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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 14:03:54 -0800
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From: "Timothy K. Gallaher"
<gallaher@HSC.USC.EDU>
Subject: 9' O2 7" 2F
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Hi
everybody
Gong Xi
Fa Cai
Gong Xi
Fa cai
=B9=A7
=CF=B2 =B7=A2 =B2=C6=20
=AE=A5
=B3=DF =B5o =B0]=20
Xin
Nian Kuai Le !!
=B7s
=A6~ =A7=D6 =BC=D6=20
=D0=C2
=C4=EA =BF=EC =C0=D6=20
Congrats
and get rich
Saludos
Amigos
Prospero
ano y felicidades
(To the
tune of Freres Jacques)
Two Old
Tigers, Two Old Tigers
Running
Fast, Running Fast
One of
them got no eyes, one of them got no ears
ain't
that weird ain't that weird
=A4=EB
=ABG =A4=FD
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 14:08:39 -0800
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From: Mary Maconnell
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Subject: beat weekend
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So
aside from a party on Saturday night which I don't remember I ended up
finishing
"Junky" and reading the whole of Carolyn Cassady's book, "Heart
Beat:
My Life With Jack and Neal." I
really really really loved Junky and
totally
got into it and since I had previously tried to read "The Wild
Boys"
and couldn't get into it I felt Burroughs was re-established as
a
writer good and true in my eyes.
Carolyn's book was revealing to me
(as I
didn't know she and Jack had an affair but I'm not surprised) and
was
wondering what anyone else thought about it.
So
right now I'm reading "Jack's Book" (can't remember the author's
name)
and
"Tristessa" by Jack and totally digging this groove but can't help
but
wonder if I'm doing too much reading and not enough _doing_ lately --
you
know what I mean?
Mary
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 16:35:04 -0600
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From: Jym Mooney <jymmoon@EXECPC.COM>
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Mary
Maconnell wrote:
> So
aside from a party on Saturday night which I don't remember I ended up
>
finishing "Junky" and reading the whole of Carolyn Cassady's book,
"Heart
>
Beat: My Life With Jack and Neal."
Carolyn's book was revealing to me
>
(as I didn't know she and Jack had an affair but I'm not surprised) and
>
was wondering what anyone else thought about it.
I
enjoyed this book as well. You might be
interested to know that it is in
fact an
excerpt from the later-published "Off The Road: My Years With
Cassady,
Kerouac, & Ginsberg," which is well worth reading. It is
refreshing
to get a woman's intimate perspective on the Beat G's "inner
circle."
Jym
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 17:13:16 +0000
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From: John Hasbrouck
<jhasbro@TEZCAT.COM>
Subject: Re: beat weekend
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Mary
Maconnell wrote:
>
> So
aside from a party on Saturday night which I don't remember I ended up
>
finishing "Junky" and reading the whole of Carolyn Cassady's book,
"Heart
>
Beat: My Life With Jack and Neal."
I really really really loved Junky and
>
totally got into it and since I had previously tried to read "The Wild
>
Boys" and couldn't get into it I felt Burroughs was re-established as
> a
writer good and true in my eyes.
Carolyn's book was revealing to me
>
(as I didn't know she and Jack had an affair but I'm not surprised) and
>
was wondering what anyone else thought about it.
>
> So
right now I'm reading "Jack's Book" (can't remember the author's
name)
>
and "Tristessa" by Jack and totally digging this groove but can't
help
>
but wonder if I'm doing too much reading and not enough _doing_ lately --
> you
know what I mean?
>
>
Mary
Keep up
the good work, Mary. Carolyn's book HEART BEAT can know be seen
as a
first draft of her memior OFF THE ROAD, a crucial volume which
indisputably
possesses canonical status in the sphere of Beat Lit. (The
horrible
movie based on HEART BEAT doesn't deserve comment.) WILD BOYS
is
tough going and reserved for the Truly Devoted, though it rewards the
Earnest
Reader. JUNKY is required reading, and, IMHO, best enjoyed when
read
concurrently with the relevant passages in WSB's SELECTED LETTERS
and
LITERARY OUTLAW (the WSB bio). Concurrent reading is great kicks
with
JUNKY, especially when you can determine where Bill adheres to
things
as they happened and where he fictionalized. JACK'S BOOK is
wonderful,
of course, but upon relection, I wonder how many of the
numerous
_Kerouac Myths_ originated from this really neat oral
biography.
You're reading TRISTESSA? Cool. Sounds like you've got the
Beat
Bug bad. I won't advise you as to what to read next. Just keep
doin'
what yer doin'.
And no,
you're not doing too much reading. Reading IS doing. Reading IS
experience.
humbly,
John
Hasbrouck, LM
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 19:57:22 -0500
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From: Nancy B Brodsky
<nbb203@IS8.NYU.EDU>
Subject: Re: beat weekend
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I
consider it very beat to just sit by my window, reading my books and
smoking
my cigarettes. There's more than one way to be beat, you know but
I know
what Mary means about doing too much reading and not enough doing,
but
sometimes, all you can do is read...
On Mon, 26 Jan 1998, Mary
Maconnell
wrote:
> So
aside from a party on Saturday night which I don't remember I ended up
>
finishing "Junky" and reading the whole of Carolyn Cassady's book,
"Heart
>
Beat: My Life With Jack and Neal."
I really really really loved Junky and
>
totally got into it and since I had previously tried to read "The Wild
>
Boys" and couldn't get into it I felt Burroughs was re-established as
> a
writer good and true in my eyes.
Carolyn's book was revealing to me
>
(as I didn't know she and Jack had an affair but I'm not surprised) and
>
was wondering what anyone else thought about it.
>
> So
right now I'm reading "Jack's Book" (can't remember the author's
name)
>
and "Tristessa" by Jack and totally digging this groove but can't
help
>
but wonder if I'm doing too much reading and not enough _doing_ lately --
>
you know what I mean?
>
>
Mary
>
The
Absence of Sound, Clear and Pure, The Silence Now Heard In Heaven For
Sure-JK
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:33:14 EST
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From: IDDHI <IDDHI@AOL.COM>
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Subject: Re: beat weekend
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In a message
dated 26-Jan-98 5:31:14 PM Pacific Standard Time,
nbb203@IS8.NYU.EDU
writes:
<<
just sit by my window, reading my books and smoking my cigarettes >>
I don't
know if it's Beat or not, but you made me long for the days when I
used to
do that!
The
view's not much, but man, the light is good.
maggie
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:24:14 -0600
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From: David Bruce Rhaesa
<race@MIDUSA.NET>
Organization:
smiling small thoughts
Subject: Re: beat weekend
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Mary
Maconnell wrote:
> I
really really really loved Junky and
>
totally got into it and since I had previously tried to read "The Wild
>
Boys" and couldn't get into it I felt Burroughs was re-established as
> a
writer good and true in my eyes.
>
i
loaned my copy of Junky to a Junky in hopes that he might be willing
to
fight the borders of illiteracy he faced with a subject that he could
relate
to. it is my understanding that he did
not read it and left it
in a
crackhouse somewhere.
about a
year later he was in the headlines. a
wealthy man had been
financing
the young guys drug habits and in exchange their was some
level
of same sex stimulation as quid pro quo.
The young guy -- and i
don't
remember his name these days -- could not handle the situation and
killed
him dead. he was convicted and either
is in prison or committed
suicide.
since
then a friend let me have my fingers on the two cassette version
of
William reading Junkie and it is just amazing to hear it in his
voice. I listened to it many many times in my car
and on my last trip
East
through Lawrence to Kansas City (before flying to my satori in
Paris). My favorite line is about the young girl who
died falling off a
horse. I left the cassettes with my Father to
listen to.
david
>
Mary
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 22:52:53 +0000
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From: Marie Countryman
<country@SOVER.NET>
Subject: no words
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no
words, no soul no hearbeat within in whidh i can feel the reality-
what is
reality? am still lost in the middle of america -metaphoric more
than
real, as i am in the midst of not of west but new england....by
which return is by train is desolate plains with
distant mountains in
the
backgrorund... (aware of typos, just dooj't
care)
no
words
no wish
to seek out memory
memory
is flawed beyond the memory of past and long term past..
no
memory
or
words to prompt memory
lost
soul
don't
send a quick memory trick
or drug
alone
alone alone alone
we are
born (in my case to an incubator) alone
and
notwishstanding bardos,
still believe we die alone
alone
alone
alone
my
toiiet has just been unnplugged.
i will
treeasuure it' s unplllugging
sarah
who came with plunnger
alone
in the
dark
with
shit pouurijg out of the hole
of the
toilet
no shit
pours from me, leaving me stuck in the moment-
sarah,
serephin of plunger, i give thanks to you..
something
is broken
broken
it is
not the toilet
it is
me
and no
sarah with pllunger can save mme
goodnighmc
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 22:44:29 -0600
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From: David Bruce Rhaesa
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smiling small thoughts
Subject: Re: no words
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Marie
Countryman wrote:
>
> no
words, no soul no hearbeat within in whidh i can feel the reality-
>
what is reality? am still lost in the middle of america -metaphoric more
>
than real, as i am in the midst of not of west but new england....by
>
which return is by train is desolate
plains with distant mountains in
>
the backgrorund... (aware of typos, just dooj't care)
> no
words
> no
wish to seek out memory
>
memory is flawed beyond the memory of past and long term past..
> no
memory
> or
words to prompt memory
>
lost soul
>
don't send a quick memory trick
> or
drug
>
alone alone alone alone
> we
are born (in my case to an incubator) alone
>
and notwishstanding bardos,
>
still believe we die alone
>
alone
>
alone
>
alone
> my
toiiet has just been unnplugged.
> i
will treeasuure it' s unplllugging
>
sarah who came with plunnger
>
alone
> in
the dark
>
with shit pouurijg out of the hole
> of
the toilet
> no
shit pours from me, leaving me stuck in the moment-
>
sarah, serephin of plunger, i give thanks to you..
>
something is broken
>
broken
> it
is not the toilet
> it
is me
>
and no sarah with pllunger can save mme
>
goodnighmc
3-30-1994
Home
Office
4321
7th Avenue
Rock
Island Illinois
7:06
a.m.
NO MORE
WORDS
What
does a poet do when there is nothing left to write.
When
the terrors and horrors in his soul
defy
expression
when
the joys and ecstasies
of love
go far
beyond the power of words
What
does a poet do then?
I sit
and hope that
the
terrors and horrors
are
merely figments
of my
overactive imagination.
I sit
and hope that
the
joys and ecstasies
will
remain with me eternally
and I
begin to
listen
more closely to others
and I
begin to
practice
the poetic art
of
staying quiet
of
silence
golden
silence
hearing
a pin drop
in the
next room
hearing
the cries for freedom
from
another continent far away
hearing
the pain and agony
of an
abused woman across town
hearing
the reality
of the
world
which I
have fled
and
escaped from for so long
and
this time
I must
face reality
squarely
and not
flinch
and not
back down
relieve
myself of
all my
cowardice
and
through all the frightful moments
maintain
hope and
faith
and
above all
a
serenity
which
relates to the state of mind
we call
peaceful.
copyright
3-30-1994 david b. rhaesa
marie
your title reminded me of this oldie. david
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 21:19:20 PST
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From: john boggs
<jaboggs@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: sturm und drang
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sara
asked-
>But
seriously, has anyone ever read any of the German Sturm und Drang
>literature?
Like _Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers_ (or in English _The
>Sorrows
of Young Werther_)? That book was Beat 200 years before Beat.
It
>is
as beautiful as On the Road, as ugly and as gorgeous as Howl. Has
>anyone
else read any Sturm und Drang? What's your take on it?
> --Sara
>
i read
the sorrows of young werther about 4 months ago when my fiance
abruptly
broke up with me. it, along with ginsberg, helped keep me sane
after i
hit rock bottom. tremendous stuff indeed...goethe delt with some
of the
same ideas found in the beats and was as fully alive as they
were.
he, too, had a capacity to feel profound emotions. thank you
bringing
the connection between goethe and the beats fully to my
attention,
it has provided me with some interesting ideas to ponder.
-john b
----------------------------------------------------
...allegories are so much
lettuce
Don't hide the madness.
______________________________________________________
Get
Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 23:46:34 -0600
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From: David Bruce Rhaesa
<race@MIDUSA.NET>
Organization:
smiling small thoughts
Subject: Last Time I committed Suicide: The
Prologue
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"Some
believe Neal Cassady to be the real genius behind the beat
movement.
"His
persona and free-flowing letters have been the inspiration of
authors
such as Jack Kerouac and songwriters like Jerry Garcia of the
Grateful
Dead.
"The
'Aviator of American Hipness', Neal Cassady became legendary from a
series
of cross country adventures, his unique ability to con strangers
and his
inability to turn down a good time . . . .
"A
man's life is merely a collection of events building one upon the
other. When all the events are tallied - the
triumphs; the failures;
the
mistakes; their sum makes up the man.
"These
are but a few events in the life of 'Superman.'
The
movie follows ......
