Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Mailer and Amis @ Charlie Rose
A great set of interviews @ Charlie Rose, speaking separately with Norman Mailer and Martin Amis. Both writers have a clarity and sophistication of language, in combination with insight, personal and professional, which raises the bar — far beyond the usual fare on these sorts of shows. Mailer's age hasn't diminished him in a fashion that might be disturbing; although he did get uncharacteristically teary/complimentary at the end of the interview, signaling perhaps a letting go of some wound and necessary part of himself — possibly a personal recognition that this might be his final appearance on Rose's show.
Of note was Amis' remark that writing works only when the writer has “slept on it, dreamed it”. This approach is so different from the current default of forced, front brain, conceptual work, that is at its root public, tending toward slogan. Amis is speaking of the richness and fullness of expression that comes from allowing the interior, the ambiguity of experience, into the work. A relaxed acceptance.