tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29676463.post2731349671213710428..comments2024-03-28T19:17:01.550+13:00Comments on The Imaginary Museum: Two Jameses (3): "Two Doctors"Dr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01805945600952222957noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29676463.post-88439235115811597682012-02-03T08:21:30.380+13:002012-02-03T08:21:30.380+13:00I guess I'd never really thought of Monty Jame...I guess I'd never really thought of Monty James as a scion of the empire -- he always seemed much more on the Goya-esque, little Englander "sleep of reason breeds monsters" side. But then I suppose that confirms your point -- he <i>was</i> provost of Eton, after all.<br /><br />There's that "Highland" boy McLeod in "A School Story" whom I'd always thought of as Catholic ("He was not an exceptional boy n any way - not particularly good at books or games - but he suited me.") He gets some Celtic second sight visions of the "well between the four yews" - if you remember - which turns out to be the spot in Ireland where the nasty teacher Sampson (Jewish?) ends up ...<br /><br />Beyond that, one could argue that it's part of the patterns of deliberate inversion throughout the story: Quinn and Abell reversing Cain and Abel / or, here, the English Doctor being nastier than the Irish one. Maybe that was something James <i>had</i> learnt from the war -- from the Easter rising, perhaps ...Dr Jack Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01805945600952222957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29676463.post-163677351794376502012-02-03T06:15:34.166+13:002012-02-03T06:15:34.166+13:00This is a wonderful post, Jack. If academic articl...This is a wonderful post, Jack. If academic articles were like this...but never mind all that. <br />What I was wondering about was the name Quinn. It's an Irish name, and that's odd--becsause Quinn is not the villain. From Professor Moriarty and Colonel Moran to O'Hara in 1984, all pre-Harry Potter BritLit features the nasty Mick. And James--whom I love, let me say--well, he ain't no progressive. Seems to hate Catholics rather more than most Brits of his time, but then Papist and Mick aren't quite the same thing, though their Venn Diagram would be pretty much heart-shaped, in James's world. <br />Lots and lots of bad Cat'lics in James, from the Papist landmine of a whistle in "O Whistle..." to the last Danish Papist Bishop's malevolent shade...but no venom for the Irish, as far as I can recall. Just the offhand comment in "Ash Tree" that the visiting C of I bishop's "...Irish tenants would never sleep..." near such an evil plant. And after all, they're proved rather dramatically right in that story. <br />Not sure what to make of this; it's a dog-in-the-nighttime, negative observation at best. If I had to guess, I'd guess it corresponds to a late-Empire kill-em-with-kindness phase of Anglo-Irish relations, or to the general loss of energy and venom (ain't dey da same ting?) in James's work at this stage. <br />JohnJohn Dolannoreply@blogger.com