1) The movie cannot make ANY sense without a
deep understanding of
these
preliminary remarks. Absent an
understanding of the frame of
reference,
the terministic screens fixed by the above words any notions
about
the film seem rather absurd.
2) The Legend of Cassady preceded his coming to
New York in On the
Road. I had asked on the List for any information
about the legends
attributed
to Hal Chase (Harr????) by Jack Kerouac in the opening pages
of On
the Road with no reply. It seems that
such grapevine attributions
of the
legend which preceded Neal would hardly be accurate but would
likely
be much more tales of Denver very similar to those depicted in
the
film.
And so
this film is only about one event, one letter -- important but
only
minutely in understanding Neal. It
seems a wonderful jumping off
point
for FFC's treatment of On the Road.
I will
digress and mention something about FFC's On the Road before
closing. It seems to me that the style of cinematic
writing which Jack
employs
in Doctor Sax should first be used to translate On the Road.
Whereever
possible the voice recordings of Jack reading from On the Road
or
other readings which fit in should be background with almost silent
movie
action occurring on the screen. And the movie should be preceded
by
several shorts of the 3 stooges. :)!:)!
dbr
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 00:22:34 -0800
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From: Ksenija Simic <xenias@EUNET.YU>
Subject: Re: "Sturm und Drang" and Beat
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Sara
Feustle wrote:
>
>
Well, IDDHI, as Goethe once said, "Leck mich am Arsch!"
>
>
But seriously, has anyone ever read any of the German Sturm und Drang
>
literature? Like _Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers_ (or in English _The
>
Sorrows of Young Werther_)? That book was Beat 200 years before Beat. It
> is
as beautiful as On the Road, as ugly and as gorgeous as Howl. Has
>
anyone else read any Sturm und Drang? What's your take on it?
> --Sara
i
always thought that 'werther' is tooo pathetic. 'the faust' is too
important.
but, heine writes beautiful poetry.
oh,
yes, speaking of homosexuality, i read that it was discovered that
goethe
and shiller had 'an intimate relationship'.
btw,
what actually is considered sturm and drang?
ksenija
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 00:01:49 -0600
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From: Cathy Wilkie
<cawilkie@COMIC.NET>
Subject: maggie cassidy
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i heard
somewhere (can't remember now where) that kerouac went back to
lowell
for a visit when he was getting into his alcoholic phase, and
that he
went to visit 'maggie cassidy' (mary carney????) after not
seeing
her for over ten years, and that he was drunk when he went to
visit
her.
can
anyone out there provide more details?
I"d be interested in how she
reacted
to a drunken jack after all those years...
cathy
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 00:14:21 -0600
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From: Michael Skau
<mskau@CWIS.UNOMAHA.EDU>
Subject: Re: sturm und drang
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"But
then they danced down the street like dingledodies, and I shambled
after
as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because
the
only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad
to
talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the
ones
who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like
fabulous
yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and
in the
middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'
WHAT
DID THEY CALL SUCH YOUNG PEOPLE IN GOETHE'S GERMANY?"
_On the
Road_, p. 8 (Upper case emphasis of last sentence my own)
Mike
Skau
On Mon,
26 Jan 1998, john boggs wrote:
>
sara asked-
>
>
>
>
>But seriously, has anyone ever read any of the German Sturm und Drang
>
>literature? Like _Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers_ (or in English _The
>
>Sorrows of Young Werther_)? That book was Beat 200 years before Beat.
> It
>
>is as beautiful as On the Road, as ugly and as gorgeous as Howl. Has
>
>anyone else read any Sturm und Drang? What's your take on it?
>
> --Sara
>
>
> i
read the sorrows of young werther about 4 months ago when my fiance
>
abruptly broke up with me. it, along with ginsberg, helped keep me sane
>
after i hit rock bottom. tremendous stuff indeed...goethe delt with some
> of
the same ideas found in the beats and was as fully alive as they
>
were. he, too, had a capacity to feel profound emotions. thank you
>
bringing the connection between goethe and the beats fully to my
>
attention, it has provided me with some interesting ideas to ponder.
>
> -john b
>
----------------------------------------------------
> ...allegories are so much
lettuce
> Don't hide the madness.
>
>
>
______________________________________________________
>
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 01:15:48 EST
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From: RoadSide6 <RoadSide6@AOL.COM>
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Subject: Some help please
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Yeah, I
know I am the millionth person to ask, but could someone please
forward
me info on unsubscribing?
Gracias
Much
appreciated
Blah
blah blah
LD
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 00:49:21 -0600
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From: Michael Skau
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Subject: Burroughs typos
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Neil,
The
article of mine to which Jeff Taylor was referring is "The Central
Verbal
System: The Prose of William Burroughs"; it was published in the
scholarly
periodical _Style_ 15.4 (Fall 1981): 401-414. In the section
from
which Jeff quoted, I go on to illustrate my point:
"Burroughs
also refuses to correct typographical errors in his prose;
thus,
the misspellings and typographical peculiarities in his volume
_Time_
follow a prefatory letter allegedly from the publisher claiming:
'There
are no typographical errors in this edition.'[Footnote] These
errata
comprise further assaults on verbal control, with Burroughs in one
instance
even applauding the felicitous quality of one of his mistakes:
"That
is why the habit, once contracted, is so difficult to break, and why
it
leaves, when broken suck* a vacuum behind. (*A slip but what a succinct
expression
of the oral basis of addiction, the horror of oral deprivation
of
'sucking a vacuum.')' (_White Subway_ 11)." (p. 404)
Hope
this helps.
Cordially,
Mike
Skau
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 00:24:07 -0800
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From: "Timothy K. Gallaher"
<gallaher@HSC.USC.EDU>
Subject: Re: maggie cassidy
Comments:
To: cawilkie@comic.net
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>i
heard somewhere (can't remember now where) that kerouac went back to
>lowell
for a visit when he was getting into his alcoholic phase, and
>that
he went to visit 'maggie cassidy' (mary carney????) after not
>seeing
her for over ten years, and that he was drunk when he went to
>visit
her.
>
>can
anyone out there provide more details?
I"d be interested in how she
>reacted
to a drunken jack after all those years...
>
>cathy
Actually
the recent biography called Angel Headed Hipster says a lot more
than
this. It claims that he continued a
relationship with Mary Carney for
a
number of years after he left Lowel and that he even was the real father
of her
daughter.
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 01:19:34 -0800
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From: "Timothy K. Gallaher"
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Subject: Lust of the flesh, ignorant craving
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First
off we have discussed the First Noble Truth:
(I
really enjoyed everyone's posts on this subject)
All
Life is Suffering
and
compared with:
Rom.
8:22 For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in
pain
together until now.
The
second is:
Suffering
is caused by desire (or craving)
How
does this correspond with:
1John
2:16 For all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, and the
lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of
the
world.
How
similar are ignorant craving of the second Noble truth and the lusts of
the
flesh of the new testament?
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 13:20:36 +0100
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From: Nils-Oivind Haagensen
<Nils-Oivind.Haagensen@LILI.UIB.NO>
Subject: another kerouac dream, marie
In-Reply-To: <"noralf.uib.875:27.01.98.05.15.10"@uib.no>
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had a
dream lst night where i stumbled upon
a
kerouac sale in some nameless
bookstore,
they had books on and by him i've
never
seen or heard of
so i
start to pick out titles
some
guy is actually helping me
for
some reason
throwing
me books
then as
things got a little crazy
i
noticed my notebooks, my own private
dirty
notebooks and old letters
were on
sale too, so now i'm trying to pick out
th
beat-g and jack k. stuff i haven't read
before
and at the same time trying to keep
the
notebooks and letters to myself.
it's
awful
then it
changes
real
sudden and i'm at a lecture on jack k.
and the
prof. whos just released a book
with
pictures of jack k. asks the class
what
picture they would like him
to go
on about in detail
what
picture of jack k. that is
someone
says: all of them
everybody
laughs
then
someone else is real specific
this
and that picture on page so and so
ev'body
finds it, the prof. finds it
nods
says something like "great choice"
but i'm
in trouble
i'm
thumbing trough the book
not
finding anyone even resembling jack k.
looking
at the others
who's
now getting into it
thumbing
through the book again
but no
luck
n i
wake up
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 07:22:31 -0500
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From: Sara Feustle
<sfeustl@UOFT02.UTOLEDO.EDU>
Subject: Re: sturm und drang
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Yes!!!
Exactly... That passage is the soul and essence of Sturm und Drang.
Sturm
und Drang means "Storm and Stress." The period was known for it's
emphasis
on the irrational, on emotions, on extreme beauty and extreme
ugliness.
I wonder how familiar Kerouac was with Sturm und Drang...
Apparently
he had at least some familiarity with it. The parallels are
just
beautiful...
Sara Feustle
sfeustl@uoft02.utoledo.edu
Cronopio, cronopio?
On Tue,
27 Jan 1998, Michael Skau wrote:
>
"But then they danced down the street like dingledodies, and I shambled
>
after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because
>
the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad
> to
talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the
>
ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like
>
fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and
> in
the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'
>
WHAT DID THEY CALL SUCH YOUNG PEOPLE IN GOETHE'S GERMANY?"
>
_On the Road_, p. 8 (Upper case emphasis of last sentence my own)
>
Mike Skau
>
> On
Mon, 26 Jan 1998, john boggs wrote:
>
>
> sara asked-
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >But seriously, has anyone ever read any of the German Sturm und Drang
>
> >literature? Like _Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers_ (or in English _The
>
> >Sorrows of Young Werther_)? That book was Beat 200 years before Beat.
>
> It
>
> >is as beautiful as On the Road, as ugly and as gorgeous as Howl. Has
>
> >anyone else read any Sturm und Drang? What's your take on it?
>
> > --Sara
>
> >
>
> i read the sorrows of young werther about 4 months ago when my fiance
>
> abruptly broke up with me. it, along with ginsberg, helped keep me sane
>
> after i hit rock bottom. tremendous stuff indeed...goethe delt with some
>
> of the same ideas found in the beats and was as fully alive as they
>
> were. he, too, had a capacity to feel profound emotions. thank you
>
> bringing the connection between goethe and the beats fully to my
>
> attention, it has provided me with some interesting ideas to ponder.
>
>
>
> -john b
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> ...allegories are
so much lettuce
>
> Don't hide the
madness.
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________
>
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
>
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 08:41:19 +0000
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From: Marie Countryman
<country@SOVER.NET>
Subject: backbeat
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bob
kaufman
SLIGHT
ALTERATIONS
I climb
a red thread
To an
unseen exixtence,
Broken
free, somewhere,
Beyond
the belts.
Ticks
have abandoned
My
astonished time.
The air
littered
with
demolished hours.
Presence
abolished
I
become a ray
>From
the sun
Anonymous
finger
Deflected
into hungry windows
Boomerang
of curved light
Ricocheted
off dark walls
The
ceiling remembers my face
The
floor is a palate of surprise
Watching
me eat the calendar
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 09:15:10 +0000
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From: Marie Countryman
<country@SOVER.NET>
Subject: Re: no words
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i just
consulted with emily post, and with bill's 'scope' in mind, i
must
apologize. that was in a drafts folder, not mail. dunno what
happened,
but i have realized a truth:
when
one is having a public mental
brake
down
one
should drive in the slow lane,
as far
away from the send button as possible.
mc
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 15:33:09 +0100
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From: paul caspers
<caspers@WORLDONLINE.NL>
Subject: buk
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hi all,
'the
captain is out to lunch and the sailors have taken over the ship'
by buk,
february 1 release date.... anyone know what exactly this is? poems?
stories?
poems+stories? novel? whatever... if anyone who knows could mail
privately
i'd appreciate it cos i'm pretty curious and off the list... thanks !
paul
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 09:06:37 -0600
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From: David Bruce Rhaesa
<race@MIDUSA.NET>
Organization:
smiling small thoughts
Subject: Re: Lust of the flesh, ignorant craving
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Timothy
K. Gallaher wrote:
>
>
First off we have discussed the First Noble Truth:
> (I
really enjoyed everyone's posts on this subject)
>
>
All Life is Suffering
>
>
and compared with:
>
>
Rom. 8:22 For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in
>
pain together until now.
>
>
The second is:
>
>
Suffering is caused by desire (or
craving)
>
>
How does this correspond with:
>
>
1John 2:16 For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the
>
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of
>
the world.
>
>
How similar are ignorant craving of the second Noble truth and the lusts of
>
the flesh of the new testament?
the
source of the new testament writing here is quite different than
that of
Romans. Saul/Paul is just a beat dude
who had an epiphany. The
Gospel
of John is a slightly different matter.
The Book of John IMHO is
by far
the most interesting book in the colelction we call the Bible.
It
begins with the Logos and it seems that this connects with some of
the
questions concerning WSB's theories concerning Word as a Virus.
