Re: Jungian psychology and Dylan in newsöetter-"Dylan’s dueling doppelgangers assume many forms." Could that in 'Black Rider' be his most intimate and personal?
Thanks for the kind words, Graley, but even more so for your detailed and stimulating continuation. I can hardly wait for part 3. I'll save further comments on your 'shadowy sojourn' until then.
On a reading aside, that chimes with previous exchanges here in Substackland, I'm delighted to see Dostoyevsky feature and hope that sends you on a run of reading the other "big D." It would only be fair as, due to you returning me to Don DeLillo, (via your Murder Most Foul piece), I’ve recently read not just Libra, but also Underworld, Great Jones Street and White Noise, so you are due a few Dostoyevskys in return. I've only Mao II to go from Don D, now.
All power to your pen, Graley, I'm not sure how you can keep up this pace and high quality output, but I'm very grateful that you do and I know I'm not alone in this.
Much appreciated as always, Andy! I'm so glad to hear that I've infected you with the DeLillo virus. You are well ahead of me in the DD department, as I must admit it has been a long time since I read Dostoyevsky. (I can also never remember if I'm supposed to put that Y in the middle or not.) And I'm embarrassed to admit that I've still not read your other favorite, Philip K. Dick. But if it's sci-fi you're looking for, check out DeLillo's wild novel Ratner's Star. I've yet to meet anyone who loves it as much as I do. It's his most bizarre book, but also his funniest.
One more shadow installment to go! I'm excited for this one, but also a bit intimidated, because I'm pairing Dylan with someone I've never written about before. Stay tuned!
You can write the name with or without the central "y". The central "y" brings it closer to Russian pronunciation, iirc, but is often omitted in English-language usage. You can also have no "y"s at all: "Dostoevski". These are all approximations, Russian linguistic traditions give a further set of possibilities in English which, although more correct, have endings which look strange to us ("iy" / "ij"). However, I suspect you have read enough here on this already.
Ah yes, I've Ratner's Star to go, also - will read that soon.
I have a feeling it is someone I'd never guess and so I won't embarrass myself by trying, but will instead quietly and eagerly await.
Very detailed and sustained analysis, which misses little.
A few further suggestions, if I may be so bold.
Puck’s epilogue for A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear. (5.2.409-12)"
The Shadows in Dylan's "Shadow Kingdom" are referred to at the end of the video as "players" and given names in the final sequence. This seems to be part of an elaborate joke, possibly on the "poor players" of Macbeth's soliloquy, as although they are all excellent musicians, the music itself is coming from a more hidden (ethereal?) region, namely a soundtrack which has been previously recorded by other musicians. There are hints at the beginning and throughout the recording that the music is not being played live. Is this a kind of elaborate "dumbshow"?
The idea for Dylan's " Love Sick" may be based on Orsino's soliloquy 'If music be the food pf love' in Act 1 Scene 1 of "Twelfth Night". I notice at the end he refers to "shapes" rather than "shadows" to suggest what tricks the imagination can play on a person's reality.
"O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity 10
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical."
I always think of a biblical reference to Judas with the kiss in "What was it you wanted". Betrayal!
Excellent points, Paul! I think I could have extended the series to four parts and devoted an entire segment to Shadow Kingdom. You're absolutely right about the closing references to players feeding back into the shadow play shenanigans. It reminds me of the cast of characters listed at the end of Scorsese's Rolling Thunder Revue, though the source there is probably closer to commedia dell'arte. I agree about the Orsino and Judas echoes, too. An author is lucky to find such an attentive and intelligent reader--thanks, Paul!
I always think of those lines as referring to Judas's kiss, too, (the lines also remind me of No Time To Think's "betrayed by a kiss"), though Graley's quotes from "Chronicles" are giving me some pause on that. Then again, believing anything in Chronicles is as difficult as enjoying Chronicles is easy.
Thankyou Graley, what a lot of super interesting stuff. Your shadow chasing enlightens me ! It gets me even closer to the many of my top favourite songs now.
