They doesn't have any special connection...It's nothing cryptic, Idril; it's totally normal. He used mushrooms to say he doesn't want to marry her, he didn't won't to hurt her too much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Idril
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They doesn't have any special connection...It's nothing cryptic, Idril; it's totally normal. He used mushrooms to say he doesn't want to marry her, he didn't won't to hurt her too much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Idril
I do find it cryptic. If someone used mushrooms to end a relationship with me, I would be completely and utterly confused, I would probably respond with, "What the heck is that supposed to mean?" :lol: but she just accepted and understood it. I know women were in a different position then, their fates were in the hands of others so I suppose it's not like she had a lot to say in the matter but still, I stand by my original impression, that it's kind of weird. Poetic, yes, nonconfrontational, yes, perhaps even kind but odd nonetheless. I do like your explanation of it though, it does make it seem, at least a little bit, less weird. :p
For end, there has to be a start...She realized it, and there was nothing she could do.Quote:
Originally Posted by Idril
She wasn't helpless, nobody forced her to anything and nobody controlled her.Quote:
I know women were in a different position then, their fates were in the hands of others
I didn't mean to imply she was helpless but because of her social position, she wasn't really in a place to press her suit, like you, yourself said, there was nothing she could do but accept.Quote:
Originally Posted by bazarov
I'll tell you what my first impressions were about that scene. To me, he seemed like someone dealing with an addiction, not literally of course, just figuratively, someone who was struggling with self-destructive tendencies and behavior and they see the path they should take, the path that may be harder but will ultimately be more rewarding and he sets his sights on that path but once it gets right down to it, he can't follow through and instead of just owning up to it, telling Verenka that while he has feelings for her and thought they could make a go of it, in the end he just can't give up his current way of life, he takes the coward's way out and starts talking about mushrooms. Your interpretation makes me see that there is another, equally valid way of looking at it but it seems to be a very romantic view and since I'm not even remotely a romantic but very much a realist, I tend to look at his inability to be straight forward with her as weakness and not kindness. However, I have no need to think my interpretation of it is right. ;) :lol:
You left that romance behind you, ha granny?:lol:
Well, I'm much younger and I probably see some things different(what would we discuss if we all would think the same), but maybe I am wrong?
Your wisdom is maybe more powerful than my youth, but you surely had some doubts when you were my age; lucky you if you hadn't.
That's very true, I have been jaded by life experience and disappointment, just you wait until you get old and bitter, then maybe you'll look at it a different way. ;) :lol: And I'm not quite sure how I feel about that granny comment, I'm not that old. :p :DQuote:
Originally Posted by bazarov
I already feel very old...I am kidding, my old friend!:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Idril
I read this discussion a few times and thought about it. You're both right and definitely your views are different because of the age.
Like Baz,my young age makes me think that the ''romantic'' interpretation fits better, but yours, Idril, is also true. There could be many interpretations, and that's really well, because that makes us debating over here, doesn't it? That's the goal of LitNet: to make us share ideas.:) What do you think about re-reading Anna Karenina twenty years later, come on the same thread and discuss what does that scene makes us feel. :lol: :) I'm not joking, it might sound crazy, but a disscusion like this looks very really interesting and fun for me.
I am afraid that after 20 years, I will read this and maybe think: was I really that stupid???:lol: I know how some ideas were changed in last 2-3 years, but in 20...It's too much. I think we create our personality until 22-23, after that small changes can happen. I doubt that I will achieve some spiritual reborn like Levin or Raskolnikov, but again; who knows?
I do understand your fears. I am also worried what would I believe about this subject 20 years later. Changes always make me feel strange. I guess that's part of my personality. But not all kinds of changes. For example, I like to travel and to read different kinds of books. I think I'm afraid of the IDEA which alters as time passes.
No matter how clever you are, you're still 14...From now on, every day and every book will create mess in your head and in 10 years will see who you are.
Probably someone totally different than today, or maybe you'll stay the same. I think I stayed almost the same, but my friends then say: Buddy, once you were normal child...:lol: :lol: Looks that's how the things are going.
I understand and I guess you're right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bazarov
:lol: :lol: