Blimey Tim - I never thought I'd hear you argue that
old chestnut about 'no influence' - I mean Maggie needed the idea
of Shamanism to explore Shamanism - she needed
the idea of poetry to write poetry. This
conception that we are working from a vacuum is not only bizarre -
it's not even desirable. If anyone was so 'original we wouldn't
be able to respond to them at all - would we?
G
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2010 3:10
PM
Subject: Re: The influence of Ted
Hughes
Maggie never needed any ideas from anyone else for The
House of the
Shaman. I'm sorry, but for me
the similarities are, in the final
analysis, superficial ones.
Both deal with nature as metaphor, yes,
but in entirely different
ways. Both deal with strong sound in
language, yes, but Maggie O'
Sullivan takes that to a completely
different level of
experience, and one which, to boot, has a
completely different aim and
produces a completely different effect.
Tim A.
On 8 May
2010, at 14:45, Jane Holland wrote:
> I wonder though whether
his IDEAS were an influence, Tim. Cf Maggie
> O'Sullivan's IN THE
HOUSE OF THE
SHAMAN?