"I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom. I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients." Gustave Courbet

24 February 2012

Skilled.

Curtis, Prayer to the Stars, 1909


The great works of imagination--the masterworks of poetry, drama, and fiction-- are simply indications for performance that you hold in your hand and, like musical score,s they call for skilled performance by you, the artist and the reader. Literature is an art, and reading is also an art, and unless you recognize and develop your qualities as an interpretive artist you are not getting the best from your reading. You do not play a Bach concerto for the solo cello on a musical saw, and you should not read a play of Shakespeare in the voice of an auctioneer selling tobacco.

- Robertson Davies

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