What we
get in translation as "The Word" is in the Greek "Logos"
but
this
was a far more holistic term than mere logic and contained
something
similar to the many sides of beat and beatific in its
difficulty
to pin down in translation. It is
perhaps the ultimate of
the
viral that the symbol of Logos has been translated to Word even
capitalized.
just a
preliminary thought,
dbr
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 09:53:27 -0500
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From: Edward Desautels <edesaute@BBNPLANET.COM>
Subject: Where's the beef? (was: Re: beat
weekend)
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I find
it rather amusing that folks in this listserv are offering up tips on=
"how to be Beat." It reminds me of
that old Saturday Night Live skit in=
which a group of muchachos sat around
debating, "Quien es muy macho?" I'm=
not sure this line of discussion is of much
value.=20
Indeed,
I would argue that, much like concepts such as "cool" or
"punk" or=
"existentialist," the concept of
"Beat" has been bled dry of anything=
resembling Kerouac's genuine experience of
it. After all, we even had=
Mayard G. Krebs back in the late 50s
satirizing Beat, 60s hippies latching=
on to nothing but its most superficial
aspects, and 90s grundge kids=
reducing the concept the mere prefacing of
every sentence with the word=
"like."
What's
even more interesting is that, while folks are pondering whether it's=
more Beat to be "doing" rather than
"reading" (is reading not doing?),=
there's a curious absence of desire to plumb
the literature itself ("I had=
previously tried to read "The Wild
Boys" and couldn't get into it...")=
unless it's of the most accessible nature
(Junky, Caroline Cassidy's=
efforts).=20
While
the ephemera of Beat has either fallen by the wayside or become=
laughably dated ("...I'm totally digging this groove..."), the=
_literature_ remains. It's a literature made
by people who considered=
themselves members of no school but whom,
through perversions of media, the=
academy, and the sheep who accept both
unquestioningly, were pigeonholed=
into one. Despite the attempts of the media
and academy to force these=
writers into space in which they could be
stripped of their dignity, this=
literature survives and truly is worthy of
our serious consideration.
It was
my (erroneous?) presumption that this discussion group was set up for=
this very purpose, as a forum for the
discussion of (so-called, but for=
lack of a better term) Beat literature. In
the hopes of stirring up some=
worthwhile discussion, I'm posting the paper
below for=
review/comment/attack/etc.=20
Regards,
Ed
Appropriation
and Transmogrification
in
William S. Burroughs=92 _Exterminator!_
"
. . . Everything belongs to the inspired and dedicated thief. All the=
artists of history, from cave painters to
Picasso, all the poets and=
writers, the musicians and architects, offer
their wares, importuning him=
like street vendors . . . . Mais le voleur
n=92est pas press=E9=97the thief=
is in no hurry. He must assure himself of the merchandise and its=
suitability for his purpose before he conveys
the supreme honor and=
benediction of his theft."
=97William S. Burroughs, Les
Voleurs (Burroughs 1985, p. 21)
William Burroughs has not been
reticent to discuss the ethic of=
appropriation that informs his work. Implicit in this ethic is the notion=
of an illicit, illegal act which, when
applied to his processes of writing=
fiction, inspires criticism that dismisses
his work as mere "plumbing" or=
strident accusations of out-and-out
plagiarism. Burroughs, however, has=
countered:
"Words don=92t have brands on them the way cattle do . . . .=
Ever heard of a word rustler?" (Morgan
1988, p. 323). Despite this line of=
defense, it is not difficult to view
Burroughs as something of a literary=
thief; a thief who skillfully doubles as his
own fence between the loot and=
his fiction.
It is in this role as fence that Burroughs disguises his=
loot; reshapes and recasts it; grinds off the
serial numbers, as it were,=
to obscure the traces of its original
ownership. He transforms this=
literary plunder and makes it his own. =20
This process of appropriation and
transformation=97and with Burroughs=
transformation may be better read as
transmogrification=97is very much=
evident in his collection of short fiction
Exterminator! Nearly every=
page contains a character, a setting, a
genre; a news report, a magazine=
advertisement, a political figure or
speech=97something the reader has=
come across before. Burroughs has slipped deft fingers into the pockets of=
literature, film, history, art, and popular
culture without discrimination.=
Though recognizable as artifacts, these
elements have been pieced together=
in works that often appear fractured to the
point of incomprehensibility or=
which devolve into graphic depictions of a
violent, explosive anarchy. To=
argue that such a prose style is intended to
reflect the author=92s=
perception of a world in which control
systems have run amok may be a valid=
enterprise.
Such an argument, however, seems unsatisfying and facile,=
particularly if one is interested in moving
beyond the critic Anatole=
Broyard=92s characterization of Burroughs as
"the grand guru of the fictive=
put-on," whose Exterminator! is nothing more than "a stale replay of
Dr.=
Strangelove " (Morgan 1988, p. 469).
Moving beyond such a dismissal,
however, is no easy task with a work such=
as Exterminator! Indeed, few have attempted to crack the nut of=
Burroughs=92 fiction. Burroughs himself has commented on the difficulty=
his work presents and asserts that what
he=92s attempting is to "create=
multilevel events and characters that a
reader could comprehend with his=
entire organic being" (Odier 1974, p.
35). Clearly, the manner in which=
Burroughs intends his work to be received is
not one with which many=
readers are familiar or, perhaps,
comfortable.
Despite the formidable nature of
Burroughs=92 prose, it may be possible, at=
least, to break through the crust in order to
come to some insights and=
conclusions regarding the nature and purpose
of its "multilevel" approach. =
An examination of the appropriated material
with which the text is=
composed; of the appearance and reappearance
of this material; and of=
Burroughs=92 subversion of it can, I believe,
provide one means of getting=
beneath the text=92s seemingly chaotic
surface. By so doing, this paper=
seeks to uncover an undercurrent of unity in
which are developed such=
themes as obsession with control, addiction,
hypocrisy, and, the quest for=
self.
Attention will be focused on Burroughs=92 appropriation and=
subversion of traditional literary genres
including autobiography, the=
dimestore detective novel, the science
fiction adventure, the spy novel,=
and the Christmas tale. Also considered will be the use made by
Burroughs=
of the advertising rhythms of the unsolicited
testimonial as well as the=
format of the Vaudeville routine. =20
=09
"When someone asks me to what
extent my work is autobiographical, I say,=
=91Every word is autobiographical, and every
word is fiction=92" (Bockris=
1981, p. 28). This assertion by Burroughs is sometimes clearly evident in=
his work and such is the case in the title
story, "Exterminator!" In=
"Exterminator" (the collection=92s
introductory piece), Burroughs=
appropriates the autobiographical details of
his work, in 1942, for the A.=
J. Cohen Exterminators he describes in the
piece. These he blends with a=
further appropriation: the sparse prose style of the dimestore
detective=
novel.
The latter element lends to the piece a humorous, "hard-boiled
pest=
control agent" sensibility:
A fat
smiling Chinese rationed out the pyrethrum powder=97it was hard to get=
during the war=97and cautioned us to use
flouride whenever possible. =
Personally I prefer a pyrethrum job to a
flouride (p. 4).=20
Burroughs=92
intent, however, seems to go beyond that of merely offering the=
reader a humorous vignette based upon his
work as an exterminator. Rather,=
he uses his experiences as a foundation on
which is built a matrix of=
satire and metaphor that establishes the tone
for the entire collection. =
For instance, the cockroach=97an image
already heavily freighted with=
metaphorical implications in twentieth
century literature=97is exploited by=
Burroughs in a way that contemporizes the
imagery and carries the piece=
beyond the familiar and the
autobiographical. Consider the sense
of=
insidious bigotry conveyed in the following
exchange:
"Is
it roaches Mrs. Murphy?"
"It
is that from those Jews downstairs."
"Or
is it the hunkeys next door Mrs. Murphy?"
She
shrugs "Sure and an Irish cockroach is as bad as another."
"You
make a nice cup of tea Mrs. Murphy . . . ." (p. 5).
Mrs.
Murphy goes on to report to the exterminator that the exterminators=
sent by the city only left a white powder
(flouride) that "draws roaches=
the way whiskey will draw a priest" (p.
5). Here, again, the humor masks=
deeper metaphorical issues. The roaches, objects of loathing, are
always=
attributed by Mrs. Murphy to the
"other." They=92ve infested
her apartment=
because of the Jews, hunkeys, city
exterminators, etc. What, perhaps,
this=
externalization and scapegoating truly
represents is the deep-seated self=
-loathing of the bigot.=20
In "Exterminator!", however,
Burroughs moves beyond this familiar=
metaphorical ground and weights the
creature=97in light of its ability to=
develop a tolerance for the pesticides
directed at it=97with connotations=
of drug addiction: "The roaches build up a tolerance and become addicted. =
They can be dangerous if the flouride is
suddenly withdrawn" (p. 5). Thus,=
the addicted roach develops a paradoxical dependence
on the services of the=
flouride-dispensing exterminator. The exterminator, like a ruthless=
pusher, holds in reserve his "hot
shot," the pyrethrum powder, and can=
dispose of the addict whenever he sees
fit. Thus, the cockroach=92s=
tolerance for poison becomes a contemporary
metaphor for the complex,=
mutually parasitic relationship between
addict and pusher. When the pusher=
withholds his product, the addict
"becomes dangerous." The
pusher raises=
his price.
Eventually, the addict cannot afford the poison he craves and=
becomes a liability to the pusher who is
always ready to deliver the final=
fix, the "hot shot."
As the exterminator relates his
experiences with the A. J. Cohen company,=
the focus increasingly turns away from the
insects and toward the people he=
meets and for whom he works. From his observations, it becomes clear
that=
what the exterminator is really concerned
with is the two-legged vermin=
scurrying near the brown cracks in the
wall.=20
In "The Lemon Kid,"
Burroughs carries on with the appropriation of=
autobiographical material and introduces
Audrey Carsons, the persona who=
appears from time to time throughout the
collection as a point of contact;=
a tour guide for the reader making his way
through the world of=
Exterminator! Unlike Hemingway's youthful Nick Adams, however, Audrey is=
in some ways flamboyant and in others
vaporously intangible. Burroughs=
adapts Audrey as he sees fit, turning him
into something of a chameleon=
through which he establishes the theme of the
search for an elusive=
identity or self. Doubts and insecurities are the signposts in this search=
and Audrey's reaction to them involves the
construction of defense=
mechanisms through writing. He pens a story titled "Autobiography
of a=
Wolf," just as did an eight-year-old
Billy Burroughs who suffered a similar=
dilemma in establishing an identity (Morgan
1988). Audrey also creates the=
character of Jerry, "The Lemon Kid,"
who serves a dual role of alter ego=
and homosexual lover. Audrey enlists Jerry, through his writing,
as a=
means by which to strike back at a society
that has made him to feel like=
"a sheep-killing dog" (p. 10). In a wildly humorous succession of events,=
we see Jerry earn his nickname, avenging
Audrey against his tormentors=
(including an orchestra playing at a George
Wallace rally) by sucking on a=
lemon.
The effect is withering and the orchestra crumbles in "a crescendo=
of sour notes from sax and horns" (p.
11). Though farcical, Burroughs is=
using these characters to point up the
elements of society that bother him:=
the Wallace segregationists, gay bashers,
flag wavers, bible beaters, and=
CIA agents (to name a few). He establishes his presence in the
collection=
through the fictional character of Audrey
who, in turn, creates a character=
to avenge his tormentors. The lines between literature and life begin
to=
blur lending an eerie quality of warning to
the line: "When the Kid puts=
the lemon on you you are through in show
biz" (p. 12).
Thus, in the opening stories
"Exterminator!" and "The Lemon Kid," Burroughs=
not only mines autobiographical material, but
reshapes, subverts, and=
explodes it in order to establish the themes
and the narrative voice that=
will dominate the collection. These stories establish the pattern of=
appropriation remarked on earlier; a pattern
that continues with the story=
"Astronaut=92s Return."
As the title suggests,
"Astronaut's Return" is characterized by Burroughs=
=92
appropriation of the science fiction genre.
Rather than concentrating=
on the familiar aspects of outer space and
interplanetary travel, however,=
Burroughs turns the genre on end and portrays
the astronaut exploring his=
inner
space; probing his conscious which, presumably, has been altered by=
virtue of his extraterrestrial travel. =20
The introspection of the astronaut
continues the theme of the search for=
self introduced in "The Lemon
Kid." This theme is woven into a
personal=
anthropology in which the astronaut
postulates a virus passed down through=
the descendants of "the cave-dwelling
albinos . . . the present inhabitants=
of America and western Europe" (p.
23). The astronaut muses that this=
virus is "what Freud calls the
unconscious" and that it manifests its=
symptoms in a destructive inability to mind
one=92s own business: "They=
had no business of their own to mind because
they didn=92t belong to=
themselves anymore" (p. 24). The story ends with a question that=
reiterates this notion of estrangement from
self: "Do you begin to see=
there is no face in the tarnished
mirror?" (p. 27). This question
can be=
read, it seems, not only as a rhetorical
question posed by the astronaut,=
but also as a revelation about the narrative
voice. As the collection=
unfolds, this question and the image of the
absent face reoccur and the=
notion conveyed is that of a narrator
searching=97in these disparate,=
fragmented stories riddled with dead ends and
false starts=97for the voice=
that will allow him to tell his story. Thus, the postmodern aesthetic of=
narrator-as-subject is introduced. From this perspective, the narrator=
assumes a major unifying role in the
collection.
