Archives for April 2007

“No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.”

Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic

In this week’s “Sightings” column, which appears in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, I take up the interesting case of the digitized “re-performance” of Glenn Gould’s 1955 recording of the Goldberg Variations that is about to be released by Sony Classical. (You can read more here about the technology used to make this recording.) Yes, it’s convincing–but what does it say about our musical culture when we become so obsessed with old records and dead performers that we lose sight of the here and now?

For the answer, pick up a copy of tomorrow’s Journal and turn to the “Pursuits” section.

A brief catalog of recent enthusiasms, artistic and otherwise:

1. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. I’ve owned this book since high school and it’s accompanied through the years, to New England, New York, Chicago, and everywhere I’ve lived for shorter stretches. But I hadn’t read it until last month, when I was driven to it by reading one too many of the glowing reviews of Zachary Leader’s new Amis biography, soon to be available here in the States. Now I wonder what took me so long, especially given the book’s giant reputation. And, large though it may be, the reputation doesn’t even do the book full justice; it credits the main veins of mordant humor and hilarious disaffection that run through it, but not necessarily Jim’s genuine and affecting vulnerability. For the sake of those of you who have not yet indulged in Sir Kingsley’s first and most famous work, I’ll forgo discussing the fairly bizarre ending other than to say that it gives every indication of belonging in a different book, though in a way more interesting than detrimental.

2. Knitting with Malabrigo kettle-dyed worsted wool yarns from Uruguay. Before I started knitting three months ago, I hadn’t the faintest idea how seductive yarn could be–potent little bunches of pure color, texture, inspiration. Knitting shopping rocks, and knitting itself is not far behind.

3. The Lives of Others: Finally caught up with the much ballyhooed film about artists under surveillance in 1980s East Germany, and it’s just as good as everyone says. While it’s fantastically illuminating of the endlessly variegated ways of being a loyal or a skeptical subject of the state, its main achievement is a personal portrait of a soul in flux. That portrait sits quietly alongside the sometimes noisy melodrama involving the other characters, a drama in which it’s certainly implicated but from which it’s essentially separate. I left the movie theater with E. M. Forster echoing in my head: Only connect.

4. What else? Playoff hockey.

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway and off-Broadway shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more information, click on the title.

Warning: Broadway shows marked with an asterisk were sold out, or nearly so, last week.

BROADWAY:
• Avenue Q* (musical, R, adult subject matter and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)
• A Chorus Line* (musical, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• Company (musical, PG-13/R, adult subject matter and situations, reviewed here)
• The Drowsy Chaperone* (musical, G/PG-13, mild sexual content and a profusion of double entendres, reviewed here)
• Salvage (The Coast of Utopia, part 3)* (drama, PG-13, nudity and adult subject matter, reviewed here, closes May 13)
• Shipwreck (The Coast of Utopia, part 2)* (drama, PG-13, nudity and adult subject matter, reviewed here, closes May 12)
• Talk Radio (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee* (musical, PG-13, mostly family-friendly but contains a smattering of strong language and a production number about an unwanted erection, reviewed here)
• Voyage (The Coast of Utopia, part 1)* (drama, G, too complicated for children, reviewed here, closes May 12)

OFF BROADWAY:
• The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children old enough to enjoy a love story, reviewed here)

“Prose exists to convey meaning, and no meaning such as prose conveys can be expressed as well in poetry. That is not poetry’s business.”

Basil Bunting (courtesy of Anecdotal Evidence)

“The retelling of the story of a novel, the summary of an historical or philosophical book, the selection of representative passages and the attempt to communicate the quality of a poet, is the most boring part of the reviewer’s business, but it is an absolutely essential part. The reader should be given a chance to judge whether or not he would be interested in the book, irrespective of what the reviewer may think of it; and it is an indispensable discipline for the reviewer, or any critic, to give the gist of the book in his own words. The reviewer, when he sets about this task, is quite likely to find that there is more in the book, or less in it, or something different in it, than he imagined when he first went through it. If the author is incoherent or woolly, the critic will be able to detect it. If the reviewer is incompetent, his incompetence will be evident to his more acute readers when they find out he cannot tell them what is in the book.”

Edmund Wilson, “The Literary Worker’s Polonius”

“I laid out the cards and began playing solitaire. Jim sketched. I thought of Uncle Roger, who was footing the bill: what I had said to him that day eight years ago, when he promised to give me my freedom and asked me what I was going to do with it? I’d said I wanted to stay out late and eat whatever I liked anytime I wanted to. And I wanted to meet people I hadn’t been introduced to. And I wanted to guess right…

“I looked around the Prefecture in the morning light. It was cold; I shivered. The paraffin stove that was supposed to heat the room had gone out and smelled awful. Everyone concerned was asleep; Jim, the Corsicans, even the guard was dozing. Was I fulfilling my childhood dreams? Well, I’d certainly stayed out late and eaten what I liked. And I was meeting people I hadn’t been introduced to. That was for sure. In at least two cases–Jim and Crazy Eyes–I had guessed right.

“I was now more or less in jail.

“Uncle Roger, I thought, you can’t say I’m not trying.”

Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

I’m severely frazzled from excessive deadline-related activity, so I’m taking the week off from the blog (except for the usual almanac entries and theater-related postings). Instead of lucubrating about the world of art, I plan to spend a few days unwinding at one of my Secure Undisclosed Locations. E-mail received in my absence will go unanswered until my return, so don’t bug me!

Our Girl has promised to keep the ball rolling for the remainder of the week. Inundate her with encouraging words, please.

See you next Monday.