Horner's Corner

Archive for March 31st, 2010

In Disobedient Rooms: On J.G. Ballard

by on Mar.31, 2010, under literature

 

In Disobedient Rooms: On J.G. Ballard By China Miéville

 

The publication of any book by J.G. Ballard at this moment–let alone so colossal and career-spanning a volume as The Complete Stories, running to nearly 1,200 pages–is an occurrence that can only be about more than itself. All writers are writers of their time, of course, but Ballard, who after a fight with cancer died in April 2009, feels somehow uniquely, precisely so. This book marks the fact that we are all post-Ballard now: it’s not that we’ve gotten beyond him but rather that we remain ineluctably defined by him. Completists have pointed out that, its title notwithstanding, this volume is not a truly comprehensive collection of all Ballard’s published short fiction. Those few omissions are a disappointment. Nevertheless, they are few, and despite them the book is indispensable.

 

more via In Disobedient Rooms: On J.G. Ballard.

Leave a Comment : more...

Basil Bunting: Compose Aloud!

by on Mar.31, 2010, under poetry

Basil Bunting

(1900 – 1985)

“Compose aloud; poetry is sound.” – Advice to young poets, Basil Bunting

Basil Bunting (1900-1985) is best known for his long poem ‘Briggflatts’ which has come to be recognised as one of the key texts of British modernism.

more via Basil Bunting – Poetry Archive.

Leave a Comment more...

Basil Bunting: From ‘Odes’

by on Mar.31, 2010, under poetry, Uncategorized

Photograph © Jonathan Williams

Nothing

substance utters or time

stills and restrains

joins design and

supple measure deftly

as thought’s intricate polyphonic

score dovetails with the tread

sensuous things

keep in our consciousness.

Celebrate man’s craft

and the word spoken in shapeless night, the

sharp tool paring away

waste and the forms

cut out of mystery!

When taut string’s note

passes ears’ reach or red rays or violet

fade, strong over unseen

forces the word

ranks and enumerates…

mimes clouds condensed

and hewn hills and bristling forests,

steadfast corn in its season

and the seasons

in their due array,

life of man’s own body

and death…

The sound thins into melody,

discourse narrowing, craft

failing, design

petering out.

Ears heavy to breeze of speech and

thud of the ictus.

Basil Bunting, from Odes

via ::: wood s lot ::: “the fitful tracing of a portal”.

Leave a Comment :, more...

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the site:

Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!

Visit our friends!

A few highly recommended friends...

SEO Booster Lite