As the discussion on Muldoon has long since petered out in self-consolatory
platitudes about how fame has killed off his talent, and a host of others
to boot, excuse me for returning to my earlier point. On 2 Aug Tony Frazer
admitted he "was pretty intemperate about Muldoon's book" . I thought so
too and was glad to read his apology, although, since it was written in his
own e-zine, he has no obligation to apologize to anyone. (Still, I can't
see why Tony thinks his opinion "wouldn't bother him (Muldoon) a bit" -
does abuse of one's work become a complement once one's sales have reached
a certain point?).
Tony,
In the case of Duhig, I agree that there was at least some argument to
explain the judgement - so no offense, only some disagreement. I'm not a
huge fan of the book myself, but I thought for example your citing the
first poem as a lowest-common-denominator something to raise a snigger at
readings was plain wrong - the poem is a rather recherche and lovingly
compiled list of skinhead gear circa 1973 - amusing as it is I hardly think
that makes it a cheap device for being popular.
But Alison agrees with you, and clearly still thinks it's alright to use
an abusive term like "execrable" about a fellow poet's work on a list where
I understood there were rules against such things.
Alison,
On Sun, 3 Aug 2003 07:05:52 -0700, you wrote:
>Peter's statement about contemporary British poetry
>was pretty much what I thought until I lucked on this list and
>redirected my reading. I thought British poetry was going through a
>direly uninspired period post 1940. Anthologies like the New Penguin
>Book of English Poetry confirm this idea amply -
Would this be The Armitage and Crawford 'Penguin Book of Poetry from
Britain and Ireland since 1945'? Whatever its omissions and failings as an
anthology, its inclusion of MacDiarmid, Bunting, Kavanagh, MacNeice, Auden,
Graham, Morgan, Larkin, Hughes, Crichton Smith, Heaney, Ni Chuilleanain,
Riley, Paulin, Muldoon etc. then merely confirmed you in your opinion of
this "direly uninspired period"? Or were you just referring to the English
ones?
Best
Iain
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