http://www.elifbatuman.net/2008/01/28/beautiful-shirts/ "Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness." George Orwell Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:26:08 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 http://www.elifbatuman.net/2008/01/28/beautiful-shirts/comment-page-1/#comment-705 bryan Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:03:06 +0000 http://www.elifbatuman.net/2008/01/28/beautiful-shirts/#comment-705 one of his stories is in Tablet, one of columbia's lit mags...from a few years ago tho, probly impossible to find it now one of his stories is in Tablet, one of columbia’s lit mags…from a few years ago tho, probly impossible to find it now

]]> http://www.elifbatuman.net/2008/01/28/beautiful-shirts/comment-page-1/#comment-694 Elif Wed, 28 May 2008 18:59:40 +0000 http://www.elifbatuman.net/2008/01/28/beautiful-shirts/#comment-694 Dear Burcu, dear Kizmok, Thank you for your comments, and please forgive this very delinquent reply! Dear Burcu, you're absolutely right and I started to write a long message in response (it was actually about <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/04/15/020415fi_fiction" rel="nofollow">"Tony Takitani,"</a> a short story by Haruki Murakami, which I think must be inspired by that passage in <i>The Great Gatsby</i> with the beautiful shirts---because there is also a passage where a girl is in a closet surrounded by the most beautiful dresses she has ever seen (belonging to a dead woman whom she has never met), and starts to cry because they are so beautiful). Then I somehow lost this response and now I don't remember exactly what it said. I think the gist was that even if you set aside the association between decadence and homosexuality (which is a problematic association, I agree), there is still something different about this particular (heterosexual) form of clothing obsession (as in VW and Murakami, and maybe even in Fitzgerald). You know, even though it has elements of dandyism, and even though postcolonialism and late capitalism, it doesn't seem <i>decadent</i>. It just seems too early-morning/ nautical---even the form of sadness seems very different to me from the melancholy of decadence, although I can't quite think of why. Interesting. Dear Kizmok, as far as I know, Ezra hasn't yet published any of his stories, but I do know that there has been some interest from at least one book publisher---maybe they will convince him to do a book... yours as ever, Elif Dear Burcu, dear Kizmok,
Thank you for your comments, and please forgive this very delinquent reply!
Dear Burcu, you’re absolutely right and I started to write a long message in response (it was actually about “Tony Takitani,” a short story by Haruki Murakami, which I think must be inspired by that passage in The Great Gatsby with the beautiful shirts—because there is also a passage where a girl is in a closet surrounded by the most beautiful dresses she has ever seen (belonging to a dead woman whom she has never met), and starts to cry because they are so beautiful).
Then I somehow lost this response and now I don’t remember exactly what it said.
I think the gist was that even if you set aside the association between decadence and homosexuality (which is a problematic association, I agree), there is still something different about this particular (heterosexual) form of clothing obsession (as in VW and Murakami, and maybe even in Fitzgerald). You know, even though it has elements of dandyism, and even though postcolonialism and late capitalism, it doesn’t seem decadent. It just seems too early-morning/ nautical—even the form of sadness seems very different to me from the melancholy of decadence, although I can’t quite think of why. Interesting.
Dear Kizmok, as far as I know, Ezra hasn’t yet published any of his stories, but I do know that there has been some interest from at least one book publisher—maybe they will convince him to do a book…
yours as ever,
Elif

]]> http://www.elifbatuman.net/2008/01/28/beautiful-shirts/comment-page-1/#comment-690 kizmok Sun, 11 May 2008 13:29:31 +0000 http://www.elifbatuman.net/2008/01/28/beautiful-shirts/#comment-690 Elif, I enjoyed reading your thread. Do you know if Ezra's short stories are available to read on the internet or anywhere else? Thank you. Elif, I enjoyed reading your thread. Do you know if Ezra’s short stories are available to read on the internet or anywhere else? Thank you.

]]> http://www.elifbatuman.net/2008/01/28/beautiful-shirts/comment-page-1/#comment-92 burcu Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:24:37 +0000 http://www.elifbatuman.net/2008/01/28/beautiful-shirts/#comment-92 Elif, I agree with you on Balzac, but what about decadent heterosexual beaus and their keen eyes on clothing + colors? Elif, I agree with you on Balzac, but what about decadent heterosexual beaus and their keen eyes on clothing + colors?

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