Again, I'm not sure if I'm meant to be laughing.
David
> > Chekhov hasn't appeared yet and I'm getting the feeling that all the
>> stuff about 'rev' (revolution)
>
>And here was me thinking Chekhov appeared over a century ago. Gawd, ain't it
>good to be edumacated. As for revolutions, Mr Middle Class, I don't think
>there's anything to laugh about them, the 'whacky Tsars', I'd love to have
>seen you say that statement in public in say St Petersburg circa 1900, then
>you might have found out how funny they were.
>
>Best
>
>Dave
>
>
>David Bircumshaw
>
>Leicester, England
>
>Home Page
>
>A Chide's Alphabet
>
>Painting Without Numbers
>
>www.paintstuff.20m.com/index.htm
>
>http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "David McCooey" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2001 11:23 PM
>Subject: Re: biographical poetry
>
>
>> Tom,
>>
>> thanks for sharing your thoughts on Sanders' Chekhov. As it happens,
>> I've just started reading it myself. I'm still getting used to the
>> whacky tone (of the Tzars - 'some were sane, some were bonkers',
>> that's a misquotation). I'm not sure if I'm meant to be laughing.
>> Chekhov hasn't appeared yet and I'm getting the feeling that all the
>> stuff about 'rev' (revolution) is something like nostalgia on
>> Sanders' part. I must admit, I can't take anyone altogether seriously
>> who claims to be a 'bard'. But maybe that says more about my own
>> middle-class, academic niceties (and I've never owned a Fugs album).
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> David
>>
>>
>> >the recent discussion on biographical poetry inspired the following
>review
>> >
>> >Chekhov
>> >
>> >Edward Sanders, Black Sparrow, 1995, $13.50
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >Despite recent calls for a more active and participating role for
>> >readers, there have been no specific clues to guide us in this
>> >adventure. In reading a not-latest work by Edward Sanders, his
>> >Chekhov, I see one way this might work. He engages me in a
>> >conversation in poetry.
>> >
>> >Antin talks and Sanders engages in a conversation but "engages is an
>> >off-putting description for Sanders' person next-door manner.
>> >Revolution in 18th Century Europe and Russia is casually tossed on
>> >the table before us as we sit at ease. As a conversation piece this
>> >invites contemplation of revolutionary (here SDS) thinking in 20th
>> >Century America. Marx, serfdom and czars in 19th Century Russia,
>> >Belinsky, and even Turgenev are thrown in the mix. And we are off to
>> >the races on the way with Chekhov the doctor out of poverty to
>> >Chekhov the writer.
>> >
>> >As in any good conversation we are allowed to see the other's view
>> >and even to sit in their place. What attracts me in this work as in
>> >others is the chance to be where Sanders is and to want to write
>> >from where he wrote this. I am allowed to act as he enacts. We are
>> >enjoined, "Idti v narod (to the people)!" and then we learn how that
>> >doesn't solve their problems or ours.
>> >
>> >There is a spirit of meditation or contemplation in Chekhov but it
>> >is a spirit that is not just passive observation. We are invited
>> >here not just to witness the sweep of revolution across Europe and
>> >the steppes of Asia, not just to learn about the development of one
>> >of our great writers (and doctors?), but to be with Chekhov as he
>> >grows into the master, or at least to be with Sanders as he watches
>> >the master develop from someone drawn to
>> >
>> >"The thrill of Grease Paint"
>> >
>> >as a way out of enthrallment to a harsh father in a harsh town on
>> >the vast emptiness that was Russia, the thrill of the sound of a
>> >Drumskin that beats through the text, that heralds the revolutions -
>> >
>> >"And then break down the old order of exploiters"
>> >
>> >that heralds the growth of a doctor, and lets us know how it feels
>> >to be a master of stories of people conversing in the poetry of
> > >living.
>> >
>> >Thomas Bell
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >tom bell
>> >
>> >
>>
>> --
>>
>> ________________
>> Dr David McCooey
>> Lecturer in Literary Studies
>> Honours Co-ordinator
>> School of Literary and Communication Studies
>> Deakin University
>> Geelong
>> Victoria
>> Australia 3217
>>
>> ph: 61 3 5227 1331
>> fax: 61 3 5227 2484
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
--
________________
Dr David McCooey
Lecturer in Literary Studies
Honours Co-ordinator
School of Literary and Communication Studies
Deakin University
Geelong
Victoria
Australia 3217
ph: 61 3 5227 1331
fax: 61 3 5227 2484
[log in to unmask]
|