Friday. April II. m9 SCARLET AN D BLACK Page Eleven 'i'he $6: Reviews: The Confessional Novel in M ode-m Literature By GARY GlDDINS It is an oft quoted cliche that the age gets the quality of art that It de- serves. For many reasons, the 1960‘s is immersed in popular artr I suppose that the locus on creating for the “now," out of resources esoteric to the immed- iate present and with no ambitions for artistic immortality or worries about the academic propriety of the results, presents the illusion of freedom and rel- evance to the artist. That part of the American culture which the media have chosen to perpet- uate has taken the form of Campbell Soup cans, a melange of politely pomo- graphic novels and him, McKuen’s- come-home “poetry," posters, mimetic rock music, theatrical nudity tor spirit- ual and box office reasons, and mechani- cal sculpture. McLuhan — the greatest observer of them all — has attempted to explain and draw conclusions from till this, hilt unfortunately he doesn't comment on whether the inevitable ob— solescence or books (lige the Gutenburg Galaxy or The Medium is the Mess» age?) is a good thing or not, and one cannot help but wonder during which segment or Ozzie and Harriet — or was it the Beverly Hillbillies — that he re- ceived his enlightenment But whether one agrees or disagrees, approves or disapproves, with the cur- rent speculations about art, there can be no doubt but that there is a revo- lution going on in the arts, and when the Chaos subsides and the rubble is cleared away, we will have either something excltlngly new or a lot at junk that —like all popular art — will be of no interest in ten years except for nostalgic or historical reasons. Another generation will have to decide whether we have produced any great art. All we can do is sort through the trash and the honest stuff and choose that which is relevant and revealing, An example of the more serious in- novations currently happening in the arts is the confessional novel. We con- ,stantly hear about the death of the nov- el. Critics tell us that there have been no great innovators since Joyce and Proust. and McLuhanites today tell us Q d that the other forms of media are more communicative and meaningful. In the last twenty years, the major » themes of American novels have come from three sources: World War it, Jews, and Southerners The leading con- tributors have all shown a decline in craft, and it is small wonder. Most of these writers received exhuherant praise tor first works published in the early titties. Those novels fit the stan- dard of what “serious writing" was supposed to be. The world of the 605 is radically different, and it must be difficult for novelists in their forties to tind meaningful relevance to what’s happening today. And the conscientious Writer must strive for relevancer So, Styron, Mailer, Jones, Bellow, Mala- mud, Salinger, Algren, Capote, Willing- ham, and all the other "pl'odigies" are now at the ill-between stage: too young to put a gun in their mouths. and too old to feel at home in university dem< onstrations. When you can’t figure out what “it” is all about, you can either observe what's happening or escape from it. And so Styron and Malamud have looked back into history tor a Clue, and Mailer, Capote. and Algren, have gone into self-analysis and jour- nalism. Bellow, Styron, and Salinger — While inventing stronger facades than Mailer et. all — have used the first person extensively, not to tell a plot, but to open the prolagonists's mind up. Many of these authors have both a technique and a style (i) that is in- spiring. But where are the solid accom- plishments? The writer has become more important than his art, with mixed results. Algren indulged his ego by publishing a volume of interviews with himself, and Capote has introduced the Madison Avenue style to his work, On the other hand, Mailer — in turning the novel into an advertisement for and about himseli — produced, in Armies Of The Night, his masterpiece. Mailer’s “Confessions“ is a good ex- ample of this significant trend in the American novel. The Confessional novel may be in the term of autobiography or fiction, but in either case, the protago- nist's mind is the focal point, not the Royalty Visits By LEE SHAMBERG As part 01 the Social coordinating Com- mittee’s continuing to put the heyl back in the Grinnell bob-a—re-bop, Duke El- lington and. his orchestra Will play for both