Excerpts
Sylvia Plath’s Boogers
I love you, Sylvia. I really do.
Hi. I mentioned this once in the comment section, but I’ll say it again: I dyed my hair red when I was fifteen and recited all of “Lady Lazarus” (click here to read it) in English class, which ends with, “Out of the ash/I rise with my red hair/ and I eat men like air.” I was really popular- dudes were lining up to get some action from me after I did that!(Click here to hear Syliva read it) ! I loved high school. Oh wait, that is a lie. Anyway, Sylvia Plath can also be funny, which I feel like highlighting due to the recent tragedy of her son’s suicide. Here she is, picking her nose:
As for minute joys: as I was saying: do you realize the illicit sensuous delight I get from picking my nose? I always have, ever since I was a child–there are so many subtle variations of sensation. A delicate, pointed-nailed fifth finger an catch under dry scabs and flakes of mucous in the nostril and draw them out to be looked at, crumbled between fingers, and flicked to the floor in minute crusts. Or a heavier, more determined forefinger can reach up and smear down-and-out the soft, resilient, elastic greenish-yellow smallish blobs of mucous, roll them round and jelly-like between thumb and forefinger, and spread them on the under surface of a desk or chair where they will harden into organic crusts. How many desks and chairs have I thus secretively befouled since childhood? Or sometimes there will be blood mingled with the mucous in dry brown scabs, or bright sudden wet red on the finger taht scraped too rudely the nasal membranes. God, what a sexual satisfaction! It is absorbing to look with new sudden eyes on the old worn habits: to see a sudden luxurious and pestilential “snot green sea”, and shiver with the shock of recognition.
Tags: sylvia plath
this is awesome.
this is awesome.
I like how she pronounces “annihilate.”
Ah-nih-hill-ate instead of Uh-Ny-ill-ate.
I like how she pronounces “annihilate.”
Ah-nih-hill-ate instead of Uh-Ny-ill-ate.
Nose picking as high art. Reading this actually makes me squeamish, but I thought I’d share.
Also, at least she doesn’t eat them! Phew.
pr i would suck the boogers out of your nose and suck on them
i heart you that much
big loves
pr i would suck the boogers out of your nose and suck on them
i heart you that much
big loves
I love you too Jereme
i meant i would chew on them
suck them out ya nose and chew on them
probably at a slow pace
booger cud chew
i meant i would chew on them
suck them out ya nose and chew on them
probably at a slow pace
booger cud chew
This raises my sense of self from a dirty-fingered lowlife to a literary sophisticate who just happens to clean her own nostrils with her finger and like it. Thanks Sylvia. This is hilarious!
Does she have passages on the pleasures of anal?
This raises my sense of self from a dirty-fingered lowlife to a literary sophisticate who just happens to clean her own nostrils with her finger and like it. Thanks Sylvia. This is hilarious!
Does she have passages on the pleasures of anal?
Not that I remember..but I remember lots of “white sticky” talk about her underwear. God bless her soul.
crazy bitches b horny
crazy bitches b horny
Have you read the nose-picking scene in the Coda of Last Exit to Brooklyn? I’d like to see these two pieces side by side.
Have you read the nose-picking scene in the Coda of Last Exit to Brooklyn? I’d like to see these two pieces side by side.
interesting how in touch she was with the physical world and her own body — in an era of extreme vanity, we could use more of that. thanks for posting pr.
pick on!
interesting how in touch she was with the physical world and her own body — in an era of extreme vanity, we could use more of that. thanks for posting pr.
pick on!
I read that book ten years ago? Something like that- if you find the passage- please share!
From Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.: Coda: Landsend, Womens Chorus I.
(One picked her nose, exploring each nostril first with the pinky, locating the choice deposits, then with the forefinger broke loose the nights accumulations, scraping with the thumb and plucking forth, with thumb and forefinger, a choice meaty snot, long and green, spotted with yellows, waving it about, then rolling it in a ball, caressing it between her fingers, trying to flip it off but it clung tenaciously, ashesively to the finger until it was rubbed off on the bench.)
From Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.: Coda: Landsend, Womens Chorus I.
