Dear Mairead,
Fair enough. Australians have a way of taking the mickey out of everything
and we do not spare ourselves.
The rest of my email was full of positives about Plath though.
Yes, they were good reviews you quoted, but there were elements of the
patronising in them, as you yourself pointed out.
Please be aware that if I were reviewing Plath, the 'right to judge' would
not enter into it at all- there's a distinction between an objection to 'the
Plath industry' and one to her poems which we both agree are good.
Best wishes,
Cassie
On Thu, 6 Jul 2000 08:16:50 -0400 (EDT), [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Cassie, Plath wasn't panned. The reviews I quoted from were excellent
> reviews. She was just being told her place. I don't find Plath
pretentious,
> though the knee-jerk reactions she inspires annoy me, i.e., the smarmy,
> judgemental anecdotes, the objection to her "appropriation" of the
> Holocaust (citing a very small number of poems out of hundreds),
> the exclusive concentration on her last poems, the assumption of a right
> to be insulting about her, the eagerness to distance oneself from her,
> in other words, the creepy crowd mentality that I hate: maybe exemplified
> by your phrase "Hugh, myself, and others on the list," and the
> righteousness attached to same. I am intemperate but unrepentant.
> Mairead
>
> On Wed, 5 Jul 2000 [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> > Dear Mairead,
> >
> > Yes, I too have always admired Plath's poetry for it's precision and
light.
> > And I think 'The Bell Jar' is an important book. 'Crossing the Water'
is my
> > personal favourite and I can't fault it.
> >
> > Hugh, myself and others on the list have rightly pointed to the
> > pretentiousness of some of her work.
> >
> > But I was interested to be reminded that her work was 'canned' by some
even
> > when first printed. It's almost as if Sylvia was driven back into
herself,
> > made miserable? Given her talent, intensity and attention to form, the
> > assumption by some that she was a 'gushy' confessional poet must have
been
> > frustrating and depressing.
> >
> > This poem's beautiful:
> >
> >
> > Crossing the Water
> >
> > Black lake, black boat, two black, cut-paper people.
> > Where do the black trees go that drink here?
> > Their shadows must cover Canada.
> >
> > A little light from the water flowers.
> > Their leaves do not wish us to hurry:
> > They are round and flat and full of dark advice.
> >
> > Cold worlds shake from the oar.
> > The spirit of blackness is in us, it is in the fishes.
> > A snag is lifting a valedictory, pale hand;
> >
> > Stars open among the lilies.
> > Are you not blinded by such expressionless sirens?
> > This is the silence of astounded souls.
> >
> > Sylvia PLath, 1962
> >
> >
> > I recall that the late poet John Forbes once told me that he admired
Plath
> > but 'couldn't learn' from her. I wonder what this means? What do you
think?
> >
> > Yours,
> >
> > Cassie
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________________
> > Say Bye to Slow Internet!
> > http://www.home.com/xinbox/signup.html
> >
> >
_______________________________________________________
Say Bye to Slow Internet!
http://www.home.com/xinbox/signup.html
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|