far-seeming

[constantinusphilo]

And when I walked into the far-seeming gallery where she’d been, where she’d gone, the gallery with The Anatomy Lesson—eyes closed tight, wishing hard—there were only the same stretchers and equipment and there, as I walked through, in the oddly screaming silence, the only two
observers were the same two puzzled Dutchmen who had stared at my mother and me from the wall: what are you doing here?

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

This looks like a weird Ciceronian period in English. What does 'far-seeming' mean?

 

[probus]

And when I walked into the far-seeming gallery where she’d been, where she’d gone, the gallery with The Anatomy Lesson—eyes closed tight, wishing hard—there were only the same stretchers and equipment and there, as I walked through, in the oddly screaming silence, the only two
observers were the same two puzzled Dutchmen who had stared at my mother and me from the wall: what are you doing here?

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

This looks like a weird Ciceronian period in English. What does 'far-seeming' mean?

I would interpret far-seeming simply and literally: the gallery seemed distant to the author. As for Ciceronian, I have some acquaintance with the classics, but no idea what that means.

 

[constantinusphilo]

The Ciceronian period is a complex sentence in which one or more subordinate clauses are inserted into the main clause so that the sentence begins and ends with the main clause. In other words, it is like a pie: the crust being the main clause, and the subordinate clauses the filling.

 

[tzfujimino]

I'd like to try to make a simplified version of the passage:

[...] when I walked into the far-seeming gallery [...]
there were only the same stretchers and equipment
and
there, as I walked through, [...] the only two
observers were the same two puzzled Dutchmen [...]

This is how I read it. (I hope I read it correctly.)
I'm not familiar with the term "the Ciceronian period", either.
Could you illustrate which part of the passage uses "the Ciceronian period"?

 

[5jj]

Periodic sentence - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Tdol]

I think she's trying to be evocative and a bit poetic- cut her some slack and just go with the flow. He's lost his mother and is drawn to the painting- paintings and his grief are a bit blurred. In it, they went to see Dutch masterpieces and a bomb killed his mother. Paintings might affect him. If you systematically try to erase the colour from the writing, you might make it monochrome. Some people loved the book and some found it long-winded and unreadable.

 

[constantinusphilo]

I think that by 'far-seeming gallery' she intends what in Greek would be 'πολὺ ἀποστησαμένη δίοδος'. Here, the Greek aorist medial participle ἀποστησαμένη indicates an action prior to the action of the main verb, which is logical and correct. In the English version, however, it is completely illogical: one cannot enter a gallery that seems to be far away; one can enter a gallery that has seemed to be far away, that which the Greek aorist participle expresses. Since, unlike Greek or Russian, English lacks this kind of participles, confusion arises for the writers who think in the languages in which these participles exist.

 

[5jj]

Since, unlike Greek or Russian, English lacks this kind of participles, confusion arises for the writers who think in the languages in which these participles exist.

Have you read somewhere that Donna Tartt thought in Greek?

 

[jutfrank]

I think that by 'far-seeming gallery' she intends what in Greek would be 'πολὺ ἀποστησαμένη δίοδος'. Here, the Greek aorist medial participle ἀποστησαμένη indicates an action prior to the action of the main verb, which is logical and correct.

I have no idea what this means. In this context, far-seeming is best understood as an adjective. You don't need aspect to understand this. The gallery seems as if it's far.

In the English version, however, it is completely illogical: one cannot enter a gallery that seems to be far away;

Why not? In fact, this is exactly what the sentence means. The gallery seems to be far away. The writer is evoking a sense of distance. It's just an impression.

one can enter a gallery that has seemed to be far away

I don't understand what you mean there. The idea is that it seems far away as she enters it, not before.

Since, unlike Greek or Russian, English lacks this kind of participles, confusion arises for the writers who think in the languages in which these participles exist.

I can't see what you're confused about. Think of far-seeming as a descriptive adjective.

 

[Tdol]

One can enter a gallery that seems far away in English- Donna's character did it - you are trying to impose your grammar on a different grammar. We appear to manage to get along fine without aorist medials.