“It is not uncommon to find eight or ten adjectives appended to a single noun,” Denny noted, with wonder. Or he said them too many times the first time. But others, he was not ashamed to say, were due to his feeling that the book was just too long-winded. Certain of them, he said, were for sense.

Manzoni is reluctant to tarnish this hero, but historical rigor demands that he must admit his faults.A few years ago, reading the introduction to an English-language version of Hugo’s “ Les Misérables,” I found the translator, Norman Denny, confessing that he had made a number of cuts in the French text. All I will say is that we cannot expect perfection, even in the most admirable of men if we do, we might as well write a eulogy.” And since I do not wish to solve complicated questions with simple answers, or prolong a single episode, I will forgo explaining it. This argument might be valid, in some cases, after a detailed examination of the facts, but it is meaningless if people adopt it randomly and out of context, as they usually do. Anyone who wishes to defend him tends to argue, most commonly, that these beliefs were errors of his time rather than his own. I say this even to those who are eager to justify them. “We should not overlook, however, his strong conviction and long practice of ideas that many would find rather strange and baseless nowadays. Did he offer the same indulgence, the same understanding, to poor Gertrude? We will soon find out.Īfter this sea of praise, a caveat, and a footnote (by me): He rescues a girl destined, against her will, to become a nun. “The way one lives is the proof of principles professed in words.” Will you take Manzoni up on this offer, or pause to learn about the archbishop? “At this point in our story, I cannot resist lingering for a moment, like a sad and weary wayfarer who has traveled through an arid and wild landscape, and stops to kill a little time lying in the grassy shade of a nice tree near a freshwater spring… I absolutely must say a few words about this character, but if any of you would rather not hear them, and instead prefer to continue on with the story, you are welcome to skip to the next chapter.” The backstory of this historical figure demands no embellishment or fictionalizing: A new character makes his entrance: Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, the embodiment of good.

The betrothed michael f moore