h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Henri Rousseau "Le Douanier" (1844-1910) - A2918874
Author: Pinniped - U183682


This is the penultimate completed Entry from the late (lamented) 'Done Too Soon' project.

Can you provide a translation of 'le douanier' (something to do with customs?) please?

Rousseau was nicknamed 'Le Douanier' by his contemporaries. He probably needed a nickname to distinguish him from the slightly earlier Theodore Rousseau, a painter much more appreciated by the establishment.
The term means 'Customs Officer' nowadays, but the meaning has changed.
In the nineteenth century, there was relatively little trade across national boundaries. The people who policed that activity were called excisemen (in English anyway).
Before he became a painter, Rousseau had a metropolitan version of the same job. He collected taxes imposed by the Paris authorities on goods brought to market in the city, so he was a local government official.
It was a disparaging nickname, really, because in those days it would have conjured the idea of an annoying and inconsequential person with jumped-up authority - a bit like the UK perception of traffic wardens today, for example.
Note that the Entry explains this former trade already.

Hi Pinniped,
Your second link (Boy on the Rocks) requires a paid subscription...
it is probably best to find an alternative site.
back to look some more.. Loving this, btw!
Wilma

This one might do:

http://www.artunframed.com/images/compressed7/hrouseau324.jpg

W

Wonderful! The only other point would have to be this: could you perhaps expand on the Independants... and perhaps italicise the word, or put it in quotes?

Wilma

Thanks Wilma

I've used that link. (It's always a problem, linking to offsite images. Sites disappear, or change)

I don't know anything about the Independants really, but I'll try and find something out and maybe add a footnote. It would make an interesting Entry in its own right, the French art establishment of the late 19thC. A Battle for the Soul of Art, no less.

Glad you like it anyway. It's an attempt to write a concise biography in a more interesting way.

Pin

Well, hey, Pin, I guess that'll just have to be your next entry, then!! I do think it needs to be explained somehow though.

Wilma

OK, footnote added.
(The EG certainly needs more Entries on art, but I'm not sure I'm the one to write them!)

Hi Pinniped,

I enjoyed this but did wonder whether effectively putting words into a deceased person's mouth can be classed as 'factual'. I'm talking about when he gives his opinions on specific things, not the piece in general.

In general terms, I don't know whether the form you've taken contravenes the request in the Writing Guidelines not to write in a 'novel' or 'dramatised' format.

As a Scout I feel duty-bound to have my little say but don't wish to start a new debate (feels like we just had one elsewhere about the same kind of topic!)and I honestly do like this.

Jules

Same kind of topic? Not really. Rousseau really lived. He was the man who did those things, held those opinions, even told those lies.
He didn't use these exact words, sure. He spoke French, for a start

I just treated it this way because the device appealed to me. Then when JtG started moving his 'Done too Soon' pieces into PR, I decided to try too. There are two worth sharing, IMO, and this one went first because it's the more conventional.

You can look at it different ways, I guess. Is anyone going to write a better Entry on Rousseau? If and when they do, that's the time to get rid of this one.

And btw, Breton's address is correct, including the 42.

I think this is a very creative treatment of the subject, however I'm not sure we should be looking toward the EG with this style...

There was a point when I got carried away in the reading and actually believed it to be a death-bed confession (good job, but troubling in a way). Of course I was distracted during my reading so perhaps the fault is all mine?

It's good writing, but is it in a style suitable for the EG? Perhaps a more official position on Monday would help?

Thanks Jimi

An official view would be good.

Pin

Well, I'm not official, but I agree with Jimi on this. It's certainly creative and innovative, but I can't see it going into the edited guide in its current form.

You might be right, Otto, but I'm loathe to change it. I think it would only come out worse. And I don't really see that it breaks the Guidelines.

Do you think we'll get a slanty judgement if we wait a little longer?

I'm going to blow my italic whistle and see what happens....

This is an excellent piece of writing. Presuming you have researched Rousseau's opinions thoroughly enough to confident of writing his words as he would have spoken them, it a superb entry. A vast improvement on the last one

I worry that you might have taken it a little too far in lines like 'I value your admiration, but I have learned in my long life to be on my guard against vanity. I will show you just two more, and beg that you be satisfied' and 'Please do not think me foolish and sentimental. I am sometimes a little overcome when I think of the happiness of my life' though. I appreciate the value of artistic licence, but this probably pushes it a bit - unless you know through his writing or contemporary biographies that this is how he felt?

The problem you face, Pin, is that everyone will be very wary of setting a precedent. This is well-written and (presumably) well-researched, but the time will come when we get a submission in this style that isn't. As it is, the guidelines are very clear as to what is and isn't acceptable - asking Scouts to make a tough call as to where to draw the line with much vaguer criteria would be unfair to us.

I enjoyed reading this entry.

Could I suggest including the word 'Painter' somewhere in the title, as I had no idea who he was until I read the Entry. (Somebody suggested I did the same with my 'Samuel Franklin Cody' Entry > British Aviation Pioneer).