Steve Mentz

THE BOOKFISH

THALASSOLOGY, SHAKESPEARE, AND SWIMMING

  • Home
  • Steve Mentz
  • Humanities Commons
  • Public Writing
  • The sea! the sea!
  • The Bookfish
  • St. Johns

Nothing but takes

June 10, 2011 by Steve Mentz Leave a Comment

The best literature is always a take [in the musical sense]; there is an implicit risk in its execution, a margin of danger that is the pleasure of the flight, of the love, carrying with it a tangible loss but also a total engagement that, on another level, lends the theater its unparalleled imperfection faced with the perfection of film.

I don’t want to write anything but takes.

Those lines from the great Julio Cortazar have been swirling about in my mind since reading some fine meditations on writing by Jeffrey Cohen and larvalsubjects.  Still swirling as I gear up for my own summer writing — metis, poetry, swimming, air, brown ecologies…

Cortazar gives us the abandon, risk, and play that fuel the manic act of writing.  Listen to his words — danger, pleasure, risk, love, flight, imperfection.  The joys of not knowing exactly where you’ll end up.

I think I need to re-read Cronopios and Famas.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Steve

Steve Mentz
Professor of English
St. John’s University
Read Bio

Twitter Feed

Steve MentzFollow

Steve Mentz
stevermentzSteve Mentz@stevermentz·
25 Jan

Walks in the winter woods in early 2021 have taken me through two big climate books that have a funhouse mirror reflective quality. First I devoured KSR's latest doorstopper, a hopeful vision of global eco-response.

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780316300162/

Reply on Twitter 1353825082460811266Retweet on Twitter 13538250824608112661Like on Twitter 13538250824608112664Twitter 1353825082460811266
stevermentzSteve Mentz@stevermentz·
25 Jan

Fascinating article about Drexciya & the need to memorialize remember the transoceanic slave trade #bluehumanities

Reply on Twitter 1353752897570418688Retweet on Twitter 1353752897570418688Like on Twitter 13537528975704186882Twitter 1353752897570418688
Load More...

Pages

  • OCEAN Publicity
  • #SAA 2020: Watery Thinking
  • Creating Nature: May 2019 at the Folger
  • Audio and Video Recordings
  • Oceanic New York
  • Public Writing
  • Published Work
  • #pluralizetheanthropocene

Recent Posts

  • Blue Humanities
  • Bookfish in 2020
  • Writing in 2020
  • Reads of 2020
  • Vineland Reread by Peter Coviello

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in