Loose Leaves – Looking Back
‘The Sheltering Sky’ (1949) by
Paul Bowles is first-rate novel. Exotic and melancholy in equal measures. I read
it when I was 18 years old, only a few years after I’d been to Egypt and had a
taste of the North African climate, which the novel distils in its own
inimitable way. I’ve read it several times since. I think I’ve felt differently
about it each time I’ve read it. I probably saw Bernardo Bertolucci’s film
version first. Bowles later said of the movie (in which he has a cameo –
watching his characters arrive): “The less said about the film now, the better.”
As with any novel adapted for the screen, it’s perhaps best to see the two as
separate artworks, each true to two different artists’ intentions. However, the movie’s soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto is
sublime. It’s been a long time since I last saw the film, but I often listen to
the soundtrack on CD.
The following haiku was written
during my most recent re-reading of the novel. As an ‘art inspired’ haiku, this
poem is almost a piece of ‘found art.’ Although I’d very much like to think of
it as co-written with Bowles, that’s certainly too much of a stretch. To be
honest, I’m not really sure what I feel about this poem. I don’t really feel
like I wrote it, but it very definitely isn’t a direct quote from the novel
itself.* It’s an adaptation of sorts; something perhaps somewhere between
paraphrase and pastiche. But as a haiku, it still feels like its own thing. Meant
as a minimalist homage. I hope Bowles might have approved.
THE SHELTERING SKY
Siesta –
for all but
the sun.
*See: Paul Bowles, 'The Sheltering Sky' (Flamingo Modern Classic, 1993), p. 84.
Top Photo Credit: The Sheltering Sky (1990) IMDb | Bottom Photo Credit: Tim Chamberlain (John Malkovich postcard by Brigitte Lacombe, 1989)
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