Hi,
I came to read his works way latter than others ... my dad had already read some of this work when we were in Brazil and that would be 60's ... we came here in October 65. Gives you an idea how well the literary names got around at the time, and how well they were known.
My dad was an avid reader of the whole American scene, and it goes even as far back as Gore Vidal, Terry Southern, James Baldwin, Jack Kerouach, Ken Kesey and many others ... though I do not think he had the opportunity to translate any of them.
I came into these much later ... and things like "On The Road" did not click with me, because I did not speak enough English to understand ... same for all of these writers.
However, about 10 years ago, I finally found and heard "Tonite We All Love in London" and Ginsburg finally made sense to me. When you HEAR him, it flows wonderfully ... and written ... is not as good ... you can not "hear" the words, and guess what ... my poetry is the same thing! I've had people say that I sound better when reading it, than when you are reading it!
The fun thing on the Ginsburg bit is that in London he stayed in the famous house where Syd, Kevin, Daevid, Robert, Burroughs and many others had come through and from ... and everyone listed in that film, had some connection or other with these folks in one way or another ... actresses and actors included!
The most important part of the "beat poets" is .... you got it ... they sound way better when heard, than they do read ... and this is the case with Bob as well ... sometimes his inflection and way of saying it, says a lot more than the words themselves! I kinda doubt that Bob learned that from these guys, and the likelihood is that he already had a lot of that feel and expression any way, and it happened to be similar to that literary scene ... but we should not discount Bob's intelligence ... he is a very well read person, and it is most likely that he knew all of these writers and had read them as well!
SIDEBARRRR:
The odd thing is that most artists in the earlier days without the media, stuck to each other better and there was more of a co-operation and appreciation for each other's work than there is today. Today, with all the media and blogs, everyone does, and talks the same thing, and the same notes and the same art, and that makes it harder for you to have a counterpoint that helps you find something better and deeper in your own work, instead of looking for that magic note in the daw, and in a conversation here!
Were it me, I would have writers, painters, dancers, and other nutz with me ... and probably add them to the whole picture ... but here ... not likely to happen unless some doped up folks called the "CHB" do it ... which is amazing, but they still can not make use of a literatii moshpit'r ... they will never learn the difference! They don't want to anyway ... it's all good and I'm ok with it. I'm a nobody, anyway, and not looking for fame and fortune, the two worst ideals ever created for mankind!
post edited by Moshkiae - 2013/05/27 14:01:34