tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19106928.post9075840917234422612..comments2024-02-29T02:37:34.896-06:00Comments on Ivebeenreadinglately: "For a last proof of the stranger's constancy and attachment, he extracts more clothes and more dogs," or, D'Israeli on odd customsLevi Stahlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11094919454842047688noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19106928.post-39305663841840762262010-02-18T08:03:16.323-06:002010-02-18T08:03:16.323-06:00Jeff,
Thank you for helping to clear that up.I sup...Jeff,<br />Thank you for helping to clear that up.I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that this could be real--I just couldn't get over the vomiting ten times part. I actually spent a few minutes trying (in admittedly desultory fashion) to get an answer to this online, but I had no luck, so I appreciate you coming through like this. Your explanation is fascinating, and the clan dominance idea is one that D'Israeli doesn't hit upon in his brief attempt to understand it. <br /><br />JRSM,<br />This is the first time I've read <i>all</i> the <i>Curiosities</i>--like you, I'd previously dipped into it, as that's definitely what it's made for. But it's held up surprisingly well to sustained reading; I'm neither bored with it nor tired of its author yet, 500 pages in.Levi Stahlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11094919454842047688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19106928.post-58884389770858962352010-02-18T01:04:23.170-06:002010-02-18T01:04:23.170-06:00I'm not sure D'Israeli's credulity was...I'm not sure D'Israeli's credulity was so unwarranted. The episode he describes sounds like a particularly exuberant version of the potlatch ceremonies practiced by tribes along the Northwest Pacific coasts of Canada and the U.S. These were contests of aggressive hospitality and gift-giving meant to settle questions of clan dominance. Wikipedia describes them as rather sedate affairs, but I remember reading much more vivid descriptions, akin to that of D'Israeli, in a cultural anthropology course forty years ago. (Note that the ceremonies were outlawed by the Canadian and American governments -hardly an understandable reaction to what the Wikipedia entry describes as similar to Christmas gift-giving.) The genetic, linguistic and geographic closeness of the Kamchatkans and the Northwest Coast tribes also lend support to my hunch that old Isaac was not so gullible.jeff mauvaisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19106928.post-84808980655197983192010-02-17T16:19:41.411-06:002010-02-17T16:19:41.411-06:00I've been really enjoying this D'Israeli e...I've been really enjoying this D'Israeli extracts. I know I have the book SOMEWHERE in a box, but who knows where? I need to tracjk it down to read it again (though I'm not sure I've even read the whole book once, given what a perfect dipping-into book it is.)JRSMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430775461763521797noreply@blogger.com