Oh how the would-be mighty have invisibly fallen - a couple of days and no new posts, and after such an initial burst of activity! Excuses? Well, the introduction to Arthur Golding's translation of Ovid's Metamophoses isn't going to read itself, is it? Still, there's raw copy waiting for discreet editing before it reaches you, rest assured. The world needs my thoughts on Generation Kill and John Cheever's short story "Goodbye, My Brother", and have them it will! Soon. For now, however, I need* to watch a shitload of Jacques Rivette films, polish off some short stories and work up some "hilarious"** rants about things that annoy me***. Back soon.
Love****,
David.
P.S. Susan has her thoughts too, but last I heard she was vanishing from the face of the earth for the next five weeks. She wishes you well.
* "Want" might be a better or more exact word, but when you truly lust for art and quake at the thought of finally, after years of waiting, tackling a master's oeuvre, the nature of the desire needs to be explained passionately. I need to see his films. It will save me / redeem me / inspire me, etc. And you too, obviously, should you sit down with him, in your own good time.
** I hope so, at least.
*** Short list: Stuff White People Like, online cinephilia, political correctness in book reviewing, football players who "shush" the crowd when they kick a goal, etc.
**** Yep, for real.
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ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteI eagerly await your comments on the Cheever story. I read Goodbye, My Brother along with a bunch of his other stories a year or two ago. While the details of that particular story have slipped from my memory - a seaside holiday for a close but dysfunctional family perhaps? - the overall melancholy of the stories in general remain. He could really evoke the sad anger of a self destructing family. And occasionally throw in a shocking tragedy to destroy a family's fragile truces - The Hartleys haunts me still.
Regarding thematic concerns, would Cheever be to the short form what Yates was to the long?
Regards,
John.
PS: I have a acquired a copy of Generation Kill but am yet to watch it. I look forward to doing so, all the more for your comments.
Cheever is the short to Yates' long, though perhaps with the outright cruelty removed -"Goodbye" has a wistfulness and, finally, a joy that I don't find in Yates (limited reading of him conceded). I've been reading the Collected Cheever shorts on buses and trains lately, and while there's some great ones, "Goodbye" really killed me - I need to re-read it and get back to you...kind of you to be so supportive of that future effort by the way...
ReplyDeleteAnd I'll have to check out The Hartleys - a story I've missed? Of his novels, I've only read Bullet Park.
Also - I've added Defending The Centre to the blogroll...get going again!!