Re-reading Dombey and Son. How did Dickens create so many walk-on characters that are funny but also alive? Miss Tox and the Major being two. Both are shown to clearly want something - to marry Dombey (Miss Tox) to impress Miss Tox (the Major.) It reminds me of Evelyn Waugh advising a writer not just to bring someone onstage to make jokes. Miss Tox and the Major are always trying to reach their goals.
Marty comes over again to collect some records. He tells me he has so many records he keeps them in three different places. He could make a definite list of records he will play at a gig, he says, but then there are always those moments when he feels, 'Oh, I wish I had such and such a tune...that would be perfect to play right now.' He tells me Flixy had a good first night - though she didn't particularly like Stevenage - is sharing a hotel room with someone 'calmer' (he doesn't say who she shared with before that wasn't calm) and she was able this time to join in with the singing, though she only did one number. It's bad enough her telling me about her titsy bumsy wigglesy and just about holding a tune, without him doing it. Why would anyone defer to Flixy unless they were a total non-starter themselves?
Loneliness is a real problem, isn't it?
#diary #memoir #autobiography #lgbtqia #brighton
The Dickens point lands because Miss Tox and the Major are funny precisely because they are not trying to be.
ReplyDeleteThey want something, and the comedy leaks out of the effort.
The record collection works the same way. Three locations should be enough, except the one track required at the exact wrong moment will of course be somewhere else.
Desire is very badly organized.
Thank you for this. I like particularly, 'Desire is badly organised...'
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