tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post3374541846611277282..comments2024-03-29T06:46:10.487-04:00Comments on Studio and Garden: Reading Samuel BeckettAltoon Sultanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-24538967335982886432020-07-19T15:53:53.887-04:002020-07-19T15:53:53.887-04:00A beautiful post about a great (and often extremel...A beautiful post about a great (and often extremely funny) novel that deserves a much wider readership. Beckett's writing is almost uncannily precise.MacCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-12484915462748948922014-09-11T09:11:18.063-04:002014-09-11T09:11:18.063-04:00Thanks for all the compliments, Jeffrey. And the f...Thanks for all the compliments, Jeffrey. And the further explication of The Unnameable.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-36231569044628870272014-09-10T14:53:40.791-04:002014-09-10T14:53:40.791-04:00And textiles. I was all caught up in the gardening...And textiles. I was all caught up in the gardening and the Beckett stuff and forgot to mention all your artwork. It is all so very beautiful!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11142378322783217513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-76382721791879208742014-09-10T14:52:14.312-04:002014-09-10T14:52:14.312-04:00And your paintings are beautiful. How stupid not t...And your paintings are beautiful. How stupid not to mention that! Beautiful.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11142378322783217513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-70569631792477932892014-09-10T14:48:13.876-04:002014-09-10T14:48:13.876-04:00Thanks for thanking! Yes, I thought The Unnameable...Thanks for thanking! Yes, I thought The Unnameable was amazing. Obviously, as you suggested, you have to be in the right psychological frame to be open to it. That frame is more Buddhist than most might expect. Or at least, it's more like meditation in a way. Because we witness the churning, writhing of fight/flight, as it seeks escape from itself, thus creating the very division in consciousness it seeks to close. There's a hint of satori in this. And for that reason Beckett also strangely reminds me of Jiddu Krishnamurti. Both of them offered no easy outlet in hope or happy endings: They simply exposed the nature of the brain's wrigglings without distraction in goals or theories or metaphysics or beliefs. Just learning. <br /><br />But also I wanted to say how beautiful your garden pictures are! My wife and I are avid gardeners and I build stone walls and fancy gates and fences. I'll share some pictures of my latest project when I am completely finished. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying your blog and photos. Thanks again.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11142378322783217513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-9226545103391513712014-09-09T14:06:56.198-04:002014-09-09T14:06:56.198-04:00Thank you so much, Jeffrey, and thank you for your...Thank you so much, Jeffrey, and thank you for your beautifully written comment. I agree about the humor; I did write that Waiting for Godot was hilarious, but didn't mention it in relation to Molloy. It's been a very long time since I read Molloy, and Malone Dies; I never got to The Unnameable. I should read it this winter, so thanks for the reminder. Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-23340240956213443002014-09-09T09:59:15.211-04:002014-09-09T09:59:15.211-04:00That was beautiful. The way Beckett surprised you ...That was beautiful. The way Beckett surprised you was very similar to how he surprised me. I would like to note one difference. I think Beckett is unfairly diminished under a "somber" label. His work certainly rings a wild symphony of emotions, and somber undertones can be heard. But I think people get hypnotized by those deeper rings and miss the overwhelmingly high-spirited humor of the thing. At least as far as the trilogy goes, I've never a downright funnier author than Beckett. I laughed so hard reading Molloy, and especially The Unnameable, that I had a hard time breathing. And the laughter was healing in some weird way. It was bawdy, delicate, precise, beautiful, self-deprecating and especially self-revealing. It exposed the nature of the trap thought sets for itself. The way thought creates a schizophrenic divide between the thinker and the thought, observer and observed, writer and written-about, which is the falseness at the heart of the self, is captured hilariously in the sentences that gymnastically trip over themselves in mental slapstick, like a literary Charlie Chaplan. I forgave myself for being so stupid when I read Beckett. It was love, it was empathy and it was insight.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11142378322783217513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-89974161913064056642010-02-04T19:10:56.017-05:002010-02-04T19:10:56.017-05:00Altoon -- that quote is one I pass on to my studen...Altoon -- that quote is one I pass on to my students. Now I may add what Philip Pearlstein told you about not being a humble artist.Susan Sawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17249426819285565971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-87995834377415091982010-02-03T23:13:07.331-05:002010-02-03T23:13:07.331-05:00You have pulled such wonderful quotes from Becket!...You have pulled such wonderful quotes from Becket! He is rich, but taking him in at the right time is important. I wasn't drawn to Becket post but your beautiful turkey tracks led me here and I am so pleased to have passed your way again. More blessings to you!Maggie Nealehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06793869416867166254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-82659079139717807692010-02-02T21:07:16.771-05:002010-02-02T21:07:16.771-05:00Susan, I love that quote; it's something to pi...Susan, I love that quote; it's something to pin up on the studio wall.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-2873626841123711432010-02-02T20:52:30.501-05:002010-02-02T20:52:30.501-05:00I saw Waiting for Godot and Endgame (Fin de Partie...I saw Waiting for Godot and Endgame (Fin de Partie? is that right?) as a teenager and have never forgotten them. But I've never read Beckett, either. Now I will. Thank you. He said something about work that I love: "Try, fail. Try again; fail better." That is encouraging, somehow, and wry.Susan Sawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17249426819285565971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-81521405930985590582010-02-02T11:21:04.658-05:002010-02-02T11:21:04.658-05:00Linda, the beauty and simplicity of Beckett's ...Linda, the beauty and simplicity of Beckett's prose was surprising to me, which doesn't mean that the work was at all easy to read, and wasn't distasteful and unpleasant in part. But, such is life, I suppose.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-22347592042726519542010-02-02T10:23:10.167-05:002010-02-02T10:23:10.167-05:00The images comment also refers to you photos — esp...The images comment also refers to you photos — esp. the first one!LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLDhttp://eachlittleworld.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-87700057126702171222010-02-02T10:22:10.283-05:002010-02-02T10:22:10.283-05:00I have never read Beckett, and reading these excer...I have never read Beckett, and reading these excerpts I realize how wrong my impressions of his work have been. Both as a gardener and someone who enjoys quietude, I find these sentences, images and ideas profoundly moving.LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLDhttp://eachlittleworld.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-30807265593830870102010-02-02T08:57:00.695-05:002010-02-02T08:57:00.695-05:00I have changed the second image to one I feel is m...I have changed the second image to one I feel is more appropriate to the mood of Beckett's writing.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-30101569732829949262010-02-02T06:49:34.276-05:002010-02-02T06:49:34.276-05:00rappel, last night as I was thinking about this po...rappel, last night as I was thinking about this post, I realized that the second image was much too cheerful for the writing, though I was trying to show the tangle of our feelings, the difficulty of teasing out personality. I should re-shoot with dark colors, though the post is now public; this is the drawback of the immediacy of blogging.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-83877045987917076632010-02-01T21:40:09.849-05:002010-02-01T21:40:09.849-05:00your top image, so somber and timely, is perfect w...your top image, so somber and timely, is perfect with the quotes. <br />listening. <br />(and tomorrow shall we listen to the stupid ground hog?)rappelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03569445602513667186noreply@blogger.com