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The persistence of
Vivan te 's memories
By CAROL WIERZBICKI
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The Michigan Daily-Thursday, November 29, 1 979--Page fA
RECORD
When Arturo Vivante reads his stories, it is as if he is simply recalling his
experiences off the top of his head rather than having written them down before-
hand. Such straightforwardness, warmth, and spontenaity pervaded Vivante's fic-
tion reading at East Quad's Benzinger Library Tuesday night. Reading in his soft
Italian accent, Vivante went through three of his short stories and left the im-
pression that he is one who cherishes and is moved by his memories.
The first story, "Game of Light and Shade," came from his recently published
collection, Run to the Waterfall. In it, Vivante describes his visit to a bell tower in
Sienna, Italy. He begins by describing in detail the stairs, the small, tomblike
compartments with thick wallsand the view; but the startling observation is that
there is a blind man purchasing a ticket to go to the top of the tower. What value
could a blind man place upon a bell tower, the main interest of which is the view?
As both men reach the' top, the blind man reveals his motive: The bell tower, he
explains, is to him the best place in all of Sienna: It is at the top, with the sun
shining sharply through the windows, that he can most clearly experience light
and darkness. His enjoyment comes from the knowledge that he is standing either
in sun or shade, and feeling the shadows move as the sun moves. Through an
imagery that is at once serene and energetic, Vivante gives a moving portrait of a
man who has accepted his fate with both patience and inventiveness.
A HEIGHTENING AND SHARPENING of the senses, one of the themes of
Games, is also something that Vivante himself is capable of achieving. Blind
people's canes, he says in that same story, "seem alive, as sharp and delicate as a
cat's whisker." In his second story of the evening, "Of Love and Friendship,"
Vivante told of a lichen-collector whom his family befriends, and who becomes one
of their many visitors. The man, who has made a career of collecting lichen off the
bark of trees, soon gets the whole family interested in his trade. The author goes on
to describe the lichen with an almost photographic clarity, in all its varietal reds
and yellows, lacy and filigreed splendor. The effect of all this imagery is to reflect
vividly the man's character. He is meticulous, amiable, and unromantic.
Vivante's third story, "Berta," was a witty and touching piece about a
military officer who encounters sev'eral prostitutes on a street. The prostitutes
begin bickering over the man-who wants nothing to do with them to begin
with-but soon Berta wins his affections. The two agree to go on a holiday together,
but as the vacation progresses, a troubling discrepancy arises between what the
man wants Berta to be (the frivolous,
alluring girl of the bars and streets)i
and what Berta ,wants for herself (to
"play the wife" in her plain tweed suitl
and suddenly demure manner). The
story leaves a feeling of irreconcilable
misunderstanding and enduring sad-
ness. the Pow(
I Jana'or anL, L£aszlo J5onovf s 1
4 .
Songs from the Heartland
Gemini
Solid Sound Records
smilin', singin' twins aren't all that
lively in concert. They're nice enough
fellows, and, oh sure, very talented in-
strumentally and vocally, but there is
precious'little showmanship in their
act.
When artists decide to cut a live disc,
there is presumably some good reason.
The listener is to feel part of some ex-
citing "event," or, in the case of, say,
the Kingston Trio, everyone is treated
to the whimsical little chit-chat bet-
ween numbers. With Gemini's Songs
from the Heartland, recorded live at
the Residential College auditorium
earlier this fall, there is no humor, and
no sense of spontenaity. The tunes are
all very low key and "folkie," and, who
knows why, puntuated by applause and
feeble sing-alongs.
REALLY, GEMINI ought to shine
when it comes to record albums, and in
their first effort they have fallen short.
Sandor and Laszlo sing very well
PUBLIC HEALTH
STUDENT ASSOCIATION
Presents
Sen. Edward Pierce
- Ann Arbor
Chairprson of House Committee
on Health & Social Services
"A Freshperson Looks at
Health Issues inthe Mich-
igan Legislature"
FRIDAY, NOV. 30-NOON
SPH I Auditorium
free of charge and
open to the public
together, but they only attempt a few
good harmony songs here, and even
these are uniformly "mellow" to the
point of being funeral. Those who have
seen the duo in concert or busking
during the Art Fair know that they are
also capable of some very nice upbeat
material, and to deny themselves a
variety in, expression seems only to
cheat a public deserving a wider tast
of the Gemini talent.
