Comments on: Paul Celan and what is accessibility for?

By: msbaroque

msbaroque — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:03:58 +0000

Hi Pierre, thanks for that. It is still a mystery to me, how much material is available! You find things on YouTube and are amazed; but then it turns out to have been there all along, if you had only looked.

My mother used to have an LP of Gertrude Stein reading aloud. THAT was fascinating – but do I go straight to the internet and look for a CD of it? No…

And thanks for the correction – glibness (or fastness as you put it!) is my downfall… I’ve read Celan (& find him compelling) but not widely enough to be able to make any pronouncements; you have resolved me to go home and get the book off the shelf this evening. I found a preview of your introduction on the web, btw, very interesting & informative indeed. It cut out just as I was hooked.

By: Pierre Joris

Pierre Joris — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:35:04 +0000

Dear Ms. B,
Enjoyed you post. 2 quick notes: all extant Celan recordings are easily available on cassette.
Also, you last para is a b it fast or glib: Celan became a french citizen in the middle fifties (i.e. 15 years before his sicide) and his “falling silent” is a myth: during the last 3 to 4 years of his life he wrote more than during the previous 10. The late poetry is difficult indeed, and it is the break in Celan’s writing & the unwillingness of most critics to deal with that fifficult poetry that created the myth of Celan’s “falling silent.”
If interested a lot of details on (the poetry of) those last years can be found in the introduction to my “Paul Celan: Selections,” published by University of California Press 3 years ago.

By: Another Paul Celan video « Bookish Monkey

Another Paul Celan video « Bookish Monkey — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:30:11 +0000

[...] Paul Celan video 08Aug08 After the video with Celan reading Todesfuge posted by Baroque in Hackney a few weeks ago, here’s another I’ve just happened upon: Here, he’s reading the [...]

By: Dave Lovely

Dave Lovely — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:09:47 +0000

Just to hear his voice raises the hairs on the back of one’s neck.

Thank you for this.

By: Ben Wilkinson

Ben Wilkinson — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:45:23 +0000

Coming to this a bit late, Ms Baroque, but thanks once again for an excellent post. I’d almost forgotten about Celan’s work since I studied it several years ago at university, and it was brilliant to hear him read while following Hamburger’s translation. I’m sure I used to have a copy of his Selected somewhere… I really must find it now…

By: msbaroque

msbaroque — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:49:27 +0000

Colin, you’re more than welcome. I’ll try and make you cry again soon shall I?

And Steerforth, yes indeedy. See?

Andy, thanks for the link, I’ll check it out. Agree re the tempo; masterful.

Don, you’re more than welcome; I spent the whole insanely busy day angsting over the first-draft quality of this, so v happy to get your comment! Argh.

and RTS, how are you?? Yes, I never had either. Amazing, isn’t it.

By: reading the signs

reading the signs — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:48:50 +0000

Thank you so much. Celan’s poetry seems to be an answer to the question of no poetry after Auschwitz. I had never thought to hear him read.

By: Don

Don — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:38:17 +0000

Terrific post, Ms. B. Thank you.

By: Andrew Philip

Andrew Philip — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:44:35 +0000

It’s about 14 years since I first encountered Celan through that poem and it’s as haunting and chilling as ever. The way he controls the tempo of that relentless rhythm is a significant part of the power of his reading. There are more Celan recordings at http://www.lyrikline.org.

I’m with you on the meaninglessness and pointlessness of “accessibility”, Ms B. For me, as “difficult” as Celan’s writing is, the emotional impact is powerful and immediate. The imagery is startling and unforgetable; so much of it simply explodes in the mind, explodes the mind. If that’s inaccessibility, let’s have more, please!

By: Steerforth

Steerforth — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:37:46 +0000

What a wonderful voice! The pitch and rhythm of Cellan’s words were pure music. I don’t really speak German, but still found the poem incredibly powerful.