"My Face" picks up where
"Astronaut=92s Return" leaves off, the=
astronaut/narrator again preoccupied with a
search for self. He is=20
=20
. . .
concerned with the possibility of taking over a young body I would=
wake up stretch and look in the mirror the
lookout different enough of=
other thoughts and feelings left to make it a
really new you . . . (p.=
28).
The
theme, here, is expressed in a choppy prose style, devoid of=
punctuation, into which the narrator falls,
from time to time, throughout=
the collection. This prose can be viewed as expressive of an insecure,=
fragmented identity; an identity unable to
express itself in whole,=
complete, logical sentences. Tied to this sense of insecurity and=
fragmentation, as expressed in the above
quote, is the element of=
self-loathing touched upon in
"Exterminator!" Rather than
project this=
self-loathing, as did Mrs. Murphy through her
bigotry and intolerance for=
others, the narrator in this piece expresses
a desire to become the other.=
"My Face" is replete with the
imagery of the face, the lack of face, and=
of the mirrors introduced in
"Astronaut=92s Return" and, as if in answer to=
the question posed at the end of that story,
there is the following,=
equivocal reply: "I was looking at my face in the mirror my new face . . .=
. In fact, I would hesitate to say it was a
face at all" (p. 30).
Conspiracies, intrigue, the
"secret agent," the CIA operative=97all of=
these elements common to the spy novel make
their way into the fabric of=
Exterminator! Where they appear, however, the intrigue is never defined=
or motivated. Rather, it is merely suggested through the clich=E9s of the=
genre.
Further, one is never quite certain regarding the question of which=
characters play the role of hero and which
the role of villain. Burroughs=
does not seem intent on using the genre to
develop a character or his=
narrator or to portray an event in his
appropriations of the spy novel=
genre.
Rather, Burroughs appears to use them as devices for interjecting a=
mood
of shadowy power plays unfolding behind the scenes out of which are=
composed the other stories in the collection.
In "End of the Line,"
Burroughs presents us with Agent W.E.9 who is=
involved in an incomprehensible scheme to end
the harassment by "Arab=
subjects" that has driven his assistant
and technician to the verge of=
collapse.
In order to do so, he searches for a writer who "wrote Arabic,=
who also knew English, and would be capable
of translating Mr. P=92s=
continuity into Arabic characters, and
passing along through channels" (p.=
46).
(Note the echo, here, of "The Lemon Kid" in which there is
also the=
quest for a writer to avenge an unpleasant
set of circumstances.) The=
narrator later mentions "a list of
agents who had been murdered because=
they might learn to read and write Arabic . .
." and thereby conveys the=
notion that language is alive with a special
power over which the agents of=
many flags are contending.
"Twighlight's Last
Gleamings" again demonstrates Burroughs appropriation of=
the spy novel genre, this time undermining
the usual gravity that=
characterizes this form. A group of conspirators including "a
folksy=
meteorologist, an embittered homosexual, a
Chinese camera man, and a Negro=
castrated in his cradle by rat bites"
plot to blow up a train carrying=
nerve gas (p. 85). They are pursued by an FBI agent whose "investigations=
are handicapped by his belief that the
conspiracy is political" (p. 86). =
Though ostensibly a farce,
"Twighlight=92s last Gleamings" is built upon a=
foundation of biting satire pointed at the
hypocritical, ugly side of=
America that would "turn the clock back
to 1899 when a silver dollar bought=
a good meal or a good piece of ass" (p.
86).
The rhythms and form of advertising
copy inform "The Discipline of DE," a=
piece that explains and extolls the technique
of "Do Easy." The piece can,=
on the surface, be read as a pastiche. On closer reading, I believe, a=
self-referential quality is manifest by which Burroughs (or, perhaps
more=
precisely, his narrative voice) offers
insights and advice as to how to go=
about reading Exterminator! By the time the reader has arrived at
"The=
Discipline of DE," he has been guided
through a bewildering number of=
situations, plots, characters, and settings
all offered up by a narrator=
seemingly unsure of his identity. For the reader who may be feeling lost=
at this stage of the collection, Burroughs
appears to proffer the following=
advice:
Get
back on course and do it again. How can
you pilot a spacecraft if you=
can=92t find your way around your own
apartment? It=92s just like retaking=
a movie shot until you get it right. And you will begin to feel yourself=
in a film moving with ease and speed (p. 60).
Burroughs
seems to acknowledge, in this passage, the difficulty his writing=
presents for the reader accustomed to more
familiar literary traditions. =
The advice, perhaps, is to relax and read the
work again; keep reading it=
until the new becomes familiar. Perhaps, in this way, Burroughs hopes the=
work will have its effect on the reader=92s
"entire being" as mentioned=
earlier.
In Writing for Vaudeville, Brett Page
defines the Vaudeville sketch as:
a
simple narrative or a character sketch . . . having little or no definite=
plot . . . depending on effective incidents
for its appeal, rather than on=
the singleness of effect of a problem solved
by character revelation and=
change (Page 1915, p. 150).
Earlier
in his book, Page also discusses the elements of humor in the=
Vaudeville sketch=97incongruity, surprise,
situation, "pure wit," and=
character=97that combine to form "the
expression of the individuality of =
the person voicing [the laughable
utterances]" (Page 1915, p. 71).
I=
include these definitions because, unlike the
genres of autobiography, the=
dimestore detective novel, the science
fiction adventure, or the spy novel,=
the modern reader is unlikely to be familiar
with characteristics common to=
the Vaudeville routine, a genre employed frequently by
Burroughs in=
Exterminator! "The Perfect Servant," "Exterminator,"
"Twighlight's Last=
Gleamings," and "What
Washington? What orders?" all
contain passages=
informed by the Vaudeville routine. Burroughs often goes so far as to=
break his prose into dialogue lines and stage
directions. Perhaps the best=
example in the collection of his
appropriation of the Vaudeville sketch is=
the following passage from
"Twighlight=92s Last Gleamings":
=09
Cut to C.I.A. man pacing up and down
in his office. His name is Joe=
Rogers.=09
Rogers: "I had a dream I tell you.
I saw the train go up and that gas=
sweeping up the Eastern seaboard."
His second in command Mr. Falk is
inclined to be cynical and describes=
himself as "a white collar bum who works
for that crazy American=
government."
Falk:
"Are you going to tell the Chief about your dream, Joe?"
Rogers (picking up phone): "No but I=92m going to ask him for
more=
agents."
Falk:
"Gotta stay ahead of the Commies or everybody=92s kids will be=
learning Chinese."
Rogers: "If my hunch is correct there may not be any kids left to
learn=
anything" (p. 88).
The
routine ends with the reappearance of Audrey Carsons in the role of the=
script writer. "You can put your clothes on now," he instructs Rogers
and=
Falk, " . . . And now let=92s see how
fast you can run" (p. 89). =20
The lack of regard for plot as
outlined by Brett Page is clearly evident in=
this passage. Rather, Burroughs moves the piece along with the ironic=
dialogue between Rogers and Falk, both of
whom remain fairly undeveloped as=
characters.
The "payoff," in which Audrey pops up out of nowhere as the=
"script writer" who lets his actors
know they may now dress themselves,=
employs the elements of humor described by
Page: there is incongruity in=
the request by Rogers for more agents because
he dreamt of a nerve gas=
attack;
there is surprise in the unexpected
appearance of Audrey (which=
can also be interpreted as incongruity);
there is the play in the situation=
between incongruity and surprise, i.e.,
Audrey=92s request that Rogers and=
Falk get dressed; there is "pure
wit" (defined by Page as wit
detachable=
from its context) in Falk=92s
self-characterization; and there is character=
in Audrey=92s desire to see how fast they
can run (while, presumably, he=
reaches for a sidearm).
Thus, a case can be made that
Burroughs has lifted the genre of the=
Vaudeville routine and incorporated it into
his collection. As with his=
other appropriations of genre, however, he
transmogrifies the Vaudeville=
routine into something beyond the light
entertainment it=92s intended to=
be. First,
he uses the genre, in the above passage, to create the mood of=
conspiracy and intrigue discussed
earlier. Second, Burroughs writes for=
his characters a dialogue of pointed satire
aimed at the American=
preoccupation with the "red
menace." Third, in the passages
that follow=
and which continue in the Vaudeville vein,
there is a descent into graphic=
and explosive violence on a vast scale
culminating in "an aerial view of=
dead cities" (p. 92). In short, Burroughs transforms the light, familiar,=
comfortable entertainment of the Vaudeville
routine into a bloody depiction=
of the kind of ultra-violence from which (to
complete the circle) people=
escape into distractions such as the
Vaudeville routine or its modern=
equivalent:
the television sit-com.
Burroughs leaves, it seems, no genre
untouched in Exterminator! In
"The=
=91Priest=92 They Called Him," he even
goes so far as to appropriate the=
Christmas tale. Again, Burroughs not only lifts the genre, but subverts=
and transforms it. In this case, the reader is presented with a Christmas=
story bereft of the usual trappings of
Christmas trees and holiday feasts,=
of Santa Claus and Scrooge. Rather, Burroughs gives us an old junkie, a=
young junkie, and a suitcase containing two
dismembered legs=97hardly=
images of holiday cheer. Burroughs manages, however, to mold these=
elements into a story that engenders sympathy
for his characters, calls=
into question commonly held notions of the
"pernicious drug addict" as well=
as the nature of saintliness, and points up
the hollowness of Christmas in=
the late twentieth century. The twist, here, is that the old junkie,
"The=
Priest," makes a gift of last
"quarter g," his long-overdue fix, to the=
young man in the next apartment who became an
addict, we learn, to fend off=
the unendurable pain in legs that were
crippled some time ago in an=
accident.
The Priest realizes the boy is going through withdrawal: "The=
Priest stood there feeling the boy groan" (p. 159). He understands the=
boy=92s suffering and, making the penultimate
gesture for a junkie, offers=
up his "quarter g" (bought with
money obtained by hawking the suitcase=
containing the dismembered legs) to ease the
boy=92s suffering. In the=
end:
=20
. . . .
He went back to his room and sat down
on the bed. Then it hit him=
like heavy silent snow, all the grey junk
yesterdays. He sat there and=
received the immaculate fix and since he was himself a priest there was
no=
need to call one.=20
Of all
the stories in the collection, this one comes closest to the Poe=
ideal of the well wrought tale. All the elements in the story conspire to=
bestow upon The Priest a quality of
saintliness that cuts against accepted=
attitudes toward the drug addict. The effect is one common to many=
Christmas tales: we are reminded of the call for "peace on earth, good=
will toward men," as well as of the
beauty and joy of giving. The=
Burroughsian subversion, however, also comes
to bear in the stories overall=
effect as the reader, caught up in the
sentiment of The Priest=92s=
sacrifice, remembers: Hey!
I=92m supposed to loath these characters. The=
reader=92s sense of moral judgement is thrown
open to questioning and=
introspection.
From the foregoing examinations, it is
clear that William Burroughs=92=
fiction is a mixed bag of material, much of
which=97as he intimates in the=
passage from Les Voleurs =97is lifted from
history, popular culture, and=
other literary works. This paper has examined merely one aspect of
this=
penchant of Burroughs=92 for theft=97his
appropriation of disparate=
genres=97because it is in his
transmogrification of these genres that=
Burroughs=92 themes and world view appear to
emerge in Exterminator! =
Other strategies may also have proven useful. For instance, an=
examination of instances of repetition may
have provided insight into=
Burroughs work. In reading Exterminator!,
one is struck with the=
recurrence of the number 23, of place names
like St. Louis and Ladue Road,=
and "the room with rose colored
wallpaper." It also may have
proven useful=
to examine the many instances in which
"real life" characters=97Jean Genet,=
George Wallace, Arthur Flegenheimer (aka the
infamous gangster "Dutch=
Schultz"), and F. Scott Fitzgerald, to name a few, appear in the text in=
an effort to determine their bearing on the
collection. Finally, it would=
have been interesting to examine the
instances where Burroughs blatantly=
extracts passages from other of his works as
well as from the works of=
other writers. The story "Short Trip Home," for instance, opens with
a=
direct quote
from the opening passage of F. Scott Fitzgerald=92s story "A=
Short Trip Home." Plumbing these lifted passages in light of
their=
placement in the text may also have proven
useful in getting below the=
fractured surface of Burroughs=92 prose. I suggest these strategies in=
order to stress that a non-linear,
"multi-level" work such as Exterminator!=
demands such vertical reading(s). This paper has been one such attempt=
at vertical reading and, I believe, has
pointed out some of the unifying=
elements of theme and voice in Exterminator! But, perhaps, Burroughs=
himself might argue that searching out unity
or theme or voice in the=
fiction of this collection is as useless as
attempting to conceive of it in=
traditional, linear terms. After all, the critical wherewithal remains
to=
be developed for assessing a fiction designed
to be received with one=92s=
"entire organic being."=20
References
Bockris,
V. 1981. With William S. Burroughs:
A Report from the Bunker. =
New York:
Grove Press, Inc.
