but, best of all, this arrived while I was away ...
"I have no sky. Sometimes the ground seems tenuous. But composition remains an enjoyment." (Keith Waldrop, 'A Matter of Collage')
*
A morning spent pottering about, catching up on Blogs, leafing through books, making coffee, talking to the cats, making more coffee ... What astronauts used to call decompression, I suppose.
2 comments:
Good to have you back, O Carpenter, and many many thanks for the Sticky Pages.
I love the feel of them – the signatures (and dedications), etc. Surely part of the fun of it is stating the date on which it was printed and where – making the writing a material act – like Trieste-Zurich-Paris 1914-1921.
Hampton Armpit was marvellous. I liked “His infamous concentration crushed earth and plant”, “Luxembourg was unsuitable at this hour” and the section “Down below...first editions.” I’ve been trying to work out your method...? Anyway, I must know what happened next... I was reminded of Edward Gorey with a dash of Saki. And where did you find the cover image – did you take the photo yourself?
Loved the cover of Earful Symmetries. As the terrible (so bad it’s good) pun of the title suggests, it’s a playful book. I was impressed by your ear for the sounds words make – “annexe the excess of Francesca’s vest” is my favourite, and there is a special beauty about “substancelessness”. I’ve seen these on the blog, I think, but even better on the page.
Material Comforts is the important work here, I feel... a philosophical journey as much as anything: “Matter is / the ability to / reflect. [...] The other side. / Where I’m / thought.” It’s quite impressionistic too (“Sunday was alive / with birds”...”Extractors. Drains. / A rag left / over”). I really liked the effect of double columns in VII. What’s that – a bit of Verdi in VIII? It struck me I’d like to hear these read aloud – can’t you do that on your magic phone camera thing? I liked these poems a lot. There’s a very distinct sensibility behind them: alive to its surroundings and not suffering from life but alert intellectually to the absence in presence. Pretentious enough for you? Anyway, Material Comforts. It’ll be worth a fortune one day...
So what next for the Carpenter?
As for Bergsonism, did you catch Toby Litt in the New Statesman?
http://www.newstatesman.com/books/
2009/08/bergsonism-philosophy-space
All the best,
Walrus
Hi
These are kind & v. encouraging words.
As I've got an e-mail for you now I'm wondering whether we should/could shift this discussion onto another channel? At least for certain topics?
You've probably gathered that I'm rethinking what the Blog is for & whether it'd be best simply to use it & the Sticky Pages site as a way of distributing new work. Time & energy might be better spent?
I'm really pleased that you get a buzz off the little books themselves - that was something I'd hoped would come across. Text on screen or quickly printed off just doesn't have that 'object' status. That said, I don't want to get too exquisite about it all. Icky sticky pages, after all! (I'm thinking of doing postcards, too - quickies).
I'm glad, too, that you think Material Comforts is the main act (though I'm rather interested that Earful was the warm up and Hampton popped up in the wings. Odd. Do one thing & two more emerge). It owes Keith Waldrop a massive amount - I'd prefer to discuss this via e-mail, though. (A further project is to put notes I was making during the two-week writing out as a little volume in itself - maybe even a Part Two to Riddles of Form).
As for Bergsonism - you got it in one. I read Toby Litt's article the day we arrived. It lingered in the back of my mind & surfaced when I was down in the Norrington Room in Blackwells Oxford. I ummed and ahhed a bit & then thought if I don't buy it now I'll be logging into Amazon as soon as I get back. Love the sugar lump idea.
So far I've had a couple of requests for copies - otherwise I've sent some out to people who I think might be interested or that I want to thank in one way or another.
Much more to say - but let me know your thoughts on establishing a 'back channel'.
Cheers
The C.
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