Heroic Poets

[sharplittleteeth]

Don't tell the girlfriend, but  -- I've fallen in love with someone else.

He's bald, chubby, and pushing 70. But oh, what a magnificent mind.

Yes. I'm reading Clive James's Cultural Amnesia.

Listen. This is what he has to say on the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova:

"...she was an inspiring symbol, but when a poet becomes better known than her poems it usually means she is being sacrificed, for extraneous reasons, on the altar of her own glory. In Ahkmatova's case, the extraneous reasons were political. It should be the mark of reasonable politics that a woman like her is not called upon to be a heroine."

Think about that last sentence. What does "reasonable politics" mean? What are unreasonable politics, and why do they force poets to become heroes?

And that's just from the first essay. There are a hundred more in the book.

*happy sigh*

(There's an abridged version of the Anna Akmatova essay up on Slate.)

Comments

[viscera.livejournal.com]

I love him, too! The ex-pat hussy.

The first two parts of his autobiography made me want to write when I first read them. Re-readings make me keep going.

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

Oh yes.

Although I must say, what I've read of his actual fiction is a little disappointing. Not *bad*. Just neither as witty nor as deep as his other works might lead you to expect.

Still... He speaks Russian, Japanese. And Spanish. Slate has his essay on Borges up as well.

[viscera.livejournal.com]

I avoid the fiction for the most part. Brilliant Creatures was just dull, and nothing else i've managed has grabbed me.

When he's good he's sublime, when he's bad he's mediocre. :/

[reddragdiva]

I was amazed, after finding him to be a very good chat show host, to discover just how erudite he actually was.

[watteaux.livejournal.com]

Push off buddy .. we've had an understanding for years .. Clive and I

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

He's a big man. He can share his tango-dancing with both of us, I'm sure.

Although you may have the edge, here. Like many brilliant intellectuals, he does seem to have an eye for the pretty girls. Witness the number of times he had Kylie on his shows.

[watteaux.livejournal.com]

meh .. you're a real blond ..

[phroggiepuddles.livejournal.com]

always loved his travel shows years ago when i accidentally came upon them, being the un-illuminated type i am i didn't know he had writings of such quality... onto "the list" they go!