I hate to do this, but I have to warn the potential reader about My Life with the Saints by Fr James Martin, SJ. While there is no doubt that Fr Martin is an intelligent, accessible, engaging, self-deprecating, humorous, and utterly readable writer, there is at least one passage in his book that deviates from Catholic orthodoxy.
During his chapter on St Ignatius of Loyola, Fr Martin speaks of experiences that draw a soul closer to God. He mentions that a beautiful sunset can cause our minds to turn to the Author of creation, and we concur. He goes on to say that "an intimate encounter with a spouse or partner" can bring us to a greater awareness of the Source of all Love (p. 89, emphasis mine).
Or partner. We really do get enough of this stuff from other places, from the Henri Nouwen of Sabbatical Journey (an otherwise magnetizing book), from "progressive" Episcopalians, and from Andrew Sullivan.
I am assuming that "an intimate encounter" means sexual congress, or some other less explicit erotic experience. And I am further assuming that "partner" does not mean "business partner," but rather "companion of the same sex."
To the orthodox Christian, specifically, to the Catholic, "intimate encounters" with "partners" must be eschewed. Loving God entails keeping the commandments. The full implications of the commandments are admirably exposited in the recently promulgated Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Again, one hesitates to sound like Pat Buchanan or the Marquess of Queensberry, condemning sins to which we are not tempted ourselves. But one does expect orthodoxy from a Catholic priest. Are we being foolishly optimistic?
A further caveat: One of the "saints" in Fr Martin's communion is Thomas Merton, and while we have profited from Merton's books in the past, and often return to them in the present, we begin to think that his beleaguered abbot is a much more fitting candidate for sainthood!
(I did read many of the customer reviews for My Life with the Saints on amazon.com : a saddening uniformity of five-star reviews accompanied by the most elate encomiastic exclamations. And no reviewer seems to have noticed the phrasing on page 89.)
Fr Martin is a first-rate writer, and I was enjoying his book quite a bit -- until the obtrusion of his tenth-rate moral theology. A shame.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Are you from Massachusetts?
Some indicators:
1. The Red Sox World Series win was, and will always be, one of the greatest moments in your life.
2. The guy driving in front of you is going 70 mph and you're swearing at him for going too slow.
3. When ordering a tonic, you mean a Coke.
4. You went to Canobie Lake Park or Water Country as a kid.
5. You actually enjoy driving around rotaries.
6. You do not recognize the letter 'R' as a part of the English language.
7. Your social security number starts with a zero.
8. You can actually find your way around the streets of Boston.
9. You know what a 'regular' coffee is.
10. You keep an ice scraper in your car year-round.
11. You can tell the difference between a Revere accent and a Dorchester accent.
12. Springfield is located 'way out west.'
13. You almost feel disappointed if someone doesn't flip you the bird when you cut them off or steal their parking space.
14. You know how to pronounce the names of towns like Worcester, Billerica, Gloucester, Peabody and Haverhill.
15. Anyone you don't know is a potential idiot until proven otherwise.
16. Paranoia sets in if you can't see a Dunkin Donuts or CVS Pharmacy within eyeshot at all times.
17. You have driven to New Hampshire on a Sunday just to buy alcohol.
18. You know how to pronounce Yastrzemski.
19. You know there's a trophy at the end of the Bean Pot.
20. You order iced coffee in January.
21. You know that the Purple Line will take you anywhere.
22. You love scorpion bowls.
23. You know what they sell at a Packie.
24. Sorry Manny, but number 24 means DEWEY EVANS.
25. You know what First Night is.
26. You know at least one guy named Sean, Pat, Whitey, Red, Bud or Seamus. Bonus: You know how to pronounce Seamus.
27. McLobster = 3-D McCrap
28. You know at least 2 cops in your town because they were your high school drinking buddies.
29. You know there are 6 New England states, but that Connecticut really doesn't count.
30. You give incomprehensible directions to tourists, feel bad when they drive off, but then say to yourself 'Ah, screw them.'
