Why does this exist?

[montagnarde1793]

I repeat: Why does this exist?

http://revolutioninfiction.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/trompe-l%e2%80%99oeil-imagery-irma-ou-les-malheurs-d%e2%80%99une-jeune-orpheline/

I don't mean the blog, though I haven't yet read anything I thought was particularly insightful, despite the linkage from revolution-francaise.net.

First of all, why does the novel exist in the first place? (Don't answer that. There are probably several decent historical explanations for the phenomenon that is this book, but that would require a good deal more thought and research than a livejournal post has a right to demand.)  ...Stupid royalists.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, why on earth does the author of the post on it seem to find nothing wrong with or even internalize the book's discourse? If you think the best definition for Robespierre is "the infamous terrorist," you should really have a better explanation than, Royalists circa 1800 thought he was demonic! I mean, am I the only one who thinks that analyzing this book as historical evidence for what royalists either believed or wanted others to believe or somesuch c. 1800 about the Revolution and Robespierre might be slightly more useful than uncritically accepting the book's premise while patting oneself on the back for noticing a demonic face (not-so-)hidden in one of the illustrations?

...Any overreaction, real or perceived, is probably due to sleep deprivation.

And some advice: Never buy cookie dough if you are not planning on actually baking the cookies. It's just a very bad idea, trust me.

Comments

[josiana.livejournal.com]

what.


WHAT.

WHAT?

.....I don't even know. Why would Maxime be eating his victims, wtf. D: He's not a zombie. ...As adorable as that would be.


And cookie dough is amazing in all of its forms.

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Um, yes, apparently. >.>

And anyway, if he were a zombie, he would be eating live peoples' brains, not corpses, right? Especially not quicklimed corpses--I don't imagine there would be anything left to eat. Besides, if he's *not* a zombie, but just a kind of disembodied spirit as the illustration suggests, than how the hell is he eating anything? The logic, it does not exist.

I generally think that too, when a) you have people to share it with, or b) you're just having a bit before you make the rest into cookies, but when you end up eating the whole package in a 3-day period...

[josiana.livejournal.com]

WHY. WHYYYYYY. MAXIME IS TOO FUSSY TO EAT PEOPLE. >:(

And it would depend on the kind of zombie he was. If he was a Russo!zombie he would, but Romero!zombies just eat all of a person. Maybe he's properly a ghoul or something. Or just nomming on the bones. And I have no idea. Maybe he's eating the idea of them instead of actually eating them. Or they're ghosts too, and he can touch them?

Awww. That's not so bad. ^^ I've eaten all of one at once, if it makes you feel better. >_>;

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

That is very true. Again: Stupid royalists.

I like the "eating the idea of them" explanation the best. It fits with the absurdity.

I'm just kind of absurdly worried that I'm going to get food poisoning from all the raw eggs. Which is stupid, of course, because if I were going to get food poisoning, I a) would have alreadly gotten it by now, and b) would have gotten it from the first couple of bites in any case. I mean, there's also the vast amount of calories, but I don't care nearly as much about that, since this is literally something I do less than once a year.

[sibylla-oo.livejournal.com]

Oh no, it sounds just like a Monty Python parody, doesn't it? I wonder when the Spanish Inquisition pops up so the villains are complete ;-)

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

That would actually be pretty hilarious. A pity no one ever suggested the scenario to them...

[trf-chan.livejournal.com]

*shudder*

am I the only one who thinks that analyzing this book as historical evidence for what royalists either believed or wanted others to believe or somesuch c. 1800 about the Revolution and Robespierre might be slightly more useful than uncritically accepting the book's premise

See, but that would require critical thinking and possibly outside investigation. Which is just, like, sooooo boring. And time-consuming. Yawn. I'm in such bright spirits about humanity tonight. -_-

Ahhhh, I my neighbor and I used to eat just straight-up cookie dough all the time. XD

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

The sad thing is, these people are professors. Literature professors, for the most part (which explains a lot), but still. Critical thinking - and imparting the ability and desire to think critically to their students - is part of their job description.

I don't blame you; it's delicious. I'm just kind of paranoid about food poisoning ever since my sister read me an account of a kid who ate raw meat on a dare and... basically all his internal organs imploded and he died a horrible death. So. >.>;