(One picked her nose, exploring each nostril first with the pinky, locating the choice deposits, then with the forefinger broke loose the nights accumulations, scraping with the thumb and plucking forth, with thumb and forefinger, a choice meaty snot, long and green, spotted with yellows, waving it about, then rolling it in a ball, caressing it between her fingers, trying to flip it off but it clung tenaciously, ashesively to the finger until it was rubbed off on the bench.)
Now this is a poem!
Compare this to the Ellen Kennedy work that’s been getting play around here lately. Look at the luster and vigor of Plath’s language and compare that to the Ellen’s monotone. Contrast the clarity of description (Bright as a Nazi lampshade) with the vague factual recollection (changing from a happy dad / to a pissed dad).
To me one reads as the result of hard work and the other as something lazily written or generically perceived. I’m curious if it’s a generational thing. Do a majority of younger folks actually apprehend the world in the muted sense that Kennedy conveys? Does it ring true for them?
When I read Kennedy’s work on here or Tao Lin for that matter, I wonder if there’s some fundamental difference between them and me. At times it’s almost as if they’re a different race. Yes, yes, I know I’m laboring in age. Getting old. The young are always strange to the old, but in years past the young were raised in very much the same way as the old. That doesn’t occur now.
The world is too fast. I think about the speed of the world and wonder if young people today are just unable to latch, if they spend their time in the surface of things instead of the deep contemplation of something singular.
I’m really looking for reasons for the popularity of work like Kennedy’s, so that I may better understand it. Why read Kennedy when there’s Plath?
Now this is a poem!
Compare this to the Ellen Kennedy work that’s been getting play around here lately. Look at the luster and vigor of Plath’s language and compare that to the Ellen’s monotone. Contrast the clarity of description (Bright as a Nazi lampshade) with the vague factual recollection (changing from a happy dad / to a pissed dad).
To me one reads as the result of hard work and the other as something lazily written or generically perceived. I’m curious if it’s a generational thing. Do a majority of younger folks actually apprehend the world in the muted sense that Kennedy conveys? Does it ring true for them?
When I read Kennedy’s work on here or Tao Lin for that matter, I wonder if there’s some fundamental difference between them and me. At times it’s almost as if they’re a different race. Yes, yes, I know I’m laboring in age. Getting old. The young are always strange to the old, but in years past the young were raised in very much the same way as the old. That doesn’t occur now.
The world is too fast. I think about the speed of the world and wonder if young people today are just unable to latch, if they spend their time in the surface of things instead of the deep contemplation of something singular.
I’m really looking for reasons for the popularity of work like Kennedy’s, so that I may better understand it. Why read Kennedy when there’s Plath?
Good God. That is disgusting! I think it is a tie as far as grossness goes.
Selby is a master of the physical, of sensory. That’s why I was curious to see how this compares to Plath because she’s so lyrical.
Selby is a master of the physical, of sensory. That’s why I was curious to see how this compares to Plath because she’s so lyrical.
i like you brad
i like you brad
will listen to this when i’m home. btw, pr, i never thanked you for the box of books, which arrived safe and sound. volume of chekhov is def. the pick of the litter, but some other interesting stuff. so: thx!
will listen to this when i’m home. btw, pr, i never thanked you for the box of books, which arrived safe and sound. volume of chekhov is def. the pick of the litter, but some other interesting stuff. so: thx!
I’m glad it got there safely- Chekhov rocks my world, glad you like!
classic!
but where’s the video of red-headed pr’s reading?!
classic!
but where’s the video of red-headed pr’s reading?!
Did I send you Doctorow, too? That’s a good one, give it a try.
haha- no video. thank God.
i like you too, but your beard scares me.
i like you too, but your beard scares me.
Amen brother. Do people still say amen? How about dynomite?
Really though, your idea on the relationship between the new literary monotone and the world’s quickening pace are fascinating and ring true. (Though Tao’s asperger’s might play a role as well.)
Time to stare at the wall and eat some prunes.
Amen brother. Do people still say amen? How about dynomite?
Really though, your idea on the relationship between the new literary monotone and the world’s quickening pace are fascinating and ring true. (Though Tao’s asperger’s might play a role as well.)
Time to stare at the wall and eat some prunes.
shucks
shucks
Once, I made a reference to the sticky gross that comes out of my ears to this poet named Ariana, and she said that I shouldn’t feel like I should need to talk about stuff like that to make her like me, but I wasn’t. I was talking about the sticky gross yellow muck that comes out of my ears, that tastes bitter. Boogers are more salty.
