COMPLETE solo [ENGLISH] The Autobiography of Lord Alfred Douglas - vik

[RobMarland]

It's sad how convinced he was that if he could have testified at Wilde's trials he could have convinced the jury to acquit. Not likely.

For PL:
23 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
24 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
25 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
26 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

[Newgatenovelist]

Chapters 23-25 are PL OK. One note for 26:

1.56-2.05, bottom p 161, repetition
I prefer not to say much more about these last years of his life. I prefer not to say much more about these last years of his life. I have already related...

I guess it's of a piece with everything else he's saying. I don't know how much he moves away from Wilde in the later chapters, but at the moment it's just listening to a tragedy prolonged.

[RobMarland]

Thanks, Erin.

26 for spot PL
https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

And for PL
27 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
28 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
29 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

Tragedy indeed. This is where we get on to his gambling addiction (obviously he doesn't call it that) and his quest for an American bride.

[Newgatenovelist]

26 is spot PL OK. 27 and 29 are PL OK. One note for 28:

13.37-13.44, first para p 182, repetition
As it was, he told me when I arrived he told me when I arrived that he had been through Oscar’s papers and found…


I'd forgotten that Florence Dixie was his aunt. I will admit that until now I've been struggling to get my head around how he could have gone through some of the colossal sums he mentions so offhandedly, though that makes much more sense in the light of his gambling.

[RobMarland]

26 is spot PL OK. 27 and 29 are PL OK. One note for 28:

13.37-13.44, first para p 182, repetition
As it was, he told me when I arrived he told me when I arrived that he had been through Oscar’s papers and found…

Ready for spot PL https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

And for PL:
30 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
31 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
32 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

My favourite part of this batch is the bit in ch 30 where he appears to out an old schoolfriend, without, of course, being explicit about it, because he would have been sure to be arrested for libel. Oh, Bosie...

[RobMarland]

For PL
33 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
34 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

[Newgatenovelist]

Whoops, I've got a bit behind! 28 is spot PL OK. 31 is PL OK.

Chapter 30

9.12-9.22, top third p 197, repetition
...she must know that I adored her, that I had never cared two pins about any other girl, that I had never cared two pins about any other girl...

9.58-10.08, end first para p 197, repetition
I told her that it was the only possible way we could be married, I told her that it was the only possible way we could be married, as if her people got wind of it...


Chapter 32

3.04-3.10, p 211 start second full para
After the Wilde affair I subconsciously [heard consciously] came to the conclusion that marriage with any English...


You’re right, sailing so close to the wind with that particular allegation seems to exemplify all the rest of his behaviour up to this point, though his suddenly wanting Olive Custance only when he thought somebody else was going to marry her seemed very much of a piece with how he viewed some of his other nearest and dearest.

[Newgatenovelist]

Chapters 33 and 34 are PL OK. I really don't know what he's going to say when he gets to Churchill.

[RobMarland]

Thanks, Erin

For spot PL:

One possible note for chapter 4, depending on your preferences:

0.48-0.51, p 21 third line indented quotation
And where the Devil’s grace, [head glance] to counterfeit,
I don’t know if you want word-perfect for poetry.

4 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

Chapter 30

9.12-9.22, top third p 197, repetition
...she must know that I adored her, that I had never cared two pins about any other girl, that I had never cared two pins about any other girl...

9.58-10.08, end first para p 197, repetition
I told her that it was the only possible way we could be married, I told her that it was the only possible way we could be married, as if her people got wind of it...

30 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

Chapter 32

3.04-3.10, p 211 start second full para
After the Wilde affair I subconsciously [heard consciously] came to the conclusion that marriage with any English...

32 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3


And for PL:
35 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
36 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
37 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

We haven't got to the Churchill libel yet, but I too am nervous. I've read the poem sequence he wrote in prison and it's really terrible. We'll see...

[Newgatenovelist]

Chapters 4, 30 and 32 are spot PL OK. Chapters 35-37 are PL OK.

I'll defer to your knowledge of his prison poems. I've been underwhelmed by the samples presented so far. I know it's easy to be critical and hard to write, but life is too short to keep reading in the hope of finding the gems he promises.

[RobMarland]

Here are more for PL:

38 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
39 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
40 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
41 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

I am no expert on the quality of poetry, but the prison sonnet sequence can be written off because it is so self-pitying and anti-Semitic. And the poems where he attacks his enemies are just embarrassing. His earlier poems, which by this point he had disowned because they were "Uranian", are better.

[Newgatenovelist]

38, 40 and 41 are PL OK.

One note for 39:

1.58-2.10, pp 259-260, false start
Less than four months after our separation Olive rang me up- Less than four months after our separation Olive rang me up one day on the telephone.


I would have guessed that his earlier works when he was surrounded by such an artistic set might have been better. Vendettas wouldn't necessarily inspire great art, and if the prison poems are as self-pitying as this memoir I'm not surprised they've been forgotten. I have a bit of a soft spot for bad poetry, but I think I'll give most of this a miss.

Being abducted, twice, must have been horrendous for his son. Even with Douglas's lack of self-awareness I'm a bit surprised at how badly he treated his wife and son.

[RobMarland]

Thanks, Erin,

Yes, his son had a rough time of it. I think he ended up confined to a mental hospital.

Here is 39 for spot PL https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

And the remaining chapters for PL
42 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
43 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
44 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
45 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
46 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
App https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

[Newgatenovelist]

39 is spot PL OK and 42, 43 and 44 are PL OK. One note each for the last three sections:

45

2.57-3.07, top half p 306, false start + self-correction
The trial [snap] The trial came on just before Plain English expired [snap] The trial came on just before Plain Speech expired.


46

2.41-2.49, top half p 311, false starts
...nothing more after that [snap] nothing more after that till the next day’s b- [snap] nothing more after that till the next day’s “breakfast.”


47

6.34-6.37, bottom third p 321, repetition
...living at Chantilly, and not at Paris, during this period, during this period, and that as a consequence...

[RobMarland]

Thanks, Erin.

I didn't spot those markers when editing. Evidently I need to snap my fingers louder!

For spot PL:
45 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
46 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3
47 https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ouglas.mp3

And here is the artwork (image taken from the book):
https://upload.legamus.eu/simple/files/ ... ocover.jpg

[Newgatenovelist]

Sections 45, 46 and 47 are spot PL OK. This is ready to be catalogued. Congratulations!

I confess not to knowing how many friends Douglas retained by the end of his life, but it seems like he stayed busy burning bridges. What a wild ride this has been. Do you have any later texts by him for Legamus, or was this it?

[RobMarland]

Thanks a lot, Erin. A wild(e) ride indeed!

He wrote two later books, one of which I have. It’s a lot shorter and seemingly more focussed on Wilde (I’ve not read it yet). I will probably record it at some point, after we’ve both had a bit of a break from him.

[Newgatenovelist]

No problem at all. I was asking in case you did have something up your sleeve you intended to launch shortly. I tend to respond to notifications rather than browsing the forum and can easily be late to the party, as I was with this project.

Good luck with whatever you've got on and any Wildean books in your to-read queue, though I'm assuming there aren't many!

[Viktor]

Thanks for the nudge, Rob. Congratulations to the finished project!

And a cover picture is also there. Please have a look if all is good:
https://listen.legamus.eu/douglas_autobioalfreddouglas/
https://legamus.eu/blog/?p=1101 (password: legamus)

[Newgatenovelist]

Rob - just querying very quickly that the first sentence hasn't perhaps omitted a word:
...after the death of his [?] Oscar Wilde.

It makes sense as it is, so do ignore if that's not helpful!