the belt and the oven
Antzoki bat. Edozein antzoki. Eserlekuak huts.
Eskenatokian, mahai baten inguruan eserita,
David Foster Wallace eta Sylvia Plath.
D.F. Wallace- Excuse me for being so direct,
but you smell really nice Ms. Plath.
Sylvia Plath- (glancing towards D.F.Wallace’s
pack of cigarettes).. Can I get a smoke?
DFW- Sure.
Sylvia lifts the cigarette to her lips as David
reaches over and offers her a light.
SP- So, you like it?
DFW- Like what?
SP- The smell...
DFW- Yeah, I love it…Mind you, I’d never use
such a cheap excuse to start up a conversation.
SP- They told you why they’ve brought us together
too, haven’t they?
DFW- Yeah, and to be honest, I don’t really feel
much like it…I also thought that choosing me
and you was in fairly bad taste.
SP- I’m not bothered myself.
DFW- Yeah, of course you, unlike most of the
rest of us in this club, were quite original in the way you went about it.
SP- I really didn’t put that much though into
it...What I did wasn’t really worthy of merit.
DFW- Mmmmm...There’s a wonderful smell of apple pie from your hair.
SP- Thank you...
DFW- Let’s get this over with. The thing is, I
know that as soon as we start, I’ll start jotting
down notes at the bottom of the page and this
nonsense might never end.
SP- It’s a long list. Would you mind doing
the writing to start with? I’d like to enjoy this
cigarette...
DFW- No problem… you thought of a title?
SP- No, we won’t use one. Just write down: The list of suicide writers.
DFW- That seems very categorical...
SP- So you’re a lover of specifics…
DFW- A list of suicide writers. That ok for you?
SP- It’s all the same to me.
A list of suicide writers
Virginia Woolf (59). Having stuffed her coat pockets with stones, she drowned herself by wading into the River Ouse near her home in Sussex on the 28th of March, 1941.
Yukio Mishima (45). Like all obedient Japanese
following the seppuku ritual, slit open his stomach and pulled his entrails out. He was then immediately beheaded with a sword by a close trusted friend. November the 25th, 1970.
John Kennedy Toole (31). Ran a hosepipe from his
exhaust tube into his car, closed the windows and
turned the ignition on. March 26th, 1969.
Ernest Hemingway (62). At his home in Ketchum,
Idaho, picked up his double barrel shotgun and shot himself in the head on the 2nd of July, 1961.
Antonia Pozzi (36). Pills. December the 3rd, 1938.
Her family hid her suicide and manipulated her poems.
Emilio Salgari (49). Disappeared into a forest near Turin and sliced open his stomach with a barber’s knife on the 25th of April, 1911.
Ane Sexton (56). On the 4th of October, 1974, she
went into her garage, turned the car on and died
from suffocation.
Ángel Ganivet (33). As he crossed the River Dvina
in Riga, the writer from Granada flung himself from the boat into the water and drowned on the 29th of November, 1898.
Stefan Zweig and Lotte Altman (61-34). Exiled in
Petropolis, Brazil, and having given their dog to a friend, they were found clasping hands on their bed, dead from an overdose of barbiturates. February 7th, 1942.
Vladimir Maiakovski. (36) Having written an ironic
suicide note, he shot himself in the head on a spring day in Moscow. April 1st, 1930.
Karoline Günderode (26). Stabbed herself in the
heart on the banks of the River Rhine. Her body, clad in a red dress, was washed up downriver on the 26th of July 1806.
Periclís Yanópulos (36). Rode into the sea mounted
on a white horse. When the animal could not go any
further, the writer shot himself in the head… He would not be returning to Ithaca. April 10th, 1910.
Sergei Esenin (30). Having written his last poem in his own blood, hung himself in his room at the Hotel Angleterre in Leningrad, on the 25th of December, 1925. Merry Christmas.
SP- Is it really necessary to write ‘Merry Christmas’?
DFW- Just a dash of humor, my dear. This list reads like an ornithology collection.
SP- How can you say that? Don’t you read what you
write?
DFW- Ok, you carry on with the list, so.
Jacques Rigaut (31). Paris. November 5th, 1929. He
wrote the Agence Générale du Suicide and then shot
himself through the heart.
Florbela Espanca (36). Matozinhos. December 8th,1930. A barbiturates overdose. “It’s not easy to die, but it’s the most proper thing I can do” was the last thing she wrote.
Vachel Lindsay (52). Swallowed down a stomachful
of bleach on December 5th, 1931.
Alfonsina Storni (46). Disappeared into the waters of the Mar de Plata on the 25th of October, 1938.
Cesare Pavese (42). Took an overdose of sleeping
tablets on August the 27th, 1950.
DFW- You tried that before you used the oven, didn’t you?
SP- Yes, I did. Another time, I drove headlong into a wall in my car.
DFW- That suddenly brings Lady Di to mind.
SP- Well, let’s carry on, shall we? I’ll keep it short.
I’m getting tired.
Paul Celan (50). Jumped into the Seine in Paris on
April 30th, 1970.
John Berryman (58). Threw himself into the Mississippi on January 7th,1972.
Beppe Salvia (31). Jumped from the window of his
house in Rome in March. 1985.
Gabriel Ferrater (50). Swallowed pills and put a
plastic bag over his head. April 27th, 1972.
Alejandra Pizarnik (36). Overdosed on pills in Buenos Aires on September 25th, 1972.
