Anne Carson Reading

I thought Anne Carson's reading was brilliant. She has a a very compelling voice, and I believe she only stumbled over her words once. Prior to tonight's reading, I've read Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red. This book is an interesting work of both poetry and prose. Ultimately, what stood out for me in this book was her dedication to creating unique phrases in a similar way that she claims Stesichorus uniquely uses adjectives. Her work as a whole was ultimately innovative.

The works she read tonight were equally-or perhaps even more-innovative. Her "essay" on Marcel Proust's character Albertine was especially intriguing. It wasn't a traditional essay at all. The reasons she gave for numbering her paragraphs were great. The numbering made the "essay" read like a list. And the way this list progressed made it felt like an essay in the sense that every line built on the previous one. Although I really enjoyed this "essay," what I enjoyed more about this particular work was the story behind it. Her story of reading Proust for half an hour every morning for seven years and after completing the work living in a desert was somehow inspiring, and also brilliantly told. The way in which she spoke-especially to introduce her essay-was evidence of a naturally brilliant storyteller. The fact that it took her seven years to read Proust and the fact that she read a little bit of it every day reminded me of the importance of reading and in particular the importance of reading for a writer. Although I'm constantly reading (taking 20 units of English will do that to you), I tend to neglect my pleasure reading because I claim I'm too busy (this is probably fact, but for the purpose of trying to motivate myself to pleasure-read more, let's just say it's a fictional claim). What's half an hour out of my day? I can dedicate that to pleasure-reading even if it takes me seven years to complete the work. Anne Carson's "essay" also fascinated me because in a sense it is an intertextual piece. Although it was more of a response to Proust's novel than an  intertextual work such as Wide Sargasso Sea or On Beauty or The Hours, she still had to read Proust's novel in order to write her "essay." So I guess, in essence, lesson one from Anne Carson's reading: READ! PLEASURE READ DAILY! EVEN IF ONLY FOR HALF AN HOUR.

I was also intrigued by her "Short Talks." I liked the idea that they have "short meaning." It makes me wonder about the different levels of meaning different kinds of creative writing can include. I hope to ask Anne Carson more about her short talks at her colloquium on May 15th :)

Lastly, I was interested in the idea of "forms of attention." Although I'm still confused about the phrase, it still intrigues me. I hope to ask Anne Carson about this in her colloquium as well, but as I am thinking about the phrase now, it pushes me to realize the many forms of writing that can hold an audience's attention. It also compels me to understand Anne Carson's more radical forms (and styles) of writing. For example, why not combine poetry and prose in a narrative which also combines history and myth? Lesson two from Anne Carson's reading: EXPERIMENT WITH FORM (FORMS OF ATTENTION?)!

Looking forward to reading "The Glass Essay" and learning more from her at the colloquium!