31. You know at least one bar where you can get something to drink after last call.
32. You hate the Kennedys, but you vote for them anyway.
33. You know holding onto the railing when riding the Green Line is not optional.
34. The numbers '78 and '86 make you cringe.
35. You've been to Goodtimes.
36. You think the rest of the country owes you for Thanksgiving and Independence Day. (...and they DO)
37. You have never actually been to 'Cheers.'
38. The words 'WICKED' and 'GOOD' go together.
39. You've been to Fenway Park.
40. You've gone to at least one party at UMass.
41. You own a 'Yankees Suck' shirt or hat.
42. You know what a Frappe is.
43. You've been to Hempfest.
44. You know who Frank Avruch is.
45. You know Frank Avruch was once Bozo the Clown
46. You can complete the following: 'Lynn, Lynn .....'
47. You get pissed off when a restaurant serves clam chowder, and it turns out to be Snows.
48. You actually know how to merge from six lanes of traffic down to one.
49. The TV weatherman is damn good if he's right 25% of the time.
50. You never go to Cape Cod,' you go 'down the Cape'.
51. You think that Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon are more evil than Whitey Bulger.
52. You know who Whitey Bulger is.
53. You went to the Swan Boats, House of Seven Gables, or Plimoth Plantation on a field trip in elementary school.
54. Bobby Orr is loved as much as Larry Bird, Tom Brady, and Ted Williams.
55. You remember Major Mudd.
56. You know what candlepin bowling is.
57. You can drive from the mountains to the ocean all in one day.
58. You know Scollay Square once stood where Government Center is.
59. When you were a kid, Rex Trailer was the coolest guy around.
60. Speaking of which.... You can still hum the song from the end of Boom Town
61. Calling Carrabba's an 'Italian' restaurant is sacrilege.
62. You still have your old Flexible Flyer somewhere in your parents' attic.
63. You know that route 128 is some kind of strange weather dividing line. snow/rain
64. The only time you've been on the Freedom Trail is when relatives are in town.
65. The Big Dig tunnel disaster wasn't a surprise.
66. You call guys you've just met 'Chief' or 'Boss.'
67. 4:15pm and pitch black out means only 3 more shopping days until Christmas.
68. You know more than one person with the last name Murphy.
69. You refer to Savin Hill as 'Stab 'n Kill.'
70. You've never eaten at Durgin Park, but recommend it to tourists.
71. You can't look at the zip code 02134 without singing it.
72. You voted for a Republican Mormon as Governor just to screw with the rest of the country.
73 11 pm? Drunk? It means one thing: Kowloons!
74. 2 am? Drunk? It means one thing: Kelly's! The one on Revere Beach not the one on Route 1.
75. 5 am? Drunk? It means one thing: You wish you had a blanket in your back seat.
76. You know that P-Town isn't the name of a new rap group.
77. People you don't like are all 'Bastids.'
78. You took off school or work for the Patriots first Super Bowl Win Parade.
79. You've called something 'wicked pissa'.
80. You'll always get razzed for Dukakis.
81. Saturday afternoons meant Creature Double Feature with Dale Dorman.
82. Sunday mornings meant the Three Stooges on Channel 38.
83. You've slammed on your brakes to deter a tailgater.
84. No, you don't trust the Gorton's Fisherman.
85. You know that Papa Gino's usually has a jukebox.
86. You think Aerosmith is the greatest rock band of all time
87. Your town has at least 6 pizza and roast beef shops.
88. You know at least three Tony's, one Vinnie and a Frankie.
89. 20 degrees is downright balmy as long as there is no wind -- then it gets wicked cold.
90. You were very sad when saying goodbye to the Boston Garden.
91. Thanksgiving means family, turkey, High School football, and the long version of Alice's Restaurant.
92. You know the guy who founded the Boston Pops was named Athah Feedlah.
93. You know what the Combat Zone is.
94. You actually drive 45 minutes to New Hampshire to save $5 in sales tax.
95. You've pulled out of a side street and used your car to block oncoming traffic so you can make a left.
96. You've bragged about the money you've saved at The Christmas Tree Shop.
97. You've been to Hampton Beach on a Saturday night.
98. Playing street hockey was a daily after school ritual.
99. Hearing an old lady shout 'Numbah 96 for Sioux City!' means it's time for steak.
100. You remember Jordan Marsh, Filene's, Grants, Bradlees, Caldor, Zayres, or Ann & Hope.
101. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Massachusetts.
