Peter,
I think you do us all a slight disservice by thinking we dismiss
Heaney out of hand when in fact it is his superstardom that is the source of
bemusement. Jerry Hall finds 'hope' in Heaney. Weird or what? Hope
against hope? Well if she needs hope I hope she finds it. However I won't
be reading Heaney's Beowulf because right now Beowulf is not on my reading
list (which is the size of a bloody eucalyptus tree) nor within my personal
mind circuit of thought obsessions. But surely that doesn't exclude
comment. If it did conversation would not only be self-censored it would be
painfully android. If Beowulf was on my immediate reading list I'd have no
compunction whatsoever in saying that I would go back to my trusty Bill
Griffiths' rendition rather than Heaney because I rate Griffith much higher
as a poet. That's not right, left or that bit that runs in the middle,
it's just years of knowing my own poetic preference and who does what with
words what turns me on. What? I should say so - permission granted or
should I say - give us credit. At the end of the day (as football managers
love to say) a preview is not a review and an informed comment is not a
mindless slagging off. Methinks.
Geraldine
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