I had long wanted to write an annotated analysis of Vernon Lee's "Amour Dure", but since both johnny rbadac and I were independently posting pieces about Lee to the alt.books.ghost-fiction newsgroup virtually in alternation, and his response to my piece about "A Phantom Lover" had proven at least as interesting as what I had posted, I became concerned that this was a subject over which we might accidentally trump each other. Therefore, I wrote johnny asking him to please let me know if he was working on an "Amour Dure" article, because I was already working on a long piece and did not want to feel that what I was writing was redundant or prevent him from posting an article of his own. That message resulted in the following correspondence, full of johnny's characteristic wit and modesty (please note that references to personal matters, such as family illnesses, work-related frustrations, etc., have been removed):
<From: Jim Rockhill, August 12, 2000>
We have joked in the past about running afoul of each other's pieces on a.b.g-f. I would love to see anything you might have to write about Vernon Lee's "Amour Dure," but am currently sketching a piece on it. At the rate things have been going at home and work (you do not want to know), it will be weeks before I have anything put together, and even then it might very well be crap, though I hope not. I do not mean this to be presumptuous, and write out of all humility, but I know that if I see a piece by you on the subject, I will very probably lose the desire to finish mine.
<From: John Eatman, August 13, 2000>
Ha ha! Lay on, McDuff! I'll re-read it and make notes toward some thoughtful supplementary addenda when you post your article. It will look like we are actually discussing the story, and perhaps inspire others to join in.(snicker) When's the cocktail party? I was planning on wearing my houndstooth sport coat with the leather elbow patches, but if you want to wear *yours*, I'll go with my black silk shirt and snakeskull bolo tie...
<JR, August 13, 2000>
A quick note. Just finished a piece on Vernon Lee's "Sister Benvenuta and the Christ Child" . . . When I will be able to transcribe it and post on a.b.g-f (I have a MAC and am not on the net at home), is a mystery.
<JE, August 13, 2000>
I'm not on the Net at home either, so I sympathize. It's all public library for me, though that has its advantages: handy reference books, relative peace and quiet, the enforcement of a discipline on the work in general (I only get an hour a day).
<JR, August 13, 2000>
The "Amour Dure" piece is still a mass of isolated lines, paragraphs, quotations from Henry James letters and extracts from Lee's own THE HANDLING OF WORDS, but at least it is now starting to make sense in my own head.
<JE, August 13, 2000>
That's the way I work, too! Pile on enough mashed potatoes, and you'll soon have sufficient raw material to fashion a landing strip for the aliens.
<JR, August 22, 2000>
Just . . . read your fascinating reply to my PHANTOM LOVER piece, which makes mine seem shallow. I hope I did not jump onto a subject you were planning to write-up.
<JE, August 23, 2000>
Ack, no. I was just riffing on yours. There's nothing easier than jumping in with cake frosting when someone else has already done all the work of baking!
<JR, August 22, 2000>
It is going to be a while before I get to my piece on "Amour Dure," so please ignore what I had asked you earlier. If I feel my piece is sufficiently different from yours should a piece by you appear, I shall write it.
<JE, August 23, 2000>
You know, we could BOTH write it. I hadn't planned on doing one, actually (I didn't want to wear Lee out too far in advance of her collection), but it occurs to me that it might be a good idea to trade notes for a future collaborative article we could put out closer to publication date. Ash-tree would love it.
<JR, August 22, 2000>
The wonderful thing about writers such as Vernon Lee is that their work is sufficiently rich to invite many interpretations and I cannot see Jessica being displeased to receive more than one review on any one tale.
<JE, August 23, 2000>
See above!
<JR, August 22, 2000>
I am amazed that A PHANTOM LOVER, although reprinted often enough has received so little commentary and that so often concentrated on the most superficial matters.I hope you will write a piece on A PHANTOM LOVER as I found your remarks illuminating. And again, if I jumped in on a piece you were planning, please forgive me and continue anyway.
<JE, August 23, 2000>
I'm beginning to think a.b.g-f is a major source of significant commentary in the field in general. You KNOW we're all just a bunch of dusty old pedants, don't you? Nobody reads ghost stories any more. Heh heh.
<JR, August 23, 2000>
Although it makes us all seem even more like swell-headed asses than some of us might already be, I think you might be right. How much of what shows up on a.b.g-f. would be there if any of us could find it elsewhere?
<JR, October 26, 2000>
Dear ra,
If you receive this twice, please accept my apologies. The message I thought I sent you disappeared seemingly without having been sent, but then again, that is consistent with the whole process of trying to send send this.
