Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY SUNDAY MAGAZINE
March 20, 1977
March 20, 1977
THE MICHIGAN{ DAILY SUNDAY MAGAZINE
91
"44reh 0.197rHEMI iANDALYSUDArMGAIN
notes...
Children of the flower power generation cultivated seeds of
social upheaval that penetrated every facet of American life. And
women, it seems, reaped the greatest benefits of the '60s movement
-from the remodeling of role definitions to the sexual revolution.
But while the likes of Masters and Johnson and David Reuben
-barnessed new attitudes and attempted to answer everything every-
one ever wanted to know about sex, they must have missed some-
thing critical. Shere Hite has caught the public eye with a report
on female sexuality that is being heralded as revolutionary itself.
Her book surveys some 3,000 women from a national cross-section
on their feelings about sexual intercourse, orgasm and lesbianism,
among other aspects of sexuality formerly sheltered from public
discussion. Next week, in the Sunday Magazine, Laurie Young will
explore The Hite Report, and analyze what has made it a national
phenomenon.
sunday
magazine
CO-EDITORS-
Susan Ades
Elaine Fletcher
BOOKS EDITOR-
Tom O'Connell
L ADVERTISING-
Don Simpson
COVER PHOTO OF _.
'x PATTERNS IN THE
P&A BLDG.
By Andy Freeberg
contenits:
Newly collected letters by Fa
DOWNTOWN SERIES :
3,
FEATURES
Big Business of Athletics . . 3
Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe . .. 4
HAPPENINGS.. . . . . .6
BOOK REVIEWS ...3.31
SELECTED LETTERS OF
WILLIAM FAULKNER
Edited By Joseph Blotner
(University of Michigan
English Professor)
Random House, New York,
488 pp., $15.00.
By STEPHEN HERSH
'HIS COLLECTION of Wil-
liam Faulkner's correspond-
ence is not for the casual
reader; it is for the student of
Faulkner - preferably one who
can approach this volume with
as much interest in Faulkner
the man as in the words he set
down on paper. For while Jo-
seph Blotner's book showcases
some n u g g e t s of Faulkner's
writing which rival the best
passages in the novelist's works,
finding these nuggets requires
slogging t h r o u g h page after
page of details describing his
day-to-day activities. So, the oc-
casional literary gems contained
among these letters lend a nice
anticipatory edge to the reading.
The picture we get of Faulk-
ner from the volume is one of a
man pounding away at .his type-
writer at a furious pace for
decades, aiming at twin goals:
to make ends meet financially,
and to write the most true and
penetrating p r o s e he could
squeeze from his gut. That he
was better at the latter than at
the former is clear-letters to
the people in his publishing
company show him ever asking
for another few hundred or few
thousand dollars, complaining
about his income tax bill, or en-
couraging the quick sale of one
of his short stories to a maga-
zine. He would, at times, churn
out two short stories a week
for the cash. Then sometimes
he would tear himself away
from his fiction and write scripts
in Hollywood when the bills
piled up too high. The letters
never stray very far from the
subject of money.
But every 25 to 50 pages, the
prose breaks away from such
mundane subject matter and
strikes incisely at some very
human truth, either focusing on
rwwiiwr rwwrw rw r + ri
Sunday magazine
acrostic puzzle
L 7 Mi 1 1- j;Ti-1o ,1,, 41
j K 1 A2 K 3
I2
uNz
r 4
1 ,5
H
S 6 F 71I 8
B IT --~37 3,-
~i4 Z G6
J 7 5 P79E800
2
IV
9
R 10
r---- ----- r
11 12r 13
] i SA In l E
X S
2 16
C 07
W109
L 17
J S A 19 K 20 D 21
2
C H. 6 G 67
7 K 60 BS 6°
10 1977
..
