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The Trip · 2011 — Chapter 8 of 20 · 5'01" · B2

Steve and Rob at Greta Hall, Explained: method in my madness

On the surface they bicker about a loud impression, a self-catered night, and a view. Underneath, a passage on Coleridge turns into a verdict on the man listening. "In case you wanted to draw a parallel there" is the flinch: one friend hears the unpaid household and rushes to separate himself from it.

What happens

At Greta Hall, two friends self-cater in a house Coleridge soon left. Robert Southey remained with the wives and children. They joke about inhabiting a role, a night that never happened in the poet's bed, and a view too good to paint. Over scallops and pigeon, one reads a verdict: the work was done twenty years ago, and the man lives on the sound of his own voice.

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method in my madnessright up there withdraw a parallellive on the sound of his own voice

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Phrase of the scene

method in my madness

a sensible plan behind odd behaviour

罗布在旅店里自嘲式地引用这句话，解释自己那些古怪举动其实另有道理，史蒂夫在旁冷眼看着。

There's method in my madness: I annoyed him on purpose to see how he would react.

Also in this scene

  • right up there with

    on the same level as the best

  • draw a parallel

    to point out a similarity between two things

  • live on the sound of his own voice

    to thrive on hearing yourself talk

  • a bit rubbish

    rather poor or disappointing

Everything marked in this scene

33 notes across 105 lines

Phrase · B2by defaultI know. I know. He is, and by default, you are.
Grammar · B2and by default, you are

ellipsis in a coordinated clause

I know. I know. He is, and by default, you are.
Phrase · C1inhabit the roleWell, yeah, because I inhabit the role, sir.
Slang · C1a turnI'm not a turn, am I? I inhabit the role.
Phrase · B2method actorYeah, no, you're a real method actor.
Phrase · B2be right up there with someone

on the same level as the best

You're right up there with Pacino and...
Soundup there

liaison

You're right up there with Pacino and...
Phrase · B1be careful what one saysOh, Christ, I better be careful what I say.
Phrase · C1there's method in someone's madness

a sensible plan behind odd behaviour

Hello, hello, there's method in my madness.
Phrase · B2make lovewe thought we could make love in the bed that Coleridge slept in
Phrase · B1just the two of usStill be romantic, just the two of us.
Phrase · B2be off on one's travels'Cause Coleridge was off on his travels.
Phrase · B1cope with somethingCouldn't cope with the domesticity of life.
Grammar · B2had sent any money back

past perfect

We don't think... well, there isn't very much evidence that he actually had sent any money back, which is a bit tricky.
Phrase · C1draw a parallel between A and B

to point out a similarity between two things

In case you wanted to draw a parallel there.
Phrase · B2become addicted to somethingwell, he did become addicted to it.
Grammar · B2did become addicted

emphatic auxiliary

well, he did become addicted to it.
Phrase · B2be a bit rubbish

rather poor or disappointing

Well, you could, but it'd be a bit rubbish.
Soundbit rubbish

flap

Well, you could, but it'd be a bit rubbish.
Slang · B2rubbishWell, you could, but it'd be a bit rubbish.
Slang · B2quidProbably sell it for about 25 quid in one of the tourist shops around here.
Slang · C1FuckFuck.
Phrase · A2go first- Shall I go first? - Yep.
Grammar · B1Could I have

Could I for polite requests

Could I have the scallops to start, please?
Phrase · B1A followed by BI will have the rabbit, please, followed by the lamb.
Soundfollowed by

liaison

I will have the rabbit, please, followed by the lamb.
Phrase · B1have mystery about somethingIt's good to have mystery about these things.
Phrase · C1live on the sound of one's own voice

to thrive on hearing yourself talk

"Since then, he maybe is said "to live on the sound of his own voice.
Phrase · C1be wedded to something"And wedded to no one in particular."
Phrase · B1carry onOkay, it's about me. I didn't realize, but carry on.
Phrase · B1let something goCareful, you were going to Jimmy Saville then, but I'll let it go.
Phrase · B1do impressionsRight. I don't do impressions.
Phrase · C1a supernova momentsupernova moments.