Burroughs,
W. S. 1985. The Adding Machine:
Selected Essays. New York: =
Seaver Books.
Morgan,
T. 1988. Literary Outlaw: The Life
and Times of William S.=
Burroughs. New York: Holt and
Company.
Odier,
D. 1974. The Job: Interviews with
William S. Burroughs. New=
York:
Grove Press, Inc.
Page,
B. Writing for Vaudeville. Springfield, MA: The Home=
Correspondence School.
At
07:57 PM 1/26/98 -0500, you wrote:
>I
consider it very beat to just sit by my window, reading my books and
>smoking
my cigarettes. There's more than one way to be beat, you know but
>I
know what Mary means about doing too much reading and not enough doing,
>but
sometimes, all you can do is read...
> On
Mon, 26 Jan 1998, Mary
>Maconnell
wrote:
>
>>
So aside from a party on Saturday night which I don't remember I ended up
>>
finishing "Junky" and reading the whole of Carolyn Cassady's book,
"Heart
>>
Beat: My Life With Jack and Neal."
I really really really loved Junky=
and
>>
totally got into it and since I had previously tried to read "The Wild
>>
Boys" and couldn't get into it I felt Burroughs was re-established as
>>
a writer good and true in my eyes.
Carolyn's book was revealing to me
>>
(as I didn't know she and Jack had an affair but I'm not surprised) and
>>
was wondering what anyone else thought about it.
>>
>>
So right now I'm reading "Jack's Book" (can't remember the author's
name)
>>
and "Tristessa" by Jack and totally digging this groove but can't
help
>>
but wonder if I'm doing too much reading and not enough _doing_ lately --
>>
you know what I mean?
>>
>>
Mary
>>
>
>The
Absence of Sound, Clear and Pure, The Silence Now Heard In Heaven For
>Sure-JK
>
<center>************************************************************
Edward
Desautels
7
Hamilton Road
Somerville,
MA 02144
edesaute@bbnplanet.com
http://www.shore.net/~debra/ed/homepage.html
<smaller>"One
day I found my shirt lying across my knees,=20
I
called it Beauty. Since thenI've been a painter of shirts."
Jacques
Rigaut
</smaller>************************************************************</cent=
er>
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 08:08:59 -0500
Reply-To: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List"
<BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation
List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
From: MATT HANNAN <MATT.HANNAN@USOC.ORG>
Subject: Re: another kerouac dream, marie
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This reminds me of a dream I had of
Ginsberg where my wife and I were
supposed to meet him in the basement of a
fire station (why, I have no
idea) and when we sit down to talk to him
he stands up and runs off.
We end up in some sort of Keystone Kops
chase with him around the
streets of NYC.
Why are the beats "eluding" us
in our dreams?
love and lilies,
matt
______________________________
Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject:
another kerouac dream, marie
Author: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation List"
<BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> at Internet
Date: 1/27/98 1:20 PM
had a
dream lst night where i stumbled upon
a
kerouac sale in some nameless
bookstore,
they had books on and by him i've
never
seen or heard of
so i
start to pick out titles
some
guy is actually helping me
for
some reason
throwing
me books
then as
things got a little crazy
i
noticed my notebooks, my own private
dirty
notebooks and old letters
were on
sale too, so now i'm trying to pick out
th
beat-g and jack k. stuff i haven't read
before
and at the same time trying to keep
the
notebooks and letters to myself.
it's
awful
then it
changes
real
sudden and i'm at a lecture on jack k.
and the
prof. whos just released a book
with
pictures of jack k. asks the class
what
picture they would like him
to go
on about in detail
what
picture of jack k. that is
someone
says: all of them
everybody
laughs
then
someone else is real specific
this
and that picture on page so and so
ev'body
finds it, the prof. finds it
nods
says something like "great choice"
but i'm
in trouble
i'm
thumbing trough the book
not
finding anyone even resembling jack k.
looking
at the others
who's
now getting into it
thumbing
through the book again
but no
luck
n i
wake up
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 07:47:49 PST
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<BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
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List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
From: Greg Beaver-Seitz
<hookooekoo@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: beat weekend
Content-Type:
text/plain
>i
loaned my copy of Junky to a Junky in hopes that he might be willing
>to
fight the borders of illiteracy he faced with a subject that he
could
>relate
to. it is my understanding that he did
not read it and left it
>in
a crackhouse somewhere.
>
damn
junkies..
-greg
______________________________________________________
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Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 08:01:40 -0800
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From: Mary Maconnell
<MMACONNELL@MAIL.EWU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Where's the beef? (was: Re: beat
weekend)
Comments:
cc: edesaute@bbnplanet.com
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Hey,
Ed.
What I
tried to get across (but obviously failed miserably) was that I had
not
read Burroughs before and even though I couldn't get into The Wild Boys
doesn't
mean that it's not a good book -- I personally needed something a
bit
more accessible to let me into that Burroughs frame of mind. Is there
anything
wrong with that? :)
Also,
even though I love to read and would probably die if I couldn't, I
just
felt that I hadn't been doing enough lately and reading to me is
experiencing
the world through someone else's vision (again, I don't think
there's
anything wrong with that either so long as that's not all a person
does). The comment I made of not doing enough
lately was made more
offhandedly
and I did really want to discuss the books.
Aaaaah,
literature.
Mary
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 10:45:16 +0000
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<BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
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From: Marie Countryman <country@SOVER.NET>
Subject: finding the pony
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ok i
think i need to make some coherence out of this, as i sent it to
y'all,
i've broken the stream of consciousness into two separate items
(can't
even begin to think of it as poetry, but it is an interesting
problem.
#1
no
words
no
words
no soul
no
heartbeat
within which i can feel the reality
whose
reality?
i am
still lost in the middle of america
metaphorically speaking
i'm
still on that train
crossing desolate plains
outside
my window is desolate new england
groaning under winter.
no
words
no wish
to seek out memory to help search
memory flawed and out of time
don't
send me a quick memory trick
or drug
memory
present memory past
i wish to hold them fast
unremembered and out of time
we are
born (in my case, into a case, incubator)
alone
alone
alone alone
and we
die alone
alone
alone
i die
each day a thousand deaths
in the gaps between no words
and and the birth pangs of words
wishing to be born.
#2
ode to
seraphins and toilets
my
toilet is being unplugged
i will
treasure its unplugging
and
sarah, who weilds the plunger
while i
sit, alone in the dark
while
my shit goes down the pipe
while i
sit,
shit pouring out of me
leaving
me alone
and stuck in the moment.
sarah,
seraphin of plunger,
i give
thanks to you and your love
but
something is broken
it is not the toilet
it's me
and not
even the seraphin sarah can fix me
i sit,
broken
alone
in the dark
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 11:11:51 +0000
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<BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
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From: Marie Countryman
<country@SOVER.NET>
Subject: finding the pony
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ok i
think i need to make some coherence out of this, as i sent it to
y'all,
i've broken the stream of consciousness into two separate
items
(can't even begin to think of it as poetry, but it is an
interesting
problem.
the
orignal post:
Marie
Countryman wrote:
no words, no soul no hearbeat within in
whidh i can feel the
reality-
what is reality? am still lost in the
middle of america
-metaphoric more
than real, as i am in the midst of not of
west but new
england....by
which
return is by train is desolate plains with distant
mountains in
the backgrorund... (aware of typos, just
dooj't care)
no words
no wish to seek out memory
memory is flawed beyond the memory of past
and long term
past..
no memory
or words to prompt memory
lost soul
don't send a quick memory trick
or
drug
alone alone alone alone
we are born (in my case to an incubator)
alone
and notwishstanding bardos,
still
believe we die alone
alone
alone
alone
my toiiet has just been unnplugged.
i will treeasuure it' s unplllugging
sarah who came with plunnger
alone
in the dark
with shit
pouurijg out of the hole
of the toilet
no shit pours from me, leaving me stuck in
the moment-
sarah, serephin of plunger, i give thanks
to you..
something is broken
broken
it is not the toilet
it is me
and no sarah with pllunger can save mme
goodnighmc
and
what came from it:
#1
no
words
no
words
no soul
no
heartbeat
within which i can feel the reality
whose
reality?
i am still
lost in the middle of america
metaphorically speaking
i'm
still on that train
crossing desolate plains
outside
my window is desolate new england
groaning under winter.
no
words
no wish
to seek out memory to help search
memory flawed and out of time
don't
send me a quick memory trick
or drug
memory
present memory past
i wish to hold them fast
unremembered and out of time
we are
born (in my case, into a case, incubator)
alone
alone
alone alone
and we
die alone
alone
alone
i die
each day a thousand deaths
in the gaps between no words
and and the birth pangs of words
wishing to be born.
#2
ode to
seraphins and toilets
my
toilet is being unplugged
i will
treasure its unplugging
and
sarah, who weilds the plunger
while i
sit, alone in the dark
while
my shit goes down the pipe
while i
sit,
shit pouring out of me
leaving
me alone
and stuck in the moment.
sarah,
seraphin of plunger,
i give
thanks to you and your love
but
something is broken
it is not the toilet
it's me
and not
even the seraphin sarah can fix me
i sit,
broken
alone
in the dark
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 01:11:42 -0800
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From: Diane Carter
<dcarter@TOGETHER.NET>
Subject: Re: Lust of the flesh, ignorant craving
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>
David Bruce Rhaesa wrote:
>
the source of the new testament writing here is quite different than
>
that of Romans. Saul/Paul is just a
beat dude who had an epiphany.
>
The
>
Gospel of John is a slightly different matter.
The Book of John IMHO
> is
> by
far the most interesting book in the colelction we call the Bible.
> It
begins with the Logos and it seems that this connects with some of
>
the questions concerning WSB's theories concerning Word as a Virus.
>
What we get in translation as "The Word" is in the Greek
"Logos" but
>
this was a far more holistic term than mere logic and contained
>
something similar to the many sides of beat and beatific in its
>
difficulty to pin down in translation.
It is perhaps the ultimate of
>
the viral that the symbol of Logos has been translated to Word even
>
capitalized.
Just
one thing to note here, the passage that Timothy quoted is from the
first letter
of John (1John), not the book of John, although both are
concerned
with the Word, capitalized. It seems to
me that "suffering is
caused
by desire (or craving)" and the "lusts of the flesh" are very
similar. Both require a denying of the ego and
worldly things in order
to lead
a more spiritual life. Both imply that
an experience of the
eternal
is here now by seeking a more spiritual existence apart from the
physical
one. To pursue an endulgement of the
self, physical
gratifications,
the craving of desires, puts one out-of-balance with the
spiritual
plane.
DC
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 09:03:46 -0800
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From: "Timothy K. Gallaher"
<gallaher@HSC.USC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Lust of the flesh, ignorant craving
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>Timothy
K. Gallaher wrote:
>>
>>
First off we have discussed the First Noble Truth:
>>
(I really enjoyed everyone's posts on this subject)
>>
>>
All Life is Suffering
>>
>>
and compared with:
>>
>>
Rom. 8:22 For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in
>>
pain together until now.
>>
>>
The second is:
>>
>>
Suffering is caused by desire (or
craving)
>>
>>
How does this correspond with:
>>
>>
1John 2:16 For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the
>>
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of
>>
the world.
>>
>>
How similar are ignorant craving of the second Noble truth and the lusts of
>>
the flesh of the new testament?
>
>the
source of the new testament writing here is quite different than
>that
of Romans. Saul/Paul is just a beat
dude who had an epiphany. The
>Gospel
of John is a slightly different matter.
Remember
that lust of the flesh is a common theme among many NT writers.
Paul,
Peter and John all use the phrase and terminology.
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 19:34:17 +0100
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From: Rinaldo Rasa <rinaldo@GPNET.IT>
Subject: Storm and Outburst,
Tempesta e Impeto Re:
"Sturm und Drang" and Beat
In-Reply-To:
<Pine.PMDF.3.95.980126140624.17715C-100000@uoft02.utoledo.e du>
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Sara
wrote:
(...)
>I've
always wanted to compare the Sturm und Drang works with the American
>Beat-generation
works, because Beat could be considered a later, American
>"Sturm
und Drang" period.
>
> Sara Feustle
--
Sara,
the influence of letters on writing something different
(i.e. a
novel) is a long (european) tradition/fiction. i think
it's
worth to dig the italian background of JK's lit as the german.
in
"On the Road" the protagonist is Sal Paradise. in the italian
translation
(1959) the surname was italianized as Paradiso,
what
beautiful homage! and Sal is the nickname of Salvatore
the
true name of Sal Paradise is Salvatore Paradiso.
