INVISIBLE CITIES -- Italo Calvino

Italo Calvino

I've done this a few times: start talking about a book before I finished it (Fever Dream, All the Pretty Horses, and Witch and Wizard come to mind).  This time, I needed a new book to take with me to my son's karate class (is it bad of me not to focus with more diligence and dedication?).  Last week I'd taken along a copy of Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray, but the novel didn't exactly "click," so I'll save it for another day.  Today, on the other hand, I grabbed Calvino's Invisible Cities, and what a pleasant surprise the first 25 pages were (I hardly saw a kick or heard an ai-yah!)!  I'm not going to get too into it here (most basically: Marco Polo's talking to Kublai Kahn about the cities of the latter's kingdom, the former describing without verbal language, but gesticulation, pantomime, and artifacts, while the monarch understanding through them experiencing, certainly, something else entirely, which experience of dramatic and accepted miscommunication is actually very similar in concept to some of the cities remarkably described by Polo -- hugely post modern and delightfully poetic), but it is pointedly similar to Lightman's Einstein's Dreams, and so similar, in fact, that I cannot imagine (and I've made similar connections before, but never with any certainty; this, I feel, must be certain) Lightman not having gained inspiration from Calvino.  I am terribly excited to read the rest of this brief "novel" (author and book-critic monster, Gore Vidal, wasn't content classifying this book as a novel, nor work, meditation, or poem, but a "marvelous invention") and am breaking off here and now to get back to it.

Stay tuned.

read Gore Vidal's essay on Italo Calvino's fictions here

Sunday Poetry XXVII -- TEXTBOOK POETRY 1

No matter the anthologies, not matter the publishers or editors, secondary ed. literature textbooks / anthologies pretty much always house the same short stories, novel excerpts, and plays as any other.  The pieces may get readjusted for grade level or shift focuses or be used in different contexts, and maybe something will get taken out--at least temporarily--or another author might get added, but but by and large this prosy stuff doesn't really change.  The poetry, on the other hand, shifts dramatically.  Over the next several weeks, I'm going to dig through the eight or nine secondary ed. lit. texts I've got on my shelves.  I'll open and close with the first and last poems printed in the each and fill the middle, hopefully, with a handful of poems I don't already know or that otherwise interest me.

ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE, first course

Holt, Rinehart, and Winston

1989

The Clouds Pass

Richard Garcia

The clouds pass in a blue sky

Too white to be true

Before winter sets in

The trees are spending all their money

I lie in gold

Above a green valley

Gold falls on my chest

I am a rich man.

The Tom-Cat

Don Marquis

At midnight in the alley

      A Tom-Cat comes to wail,

And he chants the hate of a million years

      As he swings his snaky tail.

Malevolent, Bony, brindled,

      Tiger and devil and bard,

His eyes are coals from the middle of Hell

      And his heart is black and hard.

He twists and crouches and capers

      And bares his curved sharp claws,

And he sings to the stars of the jungle nights

      Ere cities were, or laws.

Beast from the world primevil,

      He and his leaping clan,

When the blotched red moon leers over the roofs,

      Gives voice to their scorn of man.

He will lie on a rug tomorrow

      And lick his silky fur,

And veil the brute in his yellow eyes

      And play he’s tame, and purr.

But at midnight in the alley

      He will crouch again and wail,

And beat the time for his demon’s song

      With the swing of his demon’s tail.

The Shepherd’s Hut

Andrew Young

The smear of blue peat smoke

That staggered on the wind and broke,

The only sign of life,

Where was the shepherd’s wife,

Who left those flapping clothes to dry,

Taking no thoughts for her family?

For, as they bellied out

And limbs took shape and waved about,

I thought, She little knows

That ghosts are trying on her children’s clothes.

A Word

Emily Dickinson

A word is dead

When it is said,

      Some say.

I say it just

Begins to live

      That day.

The Objection to Being Stepped On

Robert Frost

At the end of the row

I stepped on the toe

Of an unemployed hoe.

It rose in offense

And struck me a blow

In the seat of my sense.

It wasn’t to blame

But I called it a name.

And I must say it dealt

Me a blow that I felt

Like malice prepense.

You may call me a fool,

but was there a rule

The weapon should be

Turned into a tool?

And what do we see?

The first tool I step on

Turned into a weapon.

KIM VII -- chapter 4.1: A Second Son at Least!