Steve and Rob at Greta Hall, explained

What's really going on

The house tour keeps tilting toward the two men eating in it. A plan to make love in Coleridge's bed has already shrunk to chummy, and the story of a poet who fled domestic life sits beside a quick claim about maintenance payments. "In case you wanted to draw a parallel there" pretends to shut the comparison and leaves it open. Hazlitt's sentences finish the job. The important work was done twenty years ago. The man lives on the sound of his own voice, "wedded to no one in particular," and he pursues knowledge as a mistress. The listener does not correct the record. "Okay, it's about me" accepts the coat. Bob Balaban's "Never be hot. Always be warm" offers a way to live after the blaze, at a table where early brilliance is the thing neither friend wants measured too closely.

Theme

AmbitionHazlitt's faded genius and Balaban's "Never be hot. Always be warm" turn a poet's decline into a rule for surviving early success.
FriendshipOne friend reads a hard portrait of Coleridge and the other tries the description on before it can be pinned to him.

What you'll learn

  • Inhabit the role as living the part
  • Premier Cru as a wine rank
  • Method in madness as ordered chaos

Listen for

  • up there — liaison
  • bit rubbish — flap
  • followed by — liaison
Hello, hello, there's method in my madness.

Spoken after the method-actor jokes, this insists the loud voices are deliberate craft. It also brushes off the complaint: what sounds like nonsense is supposed to have a plan.

In case you wanted to draw a parallel there.

Coleridge has just been described as a man who sent no money home. The line warns a friend not to line that absence up with the speaker's own maintenance payments.

"And wedded to no one in particular."

Read aloud at the table, it says Coleridge belonged to no single art and to nobody in particular. The listener takes the portrait as his own a moment later.

Bob Balaban said, " Never be hot. Always be warm."

Offered between a warning about early glory and the phrase supernova moments: do not chase the hottest peak, stay warm. Here it is a way to live with work that peaked years ago.

Questions about this scene

Why does he mention maintenance right after Coleridge?

The talk has just established that Coleridge probably sent no money home while Southey kept the household. "I'm very consistent with my maintenance, Rob" jumps in before anyone can match that absence to the speaker. The next line admits the parallel was the whole point.

Is Hazlitt's portrait really about the man at the table?

Hazlitt was writing about Coleridge, and the friend only reads it aloud. The listener is the one who closes the gap: "Okay, it's about me. I didn't realize, but carry on." Nothing in the passage names him. He recognizes a man who peaked early and now lives on his own voice.

Why quote Bob Balaban's "Never be hot. Always be warm"?

It arrives while they are saying a big success is hard to hold. The supernova image comes a moment later, and Balaban's advice sits between them: do not chase the peak, stay warm. It answers Hazlitt's portrait of a man who could not keep his early pace, not the wine.

What happened to the night in Coleridge's bed?

One of them had meant to bring Mischa and make love in the bed Coleridge slept in, hoping for a poetic frisson. Mischa is not there. What remains is "Still be romantic, just the two of us," which drops at once into "chummy" and "bumless chums."

Are they fighting about the impressions?

The noise opens the scene: too early, too loud, unpleasant. He claims he inhabits the role, gets parked "right up there with Pacino," and only then offers "there's method in my madness." It is needling, not a split.

The Trip · 20 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 9contend withSteve and Rob Rank Their Careers
Chapter 1have someone down asSteve and Rob Set OffChapter 2part of its charmSteve and Rob Share a RoomChapter 3take a long, hard look in the mirrorThe Michael Caine Impression DuelChapter 4in a troughSteve Calls From the TroughChapter 5put someone on the back footCalls on the Road to CartmelChapter 6the king of understatementBond Impressions Over DinnerChapter 7living the dreamTelling Steve He's Living the DreamWatching · Chapter 8method in my madnessSteve and Rob at Greta HallChapter 9contend withSteve and Rob Rank Their CareersChapter 10not unlikeTurned Away at Dove CottageChapter 11at first lightSteve and Rob's Costume DramaChapter 12not a lot of people knowThe Michael Caine ImpressionsChapter 13Cut to the chaseSteve Takes His Agent's CallChapter 14don't come running to meShushed on the B RoadsChapter 15a wee bitA Phone Call by the LakeChapter 16an albatross around my neckCoogan and Brydon Compare CareersChapter 17as empty experiences goDad Phones Joe About DrinkingChapter 18stick the knife inMock Eulogy at the GraveChapter 19if push came to shoveHiring Divers for the GestureChapter 20as broad as it's longSteve Leaves His Parents
Chapter 8 of 20 · about 62 min to go