Precision, though, is what the boys dq
best, and that precision comes oat
in their lengthy instrumental cuts o)-
Songs from the Heartland. These half'
classical, half-folk duets are nothing
short of fascinating to hear: They
display the imagination and energy
that the rest of the album lacks, and
redeem the effort to an extent.
Still, there is no excuse for Gemini to
put out a live, yet soporific recording,,
They are better than that, and they.
know it, for their extrordinary and
various ability and repertoire promise
nothing less.
By ERIC ZORN
What could have driven the Gemini
brothers, Sandor and Laszlo Slomovits,
to record a "live" album? And, once the
Ann Arbor folksingers decided to go
live, why did they choose such a
reposeful, melancholy set of tunes?
When it comes right dawn to it, the
opens at,
er Center
forward undisguised Devil.
Slyness is left wanting.
The difference between a good
and bad Richard is almost
inevitably its Richard. Still,
despite the basic conceptual
problems, there is substantial
pleasure to be had in Pennell's in-
terpretation of the role.
Excepting a few painfully weak
links the supporting cast is stur-
dy. Complete review tomorrow.
-Joshua Peck
PITCHER
NIGHT
FROM THESE STORIES of post-
WWII England and Italy, it seems that
Vivante is a person who's deeply affec-
ted by place and time assthey live in his
memory. His recurring themes are
those of innocence and growing up; of
the wonder of discovery and the pain of
disillusionment. Indeed, many of his
stories are written in a prose that is
almost childlike in mood, butthat also
possesses mature precision and sub-
tlety.
In addition, Vivante has an im-
pressionistic feel for atmosphere. When
he is describing, for example, his first
glimpse of an English restaurant after
his family has left fascist Italy, he
writes:
". . I remember the feel of
it. It was a leather-covered
door, fat and cushiony. It
swung open as we pressed it,
and it disclosed light. Light
refracted by crystal chon-
deliers. Light' broken up and
shining. Rivulents of light.
it lit us up. It bathed us. We
looked at each other and felt
we were really seeing each
.other now..."
In just a few words, Vivante creates
mood, attitude, season, place, and time
of day. Similarly, his often highly
autobiographical stories are peopled
with characters whose pleasures and
pains we can all relate to, characters
we feel we've known at some time or
other in our lives. The effect of reading
a Vivante book of short-stories, then, is
that of reading a diary rich in images.
VIVANTE STARTED writing poems
at age 11, and these poems later grew
into short stories. He studied medicine,
and practiced it for five years, until he
decided that "writing was the only
thing I could do well and with proficien-
cy." In addition to publishing poetry
and two novels, his short stories have
been appearing regularly in The New
Yorker since 1958.
Join the
Daily Edit
Staf f
7p.m. to Closing
LIVE MUSIC BY:
Blue Front
Zm crl Persuaders
611 Church
One Block South of South U.
The Professional Theatre
Program, (PTP) Richard III
opened last night at the Power
Center with Stratford actor
Nicholas Pennell in the title role.
Both the production and Pen-
nell's treatment of the lead are of
mixed blessings and blunders.
This Richard is a bluntly evil
one. He speaks to the audience,
not as the subtle schemer that
those familiar with the play
might expect, but as a straight-
a
LSA INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Now Accepting Applications for
Summer Internships 1980
Liberal Arts Students who will be ,Seniors Fall Term
1980, are encouraged to apply.
NOV. 29-APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE IN 1223 ANGELL HALL
DEC. 12-SELECTION PROCESS BEGINS AND APPLICATIONS ARE DUE
DEC. 20-FINAL DEADLINE FOR APPLYING
Applications and information available in 1223 AngelI Hall
JUNIOR YEAR AT SMITH
Northampton, Massachusetts
A private liberal arts college for women
Where you can find
- a small undergraduate college with the diversity of a large uhtiversity
- courses and resources of exceptional range and quality, all accessible
to undergraduates
- lifein closely knit college houses and involvement in communities
beyond the campus
A student body of 2500, a faculty
of 250, in a city of 35,000.
Located in the Connecticut River
Valley. Smith, Amherst, Hampshire,
Mt. Holyoke Colleges and the
University of Massachusetts make
up the Five Colleges, Inc., community.
COLLEGE
4 4
A Q w
4
,rTOM. M'yyt
For brochure and application
forms, write:
junior Year at Sntith
College Hall 23
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
Smith College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, handicap, or national origin.
1979-1980 EE GRADUATES
.-I
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