tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post2947494212917560449..comments2023-12-24T17:41:42.989-08:00Comments on seraillon: A Book Made of Rock: Manuel Mujica Láinez’s Bomarzoseraillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-85208481694273817212015-07-05T20:34:51.974-07:002015-07-05T20:34:51.974-07:00...so utterly…[typing too carelessly]......<i>so</i> utterly…[typing too carelessly]...seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-59502891037349268022015-07-05T20:33:47.694-07:002015-07-05T20:33:47.694-07:00Linda - thanks so much: for the comment, the link,...Linda - thanks so much: for the comment, the link, and for offering to let me know about forthcoming Bomarzo-related works - quite a wealth of new work, it seems, for a place that seemed to utterly remote and hidden away just 25 years ago.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-70294535394044891342015-06-30T09:13:16.179-07:002015-06-30T09:13:16.179-07:00Seraillon -- thanks for your reply and mention of...Seraillon -- thanks for your reply and mention of the bibliography. On my website I just posted a blog with short reviews of some of the bomarzo resources I mentioned, Also of interest is an essay by Peter Lamborn Wilson inviting visitors to read the garden as a book of pictograms in which to wander as creator of your own narrative. New fiction set in Bomarzo is on the horizon. Two different writers have contacted me about novels they are about to bring out set in the Sacred Grove. I will let you know when I have more details. Thanks again for your interest in Signatures in Stone. www.lindalappin.netLinda Lappinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09062382078217940833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-49334878183906250442015-06-27T09:58:50.638-07:002015-06-27T09:58:50.638-07:00Dear Linda, thank you so much for commenting. I...Dear Linda, thank you so much for commenting. I'm delighted to see another member of the "club" swing by, and especially grateful to you for providing so many new (to me) references for works about Bomarzo. The FMR issue is the only one with which I am familiar. My Italian is at best minimal, but I'll look these up. I began this year to pick my way through Maurizio Calvesi's monumental <i>Gli incantesimi di Bomarzo</i> - slow going for someone who doesn't read Italian, but very much worth the effort. Also, Robert Harbison's <i>Eccentric Spaces</i> devotes a few good pages to Bomarzo; however, the real value there is a bibliography listing a few other sources unmentioned by you or me. <br /><br />By the way, I did obtain and read your novel this year (after writing this post) and enjoyed the mystery built upon such a mystery and done with such evident careful attention to researching the garden's history and theories of its origins. <br /><br />There's a link to the Dali film above; a real surprise for me was the early Antonioni film - also linked above. <br /><br />As you come across other works on Bomarzo, I would be most grateful if you'd let me know (either here or via email). As you well know, it's quite a unique and involving place. I hope to return there within the next two years. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-12186779428041540662015-06-24T03:13:01.476-07:002015-06-24T03:13:01.476-07:00Your post is fascinating and adds to the allure of...Your post is fascinating and adds to the allure of the Sacred Grove. Thanks for mentioning my novel Signatures in Stone: A Bomarzo Mystery. The book , set in 1927, won the Daphne DuMaurier Prize in the USA last year. It combines a murder mystery with an interrogation into the hidden meanings of the Sacred Grove. I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about some interesting Bomarzo connections I came across in researching my book. Firstly, there are quite a few recent publications ( in Italian only) concerning the Sacred Grove from small press publishers connected to the University of Tuscia in Viterbo, near Bomarzo and other cultural institutions of the area. For example: Il Sacro Bosco di Bomarzo nella Cultura Europea by Enrico Guidoni, and published by Davide Ghaleb Editore (www.ghaleb.com) which was to be the first of a series by this publisher of Notebooks dedicated to Bomarzo. Guidoni gives an illuminating analysis of the sculptures and inscriptions of the Park and puts forth a very intriguing hypothesis (to which I refer in my novel) that the original design of the Sacred Grove was the brainchild of a great artist of the period (who did not execute the work himself)as a sort of spiritual testimony. Another recent book is Antonio Rocca’s Bomarzo Ermetica Il Sogno di Vicino Orsini, which examines the Park, the Orsini Palace, the many inscriptions as an esoteric itinerary