Once, I made a reference to the sticky gross that comes out of my ears to this poet named Ariana, and she said that I shouldn’t feel like I should need to talk about stuff like that to make her like me, but I wasn’t. I was talking about the sticky gross yellow muck that comes out of my ears, that tastes bitter. Boogers are more salty.
my beard is 13% bigger than the last photos.
it is wild like my heart stallion.
don’t be scared.
grab my mane.
let’s fly to the moon.
my beard is 13% bigger than the last photos.
it is wild like my heart stallion.
don’t be scared.
grab my mane.
let’s fly to the moon.
But the real question is when with Sylvia Plath’s Boogers have their EP release at Piano’s?
But the real question is when with Sylvia Plath’s Boogers have their EP release at Piano’s?
Actually, monotone has been around a long time. And that’s okay. Sometimes, monotone is really nice. I mean, if we all wrote stuff about picking our noses, we’d have a wonderful collection of music! Because, you know, there are different monotones. And that’s okay. And it’s also okay to write along the ‘surface’. Sometimes, there’s some really revealing things along the ‘surface’ of something. Also it’s sometimes difficult or impossible to tell the difference between the ‘surface’ and the ‘depth’ of something. But, there are ‘differences’ between things. Sometimes there can be some pretty profound things found on the ‘surface’ of something.
Anyways, I like how you made me think about some things, Brad.
I just wish we all got the attention we deserve for all the hard work we put into our stuff. That’s all. I just wish that everyone was invited to the party that is the result of our hard, fun work!
Actually, monotone has been around a long time. And that’s okay. Sometimes, monotone is really nice. I mean, if we all wrote stuff about picking our noses, we’d have a wonderful collection of music! Because, you know, there are different monotones. And that’s okay. And it’s also okay to write along the ‘surface’. Sometimes, there’s some really revealing things along the ‘surface’ of something. Also it’s sometimes difficult or impossible to tell the difference between the ‘surface’ and the ‘depth’ of something. But, there are ‘differences’ between things. Sometimes there can be some pretty profound things found on the ‘surface’ of something.
Anyways, I like how you made me think about some things, Brad.
I just wish we all got the attention we deserve for all the hard work we put into our stuff. That’s all. I just wish that everyone was invited to the party that is the result of our hard, fun work!
fuck recognition
i just want to squeeze as many firm titties as possible
fuck recognition
i just want to squeeze as many firm titties as possible
Me, too.
Me, too.
That was beautiful, JWV.
That was beautiful, JWV.
jeremy is a true literary rock n roller: make art to get women. why else do most people play music but to squeeze titties? if only lit could be as amorous a form, publishing would not be in the pinch it’s in.
speaking of pinch, i’d like to pinch some titties.
jeremy is a true literary rock n roller: make art to get women. why else do most people play music but to squeeze titties? if only lit could be as amorous a form, publishing would not be in the pinch it’s in.
speaking of pinch, i’d like to pinch some titties.
fuck recognition
I just want to have my titties squeezed by hundreds and thousands of adoring fans while I try to run away screaming “help me, help me” but no help can be found, because it’s A MOB and they are after me…and then the blood starts pouring out of my breasts (I actually have no real breasts, how about “chest?”) and I have big chunks of hair missing from my head and my lips have been bitten off and …and the cops from Law and Order -especially that really hot one, the Latin dude, the Peruvian one, who looks like a tennis player, sort of, Benjamin Bratt– find me and have the horrible look of sadness and pain and anger- there is no catching my killer! There were too many people.
Point me to something of yours to read. I’d be happy to look. Not that I could bring you any recognition or anything (I am just me, after all), but if I like it enough, I’ll become an adoring fan and if I don’t then I might comment somewhere about it in my continuing pursuit of self-destruction. I didn’t see any links to works on your blog.
Point me to something of yours to read. I’d be happy to look. Not that I could bring you any recognition or anything (I am just me, after all), but if I like it enough, I’ll become an adoring fan and if I don’t then I might comment somewhere about it in my continuing pursuit of self-destruction. I didn’t see any links to works on your blog.
I’m pinching mine right now.
