An old boy told me about a classmate in the English department of one of the most 'prestigious' colleges in Calcutta, who had been told by her professor to read and report about Irving Stone's magnificent fictionalized biography of the great Italian renaissance artist Michelangelo, The Agony and the Ecstasy.
Her report was 'This Michelangelo was a big loser'.
Imagine the kind of wife, mother, teacher and citizen this creature is going to become...
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8 comments:
Gah. Some things must never be imagined - this is one of those things. Who are these people? I pity the husband less than the kids though. There are some boys out there who would find such comments 'cool' and 'awesome' and so 'smart'...so such boys and girls deserve one another.
...But I still can't believe that this is a real bit. Gives me the jitters.
Ahh. It's such a wonderful book. So well written that I could almost picture medieval Italy when I first read it. I can't imagine which part of the book made her feel that Michelangelo was a loser, of all things! Now something off the topic -- Sir, when I read Salman Rushdie's "The Enchantress of Florence", somehow "The Agony and the Ecstasy" intervened and disrupted my mind (in some sections) -- felt like I have read something similar before, a deja vu feeling.
Dear Sir,
Is this true? I wonder how such a person could even finish the book. The line did make me laugh though. When I hear about such people I feel quite intelligent and sophisticated.
Sincerely
Nishant.
Oh, I assure you, Nishant! Truth remains stranger than fiction...
Dear Sir,
I wonder how it could be true, but if it is indeed true, I am amazed at the audacity with which she has gone against the widely held opinion of Michelangelo and made such a preposterous claim (assuming, of course, she is aware of the widely held opinion and has taken the trouble to look up either Michelangelo or his fictionalised biography (The Agony and the Ecstasy) in wikipedia or google at least! - in that case I am even curious to hear out her reasons - I am sure they will also be equally amazing! :) ).
Nice to hear from you after a long time, Pritam.
Her 'reason' was as simple as it is common today - he didn't make any money, did he?
One caution: merely being a widely held opinion does not make anything sacrosanct. It is pretty 'widely held' that Michael Jackson was a 'great' singer...
Sir
In our first year at NIFT, we have a subject called Visual-studies, in which, we are taught about the works of great artists like Leonardo-da-Vinci, Michelangelo, Pablo Piccaso amongst many others.
I still remember a girl, who is my junior, commenting on Facebook, that given a chance, she is going to kill the 'bearded old man' (da-Vinci), because she is being compelled to think, what is the expression in Mona-Lisa's face! She also added, 'He has no right to make such STUPID paintings'
She is in college for a year now, and I must say, that her fashion illustration, can by no means, be called good (There are people, in the same institute, who maintain a very low profile, but do better illustrations). How can she comment such nonsense? (Well, her status update was 'liked' by five of her equally 'smart' batch mates)
Sincerely,
Amritaksha
Just as a point to be noted: today's parents are always gushing 'aajkaalkar chhele-meyera koto kichhu jaane' (how well-informed children are these days!)
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