This joke falls completely flat because it makes no sense. Danae goes outside all the time, for hours or even days at a stretch, wandering around with her horse and getting into trouble. Suddenly we’re supposed to think of her as never going outside, even four fifteen minutes? Dead joke in the middle of the highway….
Mark Twain, writing “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses” (which is even more caustic and sarcastic than the title suggests), describes “rules governing literary art” which include:
6. They require that when the author describes the character of a personage in the tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description. ….
7. They require that when a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven- dollar Friendship’s Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a minstrel in the end of it. But this rule is flung down and danced upon in the “Deerslayer” tale.
So after the “Magical Woods of Niceness”, and the attempts at a one-horse sleigh, and all of the other times that Danae has enjoyed the outdoors, I would have expected Danae to go all “Calvin & Hobbes” on the spider rather than hide.
I would’ve expected Danae to tell the spider: “I categorically deny your existence!” And then the spider disappears……..@DUTCHUNCLE I first read Twain’s blast at James Fenimore Cooper mumble mumble decades ago, and therefore have never read any of his literary offenses. I hope I haven’t missed anything!
Danae reminds me in almost every way of my daughter. She is a little (5’ 2", 100 lb) tomboy who is one of the toughest females I know. She routinely faces down men who are 2.5 times her weight or more than a foot taller, and yet she is deathly afraid of spiders. All spiders, regardless of size or type. And yes, she will swear that she is “… never going outside again …” and be back outdoors ten minutes later, after the adrenaline shock has worn off.
Bilan over 6 years ago
What happened to the Magical Woods of Niceness?
rugeirn over 6 years ago
This joke falls completely flat because it makes no sense. Danae goes outside all the time, for hours or even days at a stretch, wandering around with her horse and getting into trouble. Suddenly we’re supposed to think of her as never going outside, even four fifteen minutes? Dead joke in the middle of the highway….
Display over 6 years ago
Kate’s an in-abler.
TejanoViejo] over 6 years ago
Kate’s a little “Hustler” !!!
DutchUncle over 6 years ago
Mark Twain, writing “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses” (which is even more caustic and sarcastic than the title suggests), describes “rules governing literary art” which include:
6. They require that when the author describes the character of a personage in the tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description. ….7. They require that when a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven- dollar Friendship’s Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a minstrel in the end of it. But this rule is flung down and danced upon in the “Deerslayer” tale.
So after the “Magical Woods of Niceness”, and the attempts at a one-horse sleigh, and all of the other times that Danae has enjoyed the outdoors, I would have expected Danae to go all “Calvin & Hobbes” on the spider rather than hide.
Godfreydaniel over 6 years ago
I would’ve expected Danae to tell the spider: “I categorically deny your existence!” And then the spider disappears……..@DUTCHUNCLE I first read Twain’s blast at James Fenimore Cooper mumble mumble decades ago, and therefore have never read any of his literary offenses. I hope I haven’t missed anything!
SrTechWriter over 6 years ago
Danae reminds me in almost every way of my daughter. She is a little (5’ 2", 100 lb) tomboy who is one of the toughest females I know. She routinely faces down men who are 2.5 times her weight or more than a foot taller, and yet she is deathly afraid of spiders. All spiders, regardless of size or type. And yes, she will swear that she is “… never going outside again …” and be back outdoors ten minutes later, after the adrenaline shock has worn off.
keenanthelibrarian over 6 years ago
Danae’s just looking for an excuse to get back onto her bed and back online.