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Friday, March 26, 2004
The kid in me is still alive
"Youth is such a wonderful thing; it's a shame to waste it on the young!" This aphorism by George Bernard Shaw brilliantly exposes the ludicrous side of the romantic idealization of children, so characteristic of the 19th century.
For generations, religious leaders, educators and parents in the Western world had viewed childhood as an inferior, defective, irrational and sin-filled stage of human development. Then, this period of life underwent a cultural rehabilitation. From the late 18th century on, and especially in the 19th century, childhood was raised to the level of an ideal, representing moral purity, innocence, honesty and creativity. Childhood became the symbol of everything good in humanity, or for what humans could become if they were not spoiled by corrupt and hypocritical adult society.
...
Edward Lear, the eminent nonsense poet, was diagnosed by psychologists as someone who had 'never emotionally recovered' from his family's adventures. 'Perhaps because his childhood was cut short so suddenly and cruelly, he refused to grow up and remained, inside, an eternal child.' Is the 'eternal child' inside the real, pure self the pinnacle of the realization of the artist's unique personality, or is it no more than a construct, a projection, a regressive fantasy that charges the act of artistic fiction?
[A review by Galia Benziman of "Big Children: Beloved Children's Authors - Their Lives and Work." Three volumes: "The English" (228 pages); "The Americans" (262 pages) and "Especially the Europeans" (272 pages) by Yehuda Atlas, Yedioth Ahronoth Publishing, Sifrei Hemed, 2003.]
Haaretz - Israel News | 26 March 2004
posted by Marco Graziosi Friday, March 26, 2004
Sunday, March 21, 2004
No Place for Absurdity
By Eric Gibson
J.K. Rowling famously negotiated ironclad agreements with Warner Bros. to make sure that her Harry Potter books made it to the screen in the right way. (What you saw was what you read.) The stewards of Beatrix Potter have kept a watchful eye, too, permitting animated versions of her stories that hew to the letter and spirit of her work.
The legacies of A.A. Milne and Rudyard Kipling have not been so lucky, however. Their literary greatness is unrecognizable in Disney's adaptations of "Winnie the Pooh'' and "The Jungle Book.'' More grotesquely, Dr. Seuss, in movie form, has suffered the same fate. Hollywood cashed in as Carrey and Myers mugged and romped, earning each film about $250 million. (With its recent video release, "Cat'' is set to earn more.) But such success has nearly wrecked the brand.
As a writer, Geisel was the heir of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. To be sure, embedded in his stories are messages and morals ranging right across the political spectrum. But at root he was an absurdist, a writer who, like his illustrious predecessors, took a childlike delight in upending the ordered universe with puns and playful fantasy and the incongruous juxtapositions of ideas -- the "humming fish'' of "The Lorax,'' for example, or the antlered creature, the Gack, of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish'' ("At our house/We play out back./We play a game/Called Ring the Gack.'').
Mercury News | 21 March 2004
posted by Marco Graziosi Sunday, March 21, 2004
Thursday, March 18, 2004
The lord of misrule
By Nicola Shulman
The British response to Dr Seuss has not, so far, been suitable reading for Ms Dimond-Cates. It may be that we have an embarrassment of excellent children's writers of our own, whom we may take seriously instead, if we are so inclined; or it may be another aspect of our defensive hostility to a younger, ascendant culture. At any rate, the reviewer for Junior Bookshelf in 1963 thought Dr Seuss 'often tiresome and sometimes vulgar... Compared with Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll he seems madly common, slick, unmemorable.'
[...]
Critics prospecting for artistic antecedents have, naturally, cited the impossible perspectives of Escher and the melting hardware of the surrealist movement. It is certainly true that the nearest things in creation to Dr Seuss's krazy-golf Whoville are the concrete sculptures put up in the Mexican jungle by the Englishman Edward James, much under the influence of surrealism himself. But if I had to ascribe Seuss's work to a school - pseud's corner notwithstanding - I should choose one from literature, not painting: nonsense. Seuss may be the first nonsense painter.
Telegraph | 18 March 2004
posted by Marco Graziosi Thursday, March 18, 2004
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
There once was a wee humble ditty
By Shannon Roe
Today being St. Patrick's Day, the least we can do is doff our derbies to that bit of Irish doggerel called the limerick.
From its name, you might think this five-line verse form originated in the town of Limerick, Ireland. But not necessarily. No one knows for sure where it came from - or exactly when, for that matter. But given the wee verse's naughty reputation, it seems only fitting that its ancestry be mysterious.
Christian Science Monitor | 17 March 2004
posted by Marco Graziosi Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Hundreds attend 'Seussentenial' parties
The man who made the Grinch, Sam-I-Am and Bar-ba-loots household names was the inspiration for several local parties last week.
To celebrate the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, hundreds of Rolling Meadows residents attended separate parties March 2 and Saturday. A similar party in Palatine drew more than 100 people, and several District 15 schools in Palatine and Rolling Meadows also held their own parties last week.
[Just one of the many similar articles]
Palatine News | 11 March 2004
posted by Marco Graziosi Thursday, March 11, 2004
At Staten Island Academy, a reason for every rhyme
Seventy students took their turn in the spotlight yesterday at Staten Island Academy's annual poetry recital, sharing the rhymes of their favorite poets...
First-place eighth-grade winners were Carey Shuffman, reciting "Host House" by Robert Frost, and Joseph Konigsbert reciting "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" by Edward Lear.
silive | 10 March 2004
posted by Marco Graziosi Thursday, March 11, 2004
Music by women, but not for women only
In addition, the concert will include the works of Margaret Ruthven Lang whose life spanned the years 1867-1972. 'Her "Nonsense Rhymes and Pictures" are short and easy, a perfect complement to the more complex work of Marion Bauer, who was composing around the same time, Held said, adding, that she plans to include the pictures, by Edward Lear, in the program. Hazel will sing the lyrics and Held will be at the piano for both pieces.
Tri-Town News | 11 March 2004
posted by Marco Graziosi Thursday, March 11, 2004
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Start with rhymes
By DAphne Lee
Aside from being easy on the ear, rhyming stories are also easy on the tongue although anyone who has grappled with Dr Seuss or Edward Lear's deliciously madcap nonsense may beg to differ. My husband and I are forever arguing about the correct pronunciation of Lear's Quangle Wangle Quee, but, as it's nonsense, I guess there is no wrong way to say it.
The Star Online: Lifestyle | 7 March 2004
posted by Marco Graziosi Sunday, March 07, 2004
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Neil Ardley
Neil Ardley, who died on February 23 aged 66, achieved distinction in two entirely separate professions, as a jazz composer and an author of informative books for young people; in the former role he wrote and recorded such acclaimed albums as Le Dejeuner Sur l'Herbe and Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows, while in the latter his work sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
[Neil Ardley composed what I consider the best Lear arrangement with his and Ivor Cutler's version of "The Dong with a Luminous Nose".]
Telegraph
posted by Marco Graziosi Saturday, March 06, 2004
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