After browsing through some of my fellow classmates' blog entries of Montaigne, I sadly realized I was to emulate and not critique the poor man...thus we have take two...
Of Drink Of Brown
It has been told by many of late greats, that the drink helps many of those of lackluster surroundings: lonely homes, dingy pubs, absent minds. The brown bitter smell of its lonesome takes those to paradises unimaginable by clearheaded fools in scenarios where paradise is of the non deserving. It helps those of close mindedness unlatch to the men about him. As one great earnestly comes to terms...
"I drink to make other people more interesting" - Ernest Hemingway
The brown, stiff treat never betrays the friend of old or new, Nor man of loyal never betrays his brown friend. Men of centuries old come to the front opening with utmost promise to listen and understand what thy brown confidante seeks throughout the night.
Of most humble men bring books of holy and of high to become acquaint with this drink of brown in the hopes of closer with their inevitable departure. Disdained by these actions, the drink of brown responds...
"Alcohol may be a man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy" - Frank Sinatra
Three sidenotes before I begin:
ReplyDelete#1: I did the same thing, if you look at my blog you will see a critique and an attempted emulation.
#2: Your phrase 'brown friend' makes me feel racist inside, so I apologize to all the races.
#3: I accidentally deleted this comment somehow instead of posting it the first time. I write this now with increased frustration.
Moving on!
I enjoyed your choice of quotes; very appropriate in humor and context. Niceee. Also, it was interesting to read your Renaissance-y language/vocabulary; while it wasn't exactly Montaigne-y, (if we're sticking to the Montaigne-spoke-conversationally schtick we talked about in class) I still thought it was effective in evoking Montaigne.
Hilarious! Good apology, Mish.
DeleteI really enjoyed knowing that brown drink was beer within the first sentence. You made it clear without having to say beer, and that kind of clarity/description is something I really admire in writing. I also enjoyed the very last quote and how you incorporated it, because you almost personify beer so that it speaks. As far as the Montaigne feel goes, I think you accomplished it well. You used long sentences and a lot of "pretty" words. I think Montaigne forgives you for your little misunderstanding.
ReplyDeleteNice job on this emulation. You captured the brief paragraphs and heightened language of Montaigne. Also your quotes are great and you flow into them very smoothly (not sure what it says about me that I was more familiar with these quotes about alcohol than I was with the classic literary allusions and Latin quotes we have been reading elsewhere). I think your piece is actually more focused than Montaigne's writings, but I don't mind that at all.
ReplyDeleteAlso, is the brown friend beer as some have suggested or whiskey as I originally thought when reading this? I'm just curious - either would work, but I personally feel like Hemingway was closer friends with liquor than with ales.
What was H's drink of choice? What I know is that he once liberated a bar during World War II. Quite a story.
Deletehttp://www.vanityfair.com/society/2012/07/paris-ritz-history-france
When I was writing Patrick, I had some Jack Daniels sitting on my desk but any form of brown alcohol would work. And yes it has to be brown cause according to Ron Swanson, "Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets."
DeleteAnthony: Ok, glad my bourbon intuition proved correct.
DeleteDave: Hemingway's drink of choice was actually a mojito (rum, sugar, lime, mint and soda water). Of course, he famously enjoyed a lot of different drinks, and there is actually a book detailing the many cocktails he enjoyed or even created titled "To Have and to Have Another."
The language is really well done, it's poetic, lofty, and verbose. Using "drink of brown" in place of beer definitely has an old English feel to it, and really adds a lot to the 16th century feel. I really liked the Hemingway quote,it fits really well with both your subject and the emulation. He's definitely the Socrates of alcohol. All around I really liked it.
ReplyDeleteYou should transform some famous Socrates quotes with your phrase "the Socrates of alcohol" in mind.
Delete"The unexamined life. . ."
"The wise man is only wise because he knows he knows nothing. . ."
How might The Socrates of Alcohol slur those?
Excellent use of quotation, Anthony, and this has a Robert Burns sort of feeling to it. Some of the diction does distract because it's not quite grammatical, but no matter.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you dropped some of the emulation if this might be a worthy topic for an essay. What you're saying about alcohol seems pretty fresh. I wrote an essay once about scotch that took some curious turns, and I wonder if you could surprise yourself if you continued along these lines.
By the way, I can't say enough about the comments here. Insightful.
DW