-4
_71
~1 9 5
142
'; 72 A7,
M 96
S 97 fi 9f3
r o
W 113
13 Q
jam'
si4 W141
S1 J12
14
14 il
N 13(
' 154
1 1E
H 11 12 W13
Z 155 156
7 QT A
T 134
t 15
N E
VI5EtTI5 A1 F161016
J1U C18]A1N' M10 B
II 16
:9 1 0
By
STEPHEN
J
ANNA AKHMATOVA
Penetrating biography
on a little known poet
0 16A1C16 V16c
7
_ _ . I
D 1912 Y 19
X 123
O 18
0 19(
2Q0 20l
>2 20L 201320jY 20 A 2 X 2 8
_ _l 1 I 1 iA{t l.
- - k
POZSGAI
INSTRUCTIONS
Guess the words defined at the
left and write them in over their
numbered dashes. Then, trans-
A. Wanders in mind.....
B. Feeling blue; in the
dumps (3 words).
5 19 39 73 110
137 168 184 207
O. Takes too much;
does to excess ........
78 22 42 57 27
122 162 147 190
195 176 160
P. Spume; foam..........___._- -
191 63 154 52 84
44 61 115 15 30
40 53 69~128
Q. Mushroom
psychedelic ........
45 24 88 126 142
75 173 94
138 145 163 180 186 205
C. Extreme dryness of
the mouth, often
caused by smoking
Clue H (Path)....
136 65 87 101 108 123 132 165 196
R. Symbols; badges.
S. Dravidian-cave
temple in India.....
T. Without preparation;
impromptu
(2 words) .............
10 194 106 127 149 197 175
97 170 140 46
-- fer each letter to the corres-
199 pondingly -numbered square in
the pattern. The filled pattern
- will contain a quotation reading
153 from left to right with the black
squares indicating word end-
ings. Meanwhile, the first let-
ters of the guessed words will
form an acrostic, giving the
author's name and title of the
work the quote is extracted
from.
183
D. Supple; flexible......
E. Exhibit; testimony.
F. The - Letters by
William Burroughs
& Allen Ginstberg.
G. Form of professional
wrestling (2 words)
H. See Clue C...........
1. Innner reality; vital
principle...........
J. Depressant..........-.--
K. Profane expression;
curse ..... .....
L. Flattened at the poles
M. Disorderly crowd;
mob....... .......
N. Incentive;
pick-me-up.........
2 21 119 148 164 192
31 60 72 159 134 174 117 152 90
6 7 34177 80 91103114
179
161 157 79 64
11 X29 56 67 99 125 203
41 54 66 70 98 124 131
8 16 36 43 81 169 135
U. "I am the -, on, they
are "from the Beatles'
Magical Mystery
Tour..........
V. Objects seen while
engaging in Clue A.
W. Make calm or
peaceful ..............
95 9 189 182 25 151 Answer to Last Week's Puzzle
In the darkness of the womb,
which he sought with the same
89 144 12 158 33 166 100 201 82 ferocity as he did the light of
heaven, he transforms into ra-
dium. His is a substance which
4 48 71 105 109 133 141 171 187 it is dangerous to handle. His is
1202 a light which annihilates when
113 it does not exalt or illumine.
-(Henry) Miller from eThe
49 38 208 92 35 129 83 Time of the Assassins" (A
Study of Rimbaud.)
ANNA AKHMATOVA:
A POETIC PILGRIMAGE
By Amanda Haight
Oxford, 1976. 197 pp., $10.
By CYNTHIA HILL
IT IS SAID THAT the well-
written life is as rare as the
well-lived one. If so, Amanda
Haight's Anna Akhmatova: A
Poetic Pilgrimage is a doubly
unique achievement.
In a biography just shy of 200
pages, Haight gives us a concise
view of a complex woman while
mercifully sparing us the clutter
of grocery lists and notes to boy-
friends: It is a task that has
eluded many experienced scho-
lars who, in bulky tomes, fail
to differentiate d e t a i 1 from
drivel.
Of course, Haight was aided
by her subject: the Russian poet
Akhmatova was a remarkable
and fascinating woman. S h e
was, moreover, Haight's friend.
