04/05/2020
FvSpee
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FvSpee
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CoViD comments, sixteenth piece: McManzoni
In earlier episodes of the Corona Comments I had already taken the liberty of drawing attention to classical works of plague literature as possibly suitable curfew reading. I have actually started reading Camus' "Plague" in the meantime; I like it very much so far. Today it is about Alessandro Manzoni, who is not known by too many people in this country, which is a pity. Somehow, Italy is culturally and historically (unlike culinary and touristically) a little bit in the slipstream of German interest anyway; I mean, everybody knows Napoleon, who knows Garibaldi (except by name). Everybody knows Molière and Balzac (by name anyway, they're hardly ever read), but who are Tasso and Leopardi (phone joker: has nothing to do with containers for espresso or the pattern of Gucci bags)?
Manzoni is very good. I think he was just as likeable as Camus as a person; his generosity and philanthropy is always emphasized. His life was quite eventful, also spiritually; he went from being an atheistic liberal to a devout Catholic, but he never became a bigot, but actually always remained relaxed. Goethe was a real fan of his, and I find it particularly funny that he actually only wrote one real book: "I Promessi Sposi" ("The Bridal Couples" or, in most German translations, "The Betrothed" - that's why Frau von Spee and I were given the dtv edition for the engagement). He actually spent the rest of his life working on the one book and presented improved versions of it. And wrote smaller things, but almost no fiction anymore, but rather on linguistics and Italian history. Even funnier is that this was enough to make him the Italian national poet of the modern age, so to speak. But maybe also because he was so nice
The "bridal couple", who are damned fat and whom I must admit I have not read since my engagement, is also about the plague, among other things, and it is said that his description of Milan devastated by the plague is one of the greatest descriptions of plague in world literature. What I have read, however, is the narrow and therefore, in terms of volume (not content), more easily digestible "column of shame", which is a kind of "spin off" of the second, third or fourth (who knows...) version of the "bridal couple". The "Column of Shame" ("Storia della Colonna Infame") is written like a thriller, but in its core it is actually a non-fiction book, because the story told is true and at least in its core it is based on court records from the 17th century, which Manzoni had excavated: In Milan in 1630, the epidemic is going around, and in the general hysteria there is a firm conviction, among the people as well as among the authorities, that there are "greasers" (untori) who smear an obscure oily liquid (which of course does not exist) on the walls of the houses, thus transmitting the epidemic out of evil will. One day, when the Health Councillor Piazza walks through a narrow alley and, while walking, touches the wall, reading papers, an old woman looks out of the window and tells him that he is a "greaser". After a lengthy court case, which essentially consists of a long sequence of tortures of witnesses and accused, Piazza is found guilty, and with him, as an accomplice (namely because he is said to have supplied him with the non-existent "plague grease" with which Piazza smeared the wall), the hairdresser Mora. Both are executed and a column of shame is erected instead of the barbershop Mora. This is all told in a very touching and humane way, and very close and also extremely rich in facts (because of the preserved court transcripts).
So we are glad that nowadays hardly anyone really comes up with the idea of blaming anybody for epidemics, although there are a lot of minorities who would be great for it; and the neighbour from the second floor, he looks kind of greasy anyway
Okay, in Milan and in Italy in general there are actually many scents worth writing about, even more than this one, but I was keen to discuss a Scottish scent today. That's how it is now, life is not a wishful thinking. So, Scottish Fine Soaps is a Scottish company founded in 1974, which mainly produces soaps, creams, shampoos and stuff like that, and that in terms of price and image it's down-to-earth, without niche claim, luxury hype and wellness blah, but still qualitatively very decent and, what's important, with a very nice product design. In this respect these Scotsmen are also Italian, because the same applies to some good little Italian brands that I like very much. In Germany you often find the products of this company at TKMax. But this does not apply (at least not according to my observations) to the few inexpensive fragrances of the house. But since I wanted to try one, because I like the design so much and I have always loved Scotland, I ordered this one from Ludwig Beck. Sometimes, curiously, you can only get cheap fragrances at rather noble mail order addresses and niche goods at establishments with names like "Zentraldrogerie". Don't you have to understand now.
The fragrance is called "Thistle and Black Pepper", which I find beautiful and for which it gives 8 points. Since the fragrances here at Parfumo don't say anything about thistle, I thought it was just a reference to silver thistle, the national flower of Scotland; but according to the company's website, it's supposed to be a "rich, woody amber scent with notes of citrus, herbs and sea buckthorn, enriched with purifying milk thistle extract". Ok, so milk thistle, grows in the Mediterranean Sea, not a national flower, also good
Frau von Spee thinks the fragrance is "really good" (often she doesn't feel like making differentiated analyses), I find it surprisingly aquatic-fresh, a bit woody-synthetic and already quite sweet, so that it always bypasses unpleasant associations (Russian sparkling wine, for example) by a hair's breadth. But he scrapes by. Sweet, but borderline sweet just within the green range. Sounds like 4 points now, but it's not, not only because I also like shortbread and bagpipes. Despite everything, this is a beautifully rounded, balanced, simple but not cheap-looking men's fragrance, which would also work in Italy. Perhaps more for hairdressers than for health councillors, but why not for them too? You don't have to swim to Scotland for this one, but you can wear it well.
