Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 20

[cahn]

Yuletide signups so far:
3 requests for Frederician RPF, 2 offers
2 requests for Circle of Voltaire RPF, 3 offers !! :D :D

(I am so curious as to who the third person is!)

Comments

Re: Fredersdorf: The Dirk Fahlenkamp Version (I) - Generalities

[selenak]

:D Where does he stand on shipping them?

Well, the entire book is about their relationship, unlike Richter, he doesn't think Fredersdorf himself is of no interest, though he agrees with him and other letter readers that these letters allow a pretty unique look into Fritz because they were so emphatically not written for publication or to be read by anyone other than the recipient.

The word "homoerotic relationship" is never spoken, though Fahlenkamp says that Fredersdorf's good looks were "probably" one of several reasons why he attracted Fritz' attention, and points out that Mrs. Fredersdorf is only mentioned once, in the "nurse" letter, and that then Fritz continued to write to Fredersdorf as if she didn't exist. I.e. he implies, but doesn't say directly.


There's a reason why, until last year, the only thing I remembered about the Fritz/Voltaire fallout from 20 years ago was a biographer's description of it as inevitable because "two prima donnas can't share the same stage."

Andrew Mitchell: I put it far more elegantly when talking about Fritz and Heinrich by saying "two suns cannot share the same firmament".

George Lucas: That's what YOU think.

Re: Fredersdorf: The Dirk Fahlenkamp Version (I) - Generalities

[cahn]

There's a reason why, until last year, the only thing I remembered about the Fritz/Voltaire fallout from 20 years ago was a biographer's description of it as inevitable because "two prima donnas can't share the same stage."

Andrew Mitchell: I put it far more elegantly when talking about Fritz and Heinrich by saying "two suns cannot share the same firmament".

LOL! IDK, Mitchell, you know I love you but I'm not sure elegant is what is the most accurate here...

George Lucas: That's what YOU think.

Hee!

Re: Fredersdorf: The Dirk Fahlenkamp Version (I) - Generalities

[mildred_of_midgard]

LOL! IDK, Mitchell, you know I love you but I'm not sure elegant is what is the most accurate here...

Haha, well, elegance aside, it's missing the point that the reason I invoked the (paraphrased from memory) quote that I did was because our ballet dancer shows why "prima donna" was a natural metaphor, whereas "suns in the same firmament", however well phrased, is irrelevant to the Baldassare quote.