Michael: when I started my last note I had meant to backchannel it, too
late to worry now. My exposure to Finlay's work is only through
occasional essays on him in magazines & anthologies (eg "23 Modern
British Poets" from Sparrow Press). So I allow myself naive questions &
observations:
is he more of a culture hero (if he's becoming that) because of his
battles with beaurocracies?
does he engage at all with postmodernism?
are his interests in classicism, the French Revolution & the design &
architecture of the Third Reich attempts to create art by pure
aesthetics or demands for a closer look at the ideas of heroics &
villainy, for a more subtle modulation of our ability to register, in
other people & ourselves, the capacities for good & evil?
A personal favourite, exemplifying for me his wit, is the inscription:
"Small Is Quite Beautiful."
Would love to visit Stonypath & see those works in situ.
Best wishes, Pete.
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