I was up very late last night in Paris. Having gotten in from a dinner at friends after midnight I had about three hours of work to deal with, followed by just three hours of sleep. I am writing this en route to the airport and onwards to my holidays (more on that anon). To keep me going while dealing with all the dreary necessary paperwork I needed to grapple with in the week small hours of the morning, I was about to tune into TSF Jazz (one of the world’s best jazz stations - and I speak as a New Yorker). But I first checked out France Musique and heard they were presenting a program on American film westerns and their soundtracks. For the next ninety minutes I addressed all sorts of small domestic and professional details while listening rather intently to this superb late-night survey of the songs and music from John Ford’s ‘The Searchers’ to ‘High Noon’, to Anthony Mann’s ‘Winchester 76 and at least another dozen examples I could name. I am not someone who watches a great deal of television. Though I think it’s a golden age for the medium - with series like ‘The Wire’, ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Homeland’ and ‘True Detective’ and even ‘Game of Thrones’ ( a secret guilty pleasure) - I tend to buy the box sets and watch them at my leisure. Last week I spent nine nights in assorted hotel rooms, and only turned on the tv once (to catch the end of the USA/Ghana match at the World Cup). But I am a fanatic about radio - and still think it is an exceptional medium. Especially as practiced at the subsidized state level, like Radio France, the BBC, the ABC, the CBC, and (of course) NPR in the States. Listening to this France Musique program late last night i couldn’t help but note the scholarship, intelligence, and considerable learning that went into making this exceptionally compelling slice of cinema history. And I think it is worth taking a moment to remember - in these hyper-consumerist times of ours - all those people out there engaged in professions and work that expand human knowledge and celebrate creativity, but which don’t turn a dollar for someone else. We devalue, at our peril, the importance of intelligence and the vivacity of eclecticism in such a monocultural age. As aformentioned I am writing this on three hours sleep, after a hugely intense six weeks of work (including the delivery of my new novel) and personal complexities (the death of my father). I agree with Freud that work is the closest thing in life we have to equilibrium. Just as I also know that vacations are critical in maintaining that equilibrium. So I am disappearing now for two weeks. But fear not - there will be a daily posting from me: a short story, a travel essay, and an essay to follow. So you will still be able to read me on a daily basis. And I will be back writing directly for this page on Monday 7 July. I am looking forward to a fortnight away from the written word... just as I will be re-energized when I return in fifteen days. Until then... go well. And, as always, happy reading...
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 05:47:31 +0000
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