1. The Red Sox World Series win was, and will always be, one of the greatest moments in your life.
2. The guy driving in front of you is going 70 mph and you're swearing at him for going too slow.
3. When ordering a tonic, you mean a Coke.
4. You went to Canobie Lake Park or Water Country as a kid.
5. You actually enjoy driving around rotaries.
6. You do not recognize the letter 'R' as a part of the English language.
7. Your social security number starts with a zero.
8. You can actually find your way around the streets of Boston.
9. You know what a 'regular' coffee is.
10. You keep an ice scraper in your car year-round.
11. You can tell the difference between a Revere accent and a Dorchester accent.
12. Springfield is located 'way out west.'
13. You almost feel disappointed if someone doesn't flip you the bird when you cut them off or steal their parking space.
14. You know how to pronounce the names of towns like Worcester, Billerica, Gloucester, Peabody and Haverhill.
15. Anyone you don't know is a potential idiot until proven otherwise.
16. Paranoia sets in if you can't see a Dunkin Donuts or CVS Pharmacy within eyeshot at all times.
17. You have driven to New Hampshire on a Sunday just to buy alcohol.
18. You know how to pronounce Yastrzemski.
19. You know there's a trophy at the end of the Bean Pot.
20. You order iced coffee in January.
21. You know that the Purple Line will take you anywhere.
22. You love scorpion bowls.
23. You know what they sell at a Packie.
24. Sorry Manny, but number 24 means DEWEY EVANS.
25. You know what First Night is.
26. You know at least one guy named Sean, Pat, Whitey, Red, Bud or Seamus. Bonus: You know how to pronounce Seamus.
27. McLobster = 3-D McCrap
28. You know at least 2 cops in your town because they were your high school drinking buddies.
29. You know there are 6 New England states, but that Connecticut really doesn't count.
30. You give incomprehensible directions to tourists, feel bad when they drive off, but then say to yourself 'Ah, screw them.'
31. You know at least one bar where you can get something to drink after last call.
32. You hate the Kennedys, but you vote for them anyway.
33. You know holding onto the railing when riding the Green Line is not optional.
34. The numbers '78 and '86 make you cringe.
35. You've been to Goodtimes.
36. You think the rest of the country owes you for Thanksgiving and Independence Day. (...and they DO)
37. You have never actually been to 'Cheers.'
38. The words 'WICKED' and 'GOOD' go together.
39. You've been to Fenway Park.
40. You've gone to at least one party at UMass.
41. You own a 'Yankees Suck' shirt or hat.
42. You know what a Frappe is.
43. You've been to Hempfest.
44. You know who Frank Avruch is.
45. You know Frank Avruch was once Bozo the Clown
46. You can complete the following: 'Lynn, Lynn .....'
47. You get pissed off when a restaurant serves clam chowder, and it turns out to be Snows.
48. You actually know how to merge from six lanes of traffic down to one.
49. The TV weatherman is damn good if he's right 25% of the time.
50. You never go to Cape Cod,' you go 'down the Cape'.
51. You think that Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon are more evil than Whitey Bulger.
52. You know who Whitey Bulger is.
53. You went to the Swan Boats, House of Seven Gables, or Plimoth Plantation on a field trip in elementary school.
54. Bobby Orr is loved as much as Larry Bird, Tom Brady, and Ted Williams.
55. You remember Major Mudd.
56. You know what candlepin bowling is.
57. You can drive from the mountains to the ocean all in one day.
58. You know Scollay Square once stood where Government Center is.
59. When you were a kid, Rex Trailer was the coolest guy around.
60. Speaking of which.... You can still hum the song from the end of Boom Town
61. Calling Carrabba's an 'Italian' restaurant is sacrilege.
62. You still have your old Flexible Flyer somewhere in your parents' attic.
63. You know that route 128 is some kind of strange weather dividing line. snow/rain
64. The only time you've been on the Freedom Trail is when relatives are in town.
65. The Big Dig tunnel disaster wasn't a surprise.
66. You call guys you've just met 'Chief' or 'Boss.'
67. 4:15pm and pitch black out means only 3 more shopping days until Christmas.
68. You know more than one person with the last name Murphy.
69. You refer to Savin Hill as 'Stab 'n Kill.'
70. You've never eaten at Durgin Park, but recommend it to tourists.
71. You can't look at the zip code 02134 without singing it.
72. You voted for a Republican Mormon as Governor just to screw with the rest of the country.
73 11 pm? Drunk? It means one thing: Kowloons!