Yet, for other biographers, these
potential pluses have becomes
obstacles.
Haight's work possesses a re-
freshing singlemindedness. The
author (who covers the first
seventeen years of Akhmatova's
life in a scant .twelve pages)
makes her underlying theme
clear on the first page, and then
sticks to it:
. . . a Russian woman poet
who had already found fame
before the beginning of the
First World War seems to
have been chosen by fate to
test all the intuitive and in-
herited values of her contem-
poraries, first, against the en-
thusiastic creeds spread by
a revolution dreaming of a
future paradise and then, by
its repressive and paranoiac
aftermath . . . That the poet
should discover, contrary to
all logical expectation, that.
she had no alternative but to
continue to write . . . should
have revealed once more the
vital importance and power
of the poetic word. It is an
answer to those who question
the function of literature.
This idea grows and develops
as Haight traces the life of a
valiant woman whose life was
fraught with disaster. Her first
huslx'nd, the poct Nikolay Gu-
milyov, was shot for "counter-
revolutionary activity"; her poe-
try was banned for 25 years due
Ci nt/ia I-ilt is a former Daily
it/or-.
18 47 -9 77 107 120
118 1 20 68
204 178 14 37 86 17
96 104 13 185 3 112
51 62 76 200 181 172 85 143 130
X. Not permitted;'
unauthorized .....
Y. Worth a pound of
cure (3 words) ....
Z. English philosopher
and mathematician
1642-1727 ............
'... a Russian woman poet who had already
found fame before the beginning of the First
World War seems to have been chosen by fate
to test all the intuitive and inherited values of
her contemporaries . . .'-Amanda Haight on
Anna Akhmatova.
-.M.....-.. E-.. - ....,-....s... . .-.
to its "narrow, petty, bourgeois"
quality (in short, its distinctly
personal nature); her son spent
fourteen years in a labor camp
for no apparent reason except
that- he was the child of two
disf avored poets; and her
friends were largely exiled or
executed.
ONE IS TEMPTED to criticize
laight for her terse docu-
mentary style - but given the
circumstances of Akhamatova's
life, anything else should have'
ever, Akhmatova was consider-
ed an aristrocratic -anachronism
-a symbol of the old regime.
Once avant garde, she was now
officially demode. Her poetry
reflects her bewilderment:
All has grown confused forever
I cannot now discern
Who is man and who is
beast ...
Yet, contrary to what her
critics claim, she extends be-
yond the strictly personal realm
his experience as avwriter or
on some more universal phe-
nomena.
][ MARJORIE LYONS, his
literary protege, Faulkner
communicated a view of love
which, in a few sentences, sum-
mons up all the tough and lucid
honesty that made Faulkner's
reputation, while still retaining
a hint of humor:
I think that every young man,
no matter how ugly-dwarf,
freak, cripple, halitosis, all-
has once in him the capacity
for one great love and sacri-
fice for love, to a loved one,
a beloved. But most of us miss
it. We are dumb ourselves
and fail to get it across, or
we choose (if there is choice)
the wrong one, either un-
worthy, or too big, too strong
for us, out of our class any-
way.
And just as the best of the
hard, honest passages are tinged
with humor, Faulkner treats an
autobiographical s k e t c h with
about as much comic fiction as
fact:
Born male and single at
early age in Mississippi. Quit
school after five years in
seventh grade. Got job in
Grandfather's bank and learn-
ed medicinal value of his li-
quor. Grandfather t h o u g h t
janitor did it. Hard on janitor.
War came. Liked British uni-
form. Got commission R.F.C.,
-pilot. Crashed. Cost British
gov't 2000 pounds. Was still
pilot. Crashed. Cost British
gov't 2000 pounds. Quit. Cost
British gov't $84.30. King said,
'Well done.' Returned to Mis-
sissippi. Family got job: post-
master. Resigned by mutual
agreement on part of two in-
spectors; accused of throwing
all incoming mail into gar-
bage can. How disposal of
outgoing mail never proved.
