Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 23:22:56 -0300 From: "Jonathan Boulter" <jonathan dot boulter at sympatico dot ca> Subject: Crimson reading habits
All this recent talk about punctuation and capitalization in the works of Joyce, cummings, and Beckett has started me wondering if anyone knows of the particular reading habits of the members of Crimson. As someone who has done a bit of academic work on Beckett I'd be especially interested if anyone knows if Fripp has read or is familiar with Beckett's fiction (note: Beckett's fiction, not the drama: I'd be extremely surprised if Fripp had not heard of Beckett's Godot or Endgame). I've often thought that there's some kind of aesthetic connection between especially Beckett's late prose (say in Ill Seen Ill Said) which sees narrative and indeed grammar reduced to almost nothing and the more intensely paired down music of the 80's that Crimson was producing. Is it accidental that 80's Crimson is simultaneous to Beckett's last major prose trilogy? Yeah, probably. Perhaps I'll write another article:
"Beckett and Crimson: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Diminution"
"`Dig me, but don't bury me'": Beckett's Crimso-Cryptic Aesthetic"
At any rate, I'd really be interested in what Fripp, Bruford, Belew read (I'd guess Belew digs the Beats, Lewis Carroll, and concrete poetry).
Best,
Jonathan Boulter
Jonathan Boulter Assistant Professor Department of English St. Francis Xavier University P.O. Box 5000 Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5 jboulter at stfx dot ca jonathan dot boulter at sympatico dot ca