74. 2 am? Drunk? It means one thing: Kelly's! The one on Revere Beach not the one on Route 1.
75. 5 am? Drunk? It means one thing: You wish you had a blanket in your back seat.
76. You know that P-Town isn't the name of a new rap group.
77. People you don't like are all 'Bastids.'
78. You took off school or work for the Patriots first Super Bowl Win Parade.
79. You've called something 'wicked pissa'.
80. You'll always get razzed for Dukakis.
81. Saturday afternoons meant Creature Double Feature with Dale Dorman.
82. Sunday mornings meant the Three Stooges on Channel 38.
83. You've slammed on your brakes to deter a tailgater.
84. No, you don't trust the Gorton's Fisherman.
85. You know that Papa Gino's usually has a jukebox.
86. You think Aerosmith is the greatest rock band of all time
87. Your town has at least 6 pizza and roast beef shops.
88. You know at least three Tony's, one Vinnie and a Frankie.
89. 20 degrees is downright balmy as long as there is no wind -- then it gets wicked cold.
90. You were very sad when saying goodbye to the Boston Garden.
91. Thanksgiving means family, turkey, High School football, and the long version of Alice's Restaurant.
92. You know the guy who founded the Boston Pops was named Athah Feedlah.
93. You know what the Combat Zone is.
94. You actually drive 45 minutes to New Hampshire to save $5 in sales tax.
95. You've pulled out of a side street and used your car to block oncoming traffic so you can make a left.
96. You've bragged about the money you've saved at The Christmas Tree Shop.
97. You've been to Hampton Beach on a Saturday night.
98. Playing street hockey was a daily after school ritual.
99. Hearing an old lady shout 'Numbah 96 for Sioux City!' means it's time for steak.
100. You remember Jordan Marsh, Filene's, Grants, Bradlees, Caldor, Zayres, or Ann & Hope.
101. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Massachusetts.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Are you a right-wing extremist?
Do you favor local authority over federal authority?
Do you oppose abortion?
Well, you might be a right-wing extremist!
The blogger at Vivificat! points us toward a disturbing document from the Obama administration.
(I might be in deep trouble. I voted for Ron Paul in last year's Republican primaries!)
Do you oppose abortion?
Well, you might be a right-wing extremist!
The blogger at Vivificat! points us toward a disturbing document from the Obama administration.
(I might be in deep trouble. I voted for Ron Paul in last year's Republican primaries!)
Get your adverbs here
One of today's Google Quotes of the Day is from Stephen King: "The road to hell is paved with adverbs."
He may be right. Then again, note the delicacy of the adverbs in this poem by Edward Estlin Cummings, a signpost, I would say, on the road to heaven.
He may be right. Then again, note the delicacy of the adverbs in this poem by Edward Estlin Cummings, a signpost, I would say, on the road to heaven.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Three trivial items
... that have nothing to do with poetry or religion!
Trivial item #1: I hereby declare that Rubber Soul and Revolver were both better albums than Sgt. Pepper. And none can controvert!
Trivial item #2: My favorite misheard lyric of all time: "People love bagels!" (for Elvis's "Viva Las Vegas!") I think I prefer the bagel version!
Trivial item #3: Continuing in the pop-music-of-past-years theme. Surnames that, I always felt, sounded a bit "fake": Jagger, Benatar, Gore (Lesley or Al).
Trivial item #1: I hereby declare that Rubber Soul and Revolver were both better albums than Sgt. Pepper. And none can controvert!
Trivial item #2: My favorite misheard lyric of all time: "People love bagels!" (for Elvis's "Viva Las Vegas!") I think I prefer the bagel version!
Trivial item #3: Continuing in the pop-music-of-past-years theme. Surnames that, I always felt, sounded a bit "fake": Jagger, Benatar, Gore (Lesley or Al).
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Quotation from current reading
As long as we remain sheep, we overcome. Even though we may be surrounded by a thousand wolves, we overcome and are victorious. But as soon as we are wolves, we are beaten: for then we lose the support from the Shepherd who feeds not wolves, but only sheep.