"On the Road"

stop reading at: "He was nearly asleep when the lama suddenly quoted a proverb: 'The husbands of the talkative have a great reward hereafter.' Then Kim heard him snuff thrice, and dozed off, still laughing."

1. age-old question: The Lama's situation reminds me of a theme from the Agent Pendergast novel (Lincoln/Child) I just finished reading.  Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss, inasmuch as the truth--or the process of gaining it--is so potentially painful.  Is the Lama better off in the dark regarding, or ignorant of, the "real world" (he wonders whether Kim is a spirit or an evil imp) or to see it, experience it, and gain wisdom?  Is Kim better off as he is (he is, after all, an exceedingly happy and optimistic individual), or were he more like the Lama?  More broadly, I think about my children: is it better to protect them from the world that perhaps they may be happier for the lack of darkness thereof, or better off experiencing/observing as much of it as possible?
2. Along the same lines, Kim, particularly considering his so-terrene nickname, is worldly, while the Lama seeks apparently to avoid worldliness.  The word (and its derivations), "worldly," is pretty plastic in its application.  In its most obvious, Kim is in "the seventh heaven of happiness" as he passes along the Old Trunk Road, watching the world pass by below him, while the Lama keeps, essentially, his eyes and mind closed to all but his own meditations.  Any thoughts here?
3. The long descriptive paragraphs in the first few pages of this chapter are gorgeous--not necessarily in their prose, but in their subject and the details of which Kipling chooses to accent: a riot of color, life, creatures--animal and humans alike (and how appropriately so!) --sin and piety, caste and race.  What is your impression of life around the Old Trunk Road?
4. (Is it just me, or is there a taste of Dickens about this book: the orphan, the bustling city...?)
5. I'm interested in the tonal arc of this chapter and how the ambient activity and light/dark reflect in the mood of the day's inhabitants.

KIM VI -- chapter 3.2: I Do Not Pester Them

the old soldier

starting reading at: "'Certainly the air of this country is good,' said the lama. 'I sleep lightly, as do all old men; but last night I slept unwaking till broad day. Even now I am heavy.'"


(I didn't think of this until just now:) We've briefly covered another pilgrimage--another type of pilgrimage--on the blog: that of the Japanese hyohakusha.  In this case, Basho is the master and his travelling companion, Sora, is the chela.  While both Buddhist (Lama and Basho--regarding the latter, I'm assuming), Kim's master is on a religious quest, while Basho's is more of personal, spiritual enlightenment.  Is there a difference?  What draws mankind to quest and pilgrimage?  My family is moving across the country this summer, and I can already smell the asphalt of the road, and it is exciting!  The "pilgrimage" seems to be as multifaceted as the symbolism of rivers.  Thoughts?

1. I love the comparison of the Lama to the camel.  Maybe it's just the westerner in me, but it seems remarkably indicative of not only gate but demeanor.  More than that there is also the element of a camel's use in travelling long distances.
2. "Delhi is the navel of the world."  Hmm, how many such navels are there across the globe?
3. "I have never pestered them: I do not think they will pester me."
4. Matthew 13:42 -- "I have noticed in my long life that those who eternally break in upon Those Above with complaints and reports and bellowings and weepings are presently sent for in haste, as our colonel used to send for slack-jawed down-country men who talked too much."
5. Why is longing for the past, according to the Lama (or anyone else for that matter), weakness?
6. Narratively speaking, what is the point of showing the episode with the old soldier?  (Though I haven't read it, the old soldier reminds me a little of the bumbling Don Quixote.)

Regarding the Rosary
This is a handful of cardamoms,
This is a lump of ghi:
This is millet and chillies and rice,
A supper for thee and me!

Wednesday's for Kids XXIII -- DOUG TENNAPEL (woo-hoo!)

from Ghostopolis

For kids a little older than I usually address here (and this week I'm trying to make up a bit for my tardiness the last couple entries), I present the great Doug TenNapel, graphic novelist (he does other stuff, but I'm pretty much only familiar with the books) and certifiable nutcase.