I’m pinching mine right now.
yes, you did! i actually still have a copy of that i found in a thrift store in cottage grove, mn, when i was 18 or 19 — to this day, the only doctorow i’ve read. i remember being a little off-put by the bitchy title novella, about basically what shitty people writers are. i think i’d like it better now!
yes, you did! i actually still have a copy of that i found in a thrift store in cottage grove, mn, when i was 18 or 19 — to this day, the only doctorow i’ve read. i remember being a little off-put by the bitchy title novella, about basically what shitty people writers are. i think i’d like it better now!
Was this extract from her diaries? I have a memory of reading a review at the time her diaries were published over here years back which cited her description of her snot as why, seriously, that was way TMI about the minutiae (can’t spell) of her existence.
How good the diaries were, I never got to find out. For some reason, the copy I bought was really shoddy & fell apart. Though if you’re reading someone’s diaries, I guess TMI is kind of redundant.
Brad’s comments (this isn’t a comment on ellen kennedy, but the plath thing) made me think of when Prozac Nation came out. It struck me as bizarre & also just vaguely obnoxious that all these perfectly intelligent reviewers (um, I think … ) kept drawing Wurzel / Plath parallels. Apart from the most surface element of the fact they were both women autobio-ing breakdowns that occurred at similar ages, and voices that I guess spoke to each given generation, I just couldn’t see a parallel. Plath’s writing being art, (to me) and something image heavy, dark in manners that are unsettling, disconnected in a way that suited her subject matter, navel-gazing, yes, but not in a discordant way . And Wurzel’s … well. Self-centred pop-lit. To me.
Sorry if this is completely rambly – am thinking aloud during insomnia.
Was this extract from her diaries? I have a memory of reading a review at the time her diaries were published over here years back which cited her description of her snot as why, seriously, that was way TMI about the minutiae (can’t spell) of her existence.
How good the diaries were, I never got to find out. For some reason, the copy I bought was really shoddy & fell apart. Though if you’re reading someone’s diaries, I guess TMI is kind of redundant.
Brad’s comments (this isn’t a comment on ellen kennedy, but the plath thing) made me think of when Prozac Nation came out. It struck me as bizarre & also just vaguely obnoxious that all these perfectly intelligent reviewers (um, I think … ) kept drawing Wurzel / Plath parallels. Apart from the most surface element of the fact they were both women autobio-ing breakdowns that occurred at similar ages, and voices that I guess spoke to each given generation, I just couldn’t see a parallel. Plath’s writing being art, (to me) and something image heavy, dark in manners that are unsettling, disconnected in a way that suited her subject matter, navel-gazing, yes, but not in a discordant way . And Wurzel’s … well. Self-centred pop-lit. To me.
Sorry if this is completely rambly – am thinking aloud during insomnia.
I think what drew me to make the parallel here was the spatial proximity of all the Kennedy posts and this one from PR about a poet that I can really enjoy in all her complexity and depth. When I read the Kennedy posts I wasn’t reminded in any way of Plath and when I read this Plath one (breathing in that gusty fresh air) I was reminded of the Kennedy work because there had been so much of it recently paraded here. There is certainly no equality in a value comparison here, I think, though I’d like to stay away from declaring one good and one bad for perspectives are many in this world.
Really, I was hoping someone would come in and help educate me on Kennedy and why she may be popular. I don’t know if she is or not. So far the person who spoke in her favor ended up talking about wanting recognition for themselves, which sort of proves my point about surface concerns, I think.
I think what drew me to make the parallel here was the spatial proximity of all the Kennedy posts and this one from PR about a poet that I can really enjoy in all her complexity and depth. When I read the Kennedy posts I wasn’t reminded in any way of Plath and when I read this Plath one (breathing in that gusty fresh air) I was reminded of the Kennedy work because there had been so much of it recently paraded here. There is certainly no equality in a value comparison here, I think, though I’d like to stay away from declaring one good and one bad for perspectives are many in this world.
Really, I was hoping someone would come in and help educate me on Kennedy and why she may be popular. I don’t know if she is or not. So far the person who spoke in her favor ended up talking about wanting recognition for themselves, which sort of proves my point about surface concerns, I think.
themself, i mean. i think. sorry – i’m into the rum now. grammar is the first thing to go.
themself, i mean. i think. sorry – i’m into the rum now. grammar is the first thing to go.