St John Chrysostom, from Homily 34 on St Matthew
(via Thomas Merton's Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, pp. 44-45 in my old copy)
St John Chrysostom, from Homily 34 on St Matthew
(via Thomas Merton's Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, pp. 44-45 in my old copy)
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter
Let all then enter the joy of our Lord!
Both the first and the last and those who come after, enjoy your reward!
Rich and poor, dance with one another, sober and slothful, celebrate the day.
Those who have kept the fast and those who have not, rejoice today, for the table is richly spread.
Fare royally upon it -- the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry.
All of you, enjoy the banquet of faith!
All enjoy the riches of his goodness.
Let no one cry over his poverty, for the universal Kingdom has appeared!
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again, for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He spoiled the power of hell when he descended thereto.
Isaiah foretold this when he cried, Death has been frustrated in meeting him below!
It is frustrated, for it is destroyed.
It is frustrated, for it is annihilated.
It is frustrated, for now it is made captive.
For it grabbed a body and discovered God.
It took earth and behold! it encountered heaven.
It took what was visible, and was overcome by what was invisible.
O Death, where is your sting?
O Death, where is your victory?
Christ is risen,
and the demons are cast down.
Christ is risen,
and life is set free.
Christ is risen,
and the tomb is emptied of the dead.
For Christ, having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who sleep.
To him be glory and power forever and ever!
Amen. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
From a sermon of St John Chrysostom
Both the first and the last and those who come after, enjoy your reward!
Rich and poor, dance with one another, sober and slothful, celebrate the day.
Those who have kept the fast and those who have not, rejoice today, for the table is richly spread.
Fare royally upon it -- the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry.
All of you, enjoy the banquet of faith!
All enjoy the riches of his goodness.
Let no one cry over his poverty, for the universal Kingdom has appeared!
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again, for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He spoiled the power of hell when he descended thereto.
Isaiah foretold this when he cried, Death has been frustrated in meeting him below!
It is frustrated, for it is destroyed.
It is frustrated, for it is annihilated.
It is frustrated, for now it is made captive.
For it grabbed a body and discovered God.
It took earth and behold! it encountered heaven.
It took what was visible, and was overcome by what was invisible.
O Death, where is your sting?
O Death, where is your victory?
Christ is risen,
and the demons are cast down.
Christ is risen,
and life is set free.
Christ is risen,
and the tomb is emptied of the dead.
For Christ, having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who sleep.
To him be glory and power forever and ever!
Amen. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
From a sermon of St John Chrysostom
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Cummings
may i be gay
like every lark
who lifts his life
from all the dark
who wings his why
beyond because
and sings an if
of day to yes
like every lark
who lifts his life
from all the dark
who wings his why
beyond because
and sings an if
of day to yes
Monday, April 06, 2009
Tweaking the template
Please bear with me. I wanted to make the "followers" widget a bit more readable, so I first tried an entirely different template, but soon began to miss Rounders 3, and so reverted to it, but have been fiddling with the fonts and colors. I think this is good for now. "Dark speech" has become a bit brighter, it seems!
Sunday, April 05, 2009
According to St Mark's Gospel
the last words that Christ heard before his death on the cross were a bitter joke: "Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down."
Friday, April 03, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Don't know if I can do it for the whole month
... but I'm going to attempt NaPoWriMo, with the ambitious minimum of two lines a day.
Entries (they can hardly be called poems!) will be posted here.
Entries (they can hardly be called poems!) will be posted here.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
A discovery!
Additions to the blogroll:
This is one heck of a blog. Very edifying and fascinating.
Discovered thanks to the Summa Mamas.
This is one heck of a blog. Very edifying and fascinating.
Discovered thanks to the Summa Mamas.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Am I really against difficulty in poetry?
I favor it, like it, even enjoy it, but sometimes feel guilty for doing so!
Welcome to the readers of Silliman's Blog, led here by a link reading "Against difficulty."
Welcome to the readers of Silliman's Blog, led here by a link reading "Against difficulty."
Saturday, March 28, 2009
A facebook meme
(Copied from Eve. I'm not on Facebook.)
1) What author do you own the most books by?
Shakespeare? Wilde? Cummings?
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I've gone through several copies of Dylan Thomas's poems; Seamus Heaney's Field Work.
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
That's a fake rule. So, no.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Don't read much fiction. Probably someone from the movies.
5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
My copy of Marianne Moore's prose is pretty beat up.
