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Lives
PETER FOSS is an author and artist. He is editor of The Powys Journal and is currently working on an edition of an eighteenth century diary. His first book of poems, with a note by Anne Stevenson, appeared in 1980, and his play of Alan Gamer's Red Shift was commissioned for the 1994 Cheltenham Literature Festival.
- GenresBiography
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 24, 2015
Those who have read my review of Midnight in Sicily will know that I rate Peter Robb very highly as a writer. The works of his that I've read have certainly weaved a web in my brain - they have been hard to forget, mainly due to Robb's limpid style, within which the reader is afloat on a sea of words, beautiful even when describing horror. Robb tends to write about ambiguous or mysterious situations, and it's clear that he is fascinated by things that fall through the cracks, or are not quite what they seem.
Lives is a collection of Robb's shorter non-fiction; as his thankyou note in the beginning of the book elaborates, most of these pieces made their first appearance in magazines and newspapers. Thankfully - for the most part - Robb's facile yet deep style is unaffected in a shorter format. The book is divided into three sections: Australia, Italy, and Elsewhere. While these groupings are obviously geographic, there is nothing really homogeneous in the lives that are investigated within these pages. Many of the pieces are to do with people working in the arts (actors, film-makers), some are book reviews, and some are reportage. Some articles give the reader a new view on a person they thought they might know fairly well, some introduce the reader to a person they'll want to know more about, and some give the reader the complete picture.
Interesting pieces for me in the Australian section were on Julian Assange: a double book review, but also a psychological insight into the man himself, an extended piece on Marcia Langton, and a wonderful combined travelogue, interview, political commentary and film discussion revolving around a road trip with Ivan Sen.
As you would expect, the section on Italy covers everything from the wonderful Baroque art in Rome to the machinations of the Mafia. These musings are covered in articles ostensibly about Robert Hughes' Rome, The Leopard, and articles about Fellini, Pasolini, and other less well-known figures in Italian art and law.
The Elsewhere section is even more eclectic, running from Joseph Conrad to Gary Gilmore; the Gilmore piece being a perceptive appraisal of Norman Mailer's work, and another reminder to me to add Executioner's Song to my to-read list.
Perhaps the piece I liked best was the one entitled Jilly, which consists of extracts from Robb's diary, mostly about the comings and goings within the block of units in which he lives. As with all Robb's work, it's hard to know what's real and what isn't, what is observed fact and what is imputation - an insight into an author who is always trying to look under the surface, and make connexions between people and events.
Well worth picking up and reading, even if only in part. Recommended.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
Lives is a collection of Robb's shorter non-fiction; as his thankyou note in the beginning of the book elaborates, most of these pieces made their first appearance in magazines and newspapers. Thankfully - for the most part - Robb's facile yet deep style is unaffected in a shorter format. The book is divided into three sections: Australia, Italy, and Elsewhere. While these groupings are obviously geographic, there is nothing really homogeneous in the lives that are investigated within these pages. Many of the pieces are to do with people working in the arts (actors, film-makers), some are book reviews, and some are reportage. Some articles give the reader a new view on a person they thought they might know fairly well, some introduce the reader to a person they'll want to know more about, and some give the reader the complete picture.
Interesting pieces for me in the Australian section were on Julian Assange: a double book review, but also a psychological insight into the man himself, an extended piece on Marcia Langton, and a wonderful combined travelogue, interview, political commentary and film discussion revolving around a road trip with Ivan Sen.
As you would expect, the section on Italy covers everything from the wonderful Baroque art in Rome to the machinations of the Mafia. These musings are covered in articles ostensibly about Robert Hughes' Rome, The Leopard, and articles about Fellini, Pasolini, and other less well-known figures in Italian art and law.
The Elsewhere section is even more eclectic, running from Joseph Conrad to Gary Gilmore; the Gilmore piece being a perceptive appraisal of Norman Mailer's work, and another reminder to me to add Executioner's Song to my to-read list.
Perhaps the piece I liked best was the one entitled Jilly, which consists of extracts from Robb's diary, mostly about the comings and goings within the block of units in which he lives. As with all Robb's work, it's hard to know what's real and what isn't, what is observed fact and what is imputation - an insight into an author who is always trying to look under the surface, and make connexions between people and events.
