answer would be SHAMELESS THIEVERY!