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Believe it or not, it was probably something about baseball.
7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
I don't read many bad books. A bad book is one I can't finish.
8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Oh, I don't know. Probably something I've reread. Cummings.
9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
Cummings; Roethke; Dylan Thomas. I can't choose.
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
Wendy Cope. Better yet, Stephen Fry.
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Michael Ramsey: A Life by Owen Chadwick.
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Dunno.
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Dreamed I was in my high-school auditorium after a Dylan Thomas reading. I asked for the poet's autograph, and he hastily scribbled "Dylan Moreorless Thomas." Also dreamed, more weirdly, of meeting President Eisenhower on a park bench.
14) What is the most low-brow book you've read as an adult?
A Bobby Darin biography. Wait -- the autobiography of the Weakest Link lady. No, wait -- Rush Limbaugh's The Way Things Ought to Be. But I've always wanted to read Little Girl Lost by Drew Barrymore.
15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
I attempted both Ulysses and The Glass Bead Game in high school.
16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I've just seen the biggies.
17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
The world needs both. But I think I'll give the slight edge to the French.
18) Roth or Updike?
From what little I know of both, Updike.
19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Sedaris. Who's Eggers?
20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare. As Eve said, duh.
21) Austen or Eliot?
For the most part, I've escaped them both (if Eliot means George, as I suspect). I also suspect I'd find them both unendurable. But then again, most fiction is, to me.
Auden or (TS) Eliot, now there's a question! (Auden for me.)
22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Recently admitted to a friend that I've read neither Brave New World nor Fahrenheit 451. Addendum, 3/29 : Chesterton! Inexcusably for a Catholic in the English-speaking world, I've read nothing by him save a few poems and his biography of St Francis of Assisi. And I haven't read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books.
23) What is your favorite novel?
19th century: The Picture of Dorian Gray. 20th century: Walker Percy's Love In the Ruins.
24) Play?
I'm tempted to steal Eve's answer of Lear, but I give the slight edge to Hamlet.
25) Poem?
Shakespeare's 18th sonnet; Dante's "Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare"; "Prayer" by George Herbert; Dylan Thomas's "Prologue."
26) Essay?
Any prose by Marianne Moore can be counted on to edify.
27) Short story?
Don't have one.
28) Work of non-fiction?
Moab Is My Washpot by Stephen Fry. (It's not for the prudish, as Miss Moore would say.)
29) Who is your favorite writer?
At the moment, Cummings.
30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Tom Robbins? John Irving? Anne Lamott? And several poets.
31) What is your desert island book?
The Atlantic Book of British and American Poetry, edited by Dame Edith Sitwell.
32) And... what are you reading right now?
Re-reading Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled; also, two books about Eastern Orthodoxy.
1) What author do you own the most books by?
Shakespeare? Wilde? Cummings?
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I've gone through several copies of Dylan Thomas's poems; Seamus Heaney's Field Work.
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
That's a fake rule. So, no.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Don't read much fiction. Probably someone from the movies.
5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
My copy of Marianne Moore's prose is pretty beat up.
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Believe it or not, it was probably something about baseball.
7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
I don't read many bad books. A bad book is one I can't finish.
8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Oh, I don't know. Probably something I've reread. Cummings.
9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
Cummings; Roethke; Dylan Thomas. I can't choose.
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
Wendy Cope. Better yet, Stephen Fry.
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Michael Ramsey: A Life by Owen Chadwick.
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Dunno.
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Dreamed I was in my high-school auditorium after a Dylan Thomas reading. I asked for the poet's autograph, and he hastily scribbled "Dylan Moreorless Thomas." Also dreamed, more weirdly, of meeting President Eisenhower on a park bench.
14) What is the most low-brow book you've read as an adult?
A Bobby Darin biography. Wait -- the autobiography of the Weakest Link lady. No, wait -- Rush Limbaugh's The Way Things Ought to Be. But I've always wanted to read Little Girl Lost by Drew Barrymore.
15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
I attempted both Ulysses and The Glass Bead Game in high school.
16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I've just seen the biggies.
17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
The world needs both. But I think I'll give the slight edge to the French.
18) Roth or Updike?
From what little I know of both, Updike.
19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Sedaris. Who's Eggers?
20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare. As Eve said, duh.
