Ever since that I did that series of monster posts, my mind keeps turning to thoughts of monsters and their charms. Monsters have a special allure. I often feel that sweet Nio is our resident monster. His huge head with its enormous maw, his twisted hip and gimpy leg, his blue-black fur—they all add up to make him an endearing freak. He’s an exasperating creature, with a lot of stubborn bad habits and lousy impulse control, but that only makes him more perfectly, lovably monstrous.
Speaking of lovable monsters, I don't know how anyone could fail to see the appeal of The Minotaur by George Frederic Watts (1885.) For a modern poetic treatment of the same beast, read "Why the Minotaur is always sad" by Peter Boyle.
7 comments:
Nio may be a SORT of Monster...but he is a DEAR one ;-)
I've always felt a raging affinity for monsters.
Damn my love of the underdog- my undoing...
Be blessed and serene, my sister
I like that poem a lot. I forgot to post and tell you that I loved your monsters series, too. Have you ever read The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson? It's brill.i.ant. It's a modern retelling of Geryon and Herakles. It blew me away when I read it. Geryon makes a beautiful monster.
Nio is being especially monstrous this morning *sigh*
Aimee--I haven't read that Carson book. Just looked at Amazon, and it's in stock. I may need to get me a copy, it sounds fantastic. (Glad you liked the monsters ;-)
Our monster Walter got into a skunk this morning. Peroxide, baking soda, and dishwashing liquid at 5:00 a.m. seemed to clean pretty well, but he still has a distinctive aroma-- eau de skunk, I guess. He thought the whole thing was a lot of fun.
Ack, Bozo--poor you. I would say "poor Walter" but you're probably right that he enjoyed it. Unless they get zapped in the eyes, dogs don't seem to mind getting skunked.
It's amazing how tenacious that smell can be. It took weeks to wear off the last time Kobi and Pearl got sprayed.
The way the Minotaur is holding his hand/paws in the painting, that is a very telling and endearing gesture...
He is endearing, even if he is waiting anxiously for the arrival of virgins to devour...
Post a Comment