Rosenbaum on Dylan and Farina

[Dave Monroe]

Ricks, Christopher.  Dylan's Visions of Sin.
   New York: Ecco, 2004.

Bob Dylan's ways with words are a wonder, matched as
they are with his music and verified by those voices
of his. In response to the whole range of Dylan early
and late (his songs of social conscience, of earthly
love, of divine love, and of contemplation), this
critical appreciation listens to Dylan's attentive
genius, alive in the very words and their rewards.

"Fools they made a mock of sin." Dylan's is an art in
which sins are laid bare (and resisted), virtues are
valued (and manifested), and the graces brought home.
The seven deadly sins, the four cardinal virtues
(harder to remember?), and the three heavenly graces:
these make up everybody's world -- but Dylan's in
particular. Or rather, his worlds, since human
dealings of every kind are his for the artistic
seizing. Pride is anatomized in "Like a Rolling
Stone," Envy in "Positively 4th Street," Anger in
"Only a Pawn in Their Game" ... But, hearteningly,
Justice reclaims "Hattie Carroll," Fortitude "Blowin'
in the Wind," Faith "Precious Angel," Hope "Forever
Young," and Charity "Watered-Down Love."

In The New Yorker, Alex Ross wrote that "Ricks's
writing on Dylan is the best there is. Unlike most
rock critics -- 'forty-year-olds talking to
ten-year-olds,' Dylan has called them -- he writes for
adults." In the Times (London), Bryan Appleyard
maintained that "Ricks, one of the most distinguished
literary critics of our time, is almost the only
writer to have applied serious literary intelligence
to Dylan ... "

Dylan's countless listeners (and even the artist
himself, who knows?) may agree with W.H. Auden that
Ricks "is exactly the kind of critic every poet dreams
of finding."

http://www.harpercollins.com/catalog/book_xml.asp?isbn=0060599235

'Dylan's Visions of Sin': It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only
Reading)
By JONATHAN LETHEM

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/13/books/review/13LETHAMW.html?ex=1090123200&en=55ca9b9bc5f97e27&ei=5070

--- Keith McMullen <keithsz at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>   "Up to Me" - Bob Dylan
> 
>   Everything went from bad to worse ...


		
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