{"id":8638,"date":"2015-03-28T22:21:23","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T02:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=8638"},"modified":"2018-09-01T21:44:00","modified_gmt":"2018-09-02T01:44:00","slug":"episode-112-remainder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-112-remainder","title":{"rendered":"Episode 112 – Remainder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show:
\nClive James – Remainder<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Episode_112_-_Remainder.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“I should have led a more balanced life, but that’s easy to say at the end of things. When you’re caught up in what you’re doing, it’s very hard to be reasonable. And art isn’t really made out being reasonable.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"sentenced\"<\/a>Clive James<\/a>\u00a0was diagnosed with\u00a0leukemia and emphysema several years ago, but the poet, essayist, memoirist, novelist, TV host, and charter member of the Virtual Memories Show Dream List hasn’t let his ailments silence him. He joins us\u00a0for a wide-ranging conversation about poetry, mortality, binge-watching Veronica Mars<\/em>, writing\u00a0Cultural Amnesia<\/a>\"\" (one of my favorite books), being Australian despite 50 years in the UK, how his showbiz career hurt (and helped) his literary legacy, and a lot<\/em> more. We talk about his two new books —\u00a0Poetry Notebook<\/a>\"\" (Liveright) and Sentenced To Life<\/a> (Picador, UK only) — and the ones he’s working on, and how he faced two choices after his diagnoses:\u00a0lie back on a couch, admire himself for his\u00a0achievements, and sign off; or\u00a0go on as if he\u00a0had forever.\u00a0Give it a listen<\/a>!<\/p>\n

“All that poetry comes in handy when you lie there, contemplating the end. The question is why: Why when your body is about to come apart, is there such appeal in reading such highly organized argument and imagery?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We get into the role of culture, the future of the Middle East, his first encounter with a Jew, the books he made a priority of when he realized his time was short, why it’s okay for actors to be shallow, and how he\u00a0wrote a\u00a0critique of Daniel Goldhagen<\/a> while dressed as a mariachi singer for a TV show in Mexico.<\/p>\n

“It’s possible to say that if I’d just concentrated on my literary activities [instead of working on TV], I’d have had a less complicated reputation. The question never would have arisen: Is he serious enough to write seriously?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Episode_112_-_Remainder.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

We talked a lot of books in this one. Here’s a list:<\/p>\n