[.ca] Banquet Years (ISBN 0394704150)

The Pleasures of Art and Pataphysics:
Since encountering this wonderful and fascinating book during my first year in college, I have felt its influence in many parts of my life. My nickname shows the influence of Alfred Jarry and his Dr. Faustroll, even though I often identify more with the character Panmuphle. Just for introducing and explaining Jarry, Roger Shattuck's book is worth a good look. Yet another phenomenon that is more complex than its surface first suggests -- the painting of Henri Rousseau -- becomes better understood and more deeply appreciated through Shattuck's chapters on art in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. He certainly educated and influenced my own artistic preferences. And there is more, on poetry and music, but enough said. This is a book of enduring value.

Take Your Pick:
This is a good book to rummage around in and to pick through, depending on your interests. The book has a strange kind of ebb and flow to it, alternating between straightforward biographical information, entertaining and easily comprehensible, and some very difficult philosophical sections on what these four disparate people were trying to achieve in their work. The book is very good but in some ways doesn't quite hold together because of the alternating style. And, quite honestly, in some of the analytical sections I sometimes wasn't sure what Mr. Shattuck was saying! If you want something that is entertaining but also very thoughtful without lapsing into the obscure you might want to try David Sweetman's "Explosive Acts" instead. That book seems to me to be more comprehensive and to give you a better feel for the times. Shattuck's book is more narrow in focus. A big drawback for me is that I have never heard the music of Erik Satie. As far as I know it is unavailable. This makes it a little tough to follow Mr. Shattuck's analysis of the music. So, "The Banquet Years" has got a lot of rich, dense prose but you'll need to beware if you are watching your intellectual weight!

If you like this sort of thing this is something you'll like:
Roger Shattuck, presents a picture of avant-garde France in the period 1880-1915 as seen through the lives of four of its most prominent artists. The belle époque, was the time before the first World War when new forms of art and philosophy were beginning to emerge. Artists began to break away from traditional concepts and to invent new ways to express themselves. For those in the avant-garde, art was not simply an object or a composition that was conceived, begun and finished. Rather they embraced the idea of being their own best works. The institutions which had defined their society were in disarray. The social order of the past, depended on a large population of rural farmers supporting an elite few in the urban centers, was being turned upside down. Technology was causing great disruptions in the old order as well. Events began to move faster and increasingly people began to be enslaved by the office clock and the factory whistle. To many people, the simple solutions of the past offered by the church and the government and their local community no longer seemed relevant to the contemporary world. Shattuck identifies four traits common to these artists They all embraced childhood and a childish simplicity. Jarry's most famous work was a play, Ubu Roi, begun in elementary school. Satie wondered what kind of music a one-year old would create. All four emulated the innocence and naivety found in childhood during their adulthood. Another characteristic was a strong sense of humor and of the absurd in the work and lives of the avant-garde artists of the time. Jarry and Apollionaire would each paint neckties on paper and wear the results to formal restaurants. Satie would annotate his musical compositions with absurd instructions to the musician and dire warnings as to the consequences if the orders were disobeyed. In their actions and their art we see them returning to the tradition of the court jester, able to speak the truth but only as a joke. Thirdly, in questioning all that was traditional and real, these artists sought to create a dreamlike experience in the waking world. Lastly, there was theme of ambiguity and equivocalness. They spurned the notion that art could have only one correct interpretation even their own works. Henri Rousseau retired from being a customs inspector to move to Paris and start life anew as an artist at the age of 40. He was completely self-taught in his subject area and his work defied the style of his day. Erik Satie was an innovative composer and musician who also served as a mentor for younger composers. Satie's compositions are filled with non-traditional instruments such as rattles and typewriters and unusual names such as "vexations". His eccentricities were well known among his contemporaries most notably that he never allowed anyone to visit the apartment where he lived the last quarter century of his life. Alfred Jarry was a schoolboy when he got the inspiration for his greatest play. A crude unpopular teacher was the butt of school yard pranks and the subject of underground student plays. Later in Paris, Jarry would expand on those plays to create the character of Ubu a cruel and greedy man who plots to become King of Poland only to end up deposed and exiled to Paris. Ubu was the character Jarry created to comment on the human condition. Ubu's insights into his own situation echo Jarry's insight into the world. Jarry adopted much from his fictional character and over time he and Ubu become synonymous with the citizens of Paris. Guillaume Apollionaire came to Paris at the age of twenty from Rome. He quickly was able to make a mark for himself within the bohemian cliques and in café society. Apollionaire was able to fund much of his literary work with his semi-pornographic novels. He founded a literary magazine and served as a columnist and editor on other periodicals. As a reviewer of modern art he was able to bring artists such as Henri Rousseau to the attention of a wider audience. Sensitive to his position as a foreigner, Apollionaire sought naturalization and enlisted in the French Army during the World War. He was wounded in the head and invalided out of the service in 1916 and died from the worldwide influenza epidemic in 1918. The Banquet Years is by no means an easy read. Readers who do not posses a working knowledge of Paris in this period or of the Avant-Garde artistic movement of the time will find it difficult to enjoy this comprehensive view of the period. Places and names are often mentioned without any explanation that would assist in placing them in context. While the book provides insights into the lives and works of some artists whose influence persists down to modern times, this is not an ideal introduction to the times, but rather is best appreciated by those who already have a basic understanding of the period and its theories of art and philosophy. Placing the review and appreciation of the artist at the conclusion of the biography would make sense in a biography for more conventional figures. However, these four attempted to direct their lives with the same inspiration that they did their art. Thus it can be difficult to understand the facts of the live of Jarry without a guide to the work that so consumed him. Shattuck possesses such an easy familiarity with the works of his subjects that he does occasionally forget to fill the reader in on the importance of the piece in question. Shattuck has created a book which can be read on different levels by those with different interests. Art, History, and Philosophy are all equally present in this work. While it can be appreciated simply as a story of four remarkable men and four remarkable lives, to fully appreciate it, the reader must come to the book prepared to work hard for the insights it offers.

Hard to put down:
I agree with other reviewers that the section on Alfred Jarry is especially strong, but the whole thing is great. Shattuck is a brilliant scholar, and a very lively writer. Presenting history from the viewpoint of a group of eccentrics results in surprises on every page. I bought this book as a fan of Shattuck's work on Proust (who gets only a brief mention in this book), and as a fan of Erik Satie (Contrary to the second-last reviewer, Satie's work is widely available, and it's well worth a listen), but now I think I'm a fan of Alfred Jarry as well; I've just placed an order for Jarry's Ubu Roi.

Essential Life Style Guide:
I first came across this book when assigned it in college, and I return to it every few years. I found this a bracing book when I first read it and still to this day. Anyone who thinks Andy Kaufman was the first person to cross the line of performance art into life should read the section on Alfred Jarry. Indeed at a certain point Jarry became irretrievably blurred with his creation Pere Ubu (whom he took to "impersonating" in real life to an extent that must have been quite a trial to his friends). Yet there is something very moving and affirming about the often tragic story presented here. Jarry lived in a half sized room and became a chronic drunk yet he retained an impeccable dignity despite feeling trapped in a savage and absurd world. His last words were for a request for a toothpick. Jarry returned the insult of life with perfect poise. The other portraits are equally incisive, the Satie portrait particulary haunting (its hard to listen to his music without thinking of the tiny room he lived in and never let another sole visit during his lifetime). Shattuck gives the historical background that gives you fascinating insight into the social/cultural conditions behind the emergence of what have to be considered highly idiosyncratic artists. For anyone with bohemian inclinations or posturings this book is essential, perhaps making your own little room shine with a little solidarity for those who have trod before you...