11 February 2005

Oh no...

God, talk about bloggish mood swings. I've gone from elation to depression in five minutes flat.

Arthur Miller has died. He was 89.

Via Randa at MoorishGirl...who also points us in the direction of an excellent article of Miller's, Why I Wrote "The Crucible" (my favorite play of all time):

"Fear doesn't travel well; just as it can warp judgment, its absence can diminish memory's truth."

UPDATE: The NY Times obituary.

ANOTHER: The obit at the LA Times.

6 comments:

Molly said...

Yeah, I saw it, too, and knew you'd be devastated. Will anyone ever be able to fill up the hole he left behind?

kwpershey said...

The L.A. Times had a lovely extended obituary- top story on the front page.

Not to add to the bloggish mood swings, but February 11 was also the 42nd anniversary of Sylvia Plath's death (if I did the math right- numbers aren't a strong point).

amcorrea said...

Thanks! And yes, I think you're right...

Have you read Frieda's forward to the restored ed. of Ariel? (I find myself siding with her more and more.)

kwpershey said...

No, I haven't managed to nab a copy of the restored edition yet. I used to be more of a completist when it came to Plath, but then I was sort of overwhelmed by the overabundance of biographies, critical works- even that fictionalized account of Hughes and Plath. I'll definitely check it out, though- I have a lot of empathy for Frieda and her brother.

amcorrea said...

I would venture to say that most of the bios and novelizations (and yes, films and plays) are crap.

But The Silent Woman by Janet Malcolm is very good. She says she takes the "Hughes side" of matters, but what she writes is an insightful volume of the ethical questions of biography. I really liked it a lot.

kwpershey said...

I read The Silent Woman a few years ago, and struggled with her approach- though I suppose it was a good balance to all the Hughes-bashing that can go along with Plath studies.

Lately, I've been fond of Plath's short stories- I really liked "Mothers" and "Sunday at the Minton's."