nachdem ich mich in letzter zeit aus aktuellem anlass durchaus intensiver mit gegenwärtiger deutscher prosa befasst habe (die mir teilweise wirklich gut, zum teil aber auch ganz und gar nicht gefallen hat), wende ich mich für die nähere zukunft erstmal wieder einem von mir heiss und innig geliebten englischen klassiker zu, der in meinen augen in seinem werk wie kein anderer menschlichkeit, ironie und gesellschaftskritik verbindet und dessen schilderung einer hochzeit mich allein schon wieder extremst begeistert und an manch ähnliche feier denken lässt:

.. so, twemlow goes home to duke street, st james's, to take a plate of mutton broth with a chop in it, and a look at the marriage service, in order that he may cut in at the right place tomorrow: and he is low, and feels it dull over the livery-stable yard, and is distinctly aware of a dint in his heart, made by the most adorable of the adorable bridesmaids. for, the poor little harmless gentleman once had his fancy, like the rest of us, and she didn't answer (as she often does not), and he thinks the adorable bridesmaid is like the fancy as she was then (which she is not at all), and that if the fancy had not married someone else for money, but had married him for love, he and she would have been happy (which they wouldn't have been), and that she has a tenderness for him still (whereas her toughness is a proverb). brooding over the fire, with his dried little head in his dried little hands, and his dried little elbows on his dried little knees, twemlow is melancholy ..

.. another dismal circumstance is, that veneering, having the captivating tippins on one side of him and the bride's aunt on the other, finds it immensely difficult to keep the peace. for, medusa, besides unmistakingly glaring petrifaction at the fascinating tippins, follows every lively remark made by that dear creature with an audible snort: which may be referable to a chronic cold in the head, but may also be referable to indignation and contempt. and this snort being regular in its reproduction, at length comes to be expected by the company, who make embarrassing pauses when it is falling due, and, by waiting for it, render it more emphatic when it comes ..

.. nor is there compensating influence in the adorable bridesmaids, for, having very little interest in the bride, and none at all in one another, those lovely beings become, each one on her own account, deprecatingly contemplative of the millinery present; while the bridegroom's man, exhausted in the back of his chair, appears to be improving the situation by penitentially contemplating all the wrong he has ever done; the difference between him and his friend eugene being, that the latter, in the back of his chair, appears to be contemplating all the wrong he would like to do - particularly to the present company ..