J. H. Prynne

[luka]

It's probably JH himself!

 

[Benny Bunter]

That would be amazing!

I just hope to god it's not the guy who wrote that article after what I just said

 

[luka]

Do you remember the article by the American woman talking about studying at Cambridge going to a reading and another American came on stage and said "UP AGAINS THE WALL MOTHERFUCKERS!" That's him

 

[Benny Bunter]

I'm not familiar with that, no, but it sounds hilarious

 

[luka]

I'm not familiar with that, no, but it sounds hilarious

You were the one that posted it

 

[luka]

Jeremy Hillary Boob was originally named Jeremy Y. du Q. Adams, after Southern Methodist University professor Jeremy DuQuesnay Adams.[2][3] The character of Jeremy was intended as a parody of public intellectuals and polymaths, most notably theatrical director and physician Jonathan Miller, with whom story writer Lee Minoff had previously worked.[4] He is also alleged to have been inspired by Cambridge poet J.H. Prynne.[5]

the article it cites is this https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69662/that-room-in-cambridge

which isn't a great read

Oh, it was Ian

 

[Benny Bunter]

Thank god I thought I was going mad for a second there

 

[luka]

He runs a small press that has put out some JHP stuff. I think it's called critical documents

 

[Benny Bunter]

Oh right, I'll have a look

I must say, you come across some really bizarre stuff when you're looking around the internet for Prynne related stuff. A large portion of his fanbase seem to be total nutters.

 

[luka]

Anyway it's a brilliant essay although as version says of course I haven't actually read it

 

[Benny Bunter]

Those Glossator essays seem to be really good. I just read Word Order earlier and now I'm having a go at the essay from there about it - I hadn't picked up on any of that stuff in there! Doesn't help that I haven't read heidigger either. Still, good stuff.

 

[Benny Bunter]

I really feel like I need to read heidigger and Wordsworth now, they keep cropping up in the critical literature I've seen about Prynne and I'm just lost.

 

[luka]

I doubt it'll help you much.

 

[Benny Bunter]

Well, it would help reading all these essays at the very least

Word Order, apparently, has all these quotations from work songs and references to Heidigger, stuff about the Nazis and concentration camps etc. I would never have picked up on any of that from just reading it.

 

[luka]

Yeah I know but you're never going to have the reading to pick out everything in Prynne because he's read more than anyone that ever lived

 

[luka]

And I'm very sceptical about how much those essays add to the experience of reading Prynne. I love the essays. I think they're fascinating in their own right but I rarely find them convincing and even when they are I'm not sure they add anything. It remains mysterious.

 

[luka]

You can buy the annotated oval window and discover he quotes from a review of a zz top concert in the times, that's interesting and funny but is it helpful or necessary?

 

[Benny Bunter]

I get what you're saying. I do think knowing all this stuff can add another dimension to it, but then again it could take away from or colour the actual reading experience in a way, the immediate effect it has as you read him.

 

[luka]

All I'm saying is we have to resign ourselves to being a)thick and b)ignorant and make the best of it.

 

[Benny Bunter]

"Regarding ‘blow’ it may be worth
divulging that Prynne is a keen amateur recorder player, the proud
possessor of a Dolmetsch instrument, and plays with astonishing
aggression. He is the Albert Ayler of the recorder, and the final poem
of Word Order is not too violent to describe his musical performance."