21) Austen or Eliot?
For the most part, I've escaped them both (if Eliot means George, as I suspect). I also suspect I'd find them both unendurable. But then again, most fiction is, to me.
Auden or (TS) Eliot, now there's a question! (Auden for me.)
22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Recently admitted to a friend that I've read neither Brave New World nor Fahrenheit 451. Addendum, 3/29 : Chesterton! Inexcusably for a Catholic in the English-speaking world, I've read nothing by him save a few poems and his biography of St Francis of Assisi. And I haven't read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books.
23) What is your favorite novel?
19th century: The Picture of Dorian Gray. 20th century: Walker Percy's Love In the Ruins.
24) Play?
I'm tempted to steal Eve's answer of Lear, but I give the slight edge to Hamlet.
25) Poem?
Shakespeare's 18th sonnet; Dante's "Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare"; "Prayer" by George Herbert; Dylan Thomas's "Prologue."
26) Essay?
Any prose by Marianne Moore can be counted on to edify.
27) Short story?
Don't have one.
28) Work of non-fiction?
Moab Is My Washpot by Stephen Fry. (It's not for the prudish, as Miss Moore would say.)
29) Who is your favorite writer?
At the moment, Cummings.
30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Tom Robbins? John Irving? Anne Lamott? And several poets.
31) What is your desert island book?
The Atlantic Book of British and American Poetry, edited by Dame Edith Sitwell.
32) And... what are you reading right now?
Re-reading Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled; also, two books about Eastern Orthodoxy.
About Marianne Moore
Moore’s hospitality never flagged throughout her long life. Donald Hall recounts a touching lunch visit to Cumberland Street in 1965 at which Moore, then in her seventies, suspecting that he was still hungry, poured a small pile of corn chips onto his tray. A known lover of health foods, she quipped: “I like Fritos. They’re so nutritious.” Hall was delighted.
Here.
Here.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Hmm
From the Wikipedia page on English poet Geoffrey Hill (b. 1932):
(Of course, this could be an inaccurate paraphrase of whatever he said in the interview. Still. The idea fascinates.)
My 2 cents: I know I can't live without the apparent obscurities of Dylan Thomas and Hart Crane, the luminous intricacies of Wallace Stevens, and at one time was even seduced by the somewhat surreal (some would say meaningless) verse of John Ashbery. But when does obscurity become an evasion? I hear Miss Marianne Moore chiding, "Nor can we dignify confusion by calling it baroque." There is, of course, a difference between obscurity and confusion: something very meaningful can be obscure at a first glance.
Geoffrey Hill is no idler or surrealist. As Donald Hall noted with admiring bewilderment in the 1970s, Hill was still writing devotional sonnets when everyone else was letting it all hang out. Hill's writing has weight, and is not (at least in the poems I half-remember) as obscure as the work of the others I've mentioned.
So: how much obscurity does a poet have a right to? Should we ask the surrealists, the Language poets, the ghost of Gertrude Stein?
I guess what puzzles me about the paraphrase of Hill's words (and I hope Wikipedia is being true to what he said) is the bit about obscurity being democratic. Obscurity is certainly libertarian; I don't know about democratic.
As usual, I find myself a bit confused. Anyone out there with a helpful thought or two?
In an interview in The Paris Review (2000), which published Hill's early poem 'Genesis' when he was still at Oxford, Hill defended the right of poets to difficulty as a form of resistance to the demeaning simplifications imposed by 'maestros of the world'. Hill also argued that to be difficult is to be democratic, equating the demand for simplicity with the demands of tyrants.Thoughts?
(Of course, this could be an inaccurate paraphrase of whatever he said in the interview. Still. The idea fascinates.)
My 2 cents: I know I can't live without the apparent obscurities of Dylan Thomas and Hart Crane, the luminous intricacies of Wallace Stevens, and at one time was even seduced by the somewhat surreal (some would say meaningless) verse of John Ashbery. But when does obscurity become an evasion? I hear Miss Marianne Moore chiding, "Nor can we dignify confusion by calling it baroque." There is, of course, a difference between obscurity and confusion: something very meaningful can be obscure at a first glance.
Geoffrey Hill is no idler or surrealist. As Donald Hall noted with admiring bewilderment in the 1970s, Hill was still writing devotional sonnets when everyone else was letting it all hang out. Hill's writing has weight, and is not (at least in the poems I half-remember) as obscure as the work of the others I've mentioned.
