The Polysyllabic Spree

Hornby, Nick. The Polysyllabic Spree.

Oh, yes, I know that you former readers have extolled the virtues of this little volume and that I'm late to join the throng. It is true, however, that Hornby's (notice that I am now spelling his name correctly) monthly columns in The Believer are marvelously funny and educational.


Here are some of the details from the columns that I particularly enjoyed:

• Hornby takes on "spare" writing. Very funny! Speaking of writer's writers whose writing is spare to the point of the minimum number of words required for a novel, Hornby says if you can reduce it to 70,000 words, why not 2o,ooo, and why stop there? Why write at all, he asks? Then he says that big fat airport books sell! And to quote him: "(And, conversely, the writer's writers, the pruners and the winnowers, tend to have to live off critical approval rather than royalty checks.)" I'm so with him on this!
  
• 13,000 characters! He then informs us that Dickens created 13,000 characters! My gosh, I don't know a fraction of that many people. Except, perhaps, through literature. How odd to realize I know so many more fictional people than real ones.
• Love his comments about "The Believers" and his having been summoned before a committee of "twelve rather eerie young men and women (six of each, naturally) all dressed in white robes and smiling maniacally" to be scolded for a snarky comment in his column. All tongue-in-cheek, but the references to The Believer staff always made me chuckle.
  

Short, funny, and a joy! Highly recommended.

Nonfiction. Literary Criticism? :) 2004. 140 pages.

An Old Argument

The first part of this article reviews a lot of the contentious arguments between book critics and bloggers that we've all heard before, but then moves on to some interesting points.

excerpts from Battle of the book reviews:

"Many believe there's a healthy synergy between the two (critics and bloggers). Maud Newton, who runs one of the more respected literary blogs (maudnewton.com), was puzzled by the idea that the two are somehow competing. "When bloggers disagree with or agree with an article about books in the mainstream press, it drives traffic to the newspaper," she said. The cutbacks at newspaper book reviews are unfortunate, but hardly the fault of bloggers."

and

"And although many newspaper reviews are shrinking, Dennis Loy Johnson — an independent publisher who started Moby Lives, one of the pioneering literary blogs — believes they continue to offer more solid content than most online efforts. "It's a dirty word in 2007, but blogs have not raised the level of intellectual discussion," he said. "Book blogging is for the most part book gossip and fresh commentary, or opinion. It's vital, but it's not true literary criticism."

I love reading reviews from other bloggers, but I certainly don't like the fact that newspapers are cutting their book editors and reviewers. The above quote is often true, most bloggers (certainly not all) are interested in book gossip (Who is reading what and does it sound good?), fresh commentary (Gosh, I read the book and didn't notice that --symbol, character, incident, allusion, etc.-- and it makes sense.), and opinion (Liked it. Hated it). This information is fun and informative and has expanded my reading horizons and pleasure. I don't believe it is anything to be ashamed of.


Yet I still want access to a professional critic's opinion, and newspapers are doing us all a great disservice by eliminating book coverage. There are some excellent sites on line for book information, including some excellent criticism, but newspaper coverage IS broader.

Break, Blow, Burn

Paglia, Camille. Break, Blow, Burn: Camille Paglia Reads Forty-three of the World's Best Poems. The introduction alone is worthy of publication. Paglia briefly touches on various critical approaches to poetry and notes that "Poststructuralism and crusading identity politics led to the gradual sinking in reputation of the premiere literature departments" across the country and, without apology, states that she finds "too much work by the most acclaimed poets labored, affected, and verbose, intended not to communicate with the general audience but to impress their fellow poets."

(I find the above statements a bit ironic, as Paglia herself has been an "identity politics" crusader with femininist criticism. My own preference is an amalgamation of most of the critical approaches, using whatever is appropriate. I like Jungian criticism mixed with traditional/biographical criticism, with a dash of whatever aids in appreciation of the work. I do agree with her statement, I just find the irony amusing.)

Paglia goes on to lament that she "was shocked at how weak individual poems have become over the past forty years." I agree with her that many contemporary poets have been guilty of "elevating process over form" and "treating their poems like meandering diary entries [crafted] for effect in live readings rather on the page."

The discussion of how Palgia decided on the 43 poems she includes is interesting and revealing. In the end, her selection of poems includes Shakespeare and the song lyrics of Joni Mitchell, and she discusses them line by line, in context, emphasizing the importance of word choice and the way in which the form of the poem contributes to its meaning.

Some choice phrases from the introduction:

"A good poem is iridescent and incandescent..."
"Reading a poem requires alert receptivity, perceptual openess, and intuition."
"Poems give birth to other poems.'
"Humanists must set an example: all literary criticism should be accessible to the general reader. Criticism at its bes it re-creative, not spirit-killing."

As Paglia proceeds from Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 ("That time of year thou mayst in me behold...") through her 43 poetic selections, she reveals each poem's iridescence and incandescence to the reader and makes each one accessible. This may sound easy, but if you've ever read poststructualist criticism, you know that making a poem accessible is quite a feat.

One reason I enjoyed this book so much is that she chose so many poems that I love. Another reason I enjoyed this book is because she introduced me to some new works--and helped me appreciate them.

Paglia includes a section of Biographical Notes on each poet because she believes that the text should not be "orphaned." A point with which I strongly agree; a poem is part and parcel of its creator and the times and situations in which it was conceived and crafted.

Nonfiction. Poetry/Criticism. 242 pages. 2005.