In terms of power it is unfortunately not a tree trunk pusher and boulder thrower. I put three fat spray blasts on the same spot and after an hour everything was gone, not only for me but also for Frau von Spee, who has a much finer nose. But if you do this as if there were no tomorrow, then it will last for six or seven hours. In that time you should actually be able to get through the "pillar of shame" easily.
Manzoni is very good. I think he was just as likeable as Camus as a person; his generosity and philanthropy is always emphasized. His life was quite eventful, also spiritually; he went from being an atheistic liberal to a devout Catholic, but he never became a bigot, but actually always remained relaxed. Goethe was a real fan of his, and I find it particularly funny that he actually only wrote one real book: "I Promessi Sposi" ("The Bridal Couples" or, in most German translations, "The Betrothed" - that's why Frau von Spee and I were given the dtv edition for the engagement). He actually spent the rest of his life working on the one book and presented improved versions of it. And wrote smaller things, but almost no fiction anymore, but rather on linguistics and Italian history. Even funnier is that this was enough to make him the Italian national poet of the modern age, so to speak. But maybe also because he was so nice
The "bridal couple", who are damned fat and whom I must admit I have not read since my engagement, is also about the plague, among other things, and it is said that his description of Milan devastated by the plague is one of the greatest descriptions of plague in world literature. What I have read, however, is the narrow and therefore, in terms of volume (not content), more easily digestible "column of shame", which is a kind of "spin off" of the second, third or fourth (who knows...) version of the "bridal couple". The "Column of Shame" ("Storia della Colonna Infame") is written like a thriller, but in its core it is actually a non-fiction book, because the story told is true and at least in its core it is based on court records from the 17th century, which Manzoni had excavated: In Milan in 1630, the epidemic is going around, and in the general hysteria there is a firm conviction, among the people as well as among the authorities, that there are "greasers" (untori) who smear an obscure oily liquid (which of course does not exist) on the walls of the houses, thus transmitting the epidemic out of evil will. One day, when the Health Councillor Piazza walks through a narrow alley and, while walking, touches the wall, reading papers, an old woman looks out of the window and tells him that he is a "greaser". After a lengthy court case, which essentially consists of a long sequence of tortures of witnesses and accused, Piazza is found guilty, and with him, as an accomplice (namely because he is said to have supplied him with the non-existent "plague grease" with which Piazza smeared the wall), the hairdresser Mora. Both are executed and a column of shame is erected instead of the barbershop Mora. This is all told in a very touching and humane way, and very close and also extremely rich in facts (because of the preserved court transcripts).
So we are glad that nowadays hardly anyone really comes up with the idea of blaming anybody for epidemics, although there are a lot of minorities who would be great for it; and the neighbour from the second floor, he looks kind of greasy anyway
Okay, in Milan and in Italy in general there are actually many scents worth writing about, even more than this one, but I was keen to discuss a Scottish scent today. That's how it is now, life is not a wishful thinking. So, Scottish Fine Soaps is a Scottish company founded in 1974, which mainly produces soaps, creams, shampoos and stuff like that, and that in terms of price and image it's down-to-earth, without niche claim, luxury hype and wellness blah, but still qualitatively very decent and, what's important, with a very nice product design. In this respect these Scotsmen are also Italian, because the same applies to some good little Italian brands that I like very much. In Germany you often find the products of this company at TKMax. But this does not apply (at least not according to my observations) to the few inexpensive fragrances of the house. But since I wanted to try one, because I like the design so much and I have always loved Scotland, I ordered this one from Ludwig Beck. Sometimes, curiously, you can only get cheap fragrances at rather noble mail order addresses and niche goods at establishments with names like "Zentraldrogerie". Don't you have to understand now.
The fragrance is called "Thistle and Black Pepper", which I find beautiful and for which it gives 8 points. Since the fragrances here at Parfumo don't say anything about thistle, I thought it was just a reference to silver thistle, the national flower of Scotland; but according to the company's website, it's supposed to be a "rich, woody amber scent with notes of citrus, herbs and sea buckthorn, enriched with purifying milk thistle extract". Ok, so milk thistle, grows in the Mediterranean Sea, not a national flower, also good
Frau von Spee thinks the fragrance is "really good" (often she doesn't feel like making differentiated analyses), I find it surprisingly aquatic-fresh, a bit woody-synthetic and already quite sweet, so that it always bypasses unpleasant associations (Russian sparkling wine, for example) by a hair's breadth. But he scrapes by. Sweet, but borderline sweet just within the green range. Sounds like 4 points now, but it's not, not only because I also like shortbread and bagpipes. Despite everything, this is a beautifully rounded, balanced, simple but not cheap-looking men's fragrance, which would also work in Italy. Perhaps more for hairdressers than for health councillors, but why not for them too? You don't have to swim to Scotland for this one, but you can wear it well.
In terms of power it is unfortunately not a tree trunk pusher and boulder thrower. I put three fat spray blasts on the same spot and after an hour everything was gone, not only for me but also for Frau von Spee, who has a much finer nose. But if you do this as if there were no tomorrow, then it will last for six or seven hours. In that time you should actually be able to get through the "pillar of shame" easily.
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