listening and dancing in Darby Gwnnaslum this Saturday night. The Duke and his men will play a concert set from 9:30 to 10:30 followed by the Spring formal lrom 11:00 to 135m 1969 marks Ellington's titty-second year as a pmtessional musician, and his forty-sixth as a bandleader. The Duke will celebrate his seventieth birthday later this month, and will be honored at I White House dinner on April 30th. Originally a pianist in the Harlem tradition, Ellington has set the standard against which all jazz arrangers must eventually measure up. Ellington plays his band in much the same way that an instrumentalist blows his sax. His writing is particularly notable for his melodic lyricism and his use of tonal coloration. Ellington's songs have always been eag. erly accepted by the nonrjazz audience, and many, (such as Satin Doll and in My Solitude.) have become standards Each member of the band is also an excellent solist in his own right, and some, such as Johnny Hodges and Harry Carney, have been dominant forces on their respective instruments. Lee Shamberg dates and events in his life. The re- sults are usually daring. sometimes in the form of an expose (Podhoretz’s Making it) or in an account ot life-style as a state of mind. Soul 011 Ice is an example of the latter, and is among the most brilliant instances of selfa awareness artfully articulated, and made relevant in contemporary letters. All of which brings us to the most popular novel ot the first tew years, which also happens to be a confession- al novel, Portnoy‘s Complaint, by Phil- lip Rotht A discussion of this controversial novel will appear in the next issue of the 58:3. y's Super Va u Welcome hack To The Land at Low. Low. Prices DISCOUNT PRICES ON Cosmetics, iiealth and Beauty Aids We Accep’t Vouchers On Our Complete Line of SNACK AND PARTY ITEMS Pick Up Your Favorite Beverage, Too. Funk at Schaeifer By RICHARD WICKSTROM The San Francisco Art institute Draw- ing Invitational Exhibition on display at Schaefier Gallery until April 17 is I comprehensive representation of the Bay Area art scene. Examples of Funk art dominate this month’s exhibition. A phenomenon of the 60’s. Funk art ll Iimilar in many respects to the work of the Dada movement. Peter selz in the catalogue for the Funk exhibition at the University Art Museum, Berkley charac- terizes Funk as a "visual double-talk, it makes fun of itself, although often (though by no means all the time) it il dead serious. Making allusions, the artist is able, once more, to deprecate himself with a true sense of the ironic." Most effective in three dimensions, Grinnell’s exhibit is the only example of Funk arti have seen in two dimensions. Roy DeForest in his Untitled drawing presents the best example of Funk in the exhibition. Typical of the hot, bio zarre, humorous, subliminal post-Freu. dian erotic imagery of Funk, the drawing borders on the chaotic; but through the repetition of faces, feet, abstract geo< metric patterns, and a strong sense of design, the work holds together well, it is an interesting flight into fantasy —- or reality. "Mrs, Martin: What is the moral? Fire Chief: That's for you to find out.”—— Ionesco The Bald Soprano Experimentation in new materials characterizes the rest of the exhibition Rodger Jacobsen in his Untitled acrylic on masonite presents a field of olive green to gold (depending on how the light strikes the drawing) covered with heavy black lines. The reflected image of the observer on the drawmg creates a beautiful rhythmic movement as the eye moves across the work. However, some lines are smudged, which lessens tho impact greatly, As i see it, the best works at the exhi- bltion are Untitled Vacuum-termed Plas- tic Object A and n by James Reineking. The three dimensional plastic superim~ posed over harsh geometric drawing: with subtle gradation of shading create an interesting interplay oi planes. The Untitled Vacuum-formed Plastic Object A works better because the plastic is integrated more successiuily with the drawing beneath revealing more complex relationships. The exhibition, as a Whole. however, is very poor, dominated by obviously mun. nered and technically crude works. out {or those unfamiliar with the Funk (linm and Cool minimal work, the exhibition will prove unusual and perplexing For Thai Lasiuii‘liiltiie distinctive Goraage CALL ELLA'S FLOWERS 236-5715 FREE l& FAST) DELIVERY “High Quality Service For One Flower or A Dozen”