Well worth picking up and reading, even if only in part. Recommended.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
June 28, 2013
Pretty good book, deserves 3 and a half stars or possibly more.
The book is basically a series of short biographies, mainly concerning literature and its authors. It seems liek Robb is very well read, which is reflected in the vast amount of knowledge he has of literature, which makes me feel a little inadequate. I have heard of most of the artists he writes of, even read some of the works of a lot of them, but I just wonder how anyone has the time to have read so much stuff on all these authors. i suppose the author is most likely a lot older than me, so perhaps this is where the depth comes from.
Robb comes across as a very informed writer, he must like research. I noted a few things about this collection. Not sure whether or not this is coincidental or deliberate, but a lot of the chapters are about gay artists, or artists that are associated with other gay artists. I wondered if this perhaps indicate that Robb was gay. I tried to find out his sexuality on the internet but I couldn't. You might be wondering why it matters if Robb is gay. For me it is mainly a curio, but also relevant in to understanding the book. If Robb is gay and has compiled this book because his sexuality is a key theme which he likes to explore, then it will make me less likely to read the works of other artists he writes of here. Robb is quite a good writer, and he has sparked my interest in several of the authors works which he discusses here; but if he has chosen to write about these authors purely as way of being politically pro sexual freedom, then he hasn't necessarily chosen to write about the most engaging works, just the ones that best fit his political ethos. Not sure if what I just said makes sense,I am way to tired to be writing coherently, but know if I don't write this now I never will. It is more a note to myself, so as I can consult this at a later date when considering whether or not to read more books by this author.
I only read this book because I wanted to read another of Robb's books that my library doesn't have. That book being 'M' the biography of Carravagio, which i think a section of that book is included in this book. Should I buy 'M', considering that I am an aspiring author? Is it a cop out that I want to read it, yet I will wait till a library near me stocks it rather than buy it?
Another thing I noticed about this book is this..... he loves big uncommon words. Which is good as I like to be taught new things when I read. Also his sentence structure is odd at times. It is like he is missing what I would call linking words. Little words like "the", and "for" not sure what you call such words. I didn't write down any specific examples, but his sentence structures seem to forego certain words, which make me have to re-read them as they don't sound right. It's almost like Robb's first language isn't English, although I think it probably is as I think he is Australian.
I feel like I owe it to me/the author/ someone to write more, but I am really hungry and not thinking good, so I feel like I am just rambling, rather than writing anything that someone will be happy to read.
Sorry!!! take care :o)
The book is basically a series of short biographies, mainly concerning literature and its authors. It seems liek Robb is very well read, which is reflected in the vast amount of knowledge he has of literature, which makes me feel a little inadequate. I have heard of most of the artists he writes of, even read some of the works of a lot of them, but I just wonder how anyone has the time to have read so much stuff on all these authors. i suppose the author is most likely a lot older than me, so perhaps this is where the depth comes from.
Robb comes across as a very informed writer, he must like research. I noted a few things about this collection. Not sure whether or not this is coincidental or deliberate, but a lot of the chapters are about gay artists, or artists that are associated with other gay artists. I wondered if this perhaps indicate that Robb was gay. I tried to find out his sexuality on the internet but I couldn't. You might be wondering why it matters if Robb is gay. For me it is mainly a curio, but also relevant in to understanding the book. If Robb is gay and has compiled this book because his sexuality is a key theme which he likes to explore, then it will make me less likely to read the works of other artists he writes of here. Robb is quite a good writer, and he has sparked my interest in several of the authors works which he discusses here; but if he has chosen to write about these authors purely as way of being politically pro sexual freedom, then he hasn't necessarily chosen to write about the most engaging works, just the ones that best fit his political ethos. Not sure if what I just said makes sense,I am way to tired to be writing coherently, but know if I don't write this now I never will. It is more a note to myself, so as I can consult this at a later date when considering whether or not to read more books by this author.
I only read this book because I wanted to read another of Robb's books that my library doesn't have. That book being 'M' the biography of Carravagio, which i think a section of that book is included in this book. Should I buy 'M', considering that I am an aspiring author? Is it a cop out that I want to read it, yet I will wait till a library near me stocks it rather than buy it?
