I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: BEN FOLDS-University A Capella (2009).

The story goes that Ben Folds heard some a capella bands and decided to give them some airtime.  So he had them record a bunch of his songs.

I have been surprised at how much I enjoy some kinds of a capella music.  Ed Helms’ stuff on The Office is certain fun, but on a more serious level, it’s amazing what these singers can do with their voices in terms of diversity, range and even sounds.

But at the same time, it’s the lead vocalist on most a capella tracks that sell the song.  And, on this disc there are a lot of lead singers I don’t like. Part of it is because I don’t like R&B vocal stylings, which I find too over the top at times.  Although I do admit that there;s one or two on here that work very well.

Overall, I enjoy this disc.  It’s fun to hear different interpretations of songs that I know and like.  Although I think realistically its the songs that Ben himself sings that I enjoy the most.

[READ: April 25, 2010] Romantic Dogs

This is the final Bolaño book that I’m going to read before finishing 2666 (Savage Detectives you’re next).  And it happens to be a collection of Bolaño’s poetry.

I have a complicated relationship with poetry.  I have written (and had published) a few poems.  I dated a woman who was (and I suppose still is?) an excellent poet (hi, Paula).   When I worked for a literary magazine, I learned how to judge poetry.  And yet, I don’t really read it.  And I think the reason for that is that, in my head, poetry deserves more attention than I’m usually willing to give it.  I feel like a poem should be pored over, read and re-read and, if good enough, memorized.

I have memorized about two poems in my life.  And since I often don’t feel like devoting a ton of time to poems,  I just don’t really read them.  And that’s a shame for me, because while poetry does demand a closer look, it’s not a precious item that should be put on a pedestal and looked at only when company comes over.

And Bolaño is as good a poet as anyone to demonstrate that.

This collection is bilingual (which is nice) and feature 45 poems that he wrote 1980- 1998.  I’m not sure if this is all the poems he wrote during that time but it appears to be all the ones he published.  Bolaño is a great poet.  He’s word choices (or at least the great translations by Laura Healy) are brilliant.  His images are effective and powerful. And his language is trim and efficient.  These are the hallmarks of great poetry.

And speaking of translations, I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to translate poetry.  I mean do you focus on the words or the meter.  How do you convey rhymes in another language?  I’m sure I’m not getting anywhere near the whole picture here, but it’s still a very good one.

And yet, even though many of his poems are very personal, they are not precious.  They are not going to change my life, but they are going to make me think.

A nice thing about his poems is that they are all over the map in terms of style.  He has several very short 12 lines poems, he also has some that read like narratives covering three or four pages.  They also cover many, many topics.

He writes of his youth as a rebel.  He writes of women and men he has known.  And he writes of Mexico.  He also writes about poetry, something he is extremely passionate about.

I admit to not knowing what all of his poems are about.  I have no idea who the title character of “The Ghost of Edna Lieberman” is.  There’s many other people mentioned and I don’t know if they are famous or even real. And while details like that certain help explain a poem, sometimes a poem can work even without that information.

But most of the poems are simple, straightforward and beautiful.  Like “Visit to the Convalescent” a multi-page poem set in 1976.  They visit a friend who has been trepanned (!).  And the beautiful refrain of somebody crying, “But it isn’t he who cried/Nor is it Mario or I.”  I also found a poem as simple as “Muse” which is an ode to the eternal beauty of Bolaño’s muse, to be very powerful.  It also rang very true.

I admit I liked his shorter poems more; however, I found his longer ones read quite a bit like one of his stories.  Which I think is a pretty good thing.  All signs point to him having written more poetry (I believe two volumes are forthcoming in English).  I’ll be looking forward to them.

For ease of searching I include: Bolano