or percorso of initiation (Although I hadn’t read this one when I wrote my novel, I was influenced by this idea developed by other art historians as well), drawing on Giulio Camillo’s theatre of memory. This can be obtained from the publisher www.settecittà.eu Also of interest, in English is the study of gardens in general in a chapter of Joscelyn Godwin’s The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance, studying the footnotes will lead to some very interesting sources. Last, but not least, is an article by Elemir Zolla, an Italian critic which appeared in 1983 in the periodical FMR by Franco Maria Ricci, entitled Il Sanutario Neoplatonico, which can be found on the web. You mention Salvador Dali and his attempt to buy the place (not impossible since privately owned) but he also made a film viewable on Youtube.Linda Lappinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09062382078217940833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-64746223903670867732014-08-07T20:40:36.707-07:002014-08-07T20:40:36.707-07:00Séamus - I think it is really good, more than real...Séamus - I think it is really good, more than really good. But of course I hope I haven't oversold it. Interesting that you knew the garden but not the book. You can imagine my surprise when I found there was a novel about the place (actually, one thing I did not mention above is that <i>another</i> novel exists about Bomarzo, a mystery, by a writer named Linda Lappin. entitled <i>Signatures in Stone</i>. I have not read it).seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-76311834885258025252014-08-07T15:45:47.828-07:002014-08-07T15:45:47.828-07:00This sounds really good. And it's not TOO expe...This sounds really good. And it's not TOO expensive... I was aware of Orsini and the garden but not the book. Séamus Dugganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574186409184247059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-44862878337436395552014-07-28T10:44:08.345-07:002014-07-28T10:44:08.345-07:00Thanks, Rise. I really do hope some publisher mana...Thanks, Rise. I really do hope some publisher manages to put out a new edition of the translation. Old copies can be had (and a lot more easily via internet than when I had to rely on mere luck in bookshops), but they're increasingly expensive. That book by Rabassa is great, isn't it?<br /><br />I don't think <i>Bomarzo</i> really falls into the anti-dictator genre (it was written prior to the dictatorship). My point was rather that it's subversive and disruptive of order, and that Mujica's "escapism" may have more engaged in Argentine realities than it seemed. The opera apparently caused a scandal even in Washington and New York when it opened - understandable in the puritanical U.S.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-63272797127988780292014-07-27T20:48:17.310-07:002014-07-27T20:48:17.310-07:00A rich post. Love the sense of place you evoke at ...A rich post. Love the sense of place you evoke at the start, Scott. I too am ensnared by the pull of this seemingly anti-dictator novel. I kept trying to locate my copy of Rabassa's <i>If This Be Treason</i> where he described every translation project he undertook, including this gem. It's just the kind of book enterprising indie publishers should consider reprinting. Even a phrase from Bolaño's perfunctory review might be utilized as a blurb.<br />Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-49332667118524828062014-07-27T14:30:00.820-07:002014-07-27T14:30:00.820-07:00Now hold your horses, Miguel. There have to be som...Now hold your horses, Miguel. There have to be some limits. Ordering from Amazon.es may be going just a <i>bit</i> too far. <br /><br />Let me know if you read the book. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-77764582463350725902014-07-27T14:05:11.330-07:002014-07-27T14:05:11.330-07:00After reading this post, Scott, I've decided I...After reading this post, Scott, I've decided I want to join the Bomarzo club; and I swear on my soul that I'll do everything within my power to become a member; I'll cheat, I'll lie, I'll kill, I'll adulate, I'll scheme, I'll open myself to corruption, I'll oppress others, I'll spit on a crucifix and cut off a finger, I'll even order the novel from amazon.es.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-60490724934005106192014-07-23T18:46:12.601-07:002014-07-23T18:46:12.601-07:00I'm currently reading Ivanhoe and it has those...I'm currently reading Ivanhoe and it has those period details. Hoping it picks up....Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-38308585734202555882014-07-23T12:23:27.499-07:002014-07-23T12:23:27.499-07:00Thanks, Richard. I've been wanting to write so...Thanks, Richard. I've been wanting to write something about <i>Bomarzo</i> for a long time, so Spanish Literature Month gave me the perfect opportunity. I think you'd like this one. <br /><br />I found that Bolaño piece to be perhaps the most disappointing thing I've read by him, unusually vague for Bolaño, as though he really can't quite figure out what to say about the book.But I <i>did</i> like that he recommended reading it aloud to the family at the dinner table. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-83594487579944213682014-07-22T14:41:30.419-07:002014-07-22T14:41:30.419-07:00Thanks so much for sharing this great post as part...Thanks so much for sharing this great post as part of the Spanish Lit Month festivities, Scott! As somebody who only knew of the work by reputation--prob. from Bolaño at that--how nice it was to get some insight into how the narrator could "adjust the magnification knob on his gaze into the past" of such a wild-sounding historical fiction. I particularly look forward to one day sampling the novel's gallery of Renaissance characters and artwork--sounds totally exciting and fascinating!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-2609687012360736552014-07-22T06:48:47.533-07:002014-07-22T06:48:47.533-07:00Ha! I actually did get inducted into a secret soci...Ha! I actually <i>did</i> get inducted into a secret society. Writing to the artist who helped me get there, I told her as much - that Bomarzo seemed to forge a strange bond between people who knew it. As you can see, though, from its current representation on the Internet, it's not nearly so obscure anymore, but still a remarkable place that gets under one's skin. <br /><br />A lot of historical novels suffer from a tendency simply to costume their characters in period detail. It's abundantly clear that in <i>Bomarzo</i> Mujica's real interest is the psychology that could have produced this monstrous and weird place, so the period detail is secondary, a means towards understanding that. Nonetheless, that detail is no less rich than in the very best historical novels I've read. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-17369224489802147812014-07-22T06:35:59.234-07:002014-07-22T06:35:59.234-07:00Thanks Jacqui. Yes, do try to visit whenever you&#...Thanks Jacqui. Yes, do try to visit whenever you're back in your favorite holiday destination. From what I hear, the park has been rather spiffed up in the past couple of decades and is now fairly well-known, but I can't imagine that it's not still a profoundly atmospheric and affecting place. <br /><br />Second-hand copies of the novel are still floating about. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-62280797555866743892014-07-22T06:31:39.838-07:002014-07-22T06:31:39.838-07:00Thanks, Brian. Yes, I think you would like this no...Thanks, Brian. Yes, I think you would like this novel; I hope one day someone will get around to re-publishing the translation. And I hope one day you'll get the chance to visit Bomarzo. <br /><br />I hesitated a bit to include the personal story, but it's just an intractable element of my relationship with this book. On top of that, it keeps playing out in myriad and surprising ways. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-68137104523189076002014-07-20T08:11:56.071-07:002014-07-20T08:11:56.071-07:00I'd never heard of this place but went looking...I'd never heard of this place but went looking for photos--you described it well. I'm not one for historical novels, but for this I'll make an exception. <br />Weird though--the lead in story--as if you'd joined some sort of secret society. Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-88451975511138636192014-07-20T01:03:53.309-07:002014-07-20T01:03:53.309-07:00What an utterly fascinating post! The Parco dei Mo...What an utterly fascinating post! The Parco dei Mostri sounds amazing, and I can imagine how eerie it must feel to sit inside the 'orc' sculpture. I'll be sure to pay it a visit if I'm ever in the area. Italy is my favourite holiday destination, so you never know...<br /><br />I'm glad you managed to find a copy of the novel; it sounds very special. JacquiWinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16220597283351925721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-69029626445139944022014-07-19T05:53:17.873-07:002014-07-19T05:53:17.873-07:00Superb post Scott.
Your personal story involving...Superb post Scott.<br /><br /><br />Your personal story involving the search for the garden well as the book connects you the narrative in what seems like a personally intriguing way.<br /><br /><br />If I am ever in the area I will be sure to visit Bomarzo.<br /><br />The book also sounds like I would really like it.Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.com