In the collage below are all the books of his which I've read, some of which I proudly own and all of which I highly recommend (those who are both interested and astute may recognize the absence of one of his novels, which will here remain nameless, and which I don't recommend, for personal moral reasons) and are here in a sort of organization:  Down the left hand side are the books I've read and in rough order of best (Creature Tech, which I've mentioned here before) at the top to the least, yet-still-totally awesome (Flink) at the near bottom, followed by three titles I haven't gotten to yet (lack of personal funds are a particular obstacle when the local libraries don't bother carrying this man's stuff, which, by the way, is hilarious, adventurous, beautifully drawn, witty in language and plot, absolutely ridiculous, absurd, and often drawing in theme from everything from Christian mythology and American History to popular current movies and other books), which I eagerly anticipate.  The big one on the right, Ghostopolis (which is in preparatory phases for film adaptation by Hugh Jackman, Disney, and others--crazy cool, if it actually happens), I just read today while "team teaching" (which fairly amounts to nothing save sitting in the back of another teacher's classroom while that teacher obstinately ignores you) for an English teacher, and I enjoyed it thoroughly--the book, not the "team teaching."  Always a fast read, a rushing escape, and, well, I'll say it again, laden with beautiful and surprisingly kinetic illustrations.

KIM V -- chapter 3.1: The Meaning of My Star is War

Indian Cobra -- wikipedia

stop at: "and Kim had enjoyed a most interesting evening with the old man, who brought out his cavalry sabre and, balancing it on his dry knees, told tales of the Mutiny and young captains thirty years in their graves, till Kim dropped off to sleep."

1. The Lama's statement, "We go from these unblessed fields," reads like a passive-aggressive, not to mention rather whiny, gripe against the farmer, yet the farmer takes it as an actual curse from a man who is "Holy" (priest) in a religion not his own, and he believes the malediction will damage the prospects of his establishment.  Why does he so believe?
2. As the farmer judged Kim and the Lama upon their trespass to his land, did not the Lama similarly so judge the farmer (yet he manages to observe the snake charitably!)?  What is your judgment on the Lama (for this or for any other reason)?  What does he tell us--think about Lama's judgment on farmer versus judgment on snake--about human nature?
3. Grand Trunk Road
4. "Then, if thy Gods will, be assured that thou wilt come upon thy freedom."  Describe the nature of this particular brand of freedom.
5. Is Kim more likely to attract belief from his audience, as he foretells of coming war, by imitating a bazaar fortuneteller or by speaking baldly of how he came across such information?
6. "This is a great and terrible world.  I never knew there were so many man alive in it."

I'm still having a hard time "getting" a lot of the story.  Now, however, I seem to be over the hurdle of filtering cultural references, culling for those most important and looking them up, but am often stymied by Kipling's narrative stylings.  It is always enriching to immerse oneself in something so, well, not new, but different.  If you're reading this, please let me know what you think thus far of the book and its author.

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON and PRESTON/CHILD

"The Carolina Parrot,"
by John James Audubon

I just now noticed, flitting over to Google.com for a moment to look something up, that today is the birthday of John James Audubon.  Normally, I don't take more than passing note of whoever's birthday it is that Google happens to be celebrating on any given day, however, this time, it happens to coincidentally coincide with the popcorn novel I'm currently reading, Fever Dream, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, who are, as it happens, my favorite popcorn novelists.

(I've been reading the Preston/Child books for so long--sheesh, something like fifteen years now--that opening their newest Pendergast novel is a little like a reunion with old friends, my two personal favorites of which are, of course, Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast, FBI, and Lieutenant Vinnie D'Agosta, NYPD.  As far as the books themselves are concerned, and with the slight exception of a very few missteps on the authors' parts, the stories are fast, fun, gripping, and surprisingly literary.)

The plot of this particular contribution to the series is bent around the late, great John James Audubon and his treatment of the Carolina Parrot, as well as a lost painting of his called "The Black Frame," so-called because no one knows it's actual subject and, which, if you're interested, is an invention of the authors.  As you read this very post (anyone, anyone?) I'm nearing the end of the book (trying to slow down and savor it, for it will be another year or more before their next effort is released in paperback), which happens to be their best in quite a few years.  And as before (I'm thinking particularly of one piano composer and savant, Charles-Valentin Alkan), the authors have sparked in me interest in an area, albeit highly specialized, where I'd previously only spent little time.

Regardless of plot and the "literariness" of this particularly esoteric popcorn, the birds and wildlife of Mr. Audubon are fascinating, and, nostalgically speaking, have always held company in my memory and imagination with Norman Rockwell, as  both painters were on regular display via gigantic coffee table books at my grandparents' homes.

an excellent online gallery for John James Audubon