this man used to be an
interesting writer,
he was able to say brisk and
refreshing things.
at the time
I suggested to the editors and
the critics that he was one to
be watched
and also that he had hardly yet been
noticed
and that he certainly should now be
noticed.
this writer used some of my
remarks as blurbs for his
books, which I didn't
mind.
all of his publications were little
chapbooks, 16 to 32
pages,
mimeographed.
they came out at a
rapid rate,
perhaps three or four a
year.
the problem was that each
chapbook seemed a little weaker
than the one that preceded
it
but he continued to use my old
blurbs.
my wife noticed the change
in his writing
too.
'what's happened to his
writing?' she asked me.
'he's doing too much of it, he's
pushing it out, forcing it.'
'this stuff is bad, you ought to
tell him to stop using your
blurbs.'
'I can't do that, I just wish he
wouldn't publish so much.'
'well, you publish all the
time too.'
'with me,' I told her, 'it's
different.'
yesterday I received another of his
little chapbooks
with his delicate dedication scrawled
on the title page.
this latest effort was totally
flat.
the words just fell off the
page,
dead on
arrival.
where had he gone?
too much ambition?
too much just doing it for the sake
of doing it?
just not waiting for the words to
pile up inside and then
explode of their own
volition?
I decided then I should take a whole week
off,
be on the safe side,
just shut the computer down,
forget the whole damned silly
business
for awhile.
as I said, that was
yesterday.
14 comments:
I think Martin has fallen victim to his own fame and now the show is driving him, not the other way around.
Who is Martin?
Trooper, did you write "Blowing My Hero"?
George RR Martin is the man pictured. He is the man speaking.
1) [Pretend you're going to save the photo file to your desktop. "Save as" will show the name of the photo. The name on the photo is helpful today. Sometimes it is not helpful but today it is.]
2) Now with name George RR Martin, and with title key word "muse" you have [george martin +muse] and this precise post is given by George Martin with a photo of Charles Bukowski, the guy he is talking about.
Fine.
What is the point here?
It this Trooper telling us that he is bowing out for a week? Is this Trooper admitting to us that his own writing is flagging and he feels a break is due?
We do not have the answers to these puzzling questions that arise by our discovering the source of this, frankly, somewhat confusing and definitely puzzling post.
Perhaps Troop is just jacking with us.
Perhaps we read too much into a simple observation. After all, the answer could be, "eh, I saw it and I liked it."
Should mention Game of Thrones writer. It's a pop culture thing.
@Chip: Thanks for the interpretation!
You are definately reading too much into it Chip.
I was just thinking about muses and the impetus for writing.
Plus I was mining my old stuff to throw up here to give a little content. I have to edit myself when I post here.
I don't think Lem would appreciate my "Panda Sex with Charles Bukowski" posts.
I won't watch Game of Thrones. Have to be choosey on what I get sucked into. I'm sure I'd end up hooked.
I'm currently out of British spy dramas and other stuff, so I'm watching Doc Martin. Excellent chick fodder.
Chip, don't scare us like that!
Doc Martin is great.
You should try another fun English series on Netflicks called "The Delivery Man." It is about a cop who quits to become a male midwife. It is hilarious.
Buk had the very problem he's accusing this other poet of -- overwriting. Then, on top of that, after his death the executors of his estate rushed literally thousands of his finger exercises into print. Very thin gruel. I'd say his best stuff is in War All The Time. The poems in that collection were written when he was 55 - 60. And even that book has lots of filler.
Still he is one of my favorites ric as you know.
His work speaks to me.
Just looking at the description I thought it looked cutesy, but on your rec I'll try it.
This fat bastard and his meandering pointlessly violent tales, sexposition (spicing up dull storytelling with boobs and pretending you're badass), and fascistic political maneuvering. Game of Thrones, indeed. Jorge the Whorge, first of his name, high sparrow in charge of purging wrongthink from the marketplace of ideas and gaming the culture to favor less competition ... for Jorge (a/k/a the unTolkien).
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