Comments on: Atonement (The Book) and Other Books and Movies, and Ideas, etc.

By: Ned

Ned — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:49:33 +0000

The name of the painting is “Old Farm, Montclair”. It can be viewed (in a slightly greener version) on the Nelson website. Inness lived in Montclair New Jersey, where they have a small museum with several very nice paintings of his later period. My friend Adam lives very near there and so I have been to the museum twice. He’s certainly not internationally known, but in my opinion an often overlooked American gem.

By: Ned

Ned — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:36:27 +0000

I remember being a guard at the Nelson. For some reason, I got posted in the American wing a lot. There is a large George Inness painting there of a woman on a farm. The rust colors with subtle hints of blue applied in his later scumbled glazes are phenomenal to me. I used to stare at that painting, literally, for hours to study it. He was dutch/american. Next time you are there you should try to locate it and see what you think.

By: Ned

Ned — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:33:38 +0000

No problem with being in a “Dun” mood more than a Wright mood. I just thought I’d report on what I’m reading.

I like the Dutch too. There are usually keen observations of human nature and on culture coupled with high craftsmanship. A dynamic combination. I never really liked Vermeer until I saw one in person and it astounded me. I appreciated Lawrence Weschler’s essay, “Vermeer in Bosina”. I saw a very large Vermeer show at the Met and also a Pieter Brueghel show there while I was living in NY.

A former Illustration professor here at UWEC did a kid’s book on Brueghel’s trek from the North to Italy and back again. It’s very well done, and he took the trip himself too.

By: J.E.

J.E. — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:48:02 +0000

Ned: I suppose you’re welcome. Sounds like the Wright book is great but must admit I’m in a more Dun Cow mood at the moment.

I’m not getting as much reading dun so far this summer. I did read a small book about Jan Steen’s painting, “The Burgher of Delft.” I saw another work by Jan Steen at the Nelson (with Toby) and it grabbed me in the same way that a Pieter Brueghel (the younger) work did at the Royal Ontario Museum several years ago. There is something about those Dutch painters…. Perhaps it is in my blood — some cultural meme that the Mennonites carried with them and has made it’s way, however diluted, to me. I like to think so.

By: Ned

Ned — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:39:23 +0000

I finished “The Book of the Dun Cow”. It is good and I recommend it for a fable or fantasy.

I’m also really enjoying the Robert Wright (slower going), and I suppose I can thank J. E. for that.

By: Pete

Pete — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:07:26 +0000

We watched atonement last night. I enjoyed it and came away with a slightly different take on the message. Usually, when watching movies I prefer a more experiential approach on first watching, but having read your blog the other day, I was aware of the metaphores within. I felt the message, in the end, was more of a rhetorical question – who is atonement really for- the person wronged, or the person who has wronged. The tresspasser or those who trespass against us? I felt Briony’s character in some ways was almost more to be pitied than hated which it sort of felt like she was being set up to do. Of course, her rigidness and zealousness may have been part how she was remembering herself- kind of a defense mechanism to put distance between who she is now and who she was when she made the claims she made. It also may be a statement about the vulnerabilities we all share- ignorance of youth. I agree with what you said about certain things being things we can’t atone for. Perhaps the message may well be about the acceptance that we don’t always have the awareness or opportunity to make things right. Briony missed her opportunity with the early deaths, and it haunted her. I felt the movie did a good job of bringing the internal struggles she was facing, the soul-searching she was doing when she kept them alive in her book to have some of the conversations which were pretty clearly internal dialogue such as the conversation she has with Robert about how old she was at the time and whether she was old enough to know right from wrong. Seems like an aweful curse to go through life with. If I had more time, I would consider the book. Sounds like it was a pretty good read, too.