Among our literary lions, only three, most notably, have chimed in so far on the Iraq Anti-War theme: Norman Mailer (80), Kurt Vonnegut (81), and Lawrence Ferlinghetti (84). No word yet (to my knowledge) from Saul Bellow (88).
Mailer has a new book out (highly recommended for writers), THE SPOOKY ART, Some Thoughts on Writing. In a recent profile by Julie Salamon, appearing in the New York Times, he gives his own assessment (still a particularly rebellious native son with a long history of going against the American grain) on “the state of the nation”:
“It doesn’t matter what they’re up to in Iraq,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if they have nuclear bombs or not or whether they’re ready to do chemical warfare. They’re not a danger, but they are absolutely a position in the world we need militarily. Dominate Iraq, dominate the Near East, and then get China in a position to make China the Greece to our Rome… Sept. 11 was the “open sesame” to the path of world empire. It doesn’t matter for Bush if things turn out well or badly in Iraq. If they turn out well, they can start to think of the next step. If they turn out badly, that’s still good for him because of American patriotism. Who’s going to be against George W. Bush when he’s mourning the death of our boys? Either way he won’t have to face the increasing problems here with the American economy and the scandals, with the breakdown in belief in two huge systems: corporate leadership and the priesthood.”
Thank the heavens, too, for the continued long life, of our great grandfather of Beat beatitudes, Ferlinghetti, still “trotting freely through the street” with words to make America sit up and take notice-at least for a poetic moment:
SPEAK OUT
And a vast paranoia sweeps across the land And America turns the attack on its Twin Towers Into the beginning of the Third World War The war with the Third World
And the terrorists in Washington Are shipping out the young men To the killing fields again
And no one speaks
And they are rousting out All the ones with turbans And they are flushing out All the strange immigrants
And they are shipping all the young men To the killing fields again
And no one speaks
And when they come to round up All the great writers and poets and painters The National Endowment of the Arts of Complacency Will not speak
While all the young men Will be killing all the young men In the killing fields again
So now is the time for you to speak All you lovers of liberty All you lovers of the pursuit of happiness All you lovers and sleepers Deep in your private dream Now is the time for you to speak O silent majority Before they come for you!
“So it goes”…so sayeth, time and time again, one of the last of our grand old Literary Lions. Yes, folks,
It’s VONNEGUT-TIME AMERICA !
“So it goes” (again)
“I really wonder what gives us the right to wreck this poor planet of ours.”
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.”
“Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.”
“I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on The edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.”
