(no subject)

[rozk]

When I was but a wee thing of 20 or so, one of my holiest of holy books was this. The fucked-up politically complex Tsvetaeva was a heroine and was my personal doomed icon - I loved these translations too.

At a party tonight, I joined a friend at a table where she was talking to an elderly lady and I was introducted to Elaine Feinstein, the translator - a pretty good poet in her own right. I am afraid I gushed at her, quite a lot. On the other hand, I suspect that I may have been - even at a very literary party - the only admirer of hers there. So shit on being cool and reserved.

What shall I do, singer and first-born, in a
world where the deepest black is grey,
and inspiration is kept in a thermos?
with all this immensity
in a measured world?
(from 'The Poet', trans. by Elaine Feinstein)

Comments

[shutters-i.livejournal.com]

Gosh, for once I beat you to the acquaintance punch! I was at uni in the mid-'80s with Nicole Ward Jouve's daughter, who invited me a few times chez Feinstein. Arnold F. wasn't an easy person to be around even when he was being outgoing, and I can easily believe that his depressive phases were (as reported) the blackest of the black; Elaine had the considerable resources and acuity of perspective necessary to maintain an impressive identity of her own in such a microclimate. Alas, on the one occasion when I've seen one of her plays - a revival of "Lear's Daughters" - the production wasn't up to the material.

[peterallison.livejournal.com]

Hi Roz,

Their is no need to apologise for being honest in your appreciation, far too often the need to be cool and reserved comes across as being simply rude.

Also, I have just found your journal, and wished to say how much I enjoyed reading (and rereading) From Alien to The Matrix: Reading Science Fiction Movies. I found the book to be an incredibly insightful read into some of my favourite movies (I have often cited Strange Days as being one of the genre's finest movies - Angela Basset was fantastic in that role).

I would love to know if you have similarly critiqued Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium?

[rozk.livejournal.com]

No, sorry, I still haven't even seen Equilibrium though I know I should - busy with the companion volume on fantasy films...

[peterallison.livejournal.com]

I shall look forward to reading the companion fantasy volume (even though I generally far prefer SF - although there are exceptions: ie Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains), as Reading SF was such a fun read (I especially enjoyed your justifiably disparaging critique of Starship Troopers). Oh, and I sincerely recommend Equilibrium.