Lawrence: a quick note. Much of your message has to do with the _content_
of O'Brien's note, which I wasn't talking about: I was talking about the
tone in which discussion is conducted, which seems to me obstructive to
getting at real content. I was not simply referring to you (except in the
specific comment on one-line rebuttals) but to the posts of several other
listmembers also. You may recall--or can substantiate via the
archives--that before O'Brien had even said a word he was being referred to
as "the likes of Sean O'Brien", which I do not think conducive to real
discussion.
"Busyness" does not mean busyness to the point of being unable to type. It
means busyness to the point of being unable to keep up with the incoming
stream of messages & give time & energy to formulating a considered
response. It's a kind of busyness that I suspect I many have to declare
very soon, as I'm supposed to be churning out a review of a book today &
other small tasks.
I think O'Brien is wrong in his caricature, and had hoped to explain at more
length why, though I can certainly name instances that would fit his
caricatures (I have already, for instance, mentioned that Prynne indeed
scrupulously avoids the prospect of mainstream anthologization). Brickbats
are plentiful on all sides, & while I called O'Brien out on what struck me
as a teeth-grating instance of one in the Fisher note, I can if you like
assemble a list of equally casual & thoughtless swipes from folks on the
other side--for instance, this sentence from Lee Harwood in _News from the
Ear_ (obviously rather more bitter since the Poetry Society debacle): he
says that the real aesthetic achievement of Roy Fisher is "Something still
complacently ignored by both 'Establishment' tapdancing main-chancers and
'Experimental' arrogant academics." (The latter phrase usefully shows that
O'Brien's comment on eyebrow-lifting academics may also surface in quarters
more associated with the avantgarde.)
All best --N
Nate & Jane Dorward
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THE GIG magazine: http://www.geocities.com/ndorward/
109 Hounslow Ave., Willowdale, ON, M2N 2B1, Canada
ph: (416) 221 6865
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