Lori: I agree with you about the importance of water in this chapter and of the eternal and mystical sea. The tone here is elegiac and I would argue that this is the tone of the entire book. As you know, I have made an audio recording of MMMD, and have become convinced that if any book was written to be heard, it is this one. In all its pages the tone of elegy is most present in the last words of chapter 66 which not only echoes but appropriates the finest pastoral elegy in English literature, John Milton’s “Lycidas.” Terms such as “Yet once more,” “watery bier,” “sunk like the day star,” “no oozy locks it laves,” are lifted directly from the poem, confirming TS Eliot’s assertion that bad poets borrow while good ones steal. In Milton’s “Lycidas,” , as in MMMD, the speaker mourns the death by water of the most important person in one’s life, in this case, a young man, Edward King, whose body was never recovered after his drowning. Milton’s poem mirrors Mr. Spitzer’s opinion that if there is no corpus delicti, it is possible that there was no death, that we need to redirect our gaze toward immortality: “Look homeward Angel now, and melt with ruth; And, O ye dolphins, waft the hapless youth.” In the simplest terms, Edward King and Georgia MacIntosh still live because someone wrote words about them, words which is our duty to make sure will last as long as Old Friday’s threnody of barking at chapter’s end. —-Michael Sexson
Lori: The audio files are in the hands of Will Evans at Deep Vellum. Is there some way you might check to see what’s happening? It’s been almost two years since I’ve submitted the files to him. And would you be interested in listening to a sample? If so, let me know where and how to send it. Please don’t feel obligated. ——-MS
Lori: I agree with you about the importance of water in this chapter and of the eternal and mystical sea. The tone here is elegiac and I would argue that this is the tone of the entire book. As you know, I have made an audio recording of MMMD, and have become convinced that if any book was written to be heard, it is this one. In all its pages the tone of elegy is most present in the last words of chapter 66 which not only echoes but appropriates the finest pastoral elegy in English literature, John Milton’s “Lycidas.” Terms such as “Yet once more,” “watery bier,” “sunk like the day star,” “no oozy locks it laves,” are lifted directly from the poem, confirming TS Eliot’s assertion that bad poets borrow while good ones steal. In Milton’s “Lycidas,” , as in MMMD, the speaker mourns the death by water of the most important person in one’s life, in this case, a young man, Edward King, whose body was never recovered after his drowning. Milton’s poem mirrors Mr. Spitzer’s opinion that if there is no corpus delicti, it is possible that there was no death, that we need to redirect our gaze toward immortality: “Look homeward Angel now, and melt with ruth; And, O ye dolphins, waft the hapless youth.” In the simplest terms, Edward King and Georgia MacIntosh still live because someone wrote words about them, words which is our duty to make sure will last as long as Old Friday’s threnody of barking at chapter’s end. —-Michael Sexson
Dear Michael,
I'm glad that you reminded us about your audio recording of the book. Are there any plans to make it available for purchase?
Lori
Lori: The audio files are in the hands of Will Evans at Deep Vellum. Is there some way you might check to see what’s happening? It’s been almost two years since I’ve submitted the files to him. And would you be interested in listening to a sample? If so, let me know where and how to send it. Please don’t feel obligated. ——-MS
Hi Michael,
If you could email me the sample, that would be great: lori@interabangbooks.com
I would love to hear a sample too. I do hope they release it because I feel the same, that it needs to be heard. nownewstrue@gmail.com
Thanks!!