Salvatore
is the name of Jesus and Paradiso was of course the
Paradise
(heaven) connected with spiritual catholic heir.
strange
matter, Ginny, the italian beat was preceded by music
singer
and Carmen Villani is the first, the literary storm was
circa a
ten years later. at Castelporziano in 1979 Allen
Ginsberg,
William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso was the lit side
of the
movement but there's a good point to think that
the end
of italian beat was at late 60s' and have is root during
the
early 60s in now unknowed guys... those people in 1979 were
already
disapparead behind the curtain... and Italy was broken
up with
ultra leftism (Bologna 1977) really a Storm (i dunno if
someone
remember the Red Brigades), and a revival of beat in 1979
at
Castelporziano beach (near Rome). i was in Bologna in 1977 but not
at
Castelporziano cuz of in the italian political scene the beat
was the
drop in of the movement (countercultural). i think a beat
really
influenced the italians was the "poeta addormentato"
named
Jack Keroauc...
btw is
there some the Beat-Ls who were at Festival della Poesia di
Castelporziano
in the 1979 summer... i was living in the woods...
cari
saluti a tutti voi gentili amici, e scusatemi lo sproloquio,
Rinaldo.
--
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 11:55:40 +0000
Reply-To: tkc@zipcon.com
Sender: "BEAT-L: Beat Generation
List" <BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
From: Tom Christopher
<tkc@ZIPCON.COM>
Organization:
art language wholsale retail
Subject: Re: Last Time I committed Suicide: The
Prologue
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David
Bruce Rhaesa wrote:
>
>
"Some believe Neal Cassady to be the real genius behind the beat
>
movement.
>
>
...<snip>...
>
2) The Legend of Cassady preceded his
coming to New York in On the
>
Road. I had asked on the List for any
information about the legends
>
attributed to Hal Chase (Harr????) by Jack Kerouac in the opening pages
> of
On the Road with no reply. It seems
that such grapevine attributions
> of
the legend which preceded Neal would hardly be accurate but would
>
likely be much more tales of Denver very similar to those depicted in
>
the film.
....<snip>.....
>
dbr
see the
early pages of charters' kerouac letters for jack's letters to
hal
chase. see early pages of
cassady/ginsberg letters, as ever. see
early
pages of kerouac's visions of cody for what might be real denver
stories,
or kerouacian fictions. the tape, part
2, of visions of cody
is neal
talking about his teen years in denver. his letters in the first
third
including the joan letter tell of these times.
these represent
pretty
accurately what neal was up to during the war years
hal
chase and neal met in the denver library in the summer of 45. hal
was
older than neal and had been in the service before going to columbia
and
rooming with allen g before meeting kerouac.
he saw neal's reform
school
letters to justin briarly and went out of his way to introduce
kerouac
and cassady.
much
new work about neal in denver will be released soon....
tkc
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 14:20:34 EST
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From: IDDHI <IDDHI@AOL.COM>
Organization:
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Subject: Re: Tempesta e Impeto, god and Golden
Eternity
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In a
message dated 27-Jan-98 10:44:15 AM Pacific Standard Time,
rinaldo@GPNET.IT
writes:
<<
and Italy was broken
up with ultra leftism (Bologna 1977) really a
Storm (i dunno if
someone remember the Red Brigades), and a
revival of beat in 1979
at Castelporziano beach (near Rome). i was in
Bologna in 1977 but not
at Castelporziano cuz of in the italian
political scene the beat
was the drop in of the movement
(countercultural). i think a beat
really influenced the italians was the
"poeta addormentato"
named Jack Keroauc... >>
Rinaldo,
Se noi
tutti non fossimo la Dorata Eternita non saremmo qui. Poiche siamo qui
non possiamo
non essere puri. Dire all'uomo di essere puro a causa di un
angelo
punitore che puisce i cattivi e un angelo remuneratore che ricompensa i
buoni
sarebbe come dire all'acqua "Sii bagnata." Cio nonstnte, tutte le
cose
dipendono
dalla realta suprema, che e gia fissata nel reistro del destino
guadagnato
col Karma.
In
English:
Stare
deep into the world before you as if it were the void: innumerable holy
ghosts,
buddhies, and savior gods there hide, smiling. All the atoms emitting
light
inside wavehood, there is no personal separation of any of it. A
hummingbird
can come into a house and a hawk will not: so rest and be assured.
While
looking for the light, you may suddenly be devoured by the darkness and
find
the true light.
Kerouac
was Catholic, and embraced the saints and suffering of that. Kerouac
was
Buddhist, and embraced the Tao and Zen of that, including the first law:
suffering.
I often
wonder how it feels to live in a country upon whose soil war was
fought,
whose people were so abused by their earthly rulers in the 20th
Century,
and how all those conflicting events and religious upbringing
affected
a young man like yourself.
My wars
were simply witnessing the wars of others, civil rights and antiwar
protests,
abuses of power that led to downfall of leaders and assassinations,
but no
public hangings (and wasn't Mussolini hung upside-down, as he was so
completely
despised? forgive my ignorance of history. i'd have to look it up).
How did
you come to the Beats? How do you relate to Kerouac's Catholicism and
Buddhism?
How does Italy "understand" the Beat Generation?
Sorry I
don't speak Italian. I hope you can understand what I'm asking and
will
forgive my arrogance in desiring your reply in English.
"Questa
legge di verita non ha maggiore realta del mondo..."
Maggie
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 15:23:13 EST
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From: IDDHI <IDDHI@AOL.COM>
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Subject: Re: Tempesta e Impeto, damn it, a
correction
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Sorry,
sorry, sorry, Rinaldo et al, I put the wrong translation under that
passage.
Il sona
stupido!
If we
were not all the golden eternity we wouldnt be here. Because we are here
we cant
help being pure. To tell man to be pure on account of the punishing
angel
that punishes the bad and the rewarding angel that rewards the good
would
be like telling the water "Be Wet"-Never the less, all things depend
on
supreme
reality, which is already established as the record of Karma earned-
fate.
Maggie
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 16:31:26 -0500
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From: Ken Ostrander <kenster@MIT.EDU>
Subject: Re: maggie cassidy
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>i
heard somewhere (can't remember now where) that kerouac went back to
>lowell
for a visit when he was getting into his alcoholic phase, and
>that
he went to visit 'maggie cassidy' (mary carney????) after not
>seeing
her for over ten years, and that he was drunk when he went to
>visit
her.
>
>can
anyone out there provide more details?
I"d be interested in how she
>reacted
to a drunken jack after all those years...
this
morning on the train i read this in _desolation angels_:
I wake up in the middle of the night
and remember Maggie Cassidy
and how
I might have married her and been old Finnegan to her Irish Lass
Plurabelle,
how I might have got a cottage, a little ramshackle Irish rose
cottage
among the reeds and old trees on the banks of the Concord and
woulda
worked as a grim bejacketed gloved and bebaseballhatted brakeman in
the
cold New England night, for her and her Irish ivory thighs, her and her
marshmellow
lips, her and her brogue and "God's Green Earth" and her two
daughters
- How I would have laid her across the bed at night all mine and
laborious
sought her rose, her mine of a thing, that emerald dark and hero
thing I
want - remember her silk thighs in tight jeans, the way she folded
back
one thigh under her hands and sighed as we watched Television together
- in
her mother's parlor that last haunted 1954 trip I took to October
Lowell
- Ah, the rose vines, the river mud, the run of her, the eyes - A
woman
for old Duluoz? Unbelievable by my
stove in desolation midnight that
it
should be true - Maggie Adventure -
KEN
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 16:59:07 EST
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Subject: Re: maggie cassidy
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FROM
MAGGIE CASSIDY:=0A"Oh shut up=97Oh Jacky come home have Christmases =
with
me=97never mind all this=0Acharivary=97fancy fanfares for nothing=97=
I'll
have a rosary in my hand at least=97to=0Aremind you=97Little snowfla=
kes'll
fall on our pretty roof. Why do you want these=0AFrench windows? W=
hat are
the towers of Manhattan to you that needs love in my=0Aarm every =
night
from work=97CAn I make you happier with powder on mychest?.... I=0A=
shoulda
never let you go far away from home=97" Rich lips brooded in my d=
eaf=0Aear....=0A"You
shoulda never left home to come here I dont care abo=
ut
anybody says about=0Asuccess and careers=97it wont do you no good=97Yo=
u can
see it with your own=0Aeyes=97And lookit her with her fine and fanc=
y ways,
I bet she's as balmy as the=0Aday is long and they have to spend =
thousands
a dollars on bug doctors for=0Aher=97you can have em brother=97=
so
long. =97Huh" she concluded, through her throat,=0Awhich throbbed, and=
I kissed her and wanted to devour her every
ounce of her=0Amysterious fl=
esh
every part hump rill hole heart that with my fingers I'd=0Anever even=
yet known, the hungry preciousness of her,
the one never to be=0Arepeate=
d altar
of her legs, belly, heart, dark hair, she unknowing of this,=0Aun=
blessed,
graceless, dull-eyed beautiful.=0A=0A=0ASeems to me Kerouac want=
ed
Maggie in a way he never wanted anyone else. But I=0Athink Maggie also=
represented a stability (boredom) he wasn't
ready for then.=0AHe spent m=
any
years trying to reconcile his artistic desire for freedom on his=0Ate=
rms
with his deep need to be loved by a woman, the same woman, every day.=
=0A=0AFROM
VISIONS OF GERARD=0AI curse and rant nowadays because I dont w=
ant to
have to work to make a living=0Aand do childish work for other men=
(any lout can move a board from hither
to=0Ayonder) but=92d rather sleep=
all day and stay up all night scrubbling
these=0Avisions of the world=85=
=0AArguments
that raged later between my father and myself about my refus=
al to
go=0Ato work=97"I wanta write=97I=92m an artist"=97"Artist
shmartis=
t, ya
cant be supported=0Aall ya life=97"=0A=0A=0AThe irony is that he en=
ded up
taking care of his mother after his father died,=0Anot that she to=
ok care
of him. And I honestly believe the last time he=0Amarried, his wi=
fe was
as close to his ideal of Maggie Cassidy as she could be=0A(since t=
hey
were both middle-aged and his mother was an invalid). By all=0Aaccoun=
ts,
Lowell-girl Stella didn't powder her chest, had no patience with=0AJa=
ck's
New York friends, and made for him a loving, stable, protected home,=
=0Aeven
to the extent of caring for Memere.=0A=0AKerouac could never have=
sustained the "real" Maggie
Cassidy, but her female=0Asurrogate was his =
third
and last wife, although I'll bet Stella never knew=0Athat.=0A=0AI t=
oo
would love to know if Maggie Cassidy was Mary Carney, and if her=0Adau=
ghter
was Kerouac's. I read somewhere that the daughter refused blood tes=
ts=0Abecause
she didn't want to know if he WAS her father, didn't want an=
ything
to=0Ado with him? This is a branch of Kerouac scholarship that I h=
aven't
seen=0Aexplored with any productive results.=0A=0AMaggie (not Cass=
idy, in
fact, not even Maggie, but Irene) D'Arma=0A
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 15:05:11 +0000
Reply-To: stauffer@pacbell.net
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From: James Stauffer
<stauffer@PACBELL.NET>
Subject: Re: maggie cassidy
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Thanks,
Ken, for this beautiful passage from Desolation Angels. A beautiful
rendering
of a long womanless man in the complete isolation of mt. lookout,
remembering
a dream of a woman. But let me offer a
somewhat contrarian
reaction
to this passage in contrast to the other Maggies'. Rereading the
passage
brings me up against what I always run up against in Jack's women.
There
is very little sense of reality here.
Evocative romantic visionary bits,
but
rather like an adolescent who has grown into a wonderful writer without
leaving
behind his adolescent view of women. He remembers her Irishness, "silk
thighs,"
"marshmellow lips" and his dream of how perfect life would be if this
dream
were his. . The writing is gorgeous,
but if you extract the descriptive
phrases
they are (with the exception of
"that emerald dark and hero thing",
and
"ah the run of her, the river mud, etc") the language of bubble gum rock.
Maggie,
as a living, breathing person is not here at all.
I would
contend that for Jack there never was a women who matched his mother,
the
love of his life, as he says in Big Sur and elsewhere. The other women
with
whom he is involved are either elevated beyond all reality or whores. In
much of
his life Jack was a man/boy. This
was tragedy in his life. His work
survives
this failure to grow except by growing into alcoholic desperation.
But I
don't find any very well realized women in Jacks work. And he generally
does
better by far by the whores than he does by the angels. Of course Leslie
Fiedler
used to argue that this was true of
American novelists pretty much sui
generis.
>
> I wake up in the middle of the night
and remember Maggie Cassidy
>
and how I might have married her and been old Finnegan to her Irish Lass
>
Plurabelle, how I might have got a cottage, a little ramshackle Irish rose
>
cottage among the reeds and old trees on the banks of the Concord and
>
woulda worked as a grim bejacketed gloved and bebaseballhatted brakeman in
>
the cold New England night, for her and her Irish ivory thighs, her and her
>
marshmellow lips, her and her brogue and "God's Green Earth" and her
two
>
daughters - How I would have laid her across the bed at night all mine and
>
laborious sought her rose, her mine of a thing, that emerald dark and hero
>
thing I want - remember her silk thighs in tight jeans, the way she folded
>
back one thigh under her hands and sighed as we watched Television together
> -
in her mother's parlor that last haunted 1954 trip I took to October
>
Lowell - - A
>
woman for old Duluoz? Unbelievable by
my stove in desolation midnight that
> it
should be true - Maggie Adventure -
>
Ah, the rose vines, the river mud, the run of her, the eyes
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<HTML>
Thanks,
Ken, for this beautiful passage from <U>Desolation
Angels</U>.
