tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post6688627257868096364..comments2024-01-28T03:56:39.351-08:00Comments on TOM CLARK: Night Thoughts (Alfred Hayes: An Innocent in the Land of Eros)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-27850609969111906342012-08-07T20:02:33.436-07:002012-08-07T20:02:33.436-07:00"Of those who wrote about the ghosts of defea..."Of those who wrote about the ghosts of defeated ambitions populating the career graveyards of the sordid backstreets beyond the studio lots" -- for a slightly older perspective, I find the "classical novels" (the only ones I've read) of Mary Butts unputdownable. I've added Hayes to my must-read list.larry whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05659637420532771765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-51064219151641216242012-08-07T09:00:12.687-07:002012-08-07T09:00:12.687-07:00"My actual arms were about her."
That ..."My actual arms were about her." <br /><br />That slayed me. The narrator is surprised by himself. Those arms should not be doing that, really.<br /><br />The tonal nuance in this prose is elegant and exacting. Of those who wrote about the ghosts of defeated ambitions populating the career graveyards of the sordid backstreets beyond the studio lots, Nat West, Horace McCoy and Gavin Lambert have stood out for me, but I think perhaps Hayes might be even better.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-3979601526716670202012-08-07T02:19:26.808-07:002012-08-07T02:19:26.808-07:00Thank you for this introduction to Alfred Hayes, ...Thank you for this introduction to Alfred Hayes, whose work I never knew existed in time and space (zombie that I am) until Plan 9 from TC’s Inner Space sent it rocketing my way. BTW, did you know that Eros spelled backwards is Sore?vazambam (Vassilis Zambaras)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14515165428574974933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-2489871526369077152012-08-06T12:43:58.261-07:002012-08-06T12:43:58.261-07:00Tom,
"To say: to say, at last, somewhere, &#...Tom,<br /><br />"To say: to say, at last, somewhere, 'I love you.' To think (even for this small, this false instant) that it had been said."<br /><br />("And that's the beauty of the land of Eros.")<br /><br />8.6<br /><br />light coming into sky above black plane<br />of ridge, shape of pine branch in right<br />foreground, no sound of wave in channel<br /><br /> this history of writing, by<br /> means of writing hand<br /><br /> articulated, under the sign<br /> of it, without saying<br /><br />grey white of fog against top of ridge,<br />circular green pine on tip of sandspitSTEPHEN RATCLIFFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12339481653546188412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-53993465266059599892012-08-06T11:17:20.864-07:002012-08-06T11:17:20.864-07:00The blouse unbuttoned, set aside all that flora an...The blouse unbuttoned, set aside all that flora and fauna smearing the surfaces of the human world, puts me in mind of Bunuel. <br /><br />All those suggestions of cannibalism too.<br /><br />The dark gleam of that conspicuous consumption, how it unnerves us, worries at us, calls us to performance where we make use of our "actual arms"; this is the spell that has us all charmed now.<br /><br />This is astonishing, frank and critically honed writing.Mose23https://www.blogger.com/profile/01100756913131511440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-7195511215604407742012-08-06T10:05:34.642-07:002012-08-06T10:05:34.642-07:00Love this so much. I'm there. Coca-Cola no, no...Love this so much. I'm there. Coca-Cola no, no, no. Please don't touch me. Are you in my toothpaste? Eating garlic sounds risky. It might make my meat too tasty.Susan Kay Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16277139119869470939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-1161059043474276422012-08-06T07:59:43.223-07:002012-08-06T07:59:43.223-07:00Not to spoil the ending by giving away the plot......<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ukRYsYPmo" rel="nofollow">Not to spoil the ending by giving away the plot... but there isn't any, really</a>.<br /><br />And that's the beauty of the land of Eros.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-19113505669918888102012-08-06T07:03:26.146-07:002012-08-06T07:03:26.146-07:00For more about this terrific (and terrifically ove...For more about this terrific (and terrifically overlooked) writer, see this thoughtful piece by Paul Bailey from the Guardian (2005):<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/oct/29/featuresreviews.guardianreview10" rel="nofollow">Chronicles of dust and sin</a>TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.com