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March 03, 2005
Lowry in Tribeca
Malcolm Lowry, that is who it is.
There is a class or reading group of some kind going on at the back corner table in the Tribeca Bakery, one of my two satellite offices downtown. (The other being the Socrates Restaurant, which is really a coffee shop that has been in the area forever and soldiers on in spite of or perhaps because of the gentrification aka revival of the area. The Tribeca Bakery on the other hand fills the first floor of a factory building. It is a cavernous space. Yes, the ceiling is high; there are columns throughout; and the brick is exposed. A major plus of the Tribeca Bakery or Tribakery is the provision of raw sugar for your coffee. Also, the tables are large and plentiful and, unlike the Socrates, there is no table service and no obligation to order a meal. Depending on the time of my arrival and the time of my appointment, I might visit both the Socrates and the Tribakery on a given day. Today breakfast was in order, since my calendar was booked solid and well there has been no time allocated for lunch. Finishing my omelet at the Socrates, I found myself with a full hour to spare. Therefore I stopped into the Tribakery for a second cup of coffee).
The Tribakery is not a bad setting for a class, especially since it features Sugar in the Raw. The tone of the teacher - or who I presume is the teacher since he is clearly much older than the rest of the group and does most of the talking -is condescending, and he uses the word vignette a little too often. The teacher's comments on the stories, I mean vignettes, are not too perceptive and are illustrated with examples from his, the instructor's, own life, growing up in where else but New York. I find this odd, however, as the action of the book takes place in Mexico. What does it mean? The students know. I can see it in their eyes, the way they look away over their coffee. The class is not about literature, or Malcolm Lowry. It is about the teacher.
The Tribakery is, not withstanding the comments of the teacher, a nice place to pass the time. The coffee is better, and, not withstanding the comments of the teacher, he has in fact chosen some fine passages for discussion. He has in fact chosen some fine vignettes. I enjoy hearing them. I am sorry to have to leave so soon and will make it a point to stop at the library and maybe pick up Under the Volcano.
Posted by apc at March 3, 2005 03:43 AM