So: how much obscurity does a poet have a right to? Should we ask the surrealists, the Language poets, the ghost of Gertrude Stein?
I guess what puzzles me about the paraphrase of Hill's words (and I hope Wikipedia is being true to what he said) is the bit about obscurity being democratic. Obscurity is certainly libertarian; I don't know about democratic.
As usual, I find myself a bit confused. Anyone out there with a helpful thought or two?
Archbishop Chaput
If 65 million Catholics really cared about their faith and cared about what it teaches, neither political party could ignore what we believe about justice for the poor, or the homeless, or immigrants, or the unborn child. If 65 million American Catholics really understood their faith, we wouldn’t need to waste each other’s time arguing about whether the legalized killing of an unborn child is somehow ‘balanced out’ or excused by three other good social policies.
Here.
(HT: Peony.)
Here.
(HT: Peony.)
NaPoWriMo
The Academy of American Poets' website, poets.org, reminds us that April is National Poetry Writing Month, when poetbloggers (?!?!) write and post a poem a day for thirty days.
It might be great fun to try rhymed iambic couplets, something small.
Apparently, there's a pledge drive associated with NaPoWriMo this year. The link provides more details.
It might be great fun to try rhymed iambic couplets, something small.
Apparently, there's a pledge drive associated with NaPoWriMo this year. The link provides more details.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
10 random thoughts
10.
News of the day: from grim to just plain dull.
It has been ever thus since Adam fell.
9.
Hip-hop vernacular grows quickly stale.
8.
It's time to put the winter boots away.
Soon, we shall have a fourteen-hour day.
7.
iPods and cellphones on the noonday bus.
6.
"The very bastard son of a mongrel bitch ..."
5.
Squawking of seagulls or the crank of crows?
4.
The Muses are not easily astonished!
They can detect when skill and strength have vanished.
3.
Cloudless cerulean, no trace of white.
Still, we prefer the teeming stars of night.
2.
Nightmare: I failed to save a long lost friend.
1.
Gregarious in solitude, strange scribe
Who bids his muses romp, carouse, imbibe.
News of the day: from grim to just plain dull.
It has been ever thus since Adam fell.
9.
Hip-hop vernacular grows quickly stale.
8.
It's time to put the winter boots away.
Soon, we shall have a fourteen-hour day.
7.
iPods and cellphones on the noonday bus.
6.
"The very bastard son of a mongrel bitch ..."
5.
Squawking of seagulls or the crank of crows?
4.
The Muses are not easily astonished!
They can detect when skill and strength have vanished.
3.
Cloudless cerulean, no trace of white.
Still, we prefer the teeming stars of night.
2.
Nightmare: I failed to save a long lost friend.
1.
Gregarious in solitude, strange scribe
Who bids his muses romp, carouse, imbibe.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Soonest, sonnets!
There's a sonnet contest going on, courtesy of the blogger at Enchiridion. With the winners to be announced shortly after Easter, if memory serves.
Ah, the reader exclaims; that's why dylan's been foisting all these fourteen-line misadventures in rhyme and metronomic meter upon us. The Cummings was the only decent one!
Be that as it may: I've even produced a sonnet with the word "Enchiridion" in it. Which, of course, I can't submit to the contest, lest it seem like I'm trying to curry favor with the judge. Nothing of the sort. Really. I just like pentasyllables that begin with "E"!
Maybe I'll work the name "Enbrethiliel" into a sonnet. Hmmm ...
Ah, the reader exclaims; that's why dylan's been foisting all these fourteen-line misadventures in rhyme and metronomic meter upon us. The Cummings was the only decent one!
Be that as it may: I've even produced a sonnet with the word "Enchiridion" in it. Which, of course, I can't submit to the contest, lest it seem like I'm trying to curry favor with the judge. Nothing of the sort. Really. I just like pentasyllables that begin with "E"!
Maybe I'll work the name "Enbrethiliel" into a sonnet. Hmmm ...
This is kinda cute
The 5th Dimension as presenters at the '72 Grammys:
Part of the fun in seeing this for the first time was trying to predict who would win!
Part of the fun in seeing this for the first time was trying to predict who would win!
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