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Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 10:21 pm
by Doctor Steuss
I didn't want to possibly derail the other thread:
Res Ipsa wrote: ↑Sun Apr 18, 2021 5:52 pm
[...]I’m reading a recent biography of Sylvia Plath. [...]
Is it one that you would recommend?
The first time I read
The Bell Jar was when I was being haunted by one of the more menacing specters of myself, and it left me with an unwavering feeling of kinship towards her (her
"Last Words" is one of my all-time favorite poems).
Your comment made me realize that while I have read a lot of her writings and poetry, I've never really read a biography on her (besides, of course, her semi-autobiographical novel).
----------------------------------------------------
Any other biographies on artists/writers/poets that anyone else would recommend? Res Ipsa planted a seed that I now want to grow.
Re: Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 11:25 pm
by Res Ipsa
I’m just up to her high school graduation, and I am really enjoying it. According to the author, most of the biographies about her frame her life around her suicide. Every event is seen through that lens.
This book is the story of a brilliant young woman who became a remarkable poet. The author had access to her diary, which she kept almost religiously, as well as poems and stories she wrote as a child and throughout her school years. She is not portrayed as a doomed or tragic figure (at least not so far). She was very social, and her friends and teachers recall her as a happy child/young woman.
I highly recommend it.
Title: Red Comet
Author: Heather Clark
Re: Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:51 am
by Morley
Res Ipsa wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 11:25 pm
I highly recommend it.
Title: Red Comet
Author: Heather Clark
I very much agree, though I wondered if Clark might have gone too easy on Ted Hughes.
Re: Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:01 am
by Morley
Doctor Steuss wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 10:21 pm
Any other biographies on artists/writers/poets that anyone else would recommend? Res Ipsa planted a seed that I now want to grow.
I enjoyed Nell Painter's
Old in Art School. It's more a memoir than anything else, but she's a writer I've enjoyed in other contexts (see:
The History of White People). It probably helps that her life has paralleled my own, at times.
I'm reading everything James Baldwin, these days. How was I stupid enough to have neglected him?
edit: I had to look one up:
Begin Again: James Baldwin's America by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. Biography, but it's really more of a meditation on race.
Re: Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:25 am
by Morley
I know this is off topic, but there are so many great books I've read only because of recommendations on this board. I should have thanked folks here, long ago.
I think it was Analytics who suggested Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, in his signature line. IHAQ used to have a quote from Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, in his sig line, that enticed me to read that fantastic book. DrStak (back when he was lowly MrStak) got me to read A Book Forged in Hell, Steven Nadler's treatment of Spinoza that I wouldn't have touched with a three meter stick, otherwise.
And Blixa. So many from her. Off the top of my head: She got me into the ten-volume Swedish detective series that starred Martin Beck.
I know there are dozens more, over the years, that I'm not crediting. Anyway, thank you all.
Re: Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 3:27 am
by Res Ipsa
Morley wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:51 am
Res Ipsa wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 11:25 pm
I highly recommend it.
Title: Red Comet
Author: Heather Clark
I very much agree, though I wondered if Clark might have gone too easy on Ted Hughes.
Haven’t reached that part yet, but the foreshadowing of their relationship sounds a little ominous.
Re: Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 3:28 am
by Res Ipsa
Morley wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:01 am
Doctor Steuss wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 10:21 pm
Any other biographies on artists/writers/poets that anyone else would recommend? Res Ipsa planted a seed that I now want to grow.
I enjoyed Nell Painter's
Old in Art School. It's more a memoir than anything else, but she's a writer I've enjoyed in other contexts (see:
The History of White People). It probably helps that her life has paralleled my own, at times.
I'm reading everything James Baldwin, these days. How was I stupid enough to have neglected him?
edit: I had to look one up:
Begin Again: James Baldwin's America by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. Biography, but it's really more of a meditation on race.
It’s amazing how often I get around to a writer I think I should read, only to have same reaction!
Re: Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 3:30 am
by Res Ipsa
Morley wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:25 am
I know this is off topic, but there are so many great books I've read only because of recommendations on this board. I should have thanked folks here, long ago.
I think it was Analytics who suggested
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, in his signature line. IHAQ used to have a quote from Daniel Kahneman's
Thinking, Fast and Slow, in his sig line, that enticed me to read that fantastic book. DrStak (back when he was lowly MrStak) got me to read
A Book Forged in Hell, Steven Nadler's treatment of Spinoza that I wouldn't have touched with a three meter stick, otherwise.
And Blixa. So many from her. Off the top of my head: She got me into the ten-volume Swedish detective series that starred Martin Beck.
I know there are dozens more, over the years, that I'm not crediting. Anyway, thank you all.
We really should have a never-ending Whatcha Readin’ thread.
Re: Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 4:16 pm
by Doctor Steuss
Thank you Morley and Res!
Re: Biography (or phies) - Res Ipsa
Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:36 pm
by Doctor Steuss
Red Comet is officially ordered, and should be in my little hands by the end of the week.
I also added Nell Painter's memoir to my wish list. It will likely be the next book I order.
It's been a while since the anticipation of a book sent me into a bit of hypomania. Again, thank you very much for the suggestions.
-Stu