tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post5469859894970623952..comments2024-03-19T21:14:01.007-07:00Comments on The Compass Rose: Jones Very Early & LateCurtis Favillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-41029053424687996582015-03-29T14:54:08.537-07:002015-03-29T14:54:08.537-07:00This is better than the drek he wrote later.This is better than the drek he wrote later.Kirby Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05952289700191142943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-76351352128112420132011-10-23T11:13:07.699-07:002011-10-23T11:13:07.699-07:00Yes.Yes.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-63166617002404424332011-10-23T10:59:22.083-07:002011-10-23T10:59:22.083-07:00I take it the heading of the post is itself a lite...I take it the heading of the post is itself a literary allusion?<br /><br />Jones Very<br /><br />Born October 28, 1813<br />Salem, Massachusetts<br />Died May 8, 1880 (aged 66)<br />Occupation Essayist, poet and mystic<br />Nationality American<br />Alma mater Harvard University<br />Literary movement Transcendentalism<br />Notable work(s) Essays and Poems (1839)<br />Jones Very (August 28, 1813 - May 8, 1880) was an American essayist, poet, clergymen, and mystic associated with the American Transcendentalism movement. He was known as a scholar of William Shakespeare and many of his poems were Shakespearean sonnets. He was well-known and respected amongst the Transcendentalists, though he had a mental breakdown early in his career.<br /><br />WikipediaCraighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05061304265345986242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-42040933804456304952011-10-23T07:33:58.815-07:002011-10-23T07:33:58.815-07:00Dear Anon:
Let me respond to two things you presu...Dear Anon:<br /><br />Let me respond to two things you presumed here about my post. <br /><br />First, there's no point in comparing my work with his, or trying to rate the relative values of either. Literature isn't a contest in which only poets can criticize poets, and only poets of equal or superior credentials get to criticize each other. Criticism is practiced by everyone, and that goes for you too. <br /><br />Nothing in my post would suggest that I disrespect Jones/Baraka, though you could infer that I've disagreed with a number of his political positions over the years. But, again, it isn't his politics I'm after. <br /><br />In terms of consequences, Jones/Baraka had much greater promise, circa 1960, than most writers at that point, and certainly more promise than 99% of the African American writers. The renunciations and unexpected turns he took in the ensuing years may not have been a fulfillment of that promise. I admired Jones's work in his first two collections, and that admiration hasn't changed over the years. But when he decided to "take sides" in the late 1960's, I think it did a disservice to his own potential as a writer. We could argue endlessly about the values of his later poetry, but in my view, in terms of my taste, his work got lost. Rather than condemn that, I chose to praise what I liked about his poetry. <br /><br />There's nothing tragic about my destiny. I have no reputation, and no success, and no one will note my passing. I am not disappointed, or disgruntled, or jealous. <br /><br />I merely offer my opinion about LeRoi Jones's early poetry. It was good stuff, for reasons that I try to make clear in my brief essay.<br /><br />You try to make race an issue, whereas I haven't. Interesting. <br /><br />Thanks for the comment. <br /><br />Warm regards.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-17277865011857160822011-10-22T23:18:16.858-07:002011-10-22T23:18:16.858-07:00It's revealing you refuse him the courtesy of ...It's revealing you refuse him the courtesy of calling him by his own name, insisting on calling him a name he hasn't been known by for 40 years.<br /><br />You, a white middle-class poet, judge Baraka as having a 'tragic destiny', but I would see your own as far more tragic. You have not been the spokespoet of your constituency with anything remotely like the passion and focus of this, in my opinion, superior poet.<br /><br />You come across as thinking poetry is about earnest declarations of American solidarity, a dissapointed poet whose work will not live beyond your death, whilst Baraka's I suspect, will.<br /><br />When he dies there will be a massive turnout testifying to his place in the world, but your own funeral will not.<br /><br />Warm regards. <br /><br />Maria Peterson.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-27471356422563062692011-10-22T16:51:21.799-07:002011-10-22T16:51:21.799-07:00he's a political writer-- that's one of hi...he's a political writer-- that's one of his central themes, if not THE main one. Not my fave writer but...that was his game (along with racial concerns which you also mostly overlook). So your approach is about like reading..say Orwell, but saying..."Im looking at his style but not interested in his political themes at all." Odd, isn't it CF.1000 Names of Vishnunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-56170083979042021222011-10-22T09:00:28.876-07:002011-10-22T09:00:28.876-07:00I wasn't interested in reviewing Baraka's ...I wasn't interested in reviewing Baraka's politics. The record of that is there for everyone to review. <br /><br />My interest was part biographical, and part literary. The early poems are, in my mind, his best. Why?<br /><br />Because there you have him speculating and testing out his feelings openly, with less of a political bias.<br /><br />That's what's interesting--seeing how his best work is the earliest, and what it tells about his nature. The rest of his life is a proof or a denial of that beginning.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-76735762512082044302011-10-22T03:15:02.405-07:002011-10-22T03:15:02.405-07:00You sort of overlooked Baraka's politics. He i...You sort of overlooked Baraka's politics. He is/was anti-capitalist not just a "black writer" . In a recent interview he said something interesting: <br /><br /><i>Everything that Shakespeare wrote was against the rulers in that particular age. In Julius Caesar he wrote about the relationship between government and the people. The Taming of the Shrew was about the oppression of women and Hamlet is about the development of liberalism.<br /><br />So when you can understand that Shakespeare is dealing with the elimination of the whole aristocratic class in that period you see that all the things he talks about are things that we will have to deal with under capitalism for the rest of our lives</i><br /><br />I sort of agree. The PBS, Tory productions of shakespeare misss out on the political dimensions of the plays, which are usually anti-aristocratic.1000 Names of Vishnunoreply@blogger.com