Friday. May to. 1959

SCARLET AND BLACK

 

The 5&3 Reviews

Porlney's Complaint

Trumped Up Popularity

By GARY GlDDENS

Portney’s Complaint is worth reading
in spite of its popularity, but it is not
the great literature that so many speed-
freak Critics have tried to trump it up as.

Briefly, Purtney‘s Complaint is basical-
ly a bad case at third generation Amer
lean Jewery. Alexander Penney is a
grotesque stereotype living in n worltl
oi grotesque stereotypes; the overhear
ing, castratlng mother, the constipated
father, pleasant but stupid goyim, etc.
His story is related as a coniesslon to n
psychiatrist whose only response is the
exasperated “punch line” of the book.
“So, Now vee may perhaps to begin.
,Yes?” i

Portney ls in serch or an identity —
"Put the id back in yid" is his anguished
plea —— to help him survive in America
with all those crazy gentiles who say
“Good morning” in the morning, “Good
litter-noon” in the afternoon, and who are
apparently never obsessed by the tunky
perversities of sex, masturbation, defeca-
tion, loss of temper, or lack of reserve.
But Roth doesn't seem to be sure how
sick his protagonist really is. The pas-
sages allemate from stereotype confron-
tations in wildly hilarious sex episodes
and gentile-Jew interrreactions. to des-
perate cries of hurt and bewilderment.
As a result, the reader often ﬁnds the
laughter sticking in his throat, although
the structure or the book seems to decry
the seriousness of the oomplaint. When-
ever Portney gets too serious, Roth
checks himself and throws in another
anecdote about his sex adventures with
his girl irlend, “the monkey." And to
be sure, these segments contain some
brilliantly written wmic moments. But:
the repetitive rambling oi the “contes-
sion” is olten merely redundant rather
than revealing. There is an ease or style
and perceptiveness that ls reminiscent
of Roth at his best (the “Goodbye C0-
lumbus" stories) but i don't believe that
Roth is at home in the novel formi The
discipline or a novella might have avoid-
ed the ﬂuctuation oi tone and the mean-
ingless repetition, and would have creat-
ed a tighter, runnler framework. But of
course novella: and short stories never,
ever make the bestsellers list,

The novel is significant for a couple of
reasons. For the lirst time e excepting
a few short stories by Roth and Malamud
— the Gregor Samsa-Asa Leventhal char»
acter has become a joke. (How else do
you treat such a cliche at this late date?)
The narrative style is that uniquely A~
merican vemacular that seems to have
been modllied year alter year ever since
Nick Carraway hit town. Most impor-
tant, however, IS the possibility that
Roth has sung the swan song tor a type
of Jewish literature that has dnminated
American letters tor twenty-two years.
I don't believe much can be added to the
serious attempts at this kind of writing
alter Herzog, and Roth has completely
run the stereotype into the ground —
creating a grand quignol at Jewish
ideals.

There is truth in the antics of Alexan-
der Partney, and thls is a marvelously
entertaining and timely story but it is ul-
timately dissappointing.

:—

Equipment Lost!

Over $l,000 worth or equipment in~
clnding a Hohner electric piano, a vox
Super Beatle speaker system, and two
vox organ loot pedals are missing. Any
assistance in locating the equipment
would be very appreciated. Contac wa
Wah, Ext. 643, Loose Hall,

Fantastic Faculty Art

By RICHARD WICKSTROM

The Faculty Exhibition at Schealler
Gallery showing through June 2nd is by
far the most exciting exhibition 1 can
remember seeing at Grinnell. Not only
are the individual pieces excellent, but:
the organization and hanging or the
works transforms the gallery into a dec«
oratlve, cohesive environment. Many
changes in style from last year are evi-
tlélit in the Work of Bart Mulse, Richard
Cervene, and Glenn Zirkle.

Bart Morse's concern last year was
the study or the nude lignre, The town
countryside has gained preeminence in
his explorations this year. The works
Summer: Blue Point and Fall: Blue
Point capture well the mood of each
season. in both works a birds-eye View
presents the eye with the expansive
openness ot Iowa. In Summer: Blue
Point, a wood cut, intense retls, yellows,
greens, and blues term a decorative
interplay or advancing and receeding
areas. The grainy quality at the wood is
exploited in the fluid quality of the
clouds. In Fall: Blue PoinILan etching.
aquatine. the lack of color, energetic
sky, and rich landscape elicit romantic
memories of fall.

()va a weaving by Laura Wleman
brings the viewer directly into the act of
creation through the evemhanging opti-
cal impressions on the retina of the ey t
It is an interesting extension of the 0p
art phenomenon. lier Weaving, Road-
side, which incorporates weeds directly
into the fabric an extension of the col-
logeassemblage tradition, calls up, with
the aid ot warm browns, images at
landscape Weaving, too seldom seen in

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUBA
An exhibit by
Lawrence Frank
East Street Gallery
New lhl'u June 1.