Inspectors foiled. Had $700.
Went to Europe. Met man
named Sherwood Anderson.
Said, 'Why not write novels?
Maybe won't have to work.'
Did. "Soldiers' Pay." Did.
'"Mosquitoes." Did. "S o u n d
and Fury.' Did. "Sanctuary," .
our next year. Now flying
again. Age 32. Own and oper-
ate own typewriter.
IN HIS INTRODUCTION to the
book, Blotner writes that it is
"a collection meant to be rep-
resentative rather than inclu-
sive." One is tempted to say
that even for the purposes of
the Faulkner f a n a t i c, the
volume may be excessively in-
clusive. For example, the en-
gaging letters on Faulkner's trip
to Europe, which appear near
the beginning of the chronolog-
ically arranged book, tell us so
much about the Luxembourg
Gardens and the ins and outs
RICHARD
WILT
Recent Works
MARCH 1-31
OPENWNG MA-ACH 2, 7-9
6
764-3234
FIRT OOQ M ucAN WO
32 74 93 50 23 58 116 139 102
150 146 198 156 167
206 193 188
appeared exaggerated and hys-
terical.
Haight's e 1 e g a n tlI y simple
style works as a complement
to Akhmatova's rich, lyrical
poetry. How could any writer
compete with Akhmatova's own
description of her childhood?
Already then I knew the list
of crimes
That I was to commit,
Stepping out like a sleep-
walker,
I walked into life and life
frightened me ..
I was like some ungainly
fondling
Yet unexpected doors were
opening
And people would come in.
and cry
"She's come. She's come
herself."
And I would look around at
them confounded
And think "They have gone
mad!"
Akhmatova's poetry combines
and alternates a brooding, me-
ditative mysticism w i t h an
earthy eroticism:
And he kept his eyes' dull
gaze
On my ring
Not one muscle moved
On his enlightened evil face.
Oh I know: it is his pleasure
To know intensely,
passionately,
l'hat he needs nothing,
Fhat I can deny him nothing.
'w the age of thirtt-two, how-
in her concerns. Her introduc-
tion to "Requiem," a poem
which recalls the lines of vis-
itors waiting outside Stalin's
prisons, is searing:
A woman with blue lips stand-
ing behind me, who had of
course never heard my name,
suddenly woke out of the be-
numbed condition in which we
all found ourselves at than
time and whispered in my ear
(in those days we all spoke in
a whisper):
-Can you put this into
words?
And I said:
-I can,
Then something like a smile
passed fleetingly over what
had once been her face.
AIGHT LETS t b e s e lines
stand on their own merit (as
as well: she should) and instead,
concentrates h e r energy on
what she, as a biographer, can
provide in understanding and in-
sight. Haight's detached objec-
tivity would have been coldly
impersonal for many writers,
but for her it radiates a peculiar
ermpathy.
B3ecause she views Akhmatova
through a single facet of her
personait-her life as a poet-
she can usualv analyze fauls
without the le:ast trace of de-
fensiveness. The final effect as
calm and rational, and as a re-
suit, Akhmatova emerges xvel-
See .ANNA AKIIMATOVA,
Page 8
f
I
E
i
;
26 111 155 55 121
28
1
c
0
t ,2-
i. '
i.>
'<2-c.
'.~; ~-'kj 2
";.;&f CO
,. ., .
'==
J.R -
..~1 .
r :
,
>
f-
-J
'N
-_ ! A
Ate '
...... ...
i 7~AC~'LZ1 >V( ~c1o~
~TAJZ~ IN ~VWf'~ \vP'<~
ydi .- C>
3 77/s
I -- ,~Yb-A
~ / ~
yri- v r-A h4V.Air SaE
"Ltif r tO .k'
,-> t c. t .c S
, 'I.G 5
ri-.
J,- ..
- = . -- .C.,m a
-
i-