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-