Re: Jungian psychology and Dylan in newsöetter-"Dylan’s dueling doppelgangers assume many forms." Could that in 'Black Rider' be his most intimate and personal?
Thanks for the kind words, Graley, but even more so for your detailed and stimulating continuation. I can hardly wait for part 3. I'll save further comments on your 'shadowy sojourn' until then.
On a reading aside, that chimes with previous exchanges here in Substackland, I'm delighted to see Dostoyevsky feature and hope that sends you on a run of reading the other "big D." It would only be fair as, due to you returning me to Don DeLillo, (via your Murder Most Foul piece), I’ve recently read not just Libra, but also Underworld, Great Jones Street and White Noise, so you are due a few Dostoyevskys in return. I've only Mao II to go from Don D, now.
All power to your pen, Graley, I'm not sure how you can keep up this pace and high quality output, but I'm very grateful that you do and I know I'm not alone in this.
Much appreciated as always, Andy! I'm so glad to hear that I've infected you with the DeLillo virus. You are well ahead of me in the DD department, as I must admit it has been a long time since I read Dostoyevsky. (I can also never remember if I'm supposed to put that Y in the middle or not.) And I'm embarrassed to admit that I've still not read your other favorite, Philip K. Dick. But if it's sci-fi you're looking for, check out DeLillo's wild novel Ratner's Star. I've yet to meet anyone who loves it as much as I do. It's his most bizarre book, but also his funniest.
One more shadow installment to go! I'm excited for this one, but also a bit intimidated, because I'm pairing Dylan with someone I've never written about before. Stay tuned!
You can write the name with or without the central "y". The central "y" brings it closer to Russian pronunciation, iirc, but is often omitted in English-language usage. You can also have no "y"s at all: "Dostoevski". These are all approximations, Russian linguistic traditions give a further set of possibilities in English which, although more correct, have endings which look strange to us ("iy" / "ij"). However, I suspect you have read enough here on this already.
Ah yes, I've Ratner's Star to go, also - will read that soon.
I have a feeling it is someone I'd never guess and so I won't embarrass myself by trying, but will instead quietly and eagerly await.
Very detailed and sustained analysis, which misses little.
A few further suggestions, if I may be so bold.
Puck’s epilogue for A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear. (5.2.409-12)"
The Shadows in Dylan's "Shadow Kingdom" are referred to at the end of the video as "players" and given names in the final sequence. This seems to be part of an elaborate joke, possibly on the "poor players" of Macbeth's soliloquy, as although they are all excellent musicians, the music itself is coming from a more hidden (ethereal?) region, namely a soundtrack which has been previously recorded by other musicians. There are hints at the beginning and throughout the recording that the music is not being played live. Is this a kind of elaborate "dumbshow"?
The idea for Dylan's " Love Sick" may be based on Orsino's soliloquy 'If music be the food pf love' in Act 1 Scene 1 of "Twelfth Night". I notice at the end he refers to "shapes" rather than "shadows" to suggest what tricks the imagination can play on a person's reality.
"O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity 10
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical."
I always think of a biblical reference to Judas with the kiss in "What was it you wanted". Betrayal!
Excellent points, Paul! I think I could have extended the series to four parts and devoted an entire segment to Shadow Kingdom. You're absolutely right about the closing references to players feeding back into the shadow play shenanigans. It reminds me of the cast of characters listed at the end of Scorsese's Rolling Thunder Revue, though the source there is probably closer to commedia dell'arte. I agree about the Orsino and Judas echoes, too. An author is lucky to find such an attentive and intelligent reader--thanks, Paul!
I always think of those lines as referring to Judas's kiss, too, (the lines also remind me of No Time To Think's "betrayed by a kiss"), though Graley's quotes from "Chronicles" are giving me some pause on that. Then again, believing anything in Chronicles is as difficult as enjoying Chronicles is easy.
Thankyou Graley, what a lot of super interesting stuff. Your shadow chasing enlightens me ! It gets me even closer to the many of my top favourite songs now.