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> Chekhov hasn't appeared yet and I'm getting the feeling that all the > stuff about 'rev' (revolution) And here was me thinking Chekhov appeared over a century ago. Gawd, ain't it good to be edumacated. As for revolutions, Mr Middle Class, I don't think there's anything to laugh about them, the 'whacky Tsars', I'd love to have seen you say that statement in public in say St Petersburg circa 1900, then you might have found out how funny they were. Best Dave David Bircumshaw Leicester, England Home Page A Chide's Alphabet Painting Without Numbers www.paintstuff.20m.com/index.htm http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: "David McCooey" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2001 11:23 PM Subject: Re: biographical poetry > Tom, > > thanks for sharing your thoughts on Sanders' Chekhov. As it happens, > I've just started reading it myself. I'm still getting used to the > whacky tone (of the Tzars - 'some were sane, some were bonkers', > that's a misquotation). I'm not sure if I'm meant to be laughing. > Chekhov hasn't appeared yet and I'm getting the feeling that all the > stuff about 'rev' (revolution) is something like nostalgia on > Sanders' part. I must admit, I can't take anyone altogether seriously > who claims to be a 'bard'. But maybe that says more about my own > middle-class, academic niceties (and I've never owned a Fugs album). > > Cheers, > > David > > > >the recent discussion on biographical poetry inspired the following review > > > >Chekhov > > > >Edward Sanders, Black Sparrow, 1995, $13.50 > > > > > > > >Despite recent calls for a more active and participating role for > >readers, there have been no specific clues to guide us in this > >adventure. In reading a not-latest work by Edward Sanders, his > >Chekhov, I see one way this might work. He engages me in a > >conversation in poetry. > > > >Antin talks and Sanders engages in a conversation but "engages is an > >off-putting description for Sanders' person next-door manner. > >Revolution in 18th Century Europe and Russia is casually tossed on > >the table before us as we sit at ease. As a conversation piece this > >invites contemplation of revolutionary (here SDS) thinking in 20th > >Century America. Marx, serfdom and czars in 19th Century Russia, > >Belinsky, and even Turgenev are thrown in the mix. And we are off to > >the races on the way with Chekhov the doctor out of poverty to > >Chekhov the writer. > > > >As in any good conversation we are allowed to see the other's view > >and even to sit in their place. What attracts me in this work as in > >others is the chance to be where Sanders is and to want to write > >from where he wrote this. I am allowed to act as he enacts. We are > >enjoined, "Idti v narod (to the people)!" and then we learn how that > >doesn't solve their problems or ours. > > > >There is a spirit of meditation or contemplation in Chekhov but it > >is a spirit that is not just passive observation. We are invited > >here not just to witness the sweep of revolution across Europe and > >the steppes of Asia, not just to learn about the development of one > >of our great writers (and doctors?), but to be with Chekhov as he > >grows into the master, or at least to be with Sanders as he watches > >the master develop from someone drawn to > > > >"The thrill of Grease Paint" > > > >as a way out of enthrallment to a harsh father in a harsh town on > >the vast emptiness that was Russia, the thrill of the sound of a > >Drumskin that beats through the text, that heralds the revolutions - > > > >"And then break down the old order of exploiters" > > > >that heralds the growth of a doctor, and lets us know how it feels > >to be a master of stories of people conversing in the poetry of > >living. > > > >Thomas Bell > > > > > > > >tom bell > > > > > > -- > > ________________ > Dr David McCooey > Lecturer in Literary Studies > Honours Co-ordinator > School of Literary and Communication Studies > Deakin University > Geelong > Victoria > Australia 3217 > > ph: 61 3 5227 1331 > fax: 61 3 5227 2484 > [log in to unmask] >