dog story (a fish barely breathing on a sandbank)

'wrote a little today and yesterday. dog story.

just now read the beginning. it is ugly and gave me a headache. in spite of all its truth it is wicked, pedantic, mechanical, a fish barely breathing on a sandbank. 

I write my bouvard et pécuchet prematurely.'  - franz kafka, diaries, 9th february 1915. 

this dog story, max brod assures us, is not the later tale the investigations of a dog (from the great wall of china).

horsemouth had brought back his copy of the great wall of china to the countryside on the basis that it contained the dog story mentioned above and he could read the investigations of a dog and tell you about it (and that would make a blog post). it's a very good story - like kafka but somehow reconciled, brod thinks it is the last story he wrote.  however it is from the end of kafka's life and we are here in 1915 near the beginning of his literary career. 

bouvard and  pécuchet is flaubert's great satirical novel, conceived in 1863 as les deux cloportes ('the two woodlice') - stop me if you've heard this one later.  two clerks retire and move to the countryside and embark on a series of schemes - all of which end in disaster. it is followed by a sottisier (an anthology of stupidities) and the dictionary of received ideas. (horsemouth knows this is big with triple negative).

instead horsemouth will have to take a different tack

horsemouth has found a recording of alice coltrane performing shiva-loka at carnegie hall, NYC on 21st february 1971 (together with pharoah sanders, archie shepp - saxophones, percussion etc, jimmy garrison, cecil mcbee – bass, ed blackwell, clifford jarvis – drums, kumar kramer – harmonium and tulsi reynolds – tamboura). 

it's on youtube because this year impulse!, the verve label group and the john & alice coltrane home will launch the year of alice, a celebration of alice coltrane and her work. at  birdland on 22 february there will be a night of speakers including ravi and michelle coltrane, brandee younger and more.

and on march 22nd verve release of the album based on the recordings - shiva-loka, journey in satchidananda, africa, leo. shiva-loka is great (previously only africa had been available). the visualizer is nice too. 

coming soon (february 22nd to february 28th) fahey week 2020(4).