A
beautiful rendering of a long womanless man in the complete isolation
of mt.
lookout, remembering a dream of a woman. But let me offer
a
somewhat contrarian reaction to this passage in contrast to the other
Maggies'.
Rereading the passage brings me up against what I always
run up
against in Jack's women. There is very little sense of reality
here.
Evocative romantic visionary bits, but rather like an adolescent
who has
grown into a wonderful writer without leaving behind his adolescent
view of
women. He remembers her Irishness, "silk thighs," "marshmellow
lips"
and his dream of how perfect life would be if this dream were his.
.
The writing is gorgeous, but if you extract the descriptive phrases
they
are (with the exception of "that emerald dark and hero
thing",
and
"ah the run of her, the river mud, etc") the language of
bubble
gum
rock. Maggie, as a living, breathing person is not here at all.
<P>I
would contend that for Jack there never was a women who matched his
mother,
the love of his life, as he says in <U>Big Sur</U> and elsewhere.
The
other women with whom he is involved are either elevated beyond all
reality
or whores. In much of his life Jack was a man/boy.
This
was tragedy in his life. His work survives this failure
to grow
except by growing into alcoholic desperation. But I don't
find
any very well realized women in Jacks work. And he generally
does
better by far by the whores than he does by the angels. Of course
Leslie
Fiedler used to argue that this was true of American novelists
pretty
much <U>sui generis.</U>
<BLOCKQUOTE
TYPE=CITE> </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE
TYPE=CITE>
I wake
up in
the middle of the night and remember Maggie Cassidy
<BR>and
how I might have married her and been old Finnegan to her Irish
Lass
<BR>Plurabelle,
how I might have got a cottage, a little ramshackle Irish
rose
<BR>cottage
among the reeds and old trees on the banks of the Concord and
<BR>woulda
worked as a grim bejacketed gloved and bebaseballhatted brakeman
in
<BR>the
cold New England night, for her and her Irish ivory thighs, her
and her
<BR>marshmellow
lips, her and her brogue and "God's Green Earth" and her
two
<BR>daughters
- How I would have laid her across the bed at night all mine
and
<BR>laborious
sought her rose, her mine of a thing, that emerald dark and
hero
<BR>thing
I want - remember her silk thighs in tight jeans, the way she
folded
<BR>back
one thigh under her hands and sighed as we watched Television
together
<BR>-
in her mother's parlor that last haunted 1954 trip I took to October
<BR>Lowell
- - A
<BR>woman
for old Duluoz? Unbelievable by my stove in desolation
midnight
that
<BR>it
should be true - Maggie Adventure -</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE
TYPE=CITE>Ah, the rose vines, the river mud, the run of her,
the
eyes</BLOCKQUOTE>
</HTML>
--------------3ACADCEB3CEB33AFB3A45919--
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 18:21:12 -0500
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From: mike rice
<mrice@CENTURYINTER.NET>
Subject: Re: sturm und drang
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What
was the period when Sturm und Drang was published.
Mike
Rice
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 18:33:50 EST
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From: IDDHI <IDDHI@AOL.COM>
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Subject: Re: maggie cassidy
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In a
message dated 27-Jan-98 1:29:36 PM Pacific Standard Time, kenster@MI=
T.EDU=0Awrites:=0A=0A<<
How I would have laid her across the bed at night=
all mine and=0A laborious sought her rose,
her mine of a thing, that eme=
rald
dark and hero=0A thing I want >>=0A=0AAnd to James (and thanks from =
me,
too, Ken, for finding Maggie in Desolation=0AAngels) --=0A=0AI think =
you're
mostly right about Kerouac's inability to maintain a woman, or=0Aw=
hatever
it was. And though I've long thought of Kerouac as kind of weak a=
nd=0Aunattractive,
his writing of erotica (like the passage above, and th=
e one
I=0Asnipped in my last letter) certainly makes me feel all warm in =
the
right=0Aplaces. He did have that virgin or whore sort of classificati=
on
toward women,=0Aundoubtedly brought on my terminal catholicism, and I =
wonder
if sex in=0Amarriage was ever "good" for him.=0A=0AWe've spent a l=
ot of
time talking here about Kerouac's encounters with other=0Amen, whic=
h makes
some sense to me based on libido and a sense of masturbation,=0Aa=
nd the
"circle jerk-off" phenomenon I've heard so many male friends talk=
=0Aabout
(which amazed me, since I've never even been invited to masturba=
te
with=0Aone or more other women, but it almost seems a rite of passage =
for
boys. But=0Athat's another topic, I'll bet, and mysterious to me, so =
I'll
leave it for the=0Atime being to talk heterosexual love). Jack did h=
ave a
lot of sex, it seems,=0Aand a lot of fantasies about sex, with wome=
n and
at least once I know of, with=0Aa child (which doesn't make him a p=
edophile
by any stretch of an imagination,=0Asince it came to him in a dr=
eam,
and who doesn't dream against his will or=0Abetter judgment?)=0A=0AI=
think he was mostly driven by his alcoholism,
and my experience with tha=
t=0A(as
the owner of a bar) is that it is the surest way to become a bad =
lover,=0Anot
to mention a stable husband or father or partner in any cont=
ext.=0A=0AThe
common thing I find in all his behaviour (and I'm no expert=
on him or=0Aanyone) is that he couldn't
"do" but he was a master at "say=
."
And his=0Awriting, young or old, IMO, was always childlike, whether it=
concerned his=0Alibido or his religion, but
not in the least immature. R=
ather,
it was like he=0Awas captured, "forever young" forever restless, f=
orever
filled with desire=0Athat he was able to write about to awaken us =
all. I
guess he was unharnessed=0Aenergy, for lack of a better term. A ma=
rried
Kerouac probably would have=0Awritten about politics or something, =
not
"Praise a woman=92s legs, her golden=0Athighs only produce black nigh=
ts of
death, face it=97Sin is sin and there=92s no=0Aerasing it=85"=0A=0A=
Maggie=0A
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 18:45:47 -0500
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From: Sara Feustle
<sfeustl@UOFT02.UTOLEDO.EDU>
Subject: Re: sturm und drang
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>From
about 1770 to 1790.
At
06:21 PM 1/27/98 -0500, you wrote:
>What
was the period when Sturm und Drang was published.
>
>Mike
Rice
>
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 20:48:49 -0400
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From: Preston Whaley
<paw8670@MAILER.FSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: quote search
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>On
Tue, 20 Jan 1998, David Bruce Rhaesa wrote:
>
>>
Preston Whaley wrote:
>>
>
>>
> A week or so back someone posted the following quote by Burroughs: "All
>>
> agents defect, and all resisters sellout." Does anyone know the
source?
>>
>
>>
> Thanks,
>>
>
>>
> Preston
>>
>>
i tried several forms of searches at Bigtable database with no luck.
>>
>>
dbr
>>
>Should
have used the concordance. It's on page 205 of whatever edition of
>Naked
Lunch Luke used to compile the concordance. The link to the page on
>his
site is:
>http://www.bigtable.com/library/naked_lunch/205.html
>
>Thanks
again to Luke for putting up such a great resource.
>
>Neil
Thanks,
Neil.
Preston
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 21:07:27 -0500
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From: TKQ <mapaul@PIPELINE.COM>
Subject: Re: maggie cassidy
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I need
to clear something I wrote earlier...kerouac was not well recieved by
Mary
Carney in the 1960's, not Mr. Chaput. Part of the reason was Kerouac
acted
like it was still in the 1930's when in fact Mary Carney had a husband
and it
was the 1960's. Part of this was his idealism of her and also a
drunken
spontaneous visit which did not go over well. Paul...
"We
cannot well do without our sins; they are the highway to our virtues."
Henry David Thoreau
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 00:38:16 -0500
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From: "Neil M. Hennessy"
<nhenness@UWATERLOO.CA>
Subject: Re: Wittgenstein? (and Nietzsche)
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On Sun,
25 Jan 1998, Jeff Taylor wrote:
>
You know, I've often wondered why Nietzsche isn't mentioned more often
> in
connection with WSB, or in WSB's own work. There seems to be a much
>
more organic similarity with Nietzsche than with Wittgenstein. Not
>
least because N also cited HiS's motto:
>
> When the Christian crusaders in the Orient
encountered the
> invincible order of Assassins, that order
of free spirits *par
> excellence*, whose lowest ranks followed a
rule of obedience the
> like of which no order of monks ever
attained, they obtained in
> some way or other a hint concerning that
symbol and watchword
> reserved for the highest ranks alone as
their *secretum*: "Nothing
> is true, everything is
permitted."--Very well, *that* was *freedom*
> of spirit; in *that* way the faith in
truth itself was *abrogated*.
> Has any European, any Christian free
spirit ever strayed into this
> proposition and into its labyrinthine
consequences? has one of them
> ever known the Minotaur of this cave *from
experience*?--I doubt
> it....
(_On the Genealogy of Morals_ Third essay, section 24)
Although
one would have a hard time considering Burroughs a "Christian
free
spirit", he certainly strays into the proposition and its
labyrinthine
consequences in _The Cities of the Red Night_, where each
city
holds a different convolution of the proposition. Personally, I'm not
familiar
with much Nietszche, so I can't really say all that much on
he and
wsb (I've only read "Thus Spake Zarathustra", and that was many
moons
ago...)
Back to
Language:
Jeff
wrote:
>
When WSB attempts to cut the control lines by getting beyond words, he
>
must, qua writer, still use words. Here again I think Nietzsche may be
> of
more help, with his notion of "self-overcoming": "All great
things
>
bring about their own destruction through an act of self-overcoming"
>
(Genealogy of Morals, 3rd essay #27)--in other words, the very forces
>
that made a thing what it is are the very same forces that eventually
>
bring about that thing's movement beyond itself. For Nietzsche, it is
>
the *value* of truth, when its consequences are followed out to
>
the end that throws into question truth itself, and thus leads to
>
the realization that "Nothing is true...."
>
> So
in WSB: the power and logic of language is brought to turn against
>
itself. But with Witt., it's not even clear that one language-game can
>
meaningfully talk about another language-game. The most you could ever
>
say about this from a Wittgensteinian perspective is that WSB simply
>
switched language-games, leaving all others untouched. No friction.
>
> So
if we are to avoid both this situation, as
>
well as the claim that WSB simply contradicts himself by *writing*
> about
the end of language, we would need a different, more powerful
>
interpretive framework: N's conception of self-overcoming, perhaps.
> So
it appears to me that Nietzsche contains, perhaps, much more
>
powerful resources for helping us to undertand WSB's work than
>
Wittgenstein.
I'm not
sure that a "different interpretive framework" is necessary.
Burroughs
was not writing *about* the end of language, he was writing to
*bring
about* the end of language. He recognized the impasse this brought
about
(Skerl notes this, from correspondance with wsb), and succumbed to
it in
his return to narrative in The Wild Boys. The cut-up trilogy stands
as a
monument to one man's struggle with the Word virus, or in Lacan's
formulation,
to break free of the prison house of language:
"[...]language
and its structure exist prior to the moment at which each
subject
at a certain point in his mental development makes his entry into
it[...]
the speaking subject too, if he can appear to be the slave of
language
is all the more so of a discourse in the universal moment in
which
his place is already inscribed at birth, if only by virtue of his
proper
name. Reference to the experience of the community, or to the
substance
of this discourse settles nothing. For this experience assumes
its
dimension in the tradition that this discourse itself establishes."
(Ecrits:
A Selection, 248)
Burroughs'
prison-break ultimately fails, although in systematically
disrupting
the syntactic and authorial basis on which writing rests he
ruptured
the tradition of discourse. The problem is that the rupture is
only
temporary (time-bound), for the universal discourse absorbs the
singularity,
and language rules again: in Burroughs' formulation the Word
forces
us into our bodies, inscribes us in shit and Time, and there ain't
no
escape lessen you figure out how to get into Space.
Neil
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 08:23:37 -0500
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From: Nancy B Brodsky
<nbb203@IS8.NYU.EDU>
Subject: Herbert Huncke
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Right
now, Im reading the Herbert Huncke Reader, which I got for Chanukah
and its
very interesting to see how casually he refers to the more famous
members
of the BG. He never uses AG's last name but refers to 'Allen'
quite
often and its obvious who he is talking about. Also, the references
to
'Bill' or 'Old Bull Lee'. Its a really good book. What do you all
think?
