Son-of-a-Weizen Posted December 6, 2003 Report Share Posted December 6, 2003 Mencken: "We sat down to luncheon at one o'clock; I think it must have been at Leuchow's, his favorite refuge and rostrum to the end. At six, when I had to go, the waiter was hauling in his tenth (or was it twentieth?) Seidel of Pilsener, and he was bringing to a close prestissimo the most amazing monologue that these ears had ever funnelled into this consciousness. What a stew, indeed! Berlioz and the question of the clang-tint of the viola.....the psycho-pathological causes of the suicide of Tschaikowsky......why Nietzsche had to leave Sils Maria between days in 1887.........the echoes of Flaubert in Joseph Conrad......the precise topography of the warts of Liszt......George Bernard Shaw's heroic but vain struggles to throw off Presbyterianism.......how Frau Cosima saved Wagner from the libidinous Swedish baroness.......what to drink when playing Chopin........what Cezanne thought of his disciples.......the defects in the structure of "Sister Carrie"........Anton Seidl and the musical union......the complex love affairs of Gounod........the early days of David Belasco..........the varying talents and idiosyncrasies of Lillian Russell's earlier husbands.......whether a girl educated at Vassar could ever really learn to love.......the exact composition of chicken paprika.......the correct tempo of the Vienna Waltz.......what George Moore said about German bathrooms........the true inwardness of the affair between D'Annunzio and Duse.......the origin of the theory that all oboe players are crazy......why Loewenbrau survived exportation better than Hofbrau........Ibsen's loathing of Norwegians.....the best remedy for Rhine wine Katzenjammer...........how to play Brahms......the degeneration of Bal Bullier......the sheer physical impossibility of getting Dvorak drunk......the genuine last words of Walt Whitman............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted December 6, 2003 Report Share Posted December 6, 2003 All in all, very similar to the conversation at my luncheon table yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Christmas Posted December 6, 2003 Report Share Posted December 6, 2003 Weizen must be reading Mencken's "autobiography". He was dear friends with Huneker. They met for lunch frequently and it would not be surprising if they discussed all of those topics from one extent to another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 6, 2003 Report Share Posted December 6, 2003 Ironically enough, Mencken, who is something of a conservative icon, was an early backer of a significant figure in American proletarian literature--Jack Conroy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted December 7, 2003 Report Share Posted December 7, 2003 Mencken was great! Some of those topics had me rolling on the floor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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