I’m reading late (again!), but sending hugs. So sorry about P.B. ❤️ Saying goodbye is never easy. Sounds like Ani arrived just when you needed each other.
They bring their true selves, no duplicity, no guile. They then precede us into the great beyond, leave us bereft of their company. The only thing to do is to find a new one to serve, as you did.
I must say I'm getting tired of measuring works by the weaknesses of their creators, though. My father was painter and loved to have everyone interpret as they will. He even signed paintings both ways so they could be hung horizontally or vertically. Learning that Gunter Grass or Emil Nolde were Nazis doesn't change their work but does put me on alert for questionable messages, like Nolde's Viking paintings meant to impress Nazis and his and his biographer's post war lies. But his other stuff is still bold and beautiful. On the other hand, I hated the development of deconstruction criticism at Yale and it made sense to find out that the guy who spearheaded it was formerly a Nazi and no doubt liked having validation for erasing memory, history, and common sense.
Still thinking about this. Last night I started Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet for the second or third time. The language and atmosphere of Justine drew me in, but then something put me off: the narrator's pretentious, we-were-all-victims-of-fate pose. He portrays the city of Alexandria as having more agency than the people in it. It started to give me the creeps. So I took a detour and wasn't surprised to read that Durrell himself was the kind of abusive bully who blamed everyone but himself for his behavior: "Obsessively jealous, Durrell knocked his wife downstairs, called her a ‘dirty Jew’... and either ignored her when with their friends or squashed any timid utterance she made with, ‘Why don’t you shut up?’" Charming! It's true, we can't measure art by its flawed creators, but artists' lives can help us understand their work and put it in perspective. And now I don't feel bad about ditching Justine.
I totally agree that we get windows into work quirks when we know something of the author, but best of all is that it validated something you already felt. Sad when interviews focus on the author instead of the work and people think they know all about the work without really engaging with it. I once took a class from Jerzy Kosinski who used to lie and feint about himself so as to get people to ignore his life and focus on his works!
In June, i went to a writing conference where one of the instructors recommended Alexandria Quartet for its evocation of setting but from what you say, it sounds imbalanced & creepy.
Tthe evocation of setting really is powerful -- some of the descriptions of Alexandria are stunning. It's just the "setting as main character" part that felt creepy to me, along with the ways he portrays female characters--e.g., repeatedly calling Justin "masculine" for having ideas in her head. I cut writers of past eras a lot of slack for gender notions, but...bleh.
I’m reading late (again!), but sending hugs. So sorry about P.B. ❤️ Saying goodbye is never easy. Sounds like Ani arrived just when you needed each other.
Thanks so much, Maria. <3 She really did. Sometimes the best balm for grief is taking care of somebody else.
They bring their true selves, no duplicity, no guile. They then precede us into the great beyond, leave us bereft of their company. The only thing to do is to find a new one to serve, as you did.
Yes. Rescuing another animal is the surest balm for grief.
Thank you for writing--and sharing--this smart, hopeful elegy. I also think I needed that Kinnell poem today, exactly.
That poem has enfolded me with comfort many times!
Great story. Best of luck with Ani. I hope the two get along soon! In high school German class, we read Rilke, one of my favorites.
Thanks, Ed! I think it will work out. I still love the poems though the man Rilke was, like many poets, a bounder.
I must say I'm getting tired of measuring works by the weaknesses of their creators, though. My father was painter and loved to have everyone interpret as they will. He even signed paintings both ways so they could be hung horizontally or vertically. Learning that Gunter Grass or Emil Nolde were Nazis doesn't change their work but does put me on alert for questionable messages, like Nolde's Viking paintings meant to impress Nazis and his and his biographer's post war lies. But his other stuff is still bold and beautiful. On the other hand, I hated the development of deconstruction criticism at Yale and it made sense to find out that the guy who spearheaded it was formerly a Nazi and no doubt liked having validation for erasing memory, history, and common sense.
Still thinking about this. Last night I started Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet for the second or third time. The language and atmosphere of Justine drew me in, but then something put me off: the narrator's pretentious, we-were-all-victims-of-fate pose. He portrays the city of Alexandria as having more agency than the people in it. It started to give me the creeps. So I took a detour and wasn't surprised to read that Durrell himself was the kind of abusive bully who blamed everyone but himself for his behavior: "Obsessively jealous, Durrell knocked his wife downstairs, called her a ‘dirty Jew’... and either ignored her when with their friends or squashed any timid utterance she made with, ‘Why don’t you shut up?’" Charming! It's true, we can't measure art by its flawed creators, but artists' lives can help us understand their work and put it in perspective. And now I don't feel bad about ditching Justine.
I totally agree that we get windows into work quirks when we know something of the author, but best of all is that it validated something you already felt. Sad when interviews focus on the author instead of the work and people think they know all about the work without really engaging with it. I once took a class from Jerzy Kosinski who used to lie and feint about himself so as to get people to ignore his life and focus on his works!
In June, i went to a writing conference where one of the instructors recommended Alexandria Quartet for its evocation of setting but from what you say, it sounds imbalanced & creepy.
Tthe evocation of setting really is powerful -- some of the descriptions of Alexandria are stunning. It's just the "setting as main character" part that felt creepy to me, along with the ways he portrays female characters--e.g., repeatedly calling Justin "masculine" for having ideas in her head. I cut writers of past eras a lot of slack for gender notions, but...bleh.
I don't know how this works but maybe we could cross-post a conversation about this!
Jody, I am very sorry to hear about P. B. I am glad you found solace in Ani.
Roscoe, my Chihuahua, gave me solace after Bear died.
Thanks, Caroline. I'm sorry for your loss, too, and glad that you and Roscoe could comfort each other.
Thanks.