tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491665605856687498.post4917023655110044207..comments2023-08-03T03:04:00.350-07:00Comments on Bryan Ray: Wrote when down about six, yea, seven thingsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491665605856687498.post-43810682444971648752017-01-10T11:14:07.744-08:002017-01-10T11:14:07.744-08:00I totally share your opinions, both con and pro, a...I totally share your opinions, both con <i>and</i> pro, about “the old virtual dumping grounds.” Sometimes I feel like I’ve developed a genuine allergy to computer interfaces. But even as annoying as it is to have to restrict oneself to these geek-fashioned posting formats, the badness is far outweighed by the goodness of friendship. <br /><br />Yes, and Celine’s <i>Journey</i> was beyond my highest expectations. Which is saying something, because my expectations were sky-high! for the only assessment I knew of was your own, and you spoke of it as the best novel of last century. I was skeptical going into it, but now that I’ve read it, I agree wholeheartedly that <i>Journey</i> deserves that level of praise: the book has something miraculous about it. I kept thinking that I must have stumbled upon a really fine translation, because the writing is so ALIVE. I have an alternate old blog that I now use as a quotation diary to copy passages from whatever books I’m reading – I keep it mostly for quick reference, for future citations (they’re easy to retrieve: I just add a slash to the blog address and the word “tagged” and then another slash and a name, for instance “Celine”, like so: <a href="https://bryanray444.tumblr.com/tagged/Celine" rel="nofollow">https://bryanray444.tumblr.com/tagged/Celine</a>) – where I accumulated a lengthy screen-scroll of <i>Journey</i> clippings. <br /><br />Yeah and regarding this being his best book: that makes sense to me – I can’t imagine someone being able to REPEAT this degree of success. It’s the type of artwork that only happens when all the stars AND the planets AND the satellites align with the monolith. <br /><br />One small note on Jarry. If you check out his work and like it, of course I’ll feel lucky; but I shy away from telling any fellow writer what to read, let alone you who are obviously in sync with the greats already. Certain books or authors seem right to recommend, because they’re universal (Shakespeare, Whitman, the King James Bible, Montaigne, the Athenian dramatists), and then other works I fall in love with for reasons that I suspect are less surely “transferrable,” more personal: that’s what Alfred Jarry is for me; he appeals to my bias for strangeness, for loose wildness, for the exuberant-to-the-point-of-being-nearly-obscure. That’s an acquired taste perhaps, which not everyone shares (I’m not sure how “far gone” you are, and so I’m erring on the side of over-caution). Without hesitation I’d say Kafka is more important (he’s holy scripture to me), so, perusing his work, you’re already in the best presence possible, especially since you add that phrase “auf Deutsch”! ...But, if you’re still interested in checking out Jarry after all my hem-haw caveats, then I’ll say, for whatever it’s worth, that my favorite of his varied works is the posthumously published ‘neo-scientific novel’ (which I read in Simon Watson Taylor’s translation) called <i>Exploits and Opinions of Doctor Faustroll, Pataphysician</i>.Bryan Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11804120781497712479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491665605856687498.post-1060156506061838412017-01-09T13:06:25.899-08:002017-01-09T13:06:25.899-08:00One thing everyone should consider before joining ...One thing everyone should consider before joining any social media network is that by doing so you're going to piss away thousands of hours elsewhere, maybe even doing something productive. On the other hand, you might garner some 'likes' and comments and perhaps even praise, which will puff you up for a few seconds now and again, until you realize for one reason or other it was all superficial, i.e. 'sound and fury, signifying nothing.' Anyway, that's been my experience. Which isn't to say there aren't a few shining lights and kindred spirits in the old virtual dumping grounds. Our verbindung (connection), as the good folk here in Deutschland like to say, is a testament to that. So it can't be a complete waste! BTW, I hope you liked Celine. Journey is his best book. Not too impressed with the others I've read. Gonna have to check out Monsieur Jarry based on yr rec. First tho am attempting Kafka auf Deutsch. M.P. Powershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02499122120382228818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491665605856687498.post-89440303557119081712017-01-08T16:01:55.734-08:002017-01-08T16:01:55.734-08:00Ah thanks again man, always great to hear from you...Ah thanks again man, always great to hear from you! Yeah, build that machine and we'll be TOO prolific: the angriest dogs in the world!! I think a lot about the fact that, among our shared literary heroes, most of them wrote before the advent of instant media: even before radio. Tho I'm not an all-out Luddite, most days it's hard not to see that as a luxury. ...Yeah, and I'm equal parts resentful and at peace with FB and the other networks; I really just wish I were important enough to have a media team of my own: a posse of interns to do all the online stuff for me. ...& I like Instagram: it's nice, easy, minimal, comfortable - I love seeing your pics & captions there - I'm still limited to just liking/commenting; and I know what I gotta do to be able to actually POST there from my laptop, but I keep getting sidetracked from installing the damn software, cuz when it comes to that kind of thing I'm zero-energy. But I'll take another stab at it now... at least till my mad dog fire my stoic one out!Bryan Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11804120781497712479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491665605856687498.post-67725291749215059952017-01-08T02:53:03.362-08:002017-01-08T02:53:03.362-08:00There needs to be a machine invented that converts...There needs to be a machine invented that converts anger into art. I'm sick of doing it the old analog way. Nice essay, B. And I am with you, as I'm sure you know, about FB. It's not in my nature not to detest that place. Instagram's only slightly better... if you remember to keep your horse blinders on most the time, which I'm pretty good about. M.P. Powershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02499122120382228818noreply@blogger.com