Stan Kelly-Bootle:
Michael Antman’s review of TOoL seems the most
percipient and evenly balanced of those I’ve seen so far... And I curse those
who impute evil motives in TOoL’s salvation. In some sad parallel universe, the
precious cards are reduced to ashes. In yet another, unbelievably, unworldly
Soviet utopia, a censored TOoL might come from a not-for-profit People’s Press,
with no nasty commercial marketing. PS on the following exchange:[...]* JM: A
symbolic, artsy and self-defeating "auto de fé"? I can only take Mark’s comment
as a sarcastic rebuke to those who urged DN to incinerate, but I’m not clear
whether Jansy takes Mark literally?
JM: You are right,
Stan. I took Mark's comments to the letter. I can perceive now that it was
most probably a rebuke. Mark might confirm it, there's no one else to
do this. At
first I spotted an irony, then I googled the name (An architect?
...a fleeting vision of ready-mades and Christus wrappings...A
lawyer?...noises of totemic banquets or the end of the Theban cycle) - and
decided against sarcasm, unlike you, passionately committed against those
who considered or recommended burning the cards.**
My position, until stronger arguments
force me to alter it, is that a lot of what's been happening has
been "staged"***.
Why auction off these specific cards
now? Are there no other available originals under the care of VN's
estate: Lolita's,Transparent Things's...?
The poet Cecília Meirelles wrote about a
rose: "I'm remembered because I waste away,/ For my unleaving makes me
endless." ( "E por perder-me é que me vão lembrando,/ por desfolhar-me é que não
tenho fim"). VN's cards are now shed but for me, even before that,
VN's work has been unending, a constant source of surprises.
There was no need for an exhumation
but, now it's been done, I'm glad to get a share.
..........................................................................................................................................
* -
James
Studdard: The common thread
running through most of the criticism is that the notes (and VN) would have
been better served (as Tom Stoppard suggested) being burned...I really am
confused by all this piffle.
Mark Bennett: The
matter seems straightforward to me: whoever buys the original note cards
should burn them.
JM: A
symbolic, artsy and self-defeating "auto de
fé"?
** - If you google the VN-List you'll find that, with a kind
of foresight, I was one who recommended TOoL to be published together
with a facsimile of the cards - but I incorrectly assumed it would
be restricted to scholarly publications ( I cannot hit the right keys
to obtain the information from the archives).
*** - One opal cloudlet in an
oval form/ Reflects the rainbow of a
thunderstorm/ Which in a distant valley
has been staged — / For we are most artistically
caged.(John Shade, PF)
btw, "sarcasm" is an apt word for
Wild's fleshy project...