Friday 23 December 2016

Brooknerese

adduce, adventitious, appurtenances, armature, at all events, avatar, beneficient, by dint of, canonical, chevaleresque, claustration, complaisant, defile, désinvolture, divagation, inadvertance, ineluctably, infraction, lycanthropic, martinet, mise en abîme, moue, on one's dignity, otiose, oubliette, provisional, rebarbative, subfusc, suzerainty, temerity, unavailing
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous27 April 2020 at 17:03

    I'd also like to suggest "hieratic" for the Brookner vocabulary, a word which I've encountered only in AB's books! I'm delighted to find this blog, as I meet so few Brookner enthusiasts face to face. I'm using the current lockdown to re-read all her books, in chronological order - it's very interesting to see how she develops over the years.

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    1. The Brooknerian27 April 2020 at 17:47

      I agree! I can remember coming across that word. I think it means priestly, with a suggestion of hierarchies. I think James uses it too. I'm rereading The Golden Bowl during lockdown. Not sure if it's a good choice - it's a constant dance of distance and closeness. As for meeting other Brookner readers, it occurs to me I've also never met one. But they are out there.

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  2. The Brooknerian25 September 2021 at 04:56

    Alex comments:

    "May I put forward for inclusion "divine afflatus" from ch.5 of Latecomers? I had no idea of its meaning but, now that I know, it seems a particularly apposite phrase in the context of Christine's pregnancy. The next time I get an invitation to dinner I shall have to compliment the cook on his/her divine afflatus!"

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    1. The Brooknerian25 September 2021 at 04:57

      Subtly distinguished, one learns, from divine inspiration. One learns so much from Brookner.

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