I sent my response re Jeff Nuttall backchannel
but as other elements of that exchange are still going on I thought I'd
come out in support of Allen's take
I have more time for Heaney than for Hughes
and I have no problem with people wanting to read him -
i recall at the start of the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy a man in a pub
says _if its the end of the world arent we supposed to put a paper bag over
our heads_ and ford prefect says _if you like yes_
the man says _will it help_ and ford replies _no_
& i feel very much the same about reading heaney
when his early books came out i was very impressed and then he went on
doing much the same thing and i learned a lot more... he is very very good
at what he does... but...
as to nobel prizes i wonder what that means - there have been some odd bods
on it even on the nobel organisations own turf - who now would read selma
lagerlof over august strindberg & who got the prize
perhaps they are better at choosing now but i doubt
and as for Hughes - surely it is possible to discuss poetry without the
crap from crow landing on the page - vastly overrated
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