Not exactly P. From a wonderful piece by Howard Jacobsen

[Steven Koteff]

Maybe not interested in academic mapping but he does have moments of such BLINDING omni-awareness that seem to be totally new to the time, but that's because when that sort of spirit shows up it is always totally new to the time. Eternally. Our main squeeze obviously also one of those such brand new (or at least eternally rare) incarnations of the human mind. (Have any of you guys read the HBloom book about Shakespeare inventing modernity or the modern consciousness or some such?) Art (especially literature maybe) is just enough of an established commercial and academic industry--and the current art industry is, by nature of our being alive to see it, so close to our experience--that we see a lot of good art the quantity of which dilutes the shock of the holy art. This is probably always going on, I'm guessing.  

> On Feb 5, 2016, at 7:06 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>  in The Guardian about The Merchant of Venice about which
> he has written the novel in the new series of reimagining Shakespeare's
> works. 
> "letting language do its own remembering"....THAT is wonderful. 
> "unworked significance and unsorted old material" ---just right. He is a
> very good novelist and knows. 
> 
> Applies, I would suggest, to our favorite writer here. 
> 
> Also, if you haven't read or watched this play since high school or college, I recommend it as who wouldn't but you might be surprised in your maturity. 
> 
> 
> "I am not convinced that Shakespeare was ever interested in such abstract, academic mapping [scholars finding doubling, mirroring, etc.]  But it is part of his greatness to allow unworked significance and unsorted old material to have their way without him in a play. DH Lawrence wrote astutely about what happens to a living work when the artist puts his finger in the pan, forcing its outcome. It ceases to be a living work. And Shakespeare was a writer in Lawrence’s sense, ideology free, allowing characters to find their true selves in interaction with one another, and letting language do its own remembering."
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