A sad old man reads Leonard's 'Call me Dr. Frankenstein'

[Geoffrey]

http://youtu.be/tqhlxhp24pw
"Call me Dr. Frankenstein with a deadline. I seemed to wake up in the middle of a car accident, limbs strewn everywhere, detached voices screaming for comfort, severed fingers pointing homeward, all the debris withering like sliced cheese out of Cellophane - and all I had in the wrecked world was a needle and thread, so I got down on my knees, I pulled pieces out of the mess and I started to stitch them together. I had an idea of what a man should look like, but it kept changing. I couldn't devote a lifetime to discovering the ideal physique. All I heard was pain, all I saw was mutilation. My needle going so madly, sometimes I found I'd run the thread right through my own flesh and I was joined to one of my own grotesque creations - I'd rip us apart - and then I heard my own voice howling with the others, and I knew that I was also truly part of the disaster. But I also realized that I was not the only one on my knees sewing frantically. There were others like me, making the same monstrous mistakes, driven by the same impure urgency, stitching themselves into the ruined heap, painfully extracting themselves -"

[lizzytysh]

Leonard must be enjoying so much your covering his work in all its various forms. Expect it won't be long before you'll be doing one-act, one-man monologue plays for us. Well done on your verbatim recitation. Well done, too, on your expression and extracting of the emotion. Not sure why, but I was particularly taken by your delivery of "and I started to stitch them together." Your delivery and partially acting it out seem well suited to the material. Pleased to be your friend, geoffrey. xx

[Cate]

I enjoyed this so much – from casualness of watching you walk through doors, to wanting to look at what was on your book shelf, to the pre-talk to the exceptional delivery of the passage. It really pleases me to hear this book read.

I hope that you post this in Leonard’s poetry and novels as well. I would love to see the thoughts of those who often post in that area, plus I want to ask you if you think that the Narrator and F are one and the same.

x
cate

[Geoffrey]

Leonard must be enjoying so much your covering his work in all its various forms. Expect it won't be long before you'll be doing one-act, one-man monologue plays for us. Well done on your verbatim recitation. Well done, too, on your expression and extracting of the emotion. Not sure why, but I was particularly taken by your delivery of "and I started to stitch them together." Your delivery and partially acting it out seem well suited to the material. Pleased to be your friend, geoffrey. xx

good morning, elizabeth. pleased to have your friendship, too. it is not certain how much leonard monitors the internet, but should he happen upon these inferior reproductions of his work, i can only hope my efforts are received with tolerance.

the sun does not drive so discreetly behind the clouds these days as it crosses the heavenly landscape; it seems to be less introvertive, parks directly over my head, waves - and gives me a big warm smile. the mercury is climbing up the glass straw, our t-shirts are hungry for sweat and barbeque stains, summer is going to be a feast - the month of may merely the hors d'oeuvre. time to be happy!!!

[Geoffrey]

Cate wrote:
. . . to wanting to look at what was on your book shelf

I will see if i can help you with this

>I hope that you post this in Leonard’s poetry and novels as well.

Well, i am not sure. It might be a little egoistic, but let's see what happens

>I want to ask you if you think that the Narrator and F are one and the same.

One could say that F is Irving Layton ('Flamplatz') and Leonard the Narrator. But it's a bit like when the giant sits next to the dwarf in the Black Lodge during that episode of Twin Peaks: "One and the same!" Click here and fast forward to 3:30.
http://youtu.be/o_-WYMBvU30

Finally, thank you for what you wrote. You are exceptionally wonderful, Cate xxx

[lizzytysh]

Yes, I agree with Cate on your walking through the doors, and having a larger landscape of your home [great table!]... I love wooden tables and chairs, and especially by windows and natural light. You treat us in so many ways, g xx

Fun, too, it will be to see the contents of your bookshelf.

And once Leonard saw one of your covers, he would check back for others, I'm sure... so, I've no doubt that he will see this one.

[Geoffrey]

to catherine and elizabeth. i have put some photographs onto 'facebook' that give a closer look at the bookshelves in my lounge. i can take more later, of bookshelves around the corner, but my social life is quite active right now, and being away from home such a lot is causing me to lag behind with many tasks. thank you for commenting so positively on my videos. xxxxxxx

[lizzytysh]

Living so far out, how fortunate you are to have a satisfying social life, geoffrey.

Enjoy! Get back with us later.

And thanks for the added views when we get them.



~ Lizzy

[Cate]

thank you, Geoffrey but i can't find it

I'm just home for a short while and then off to work again (a 13 hour day today)

[its4inthemorning]

"Beautiful Losers" was not an easy read for me (maybe I will give it another go when I have time). When I read it I marked several passages that I thought memorable, and I know that "Call me Dr. Frankenstein" was one of those. It is interesting how different individuals can be drawn to the same lines. I enjoyed your reading of them!

Curt

[imaginary friend]

Wow Geoffrey. Memorized and acted – that was very cool.

Geoffrey wrote:
One could say that F is Irving Layton ('Flamplatz') and Leonard the Narrator

I Googled 'Flamplatz' and came across this article – and an interesting anecdote about Irving Layton's magical birth... although Cate and Geoffrey, you both probably know these IL details already.

http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/layton/

Nice to know that you are feeling warmed by the sunshine, Geoffrey.

[lizzytysh]

Such a great find, Sheila . Enjoyed reading it and, yeah, what a miracle, his status at his birth.

Thanks for posting it.

[Geoffrey]

lizzytysh wrote:
>Living so far out, how fortunate you are to have a satisfying social life, geoffrey. Enjoy! Get back with us later.

Thank you, Elizabeth - my eternal friend

Cate wrote:
>thank you, Geoffrey but i can't find it. I'm just home for a short while and then off to work again (a 13 hour day today)

Oh, Cate! I did upload a few pictures to Facebook's public domain. After an hour or two I decided to take them away, as they seemed to reveal more about me than was comfortable. That, of course, is the exact reason why it's interesting to sneak a look at peoples' CDs and books - even though mine were nothing special. I can send one or two privately, if it's important. I don't think one is allowed to work 13 hours shifts. It is against the union rules

imaginary friend wrote:
>Wow Geoffrey. Memorized and acted - that was very cool. I Googled 'Flamplatz' and came across this article - and an interesting anecdote about Irving Layton's magical birth, although Cate and Geoffrey, you both probably know these IL details already. Nice to know that you are feeling warmed by the sunshine, Geoffrey.

Thank you for your positive words, and also the Irving Layton article that I had not earlier seen. A rather interesting gentleman. I believe he was a great inspiration to Leonard, as well as friend - so for that we are to be grateful to him.

[lizzytysh]

xx g xx