Walker Evans/James Agee ...praise famous men revisited

jtk · Jul 3, 2020

https://dai.ly/x7mrtpl

Long video. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men Revisited

Louis Nargi · Jul 3, 2020

Thanks will watch later

jtk · Jul 4, 2020

fine narration...talks from the perspectives of subjects of Walker Evans' photos and William Agee's troublesome relationship.

Arthurwg · Jul 12, 2020

LUNPFM: The most famous unreadable book in the world.

Arthurwg · Jul 12, 2020

Wow! One of the best documentaries ever! Thanks for posting. I recently read Mellow's biography of Walker Evens, which goes into much of this material but nothing about the aftermath of the families involved. I'm profoundly touched. Time to get a copy of the book and re-read it.

And of course, Walker's pictures are spectacular.

pentaxuser · Jul 12, 2020

Arthurwg said:
LUNPFM: The most famous unreadable book in the world.

Thanks for the link jtk. I enjoyed a piece of American history. A sombre and thought provoking video that was well presented

Arthur - what makes the book which I have never even heard of until now, unreadable?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Arthurwg · Jul 12, 2020

Let's see: Convoluted, wandering, over-written, dense. Get a copy and have a go. See how far you get. Still, I haven't looked at it in years and will soon get a copy from my local library and try again. The later additions, BTW, have added more Evans pictures.

pentaxuser · Jul 12, 2020

Thanks, Arthur. The video suggested to me rightly or wrongly that a lot of the commentary was based on Agee's writing so if it was accurately described by your four adjectives then presumably the narrator was able to pick out the "gems " that were somewhere in the book. However I note that there is a hint that your may think that your initial impression might be wrong hence the desire to get a copy from the library

Please let us know if a second review of the book alters, in whole or at least in part, your first impression

pentaxuser

Pioneer · Jul 13, 2020

Arthurwg said:
LUNPFM: The most famous unreadable book in the world.

I have to agree with this. I have been trying to wade my way through this book for 5 years now. I might make it one day.

I'm not even sure the people who have done these documentary videos have actually read the book, I think they just pull things out of the text at random to discuss.

Even Walker Evan's work was less than stellar. I think he was still suffering from his exposure to the government from his work with the Resettlement Administration.

jtk · Jul 13, 2020

Lots of negativity here.

jtk · Jul 13, 2020

pentaxuser said:
Thanks for the link jtk. I enjoyed a piece of American history. A sombre and thought provoking video that was well presented

Arthur - what makes the book which I have never even heard of until now, unreadable?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Seems like exercises in personal negativity. Envy perhaps.

I don't particularly like the video and I'm not a big fan of Agees work but I stay open to possibilities.

pentaxuser · Jul 14, 2020

jtk said:
Seems like exercises in personal negativity. Envy perhaps.

I don't particularly like the video and I'm not a big fan of Agees work but I stay open to possibilities.

I am not sure why my quote thanking you for the link is included here. I presume I am not included in the exercises in personal negativity or am I?

Can you say which bits of which posts are exercises in personal negativity or are the posts simply an indication of the posters not being big fans of Agee's work in the same way you are not a big fan?

pentaxuser

chriscrawfordphoto · Jul 14, 2020

jtk said:
Seems like exercises in personal negativity. Envy perhaps.

I don't particularly like the video and I'm not a big fan of Agees work but I stay open to possibilities.

I found the book virtually unreadable too. Some literature deserves a negative response; and I say that as a former literature teacher with a masters degree in literature. My main interest is Russian literature, and I LOVE Tolstoy's work, including the infamously difficult War And Peace. W&P is long and complex, but it is written in a straightforward manner. One thing that great literary works all have in common was that they were all written to be read by ordinary people, not academics. Most were not recognized as part of the canon of 'great' works until long after they were published and marketed to the general public. Work that is hard to understand or uses extremely overwrought prose is generally a failure.

Dali · Jul 14, 2020

I also tried to read it, without success, I gave up way before the end. I still have the book, I don't even know where it is...

jtk · Jul 14, 2020

You may have noticed that some on Photrio hate Weston's Daybooks ... And that some former lit fans have never finished Ulysses, much less Old Testament (wonderful tales and history)

jtk · Jul 14, 2020

pentaxuser said:
I am not sure why my quote thanking you for the link is included here. I presume I am not included in the exercises in personal negativity or am I?

Can you say which bits of which posts are exercises in personal negativity or are the posts simply an indication of the posters not being big fans of Agee's work in the same way you are not a big fan?

pentaxuser

No need for argument.

pentaxuser · Jul 14, 2020

jtk said:
No need for argument.

My sentiments exactly. I'll even stop pulling on the line that I think I see before me

pentaxuser

Arthurwg · Jul 14, 2020

I'm trying to get a copy from my local library---when it reopens!

jtk · Jul 14, 2020

I have a copy buried somewhere.... first exposure to Walker Evans was an exhibitiion in San Francisco, probably 1970. Seeing prints directly is much better than reproductions the best of books, with a few exceptions.

Note that this OT was about a FILM ,(link provided) that reconsiders the making of the book and its photos. The FILM addresses "embedded" photographers and journalists..and how they relate to the people about whom they write or photograph.

The book is another matter.

Some of the issues addressed by the film include romantic relations with subjects. Very different from "street" photography, which generally avoids honest relations with subjects, as well as with "literature", which usually presents itself as fiction no matter the honesty that may be involved (as in Joyce's Ulysses_..

Walker Evans/James Agee ...praise famous men revisited

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