April 15th, 2009 / 3:11 pm
 Excerpts

Malcolm Lowry’s Letters

Malcolm Lowry’s letters interest me more than his fiction (I don’t have this edition linked here, I have an earlier one). I’m not sure why that is, but hey, it’s just how it is. Here’s one of them:

Albert the Good,

Sorry I haven’t written.

Maybe I am a bit beraugereshimmer.

I don’t eat my food and in my bed I have geshitten,

Anyhow, I am living here.

In a comparitive state of mundial fear-

Also, give my love to my dear Twinbad the bailer

I mean dear Frank Taylor.

This is written on the night of April 18th

Anyway or the other, there is no rhyme

Unless you can think of one above.

Save love,

Malcolm

P.S. We encountered a cyclone–four ships lost

Somewhat tempest tossed.

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8 Comments

  1. April 16th, 2009 / 12:54 am Matt Briggs—

      It sounds kind of dismissive of his fiction, and I got my knickers in a twist because Under the Volcano is so great. And then I realized, maybe it means you love his fiction but your really, really love his letters. I would like to know why this is, however.

  2. April 15th, 2009 / 8:54 pm Matt Briggs—

      It sounds kind of dismissive of his fiction, and I got my knickers in a twist because Under the Volcano is so great. And then I realized, maybe it means you love his fiction but your really, really love his letters. I would like to know why this is, however.

  3. April 15th, 2009 / 9:04 pm pr—

      I don’t mean to be dismissive. I was just stating a preference. I didn’t finish Under the Volcano or the Gabriola novel. I’m sure you are entirely correct in loving his fiction. I just find his letters sort of great in a way I didn’t get into his fiction. I’m sure that is my failure, not Lowry’s.

  4. April 15th, 2009 / 9:08 pm pr—

      His letters speak to the cliche -in the best way–that all artists- musicians, writers, painters, what have you–eventually end up only thinking about money, and bankers and business people love to sit around and talk about “art”. This is a cliche and very wrong much of the time, but when it is right, it is very amusing to me.

      Also, he was such a sad, but also goofy and fun, soul and I like the straightforward truth of that in his letters.

  5. April 16th, 2009 / 5:22 am larry—

      these letters interest me… i tried under the rainbow but wasn’t in the mindset, i do plan to return to it sometime,,,, i just realized i typed “under the rainbow” which was that chevy chase movie with midgets. volcano damn it!

  6. April 16th, 2009 / 1:22 am larry—

      these letters interest me… i tried under the rainbow but wasn’t in the mindset, i do plan to return to it sometime,,,, i just realized i typed “under the rainbow” which was that chevy chase movie with midgets. volcano damn it!

  7. April 16th, 2009 / 3:05 pm pr—

      somewhere under the rainbow, way outside, there is a land that i dreamed of once in a lullaby….

      his letters i can skim through and not feel bad for skimming. there are gems- there is his desperation, his talent, his love for life, his ineptittute for life…they are fun to go to once in awhile…

  8. April 16th, 2009 / 11:05 am pr—

      somewhere under the rainbow, way outside, there is a land that i dreamed of once in a lullaby….

      his letters i can skim through and not feel bad for skimming. there are gems- there is his desperation, his talent, his love for life, his ineptittute for life…they are fun to go to once in awhile…