<JE, October 27, 2000>
What what? (snicker)
<JR, October 26, 2000>
1) The copy that emerged out of the scanner seems to have given Word Perfect some excuse to use every kind of hitherto underused formatting tool it had within its power. It took me almost as long to de-format it as it would have taken for me to just re-type the thing.
2) The first computer from which I tried to open the disc so that I could mail you this draft, had some kind of allergy to it and kept shutting down whenever I tried to open it from the a-drive.
3) The second computer I tried to use - driving all the way back to work - opened the file ------- empty. The first computer had left the icons, but erased the contents.
4) Deja removed all of the parentheses from this text, then when I restored them, failed to mail this to you (it seems). I have tried to restore them all again, but something tells me they will disappear anyway.
5) I am exhausted from all this whining.Hopefully, I have formatted this in such a way that it will arrive in your e-mail box with what little sense it had relatively intact. So, here it is, such as it is:
VERNON LEE'S "AMOUR DURE": COMENTARY WITH SOME ANNOTATIONS
<JE, October 27, 2000>
Hee hee, you misspelled "commentary"...!Jim, this looks great, great, GREAT. I'm printing it out now, and will read it AND the story, though from the looks of this, I may not need to even add to it . . . If *All Hallows* doesn't take this, maybe you'd be better off submitting this to the *Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.*
I'll get back to you with whatever I can contribute!
<JR, October 27, 2000>
Ra,
I should mention by the way that in note (25), where I have written "Vittorria Accoramboni (1557-1585) is an archetypical figure in Elizabethan drama, that "Jacobean" would be more accurate.
<JE, October 27, 2000>
Good God, who would know?? Heh heh. Yeah, I know, somebody would.Read the story and the article last night-- loved both. Your analysis reflects a very close reading without commenting on anything that wasn't in fact present in what is a pretty convoluted tale of sensuality.
I would like to pitch in on this, actually. Keep the original in case I destroy the whole thing. I'll need the weekend for this, is that okay? Saturday I'll scribble some thoughts, probably using the angle of why anyone would want to fall in love with such a horrid bitch anyway, even if she did look like Yasmine Bleeth (I'll try to couch that in slightly more lofty terms); Sunday I'll try interleaving these with your article.
Do you mind if I edit you? I'm thinking a handful of your shorter text references could be removed for length, possibly also the description of Medea (a rather subjective detail in the story which Lee nevertheless had to provide in some form-- you or I might profer a blonde), but I would keep all your longer footnotes and links. Your mention of THE HANDLING OF WORDS in relation to how Lee handles her ghost is more pregnant than either of us fully realizes. Develop?
I'll check in over the weekend and let you know how it's going.
<JR, October 27, 2000>
That all sounds fine. Take your time. Feel free to edit what I have written. If I hate what you have done to my "deathless prose," I always have the original draft on back-up. (Haha!)
<JE, October 28, 2000>
Yes! Don't lose that. The article is so good, you should take credit for it all. I'm just riding on your coattails to immortality, you know.
<JR, October 28, 2000>
Good grief. I know better than that, fully expecting the article to be at least twice as good as when I left it with you.
<JR, October 27, 2000>
I realized that I should not have reproduced Medea's description at such length, but it is so marvelously written, I did not have the heart to chop it up. I particularly wanted to use those lines about her mouth - taking without giving, biting or sucking like a leech, etc. - but did not want to distort them without taking them too far out of context. Plus I wanted it to be possible for people to see what Lee meant when she referred to Goujon, etc.
<JE, October 28, 2000>
Yeah, and you know what? After re-reading it, I find it is the basis of one of my favorite link/footnotes, that of the portraits you provide. Now I'm thinking you should let it stand, just for that.
<JR, October 27, 2000>
Please feel free to develop the erotic element. I was more fixated on sense, tense and history.
<JE, October 28, 2000>
Which is equally vital. Hell, let's give them BOTH. We are going for the Bollingen Literary Prize here, aren't we?
<JR, October 28, 2000>
Exactly my sentiments. I feel we need to at least attempt to reach that level.
<JR, October 27, 2000>
That passage from THE HANDLING OF WORDS is remarkable isn't it? When I first came across it I thought, "This sounds like a description of how Lee handles the ghost in 'Amour Dure' " and could not resist copying it out. I can give it you in full if you want, but I had to edit it very carefully in order to a) not falsify it and b) make it less forbiddingly technical. I would love to see you develop it.
<JE, October 28, 2000>
My thoughts exactly. There is a process she describes here that she is using in the story itself, with its "sense of the Past" being of a piece with the entire Meaning.
<JR, October 28, 2000>
I am glad to see that you feel that way. When I reached this point, I had this nagging feeling that I had not done sufficient justice to the passage to merit its inclusion. I am sure you will cover up for that lapse.