Another thing I noticed about this book is this..... he loves big uncommon words. Which is good as I like to be taught new things when I read. Also his sentence structure is odd at times. It is like he is missing what I would call linking words. Little words like "the", and "for" not sure what you call such words. I didn't write down any specific examples, but his sentence structures seem to forego certain words, which make me have to re-read them as they don't sound right. It's almost like Robb's first language isn't English, although I think it probably is as I think he is Australian.
I feel like I owe it to me/the author/ someone to write more, but I am really hungry and not thinking good, so I feel like I am just rambling, rather than writing anything that someone will be happy to read.
Sorry!!! take care :o)
November 26, 2012
A thoroughly enjoyable faggot of thoughts and musings from Robb, some falling more towards the journalism end of interview and observation (more declamatory and crisp in tone) and others dreamier, or happy to gorge on the author’s particular obsessions. The range of its concerns follows the author’s commissions and experience – the cultural cringe an irrelevancy. Robb writes about what he likes.
I loved his visit to the “lost” Caravaggios exhibited together in Naples for the first time – his breathless excitement at seeing properly rare pictures that obsessed him and his tumbling out what he could puzzle from them, slotting their hints into the large body of his insights on that artist – gleaned with such intensity that he alarmed the guards and was escorted away. Also his dissection of the crossed swords of academe in relation to scholarship on Caravaggio, starring Roberto Longhi.
Robb is not afraid to show us himself craven in a horrible apartment in the Cross, pissing off Gore Vidal, exploring queerness without the slightest hesitation of opinion, or his bare, breeze-on-flesh pleasure of a lotus-eating retreat in Brazil.
I never quite escaped my consciousness of Robb controlling his presentation of self – he is always clever, always, always, grasping what is going on – that sureness of his opinion at times was too impervious. Occasionally I wanted that large, brainy head of his not to be glinting across the table from me at the dinner party. He might get up from the table and let his words alone give me a rest.
The only time I felt the urgency of his need to master understanding it all waver was in his interview with Marcia Langton, whom Robb has known for a long time and with whom he shares a powerful frisson. You sense his awe of her and the wound of her chastisement of him when she rips him a new arsehole in public, while out for dinner.
I do know one of his interview subjects (or I did, fifteen years ago – the piece is fairly old too) and I can’t say I think it very characteristic of her. But it doesn’t make me like this book less. And like all essayists, it’s a pleasure to dip into and read over time.
I loved his visit to the “lost” Caravaggios exhibited together in Naples for the first time – his breathless excitement at seeing properly rare pictures that obsessed him and his tumbling out what he could puzzle from them, slotting their hints into the large body of his insights on that artist – gleaned with such intensity that he alarmed the guards and was escorted away. Also his dissection of the crossed swords of academe in relation to scholarship on Caravaggio, starring Roberto Longhi.
Robb is not afraid to show us himself craven in a horrible apartment in the Cross, pissing off Gore Vidal, exploring queerness without the slightest hesitation of opinion, or his bare, breeze-on-flesh pleasure of a lotus-eating retreat in Brazil.
I never quite escaped my consciousness of Robb controlling his presentation of self – he is always clever, always, always, grasping what is going on – that sureness of his opinion at times was too impervious. Occasionally I wanted that large, brainy head of his not to be glinting across the table from me at the dinner party. He might get up from the table and let his words alone give me a rest.
The only time I felt the urgency of his need to master understanding it all waver was in his interview with Marcia Langton, whom Robb has known for a long time and with whom he shares a powerful frisson. You sense his awe of her and the wound of her chastisement of him when she rips him a new arsehole in public, while out for dinner.
I do know one of his interview subjects (or I did, fifteen years ago – the piece is fairly old too) and I can’t say I think it very characteristic of her. But it doesn’t make me like this book less. And like all essayists, it’s a pleasure to dip into and read over time.
September 17, 2012
Parts of a review:
"Lives" is a ballsy title for this loose collection of personal portraits, essays, reminiscences, and book reviews, organized in three parts: "Australia," "Italy," and "Elsewhere." There are fascinating pieces: for instance, portraits of aboriginal academic and writer, Marcia Langton, of fashion designer, Akira Isogawa; essays on one of Robb's specialties, the 16th-17th century painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio; essays on Mafia and modern Italian life; a review of Raymond Howgego's massive Encyclopedia of Exploration. Other pieces are less compelling. Still this is a good book to browse.
