Tuesday, 10 April 2007

Better Than Ezra?

No, you won’t find—especially when he’s reading his own work.  Be warned, however, as he does do the police in different voices.  His reading of Hugh Selwyn Mauberley in 1939 sounds like his answer to Joyce’s reading of Finnegans Wake, right down to the exaggerated (and, in Pound’s case, affected) Irish accent.  Listen to how Joyce reads the line “a man and his bride embraced between them” and tell me he doesn’t ham it up.  (You can try.  I won’t listen.) The Joyce reading is from the ALP section of the Wake, and the text he reads is transcribed here.

Apr 10, 2007 4:19:45 PM | Academia, Books, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Literature, Modernism

2 Comments

Tim Lacy

SEK: Thanks for this post! Despite your preference for Pound, listening to Joyce was a joy. This miracle that is the internet continues to amaze. Wow. - TL

Posted by: Tim Lacy | Wednesday, 11 April 2007 at 11:23 AM

Ray Davis

Pound's reading manner was more of a Yeats rip-off.

Although, man, can you imagine seeing Yeats read and thinking "Whoa! That guy's really COOL!"? (Bitterness talking: When I went to a Halloween party dressed as Yeats, a guy asked "What are you supposed to be? A nerd?")

Posted by: Ray Davis | Thursday, 12 April 2007 at 07:04 AM

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