'His men gather him up.
He must play his part in the pranks and pleasures to come.
The day, the night will be long.
He who takes flight without thought
Has to haul out of himself each word, each gesture
As love spreads through him like lime through feathers
And settles its weight.'
---Lavinia Greenlaw.
The green law, inescapable. The law of what is lost, of what arrives too late to take root. What is fixed will break. What is in the books will be forgotten, more or less.
By what ancient ruling is green the colour of envy? In the law of distribution who is to say who gets what? There is something obscure and maybe obscene-in the "why" of it as well.
He must play his part in the pranks and pleasures to come.
The day, the night will be long.
He who takes flight without thought
Has to haul out of himself each word, each gesture
As love spreads through him like lime through feathers
And settles its weight.'
---Lavinia Greenlaw.
The green law, inescapable. The law of what is lost, of what arrives too late to take root. What is fixed will break. What is in the books will be forgotten, more or less.
By what ancient ruling is green the colour of envy? In the law of distribution who is to say who gets what? There is something obscure and maybe obscene-in the "why" of it as well.
2 comments:
Hello,
I have read Cheever's Journals. I only remember the beginning now, the first line. I found it moody. I think your style resembles his. I have not read Falconer.
I wanted to read some American fiction a few years ago. I went the way of Gaddis. I don't remember anything he wrote either. Only Agape, agape made a brief impression. It is a novel inspired by Bernhard.
On the whole, American fiction has not come to terms with its own style, its way. There is not yet a reckoning, a face to face of what an an American novel must mean, there are no true American writers apart from the anglo-saxon niche. That is against the idea of what America means. but only this, an idea.
your blog is a reflective one.I liked reading chunks of it.
there are many literary blogs around. I cannot see the point of writing a book review. it turns into a mundane exercise.
There are also enthusiasm blogs for writers - for Handke, for Josipovici etc. This too has its merits, it introduces people to new writers but the industry of publishing houses churns these reviewers into robotic book readers who see things in the frames already defined - post-colonialism,post-apartheid, post-jihad, post-capitalism etc etc. Again very tiresome.
Your ' please prove you aren't a robot' before one comments is tiresome. I cannot make out the letters, the letters merge. Blogspot has its own crazy inventions. A robot that decides to read....is a threat to blogspot, a threat to canonical wisdom about robots and aliens. Aliens always seen as ugly but crafty!
I wonder why Tarkovsky never went to America to make a movie there.
Till again.
Hello, Hashmat.
Hello,
I have read Cheever's Journals. I only remember the beginning now, the first line. I found it moody. I think your style resembles his. I have not read Falconer.
Oh, okay. I thought there was a lot of beautiful writing in the journals.
I wanted to read some American fiction a few years ago. I went the way of Gaddis. I don't remember anything he wrote either. Only Agape, agape made a brief impression. It is a novel inspired by Bernhard.
Bellow, Roth, M. Robinson ?
On the whole, American fiction has not come to terms with its own style, its way. There is not yet a reckoning, a face to face of what an an American novel must mean,
I'm not sure how useful an 'on the whole' perspective is. To talk about 'the American novel' or 'american fiction' seems fraught with difficulties. And why "must" an American novel mean something in particular? I'm intrigued.
there are no true American writers apart from the anglo-saxon niche.
Again, this seems far too general. What is meant by "true"? Is Salter "true"?
That is against the idea of what America means. but only this, an idea.
What America means? Now I'm very confused, Hashmat.
your blog is a reflective one.I liked reading chunks of it.
Thank you.
there are many literary blogs around. I cannot see the point of writing a book review. it turns into a mundane exercise.
There are also enthusiasm blogs for writers - for Handke, for Josipovici etc. This too has its merits, it introduces people to new writers but the industry of publishing houses churns these reviewers into robotic book readers who see things in the frames already defined - post-colonialism,post-apartheid, post-jihad, post-capitalism etc etc. Again very tiresome.
Yes, I think you're spot on here. Think the best thing to do is avoid them if one feels so strongly about them.
Your ' please prove you aren't a robot' before one comments is tiresome.
sorry about that. I think that somehow became the default setting. And in any case, irritating though it is it does serve the purpose of keeping the robots off this blog!
I cannot make out the letters, the letters merge. Blogspot has its own crazy inventions. A robot that decides to read....is a threat to blogspot, a threat to canonical wisdom about robots and aliens.
Oh, I dunno, never was really fond of robots myself..think blogspot has got it right here.
Aliens always seen as ugly but crafty!
don't know about ugly but they are always crafty!
I wonder why Tarkovsky never went to America to make a movie there.
Were Russians allowed to go the States in those days?
best,
K.
Till again.
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