Customer Reviews

The Demon and the Angel: Searching for the Source of Artistic Inspiration

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Flashes of inspiration, of originality, of that conjoining of synapses that transmit creativity to the mind/eye/hand/soul of the receiver and bring forth significant art have been assigned to a Muse, a connection with some other place, always indefineable until this eloquent little book by the intoxicatingly intelligent Edward Hirsch. As erudite as this well researched book is, it is more a companion to the learning eye and mind, much like his other forays into how to read poetry, etc. Using the centuries-old concept of the "daimon" or demon as best illustrated thorugh Lorca's "duende", Hirsch spends the first half of his book drawing us into a familiarity and asks us to be vulnerable to the concept of a mysterious spirit that enters from the bowels of the earth the body of the writer, poet, musician, composer, dancer, and induces creativity. His examples and quotations from a wide range of artists are convincing. And just when we feel sure that we understand the creative source, Hirsch takes us a step further and discusses the Rilke belief that inspiration comes down from the heavens as an angel to soar through the mind of the receptive artist and provides that out of body, inexplicable touch that we call creativity. With both sources - one emerging for the bowels of the earth as a dark demon and the other descending through the firmament to transiently rest inside the soul - Hirsch addresses just what is "creativity" and how we can better find it and embrace it. This small book speaks volumes to artists and readers alike. This is not a "self help" book, but rather a source of inspiration as powerful as any canvas or poem or symphony. Read and improve your connection with art.

Employing as touchstones Garcia Lorca's consideration of duende and Rilke's concept of the angel, Edward Hirsch constructs a convincingly argued, evocative "search for the source of artistic inspiration." In lucid, forceful prose Hirsch draws illustration for his argument not only from poetry (art in words)but from all the arts. His thought-provoking investigation deepens our understanding not only of the source of artistic inspiration but also of the interrelation of the arts and their common inspirational wellsprings. His illustations and exemplifications range widely among virtually all modern artistic innovators. By coming at the question of inspiration through all the arts his discussion deepens and enriches the reader's understanding, leaving him or her enlightened and stimulated.

This book allegedly sets out to discover where inspiration for art comes from. In order to do this, the author focuses heavily on the work of Federico Garcia Lorca and his theories of Duende - a dark primal emotional state from which Lorca drew much inspiration. The back cover of the book gives a vast listing of other artists, authors and poets whose names are thrown out teasingly. Unfortunately, people like Hemingway, Plath, Blake and Rimbaud are only briefly touched upon in the book, while heavy emphasis is placed on Lorca's work.

As much as I find the concepts of Duende fascinating, I would rather just read Lorca's books. 'Demon and the Angel' suffers from misrepresentation, and readers should be warned. This is not a search for artistic inspiration. A description that is far closer to the truth would be 'Investigating Lorca's Theories and their Relationships to Other Artists'.

Still, it does prove a fascinating read, and the limited space all the other artists are given is still a decent sampling of their art. Pretentious at times, but still a fairly motivational book for writers and artists. Just be warned who the real star of the book is.

I started reading it, and found myself to be lost. I felt like there was a book I should have read before this one. It seems like a continuation of something else. But, it is probably just not for me.

Edward Hirsch is 1 of those, at best, mediocre poets that has ensconced himself into a position of some power in the small, incestual world of poetry. The Demon And the Angel is a book that claims to query into the reason for the Muse- or, as its subtitle proclaims, Searching For The Source Of Artistic Inspiration. The problem is that someone as EH is utterly clueless as to such provenance since he's never displayed a hint of its acquaintance in his own work. The bulk of the book probes every manner of artistic cliché available- from Federico Garcia Lorca's duende nonsense to divine inspiration. Gander at some of his chapter's titles & you can basically fill in the blanks: A Mysterious Power, The Hidden Spirit Of Disconsolate Spain, The Majesty Of The Incomprehensible, Ardent Struggle, Endless Vigil, & The Yearning Cry Of A Shade. If this brings to mind solipsistic gustations, & unintentionally hilarious exegesis then you've obviously been keeping up with art's descent into the lowest common denominator the last few decades....EH's definitions of the Lorcan duende & the Rilkean angel are not only problematic, at best, & false, at worst, but utterly banal. I mean, if 1 were to tell you the duende comes from below & the angel drops down from transcendence, I tend to think that even a marginally educated writer would reply, `Duh.' But, this fact is a crux in the Hirschian posit. Or how about this touch of stolidity? He claims that Lorca claimed that whatever had blackness in it was the duende. EH literally takes this to mean that any mention of black, darkness, night, can only mean death. In short, he is utterly negating the possibility of undermining the cliché. The reverse is true for the angel.
Yet, after 230 pages, we end up back where we started from- with unsupported gustations asking what is the angel & duende. The former is `burning on rooftops', `carved in stone', & `troubles your dreams', while the latter is `hiding under your boot soles', `the wing of a wounded hawk', & a `joy that burns'. That EH is a grand tautologist is beyond question- equally so that he is utterly rent of any ideas re: creativity or its provenance. If inspiration is all around would it not have been easier to simply declaim, `inspiration is all around', rather than waste whatever paper it took to make this ridiculously bad book? Instead, we get wan filigrees & reworked grandiloquent paraphrase, not to mention EH's wonder at such marvelous & never before attempted things like a poet talking of love & death in the same poem!
Worse, EH pretends that he has some intimate knowledge of what makes great art. I always find it amazing when bad artists claim great artists as their inspiration, yet their work is nowhere near the quality & they've taken none of the greatness to heart. EH's spent some time editing the Washington Post's poetry column Poet's Choice, which only highlighted his ignorance in the choice of bad poems he chose to feature. Why would a publisher choose to give this clod anymore credence? EH knows nothing of art nor creativity. Wait, I said that before, I'm sure. Let me get my grandiloquent tautologizer ray gun & rewrite. ZAP! Damn, I guess 1 who has met the Muse is immune to such. Trust me, & stay away from this utter piece of garbage. This hack needs scorn, not royalty checks!