Economy of the Unlost : (Reading Simonides of Keos with Paul Celan) (Martin Classical Lectures)

Rating:
Summary: A Sweet Investment
Review: I can't say enough good things about these lectures, which mesh Celan, Simonides and Karl Marx with a grace that makes their union seem inevitable. The way Carson folds together money, language and memory reminds me of Ezra Pound without the shouting. Her insights have a math-like clarity ("Eureka! I've got it!") that brings two extreme ends of our history under the same light. You'll never mistake negation and loss for modern inventions after reading this book. The coins have changed since Simonides's time but the economy's remarkably the same. The funny thing is, after Carson's dazzling treatment, lament never looked so good.

Rating:
Summary: An Eccentric Pleasure
Review: Like _Eros the Bittersweet_, this is a fine example of Carson's scrupulous and beautifully- written scholarship. And like all of her work, the strangeness of her intensity and consideration is charming and virtuosic. The juxtaposition of Simonides and Celan *works* in spite of the centuries separating their oeuvres; even as she's making connections within the text, one wonders how she's going to pull it off--and then she does. Carson's discussion of poetic economy (both monetary and linguistic)--a topic not often discussed in criticism--illuminates the coinages and clipped syntax of Celan, providing leverage on reading a difficult poet, and will most likely prove to be a useful critical tool for reading other modern poets. Carson couples intellectual density with warm, lyrical prose, yielding a text of intricate research and rewarding insight--a rare and real pleasure for readers of poetry and/or criticism.