~Nancy
The
Absence of Sound, Clear and Pure, The Silence Now Heard In Heaven For
Sure-JK
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 10:38:31 +0300
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From: David Bruce Rhaesa
<race@MIDUSA.NET>
Organization:
smiling small thoughts
Subject: Beat-Bob (was Re: backbeat)
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Marie
Countryman wrote:
>
>
bob kaufman
>
> SLIGHT
ALTERATIONS
>
i must
admit even more than my usual ignorance about this intriguing
poet.
can
anyone out there provide background/biographical insights and/or URL
locations
to learn about this Beat-Bob?
thanks
in advance,
dbr
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 12:09:25 +0000
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From: Marie Countryman <country@SOVER.NET>
Subject: BOB KAUFMAN
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no
quick post can really explain this very complex man. i recommend
highly
CRANIAL GUITAR which has a very well written, researched intro by
david
henderson, edited by our very own gerald nicosia.
here's
another to whet yr appetite:
WAITING
SOME
WHERE THERE WAITS, WAITING
A BOOK
IS WAITING, WAITING,
TO BE
WRITTEN,
COLD
COLD PAGES WAITING,
TO BE
WRITTEN,
MAN
SEEKS GOD,
IN A
BOOK.
SOMEWHERE
THERE WAITS, WAITING
A
PICTURE WAITS, WAITING,
WAITING
TO BE PAINTED
COLD
COLD CANVAS.
WAITING
TO BE PAINTED.
MAN
SEEKS GOD IN A PICTURE.
SOMEWHERE
THERE WAITS, WAITING
A WOMAN
WAITING, WAITING,
TO BE
LOVED, WAITING,
COLD
COLD WOMAN,
WAITING
TO BE LOVED,
MAN
SEEKS GOD IN A WOMAN.
SOMEWHERE
THERE WAITS, WAITING
A MAN
IS WAITING, WAITING,
COLD
COLD MAN, WAITING,
TO BE
WANTED, WAITING.
MAN
SEEKS GOD
IN MAN
SOMEWHERE
THERE WAITS, WAITING
A BABY
IS WAITING, WAITING.
WAITING
, WAITING TO BE BORN,
COLD
COLD BABY, WAITING,
TO BE
BORN BLOOD OF EARTH,
WAITING
TO BE.
MAN
SEEKS GOD,
IN A
BABY.
WIND,
SEA,
SKY,
STARS,
SURROUND
US
BOB
KAUFMAN
ps to
jo grant: all caps are kaufman's :)
mc
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 14:12:23 -0400
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From: Preston Whaley
<paw8670@MAILER.FSU.EDU>
Subject: Sturm and Drang
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If this
post does make not it through this time the third time destiny is
against
it. Sorry it's late. But in addition to Kerouac;s sturm and drang
reference
in OTR: "The only people for me are the mad ones . . . ," he
subtitled
Dr. Sax, one of his best, Faust part
III. The Part III
indicates
supplimentation of that Sturm & Dranger Goethe' version. Maybe
this is
an obvious pt., but no one has mentioned it.
Here's
an 18th century Faustian desire to live hot like those burn, burn,
burning
"roman candles. . . ."
Plunge
into time's whirl that dazes my sense,
Into
the torrent of events!
The
reeling whirl I seek, the most painful excess,
Enamored
hate quickening distress.
Cured
from the craving to know all, my mind
Shall
not henceforth be closed to any pain,
And
what is portioned out to all mankind,
I shall
enjoy deep in my self, contain
Within
my spirit summit and abyss,
Pile on
my breast their agony and bliss,
And
thus let my own self grow into theirs, unfettered,
Till as
they are, at lastI, too, am shattered -- from Faust: The Tragedy.
Interesting
that he asks this of the only one who can grant it --
Mephistopheles.
Preston
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 20:03:39 +0100
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From: Rinaldo Rasa <rinaldo@GPNET.IT>
Subject: Re: sturm und drang
In-Reply-To:
<3.0.1.32.19980127184547.006a78a4@uoft02.utoledo.edu>
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At
18.45 27/01/98 -0500, you wrote:
>>From
about 1770 to 1790.
>
>At
06:21 PM 1/27/98 -0500, you wrote:
>>What
was the period when Sturm und Drang was published.
>>
>>Mike
Rice
>>
>
>
Excuse
me Mike and Sara, but as a recall Ugo Foscolo
has as
epigraph in his novel _Last letters of Jacopo Ortis_
Naturae clamat ab ipso
vox tumulo
from
Th. GRAY Elegy written in a Country-Yard (1750)
Geme la natura
perfin nella tomba
The Nature groans even
in the tomb
circa
the goethe _Werther_ Foscolo refused to reply
to the
Quarterly Review charded the novel as plagiarism.
Ugo is
much english lit oriented than goethe, if jump
out any
link between sturm un drang and beat generation
please
have a respect for this exiled son of italy so unlucky
and
died young in london in the early 1800s'...
saluti,
Rinaldo.
-------
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 19:41:05 +0100
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From: Rinaldo Rasa <rinaldo@GPNET.IT>
Subject: Re: Tempesta e Impeto, god and Golden
Eternity
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Maggie
wrote:
(...)
>My
wars were simply witnessing the wars of others, civil rights and antiwar
>protests,
abuses of power that led to downfall of leaders and assassinations,
>but
no public hangings (and wasn't Mussolini hung upside-down, as he was so
>completely
despised? forgive my ignorance of history. i'd have to look it
up).
>
>How
did you come to the Beats? How do you relate to Kerouac's Catholicism and
>Buddhism?
How does Italy "understand" the Beat Generation?
>
>Sorry
I don't speak Italian. I hope you can understand what I'm asking and
>will
forgive my arrogance in desiring your reply in English.
>
>"Questa
legge di verita non ha maggiore realta del mondo..."
>
>Maggie
>
Maggie,
thanx for the gently words (italian! & english) i'm very
glad to
have your thought 'bout the so called "italian beat",
what is
really happened was 'bout no connection among italian beat
and
buddhism...
the
starting question maybe was the "sturm und strang" as movement (in
the
meaning of people) looking for a new world (of course there's
no
acceptance of assasination of bad men, and ezra pound was right
to call
italians barbaric toward ben mussolini and clara petacci,
hanged,
and pound was something like a friend to allen ginsberg)...
when in
1979 Ginsberg, Burroughs & beats were in italy at Castelporziano
was
similar when Ginsberg in the chicago convention have to OM
the
people stopping violence. but Italy in those times was very
politicized
country, and the Poetry Festival was great but the
"italian
beat" no more existed. the meeting was a failure and
Burroughs
stated that the CIA was involved (sabotage) when the
american
beats were besieged by a bunch of italian poets on the stand.
the
stand falled down & everything collapsed. summer 1979 in Rome,
i dunno
why Ginsberg and Burroughs dont tell about this meeting
in
their journals...
me
Rinaldo im 47 old near to turn 48, im' persuade that my life was
sucked
and exploited, this sad news whirl in my mind and
heart.
Jack Kerouac was appreciated in the 60s' and his
look
was "il poeta addormentato" meaning that the man is
sleeping
together with his poetry. Maggie u are right:
2
The
awakened Buddha to show the way, the
chosen
Messiah to die in the degradation (...)--jack kerouac
the scripture
of the golden
eternity
maybe
Jack chose my idea
the
Messiah and is that
charging
himself catholi
to die
really in c never
animate
form became other
than a catholic (gesuitic?)
maybe this'nt my idea but a bukowski
meaning of life (am i wrong?)
another catholic beat...
Jack
Kerouac mori' improvvisamente
nel 1969 all'eta' di 47 anni.
Jack
Kerouac died suddenly
in 1969 at 47.
in
italy there's little chance for buddhism and the kerouac
literature
is so appreciated because of his catholic roots
he was
loved by people who falled in the shadows in the turn
of the
60. Jack Kerouac was in italy to meet the pope and a
to lead
the way to bob dylan syndrome.
perhaps
im I am
empty, I am non-existent
very
too s
ad aged
an So be
sure
s tired
an
d
damned b jk
ut i
notic
ed the
gre
en weed
spero
di non avervi annoiato con queste mie righe sto solo
cercando
di capire come il passato e' visto dal presente e
che
davvero ALL IS WELL...
un caro
saluto a tutti da
Rinaldo.
-------
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 15:20:51 EST
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<BEAT-L@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
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From: IDDHI <IDDHI@AOL.COM>
Organization:
AOL (http://www.aol.com)
Subject: Re: Tempesta e Impeto, god and Golden
Eternity
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In a
message dated 28-Jan-98 11:14:50 AM Pacific Standard Time,
rinaldo@GPNET.IT
writes:
<<
spero di non avervi annoiato con queste mie
righe sto solo
cercando di capire come il passato e' visto
dal presente e
che davvero ALL IS WELL...
>>
E tutto
a posto, la forma e vuoto e il vuoto e forma, e noi siamo qui per
sempre,
in questa o quella forma, che e vuota. E totto a posto, noi non siamo
qui,
non siamo la e in nessun altro luogo. E tutto a post, i gatti dormono.
"Everything's
alright, form is emptiness and emptiness is form, and we're here
forever,
in one form or another, which is empty. Everything's alright, we're
not
here, there, or anywhere. Everything's alright, cats sleep."
grazzi,
rinaldo
maggie
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 15:14:55 +0300
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From: David Bruce Rhaesa
<race@MIDUSA.NET>
Organization:
smiling small thoughts
Subject: Re: Journal Night Thoughts
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Diane
Carter wrote:
>
>
> David Bruce Rhaesa wrote:
>
>
>
> This second poem in Planet News is quite an abrupt shift from "Who
will
>
> take over the Universe?" It
is political only in the sense that the
>
> personal is the political. It is
intraspection on intraspection
>
> entwisted cyclonically like a complete unknown visionary known to all
>
> spaketh these words.
>
>
There's so much in this poem that it hard to find a beginning topic for
>
discussion. Agreed that the poem moves
to the personal and the
>
visionary, a cosmic universe as opposed to a political one Things that
>
stand out to me are: that it begins and
ends in bed--I would almost say
>
that in the love of the human body at the end, the poet finds the
>
redemption that eludes him in the visions in the poem.
It
seems that while the first poem provides an extreme portrait of the
poet's
exterior universe, the second presents an intense photograph of
the
poet's interior universe. The images of
body of skin and flesh
being
the exterior border of the interior universe.
just 1
cent,
dbr
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 19:22:54 +0100
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From: Jeffrey Scott Holland
<jholland@ICLUB.ORG>
Subject: WSB, Wild Boys, Word=Virus
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On Sun,
25 Jan 1998, Jeff Taylor wrote:
>
>
> When WSB attempts to cut the control lines by getting beyond words, he
>
> must, qua writer, still use words.
===
Which is why I am extremely disappointed that WSB never took the
next
step into totally opaque communication, a la Joyce's "Finnegan's
Wake".
>
Burroughs was not writing *about* the end of language, he was writing to
>
*bring about* the end of language. He recognized the impasse this brought
>
about (Skerl notes this, from correspondance with wsb), and succumbed to
> it
in his return to narrative in The Wild Boys.
=== But
the Wild Boys have their own language; so Burroughs is at least
writing
about *sidestepping* conventional language.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jeffrey
Scott Holland
somewhere
in the wilderness of Kentucky
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 18:31:24 -0500
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From: Carl A Biancucci
<carl@WORLD.STD.COM>
Subject: Baltimore bookstores
In-Reply-To: <v01540b00b0eb8e8463ee@[146.201.2.29]>
from "Preston Whaley" at
Jan 21, 98 07:41:57 am
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Hi.
I'm
going to Baltimore in June,and am hoping to
find
some good new and used bookstores.
Are
there any Beat Baltimorians out there who
could
help?
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 18:21:45 -0600
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From: Jeff Taylor
<taylorjb@CTRVAX.VANDERBILT.EDU>
Subject: more beats on jeopardy!
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another
beat question on jeopardy! today....
Category:
"Author's odd jobs"...."He was a bartender,
private
detective, and exterminator before he wrote Naked Lunch"
they
got it right, fortunately
*******
Jeff
Taylor
taylorjb@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
*******
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 20:08:45 EST
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From: "POMES, PENNY EACH."
<breithau@KENYON.EDU>
Subject: Marek Hlasko
Has
anyone read the Polish writer, Marek Hlasko? He's great, best known for his
novel,
KILLING THE SECOND DOG (1965). He has been called a "Polish Beat
writer"
for
what that may be worth, I think the Beat reputation might stem from his
death;
an overdoes of pills and booze. He also wrote THE EIGHTH DAY OF THE
WEEK.
His themes do run along Beat lines, disenchanted youth, rebellion, etc.
I
simply find him a fine writer and worth looking up. KILLING THE 2nd DOG is
available
through Cane Hill Press.
Comments
on this guy? BTW, he died the same year as Kerouac, 1969.
Dave B.
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Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 17:16:36 PST
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From: Kimberly Yang
<kjyang@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: critical essays
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Hi
Everyone.
I'm
writing an essay about Kerouac and his novels.
Do anyone know where
I can
find critical essays about his work?
Thanks a lot!
Kim
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