At 386 pages, a thorough review of Lives is out of the question. But in trying to make sense of this grand, ungainly assemblage, it might be worthwhile meditating, however briefly, on some lines from that book review just mentioned.
"Personal coordinates are not enough in a work that ranges so far in time and space," Robb writes on pp. 256-257. In context, Robb means to criticise the index provided for finding one's way through the Encyclopedia of Exploration. It points only to personal names and biographical dates, when exploration of the world is an enterprise in which any person - however notable - plays just a small role, in a field of effort and serendipity so vast that it cannot be grasped only at the scale of an individual's life. But the criticism can be drawn as an illuminating lesson from Robb's Lives: A life is fragmentary, and a fragment of something larger. The attempt to collect and cobble together the fragments of our lives is vital, which is to say, essential to human existence. But we may always be dimly aware of a grander scale we don't quite grasp.
"Lives" is a ballsy title for this loose collection of personal portraits, essays, reminiscences, and book reviews, organized in three parts: "Australia," "Italy," and "Elsewhere." There are fascinating pieces: for instance, portraits of aboriginal academic and writer, Marcia Langton, of fashion designer, Akira Isogawa; essays on one of Robb's specialties, the 16th-17th century painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio; essays on Mafia and modern Italian life; a review of Raymond Howgego's massive Encyclopedia of Exploration. Other pieces are less compelling. Still this is a good book to browse.
At 386 pages, a thorough review of Lives is out of the question. But in trying to make sense of this grand, ungainly assemblage, it might be worthwhile meditating, however briefly, on some lines from that book review just mentioned.
"Personal coordinates are not enough in a work that ranges so far in time and space," Robb writes on pp. 256-257. In context, Robb means to criticise the index provided for finding one's way through the Encyclopedia of Exploration. It points only to personal names and biographical dates, when exploration of the world is an enterprise in which any person - however notable - plays just a small role, in a field of effort and serendipity so vast that it cannot be grasped only at the scale of an individual's life. But the criticism can be drawn as an illuminating lesson from Robb's Lives: A life is fragmentary, and a fragment of something larger. The attempt to collect and cobble together the fragments of our lives is vital, which is to say, essential to human existence. But we may always be dimly aware of a grander scale we don't quite grasp.
December 8, 2012
Robb’s way with words and his wide range of real-life characters combine in this collection of biographical sketches to produce a highly readable review of the past decade in detail, and centuries in great sweeps. Focussing on Australian beginnings, Robb’s selection of pen portraits helps us see ourselves as we never have before. Sharp ideas, angles and issues cut to the quick. But there is a gentleness here too, in the fine details and poignant moments of choice and the resolve of decision.
Having come straight off the back of Midnight in Sicily and Street Fight in Naples, I decided not to read all of the Italian chapters. Instead I picked out those which seemed to cover new territory and skimmed over a few parts of those which now seemed familiar. With such depth of knowledge of his subject there is something reassuring about his style of disruption in our everyday consciousness. Ultimately I like that he gives me a greater sense of choice than I have felt from any other writer.
The third section entitled Elsewhere seems an unlikely possibility after having already been stretched so far through the artistic expressions of cutting edge figures. Yet even here Robb increases the leverage of his subjects to extend our interpretations of their work even further into new possibilities.
A phenomenal writer who just seems to breathe words, he has so much to say, and so much of it of value in so many different ways. I wonder what I might suggest as a topic just to see what he might do with it. Revelationary.
Having come straight off the back of Midnight in Sicily and Street Fight in Naples, I decided not to read all of the Italian chapters. Instead I picked out those which seemed to cover new territory and skimmed over a few parts of those which now seemed familiar. With such depth of knowledge of his subject there is something reassuring about his style of disruption in our everyday consciousness. Ultimately I like that he gives me a greater sense of choice than I have felt from any other writer.
The third section entitled Elsewhere seems an unlikely possibility after having already been stretched so far through the artistic expressions of cutting edge figures. Yet even here Robb increases the leverage of his subjects to extend our interpretations of their work even further into new possibilities.
A phenomenal writer who just seems to breathe words, he has so much to say, and so much of it of value in so many different ways. I wonder what I might suggest as a topic just to see what he might do with it. Revelationary.
May 29, 2016
Review to come
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews