Rants
On a recent trip to and from KW, I realized that my inflight entertainment (laptop, music, books) were all rants.
Reading: By Night in Chile, by Roberto Bolaño
Listening: Trout Mask Replica, by Captiain Beefheart and his Magic Band
Watching: Waking Life, dir. Richard Linklater
I guess I was in a ranty mood, or I needed some intense egocentric artistic energy or something, but it was good stuff.
The Captain Beefheart record was really awesome. I’d never heard it before — only his voice on Willie the Pimp, on Zappa’s Hot Rats. I think Beefheart is the Carl Ruggles of Rock and Roll. I’d like to buy some of his art, since I can’t afford Ruggles.
Roberto Bolaño is the Thomas Bernhard of Latin America, it’s a 130-page rant of a priest/coservative literary critic on his deathbed. He has some regrets, and they seem to involve his taste in literature and Pinochet. It’s all one paragraph. These sort of books are best to read on planes, since you can’t walk around, and the ranting helps you tune out the other passengers.
Waking Life isn’t as profound and philosophical as either work above, but it is a rather endearing glorification of “philosophical” stoner rants from college days. And like these rants themselves, they contain a few moments of genuine beauty and insight that are memorable and touching. I liked it.
Now on the non-rant side of things, I’m pretty excited about this …