I know a lot of you cats are well read and I was hoping someone would know a few literary references I am finding difficult to laocate.
1. Mark Twain (I think) wrote a story about an ill fated Confederate militia who make a mess of everything and then accidentally kill an innocent passerby they think is the enemy. Anyone know the story's name?
2. William Faulkner made a reference to Chartre's cathedral along the lines that he will never know what it means to the natives and they will never know what it means to him. Anyone know where that appears and/or the exact quote?
Thanks.
I think the Twain story is called something like "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed."
Faulkner served in France during WWI, and he may have a passage that you are thinking of, but I am not a student, and I can not say.
But for the hell of it I will mention Henry Adams' "Chartres and Mont. St. Michel" or the other way around. Probably the first enduring essay on art ever produced in America. But maybe Faulkner wrote something.
On the same theme, I believe there is a new James Lee Burke novel about the Katrina storm. He is a southern writer, and his style leaves admirers of the written word in awe. But that is just my humble opinion.
Last edited by Horace (2007-07-28 06:04:54)