The Enduring Prose and Poetry of Clive James | Hacker News Reader

The Enduring Prose and Poetry of Clive James

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35 pointshoffmanesque10 comments

Clive James' website is and will (I believe) remain up. https://www.clivejames.com/ Definitely worth a visit. Try video/talking in the library for a load of fascinating interviews.

His book 'Cultural Amnesia' is a marvellous cultural review to stimulate, annoy and delight most readers.

If you want to see more of his poetry, quite a lot was published in the Spectator magazine: https://www.spectator.co.uk/writer/clive-james

Sunset Hails a Rising

Dying by inches, I can hear the sound

Of all the fine words for the flow of things

The poets and philosophers have used

To mark the path into the killing ground.

I loved his change to Dante's Inferno, "Abandon your hopes, they are what brought you here" above the entrance to hell. (Original was ye who enter here)

I apologise for this needless pedantry, but it’s: “Forget your hopes. They are what brought you here.” The comma splice in your version is a little inelegant.

Not needless. I was pleased to be able to search for it and find the fragment in which it occurs together with the original (which I can't read of course).

See https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/05/27/what-the-hell

Thankyou for the correction it’s something I remember from a radio interview with him years ago :)

Isn't Clive James the guy who's famous for the most droll commentary of the Formula 1 "year in review/race in review" races from the 80s?

For US sports fans, you can think of him as analogous to the commentary on the iconic "NFL Films" clips from the 80s and 90s.

I can see him now, watching the Formula One races alongside James Hunt anticipating Murray Walker's next Murrayism

When I read his prose I 'hear' his rhythm.

Clive James had some of the best Christmas specials. And I'll always remember the time when he went to Japan.

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