In England, Joan Didion first rose to obscurity when a book of hers with an eye-catching title was published in the sixties.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem is a slice of social reporting about "things falling apart" in California, with JD getting her title from a gloomy poem by W.B.Yeats about anarchy and world chaos - a poem that deflates the hope of redemption by a Second Coming of the Messiah with its ominous concluding question:-
Quote:
"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"
|
More recently, JD has written a book with a simpler title,
Miami, in which she carefully picks apart the social fabric of that city with her usual perceptive, slightly off-beat style. She mentions the Cuban National anthem being played at a ceremony at the Martyrs of Girón monument in downtown Miami. Has anyone heard it before? I get the impression that in Miami it's played almost as often as its American counterpart:-
My Verdict: This version at least has some lighter musical trills, but can't entirely escape the ponderous marching dullness that afflicts all national anthems afaik.
JD's book also teaches me that
Coconut Grove is a wealthy residential district of Miami, so here´s the song John Sebastian wrote about the place; a song from the album "Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful" that lifted my spirits when I was a shivering schoolboy, enduring the interminable cold of London winters but yearning for somewhere warm and sunny :-
My verdict: Like his more famous
Daydream, this song sounds quite simple but is very effective at putting you in a relaxed mood. Is it good music? Who cares? My critical faculties have been completely disarmed by a mixture of nostalgia and JB's palpably good vibes.