Yes, this is from her diaries, which can be wonderful and moving and disturbing and all that. I chose this excerpt to be funny and lighthearted but the diaries are far from that in general. For Plath fanatics, like myself, her journals are a treasure.
Yes, this is from her diaries, which can be wonderful and moving and disturbing and all that. I chose this excerpt to be funny and lighthearted but the diaries are far from that in general. For Plath fanatics, like myself, her journals are a treasure.
cool, i might have to pick them up again at some point. i do really like some plath, and i am just innately nosy.
i can’t remember who i was reading recently who described plath as being really ahead of her time, but that rung true for me.
there’s that very otherworldly sense about her writing.
cool, i might have to pick them up again at some point. i do really like some plath, and i am just innately nosy.
i can’t remember who i was reading recently who described plath as being really ahead of her time, but that rung true for me.
there’s that very otherworldly sense about her writing.
Actually, Brad, if you read my response I was wanting for everyone to receive the kind of recognition that Kennedy has received for all their hard work.
I know it’s really popular on HTML to PRETEND that getting attention for your writing is lame. That’s only because MOST of you haven’t received ANY attention for your writing. I haven’t received any attention for mine either–so don’t get all hot in your library book BRAD.
If you actually read what I wrote above, you’d see that I think EVERYONE should be recognized for their stuff. Not just me dick-weed BRAD.
Don’t be such a DUMB-ASS BRAD and join the jereme parade of dumb-asses who thinks that GETTING RECOGNITION FOR SOMETHING YOU’VE DONE OR WRITTEN IS SO FUCKING UNCOOL.
You wouldn’t be on HTML writing the stupid things that you write if you didn’t want to call attention to your stupidity.
And one more thing BRAD: THIS GIRL CAN KICK YOUR ASS.
She’s also on her period. Your turn.
Actually, Brad, if you read my response I was wanting for everyone to receive the kind of recognition that Kennedy has received for all their hard work.
I know it’s really popular on HTML to PRETEND that getting attention for your writing is lame. That’s only because MOST of you haven’t received ANY attention for your writing. I haven’t received any attention for mine either–so don’t get all hot in your library book BRAD.
If you actually read what I wrote above, you’d see that I think EVERYONE should be recognized for their stuff. Not just me dick-weed BRAD.
Don’t be such a DUMB-ASS BRAD and join the jereme parade of dumb-asses who thinks that GETTING RECOGNITION FOR SOMETHING YOU’VE DONE OR WRITTEN IS SO FUCKING UNCOOL.
You wouldn’t be on HTML writing the stupid things that you write if you didn’t want to call attention to your stupidity.
And one more thing BRAD: THIS GIRL CAN KICK YOUR ASS.
She’s also on her period. Your turn.
Thank you, Steven Trull. I recognize your coolness.
Thank you, Steven Trull. I recognize your coolness.
I think this would be an illustration of the way to NOT engage in debate.
The tone and the name calling do nothing to further any cause or concern. I’m more than willing to recognize Kennedy, Janey Smith, or even Steven Trull for their efforts, even if I dislike the work. My comments are always about the work, not the person. It’d be wonderful if you did the same. At least consider it.
I think this would be an illustration of the way to NOT engage in debate.
The tone and the name calling do nothing to further any cause or concern. I’m more than willing to recognize Kennedy, Janey Smith, or even Steven Trull for their efforts, even if I dislike the work. My comments are always about the work, not the person. It’d be wonderful if you did the same. At least consider it.
Steven, where is your response? You say, “if you read my response”- I can’t find it. Can you repost it? I am confused.
I was too pr. I just chalked it up to some more Internet inference that I didn’t get.
I was too pr. I just chalked it up to some more Internet inference that I didn’t get.
Unless Steven Trull and Janey Smith are the same person. That’s the only thing that makes sense to me with the comments as they currently are on the thread. It was Janey that talked about recognition. I’m quite confused and haven’t even started drinking yet.
Unless Steven Trull and Janey Smith are the same person. That’s the only thing that makes sense to me with the comments as they currently are on the thread. It was Janey that talked about recognition. I’m quite confused and haven’t even started drinking yet.
Brad, I am deep into the Rum. I like Steven Trull – but what? I got so confused here.
Love that you blogged this, it’s my favorite thing in the journals!