Friday, May 11, 2012

Friday's Forgotten Books: Complete Nonsense



Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of Edward Lear's birth. There's a terrific blog that keeps track of all the events and and another that prints pages from Lear's diary. In a wonderful piece in the Independent David Quantick wrote winningly about Lear and the appeal of nonsense. I have to say, I was convinced before I ever read it that, "A little bit of nonsense is the secret of a sane life." Lear is one of those touchstones to which I always return.




You can't really go wrong where ever you start, but you may find you don't want to end. And there's all kinds of places to read on the web, if you don't have the money to spend. But The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense of course will give you much intercourse with rhymes that will soon become friends.

I wrote a poem and passed it off as one of Lear's. I had it published in Asinine Poetry. And then I made this recording. More nonsense, please.










Drop by Patti Abbott's blog Todd's blog this week and next for the full roundup. Mr Lear is part of a mighty triumvirate celebrating birthdays tomorrow, including Tony Hancock and the delightful Mr B. Happy birthday, boys!

2 comments:

Todd Mason said...

I'll be rounding up this week and next. Too sleepy to Lear up this comment...

K. A. Laity said...

Well, of course. Anytime I don't check it's surely the case. I'll fix it when I open the computer up again in a little bit.