Step Up To

JD'S RESIAURANI’

711% Main
Mon. s Sat. 5 to to p. .
Sunday — Noon to to pm,

an exhibition, is a valuable contribution
to this month’s Show.

The paintings of Richard Cervene rep—
resent an aspect of the recent: trend or
shaped cam/asses. In his work Anguilla
the frame is set back about one half
inch from the surface of the canvas. A5
in most of Cervenc’s work, form is sac-
rlilced to an exploration ot color etlecls.
Advancing and receeding hues or pink
and blue present an interesting spatial
interplay; while aicas where one color
blends into another establishes unusual
coloislic ellects. in his Pnerio Marquez
the canvas jumps a lull six inches out
{lﬂm the Wall, Willlin the blue form on
the front side are beautiful Washes
variations of color. Form, a greater con-
cern in this work, serves the function
of integrating the five surfaces of the
painting. The orange and core lines lead
the eye to the side surfaces where the
downward movement of the pinks on the
left side draw the eye to the bottom sur-
face where the blue stripe offers a plea-
sant visual surprise.

The paintings of Robert McMillan,
largely monochromatic, have an empha»
sis on values and interplay of lorms, In
hls Untitled acrylic in the east lobby,
McMillan employs Cubist space and form
but introduces color to create lurther
spatial movements. The Work is more
dynamic, complex. and imposing than
his other paintingsi His pencil drawings
are pristine, like little gems, complete
unto themselves.

The wine cups of Glenn le‘kle are ex~
nmples or superior design and crafts-
manship — to say more is difficult. The
machine has crept into Mr. Zirkle‘s
work this year as shown in the cast
bronze lit—u McCormick peering, 0r-
ganlc Gear and Impossible Gear. The
walnut limestone Ferguson 1V is, in my
opinion, his best sculpture and possibly
the best work in the Show The subtly
modeled walnut base gives the lime
stone a gentle life. The smooth, tlowlng
planes and lines or the limestone, corl~
trasted with the rough cut areas em-
phasizes the rock quality of the material
opposed by the beautirul biomorphio
form, No words can do justice to the
work

Merle Zirkle's jewelry exhibits super-
ior craftsmanship. Her weed bottles
echo the forms of tall weeds and are
strikingly beautilul. The large slab bot-
tle in the center Cabinet in the hallway
is sensational. Primitive linear design
and a complex, well-resolved design
make this work the most beautiful pot
l‘ve seen at Grinnell,

To write about a good work at art is
difficult if not imposslhle: it Can't be
expressed in Words This exhibition is
the perlect example or the above state
ment. It is too good to be missed.

Page Nina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

one}

(Photo by bill Ratterty

Bland Blues Email

By PETER KEEPNEWS

When the marl himsell, Bobby “Blue"
Bland, pulled up in lrnnt ot Darby Gym
in his white Cadillac last Saturday
night, it was apparent that this was to
be no ordinary night at Grinnell. By the
time Bland set root on the Darby stage,
the entire gym was adritt in a sea oi
soullulness, blnesiness, and the kind at
musical euphoria you seldom ﬁnd in
this part or town.

Bland, the man who gave you such
hits as “Turn on Your Love Light’ and
“I Pity The Fool," put on quite a show.
It began when his band, Emie Flelds Jf.
and Company, played a heavy set ot
lunky jazz and soul numbers. Then a
beautiful young lady named Paulette
Parker sang and shouted her way into
the hearls and minds and bodies of the
audience, especially with her version or
“Twenty-ﬁve Miles to Go.” And then—
with the audience breathless with an:
llcipatian—Bobby Bland walked up to
the stage, began to sing—and it )Ja:
beautifuli ’

Bland's music is steeped in the [radio
tion or America’s only native art lorm,
the blues, and no words can do as good
a job as Bland's perlormanee did oi
explaining the universal appeal that th-
blues has. Sultice it to say that it you
missed the concert, you missed an op:
portunity to feel what it's like to be
really touched by the blues as sung by
a master. Bobby Bland really is a mas
(er a! his Craft (35 are his musician]
and Miss Parker), and it's quite some—
thing to have your soul stirred by a
master, This was soul. baby, and there’s
nolhing more that can be said than that.
it you have to ask what it is, you’ll
never know.

This was a great concert, the kind of
evening that makes going to Grinnell
seem worthwhile. One thing that helped
make it such a success was the way
the gym was decorated: it wasn't. There
were no chairs on the lloor and no crepe-
paper backdrop for the stage, and it was
great. It was the Fillmore Midwesth
people were tree to listen. dance, move
around, in short, to do their own thing
(a phrase i just invented). All that was
missing was a light Show. All Grinnell
concerts should be like this.

New This Year
EuroBUSpass in Europe—3 Weeks S88

As Well As Th
EuRA

Grinneil Tr

e Old Favorite,
Ilpass

avel Center

808 5th Avenue Court

Phone

236-4384
1364575

 