<JR, October 27, 2000>
I am still on vacation Monday and Tuesday, but can work at it on the weekends if need be.
<JE, October 28, 2000>
Excellent. (rubbing his hands together, a la Mr Burns)
<JR, October 28, 2000>
Thanks for coming up with the idea to work on this project together. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
<JE, November 2, 2000>
Hey Jim! Have a look at this. You may notice some paragraphs are formatted differently than your originals (they may be wider); this usually means I tampered with that section, and I left them like that so you could identify these easily.I'm having trouble getting a lot of your links to work-- I don't know if it's me or not (I'm working on public library computers which have filters to keep the kiddies from learning how to making pipe bombs)-- you might want to check them.
CRUEL LOVE, CRUEL DEATH: Vernon Lee's "Amour Dure"
by Jim Rockhill and J.S. Pennethorne
<JR, November 2, 2000>
I love what you have done with this, particularly enjoying your glosses on the strangulation, the olive-press, the highlighting of the erotic elements in the tale, and what you have done with the passage from THE HANDLING OF WORDS. Therefore, I could not wait till the weekend - I had a hard enough time getting through the work-day - to read it through in full.(A few minor corrections & multiple tinkerings with the urls to the linked websites)
There really is no reason this could not be ascribed alphabetically.
I hope this all helps and hope nothing I have written causes you dismay. Once we are through with this, what would you suggest we do with it?
<JE, November 3, 2000>
Oh no, you don't. You get top billing here, bucko. Jeez, we sound like those chipmunks in the Warner Bros. cartoons.
<JR, November 3, 2000>
O.K. Thanks. "Now look, someone has stolen our home and made it into furniture again!"
<JE, November 3, 2000>
Hmmm. Maybe we should e-mail Chris Roden and ask him if he'd be interested in this and/or a series of articles (or one custom-done, comprehensive, all-inclusive review based on this example of our deathless prose) to coincide with the Ash-Tree release of Lee's collection, for publishing in *All Hallows* and see what he says. If he goes for any of the above, we can take it from there, requiring, of course, advance review copies (heh heh)... if he can't use the article as is (might be too long, or too narrow in focus, being on only one story, plus the links won't do him any good), we should contact the *Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts* and see if they want it. If they don't (I've never dealt with them), we could just dump it onto a.b.g-f and hope Jessica picks it up for immortalisation on her site, which she may do anyway. Heck, there may be some other literary mag that might be interested . . .
<JR, November 3, 2000>
That sounds like an excellent plan.Are you willing to e-mail it to Christopher Roden for consideration? I think we should send a copy to Chris first no matter what the fate of the piece might be. Even if he does not consider using it or a future, tailor-made, commissioned review for *All Hallows,* it does not hurt to try.
<JE, November 4, 2000>
E-mailed today:Hi, Chris! Jim Rockhill and I have been working up a head of steam on various Vernon Lee stories, and it occurs to us that we might be of some use to help pitch the forthcoming Ash-Tree release of her supernatural tales.
We were wondering if you might like us to do an article or group of articles for *All Hallows* on Lee's work, to put people in the mood, so to speak. You've probably seen our Weird Review entries over at Jessica Salmonson's site on "A Phantom Lover," "Dionea," and "Sister Benvenuta;" we've just finished a comp on "Amour Dure" which I'm appending for your perusal.
It's a bit lengthy and link-heavy (we had initially intended to post it on the Internet), but if you're interested in it either as is or in an shortened form, we'd be glad for you to have first crack at it, as well as any "custom job" reviews you may think appropriate.
Let us know if we can be of service. Thanks!
All the best,
johnny ("rbadac")
***
Assorted correspondence concerning the article occurred throughout November and into early December. Since the article's publication in ALL HALLOWS was delayed and its appearance in this publication would necessitate the removal of several internet links, which would be of little practical use in the magazine, we decided to post a link-laden earlier draft of the article to the newsgroup a.b.g-f. on December 13, 2000.Anticipating the usual holiday chaos, I wished johnny an early "Merry Christmas". He replied:
<JE, December 13, 2000>
Merry Christmas to you, too!! Though I'm sure we'll be hearing from each other. I'm sorting through the Christmas ghost stories that haven't been discussed yet on the board, and trying to write one or two.johnny
***
Two weeks later a carbon monoxide leak in his apartment, likely the fault of a space heater, killed both johnny and his beloved cat, Bosco. "Cruel Love, Cruel Death: Vernon Lee's 'Amour Dure' " appeared in ALL HALLOWS 27 (June, 2001).
Jim Rockhill
(October 6, 2002)