Blaise Cendrars
Treeclimbr
he is about?
___________________
Robert Pearson
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Dale Houstman
"Treeclimbr" <treec...@aol.comnospamma> wrote in message
news:20010625062450...@ng-ch1.aol.com...
> Anyone read much of his work? Can you give some notes on what
> he is about?
I've read a few things, and he is (in broad terms) a sort of Frenchified
(and thus more poetic) version of Hemingway in his manly virtues and sense
of adventure, sexual or otherwise. He makes no bones about thinking
surrealism is silly and empty in several of his books (although some of his
work strikes me as being that of a "fellow-traveler"), but I forgive him
because I don't feel particularly proprietarial about surrealism, and
because he is a very good read in himself. His poetry is uneven (I recommend
"The Trans-Siberian"), but his prose is superb. His book on Hollywood
(called - oddly - "Hollywood") is a fun thing, and are his books on "Dan
Yack." In essence, I think he more comfortably fits (if one is anxious to
find a niche) with the Cubists, and their "fragmentation of viewpoint" is
used in much of his work. He was rather prolific, and only had one hand.
dmh
john adams
"Dale Houstman" <dm...@citilink.com> wrote in message
>
> I've read a few things, and he is (in broad terms) a sort of Frenchified
> (and thus more poetic) version of Hemingway in his manly virtues and sense
> of adventure, sexual or otherwise. He makes no bones about thinking
> surrealism is silly and empty in several of his books (although some of his
> work strikes me as being that of a "fellow-traveler"), but I forgive him
> because I don't feel particularly proprietarial about surrealism, and
> because he is a very good read in himself. His poetry is uneven (I recommend
> "The Trans-Siberian"), but his prose is superb. His book on Hollywood
> (called - oddly - "Hollywood") is a fun thing, and are his books on "Dan
> Yack." In essence, I think he more comfortably fits (if one is anxious to
> find a niche) with the Cubists, and their "fragmentation of viewpoint" is
> used in much of his work. He was rather prolific, and only had one hand.
>
> dmh
I think that sounds pretty accurate (he had only one hand). With the other
he used to enjoy writing various what we would call texts, beginning to publish
them around 1914 or so and during his travels among the sea, and thus
being in some manner a bit of an arm to dada. I have the Blaise Cendrars,
Complete Poems, which has plenty to go around inside there.
Also I recall he faked some poetry written by someone else as a
joke, or whatever, but never really got the low down on that.
john
Dale Houstman
"john adams" <johnqa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:gU9_6.1831$vu4.2...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
I have it too - I have a friend who has made it a mission to provide me with
Christmas and birthday gifts that are always
French/surrealist/modernist.dada/etc. writers so I have a fairly good pile
of such things by now - and it is fun to read. I do prefer his prose: I read
one recently (and promptly forgot the title, although I think it's "Flying"
or something to that effect) and it is beautiful really, starting with an
odd tale about carrying several dozen exotic South American birds back to
France on a steamship. All the birds die along the way save one, which he
gives to a little girl he knows. From there we get reminisences of war
aviators and war experience in general and a very odd (and really tedious)
listing of saints who were reputed to fly or hover or bounce. There is a
marvelous description of the stars seen from a car as he drives across
country, and some strange business with a mythological spider which drops
from the ceiling of a rich man's house, and some movie star stories, etc. A
real treat all in all.
dmh
john adams
> I think that sounds pretty accurate (he had only one hand).
...arm I mean.
Dale Houstman
>
> > I think that sounds pretty accurate (he had only one hand).
>
> ...arm I mean.
The damage is worse than I thought! Send it back to the warehouse, and get
me a new one.
dmh
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