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April 22, 2006
H.G. Wells And The Betamax
An excerpt from When the Sleeper Wakes, first published in 1899. Emphases are mine... He observed one entire side of the outer room was set with rows of peculiar double cylinders inscribed with green lettering on white that harmonized With the decorative scheme of the room, and in the centre of this side projected a little apparatus about a yard square and having a white smooth face to the room. A chair faced this. He had a transitory idea that these cylinders might be books, or a modern substitute for books, but at first it did not seem so. Uh oh. He presently recognized what appeared to him to be an altered version of the story of Tannhauser. The music was unfamiliar. But the rendering was realistic, and with a contemporary unfamiliarity. Tannhauser did not go to a Venusberg, but to a Pleasure City. Double uh oh. What was a Pleasure City? A dream, surely, the fancy of a fantastic, voluptuous writer. And why is that? He had a revulsion of feeling. These were no pictures, no idealisations, but photographed realities. He wanted no more of the twenty-second century Venusberg. He forgot the part played by the model in nineteenth century art, and gave way to an archaic indignation. Ah. It's one of those movies. He rose, angry and half ashamed at himself for witnessing this thing even in solitude. He pulled forward the apparatus, and with some violence sought for a means of stopping its action... posted by Justin on 04.22.06 at 11:43 AM
Comments
Heart of Darkness was published in serial form the same year (1899), and Henry James' Madonna of the Future was published in 1879. I think the phrase 'heart of darkness' comes from a poem --I thought it might be Milton-- but I can't recall and can't find it. Dennis · April 23, 2006 10:07 AM |
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The Heart of Darkness, huh? It's always interesting to see where people get titles.
Or band names. Toad the Wet Sprocket is from a Monty Python sketch.