Customer Reviews

A Mammal's Notebook: Collected Writings of Erik Satie (Atlas Arkhive)

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This book gives a delightful introduction to the life, letters and drawings of Erik Satie, one of the greatest artistic minds of the century. Although his music is his foremost contribution to the world, his writings and drawings express his gently humourous and damning views of the world and offer tremendous insight to his musical work. The book includes a list of the directions his wrote in his musical scores, which are marvellously absurdist. The drawings include the many somewhat enigmatic "advertisement" drawings he made in later life as well as Memoirs of an amnesiac and A mammmal's Notebook. There is also a libretto for a ballet which Satie presented to the directors of the Paris Opera (it was refused) as well as a play with incidental music. Satie's work has been very well translated and quite a bit of it is in both translation and the origonal french, which is lovely if you speak french and enables you to realize how good the translation is. Also, there are no annoying, silly views on Satie by stodgy editors and biographers. One can draw one's own conclusions.I cannot imagine a better book on Satie.

I would like to relate to you all the occasion of my first encounter with "A Mammal's Notebook". I had found a copy in my university's library. On the train-ride home that same day I started to read. I found Satie's words and satirical sense of humour so delightful that it was impossible for me to put the book away when my train ride came to an end, so my 20-minute walk home became a half hour walk-read with occcasional bursts of laughter. (I guess I looked a little strange, but one often feels compelled to do strange things when immersed in the eccentric world of Satie, who was a true maverick.) Since that time, I have spent many an hour enthralled by this book. (Luckily, I have since invested in my own copy)

Now, I may be a little obsessive, but I think many others will also enjoy A Mammal's Notebook.

About the contents:

Satie is an enigmatic character. He very rarely discussed his own composition processes, so if you are looking for that, you will not find it here.

What you will find includes:
-A mini biography and timeline
-Translations of the witty and mysterious texts that accompany many of his pieces.
-A list of Satie's eccentric performance markings translated to English (e.g. Almost invisible..., Avoid any sacrilegious excitement... Grandly forgetting the present,... etc)
-Articles which he wrote for publication (on various topics: his contemporaries, the art of reading aloud, books, etc.)
-Transcriptions of speeches
-Other writings and musings which weren't intended for publication
-Sketches (of unusual architectural constructions, boats, etc.)

The only thing missing here is an analysis of the material included, but that point is forgivable as there analyses out there. (I would encourage other readers not to skip the end notes as these do give context to some of the items included.)

A highly recomended collection.

Norman Lebrecht observes that Virgil Thomson considered Satie the most original mind in modern music, and laments that he applied his gifts so inconsistently. This collection may engender the opposite conclusion, that Satie could have been a great humorist, had he not devoted so much time to musical composition. Included here are the instructions to performers that Satie forbade sharing with the audience, although, unfortunately, the individual piece to which each one applies is not specified. Several essays, notably "The Musician's Day," straddle the line between satire and surrealism. Overall, the collection adds a dimension to Satie beyond his music. Somewhat disturbing are the samples of "advertisements" that reveal an obsession with adolescent interests - castles, sorcerers, and aircraft.

The above reviews are comprehensive concerning the contents of this book.

I am one more person who wants to share his enthusiasm for Satie.