tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post1768951374360366479..comments2023-07-17T22:58:18.625+09:30Comments on Read, Think, Write: On not giving away the plotKerryn Goldsworthyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post-73830164692313307352007-04-23T11:40:24.074+09:302007-04-23T11:40:24.074+09:30Yes, she writes some great reviews, doesn't sh...Yes, she writes some great reviews, doesn't she? They fill me with longing -- the longing of being at a distance from things.elsewherehttp://elsewhere.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post-54589032224431271892007-04-23T15:31:56.494+09:302007-04-23T15:31:56.494+09:30Can't agree. I think it's a review loaded ...Can't agree. I think it's a review loaded with carried baggage. She condemns Bennett for not writing the play she thinks he should have written. Mysogynist ? The man who wrote The Lady in the Van ? Not just wrote it but lived it. And so he didn't mention Hopkins or Eliot or Pound. If Alison wants Hopkins in a play perhaps she should write her own. But he does use another more homebound English school, one that ignored or gave up on politics and ideology. I think Alison's review encapsulates all that is wearying about so much present-day Australian theatre. Shaped by the old totalitarian misogynist Brecht it puts theatre in the service of politics. So we don't understand that there was once a time when a teacher fondling boys on the back of a motorbike was not a matter to be aired publicly, was not talked about openly. The possibilty that this might have traumatised the boys concerned was not recognised. There's a lot more to be said but I wish I could see the Melbourne production. It does sound interesting and would be good to compare with the Richard Griifiths version of Hector which I saw elsewhere.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post-77848275536916829662007-04-23T16:27:26.369+09:302007-04-23T16:27:26.369+09:30Well, anon, I think we're (you and me, I mean)...Well, anon, I think we're (you and me, I mean) talking about two different things. I didn't mean that I agreed with everything Alison said, and (being a fan of Bennett's myself and therefore inclined to defend him, though the attitude embodied in the play to feeling up little boys is very disturbing, I think) would probably agree to disagree about a few things here and there in the review. But that to me is a side issue and was not what my post was about. <br><br>When I said it was a stunning review, what I meant was that it was knowledgeable and passionate and beautifully written, that the observation was detailed, fine-drawn and brilliantly expressed, that the analysis was well-informed and being conducted at a high intellectual level, and that Alison was doing what I think people should do when they're talking about art, which is examine what it's saying about the world: the messages it carries, the beliefs it implies and supports, and the ways in which it does so. These are all qualitatively different questions from whether or not one agrees with the opinions being expressed. <br><br>I doubt you could show me any review of anything anywhere and prove to me that it is <i>not</i> "loaded with carried baggage" (by which I assume you mean the reviewer's own view of the world) -- if only by virtue of what the reviewer has chosen to leave out.Kerryn Goldsworthyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post-9963707677855548132007-05-22T13:03:23.207+09:302007-05-22T13:03:23.207+09:30Now THIS is a good review !www.nybooks.com/article...Now THIS is a good review !<br>www.nybooks.com/articles/20220Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com