Jon Mirande (47). Overdosed on pills in Paris on
Christmas Eve, 1972.
DFW- You realize that the last three died in the same year and all used pills?
SP- I’m starting to get bored with this list. And it’s a never-ending one.
DFW- A lot has been written about why so many
writers kill themselves.
SP- I think the question is a different one … Why do suicides decide to become writers?
DFW- But a writer always dreams of a literary death, surely.
SP- That’s the typical nonsense that only a writer
could come up with.
DFW- Two more before we finish.
SP- And let the curtain fall for once and all.
DFW- I’ll miss your sweet apple pie smell.
David Foster Wallace (45). D.F. Wallace used his
belt to hang himself from a beam in his house on the 12th of September, 2008.
Sylvia Plath (31). Stuck her head in the oven in her kitchen on turned the gas on. February 11th, 1963.
Eskenatokian, mahai baten inguruan eserita,
David Foster Wallace eta Sylvia Plath.
D.F. Wallace- Excuse me for being so direct,
but you smell really nice Ms. Plath.
Sylvia Plath- (glancing towards D.F.Wallace’s
pack of cigarettes).. Can I get a smoke?
DFW- Sure.
Sylvia lifts the cigarette to her lips as David
reaches over and offers her a light.
SP- So, you like it?
DFW- Like what?
SP- The smell...
DFW- Yeah, I love it…Mind you, I’d never use
such a cheap excuse to start up a conversation.
SP- They told you why they’ve brought us together
too, haven’t they?
DFW- Yeah, and to be honest, I don’t really feel
much like it…I also thought that choosing me
and you was in fairly bad taste.
SP- I’m not bothered myself.
DFW- Yeah, of course you, unlike most of the
rest of us in this club, were quite original in the way you went about it.
SP- I really didn’t put that much though into
it...What I did wasn’t really worthy of merit.
DFW- Mmmmm...There’s a wonderful smell of apple pie from your hair.
SP- Thank you...
DFW- Let’s get this over with. The thing is, I
know that as soon as we start, I’ll start jotting
down notes at the bottom of the page and this
nonsense might never end.
SP- It’s a long list. Would you mind doing
the writing to start with? I’d like to enjoy this
cigarette...
DFW- No problem… you thought of a title?
SP- No, we won’t use one. Just write down: The list of suicide writers.
DFW- That seems very categorical...
SP- So you’re a lover of specifics…
DFW- A list of suicide writers. That ok for you?
SP- It’s all the same to me.
A list of suicide writers
Virginia Woolf (59). Having stuffed her coat pockets with stones, she drowned herself by wading into the River Ouse near her home in Sussex on the 28th of March, 1941.
Yukio Mishima (45). Like all obedient Japanese
following the seppuku ritual, slit open his stomach and pulled his entrails out. He was then immediately beheaded with a sword by a close trusted friend. November the 25th, 1970.
John Kennedy Toole (31). Ran a hosepipe from his
exhaust tube into his car, closed the windows and
turned the ignition on. March 26th, 1969.
Ernest Hemingway (62). At his home in Ketchum,
Idaho, picked up his double barrel shotgun and shot himself in the head on the 2nd of July, 1961.
Antonia Pozzi (36). Pills. December the 3rd, 1938.
Her family hid her suicide and manipulated her poems.
Emilio Salgari (49). Disappeared into a forest near Turin and sliced open his stomach with a barber’s knife on the 25th of April, 1911.
Ane Sexton (56). On the 4th of October, 1974, she
went into her garage, turned the car on and died
from suffocation.
Ángel Ganivet (33). As he crossed the River Dvina
in Riga, the writer from Granada flung himself from the boat into the water and drowned on the 29th of November, 1898.
Stefan Zweig and Lotte Altman (61-34). Exiled in
Petropolis, Brazil, and having given their dog to a friend, they were found clasping hands on their bed, dead from an overdose of barbiturates. February 7th, 1942.
Vladimir Maiakovski. (36) Having written an ironic
suicide note, he shot himself in the head on a spring day in Moscow. April 1st, 1930.
Karoline Günderode (26). Stabbed herself in the
heart on the banks of the River Rhine. Her body, clad in a red dress, was washed up downriver on the 26th of July 1806.
Periclís Yanópulos (36). Rode into the sea mounted
on a white horse. When the animal could not go any
further, the writer shot himself in the head… He would not be returning to Ithaca. April 10th, 1910.
Sergei Esenin (30). Having written his last poem in his own blood, hung himself in his room at the Hotel Angleterre in Leningrad, on the 25th of December, 1925. Merry Christmas.
SP- Is it really necessary to write ‘Merry Christmas’?
DFW- Just a dash of humor, my dear. This list reads like an ornithology collection.
SP- How can you say that? Don’t you read what you
write?
DFW- Ok, you carry on with the list, so.
Jacques Rigaut (31). Paris. November 5th, 1929. He
wrote the Agence Générale du Suicide and then shot
himself through the heart.
Florbela Espanca (36). Matozinhos. December 8th,1930. A barbiturates overdose. “It’s not easy to die, but it’s the most proper thing I can do” was the last thing she wrote.
Vachel Lindsay (52). Swallowed down a stomachful
of bleach on December 5th, 1931.
Alfonsina Storni (46). Disappeared into the waters of the Mar de Plata on the 25th of October, 1938.
Cesare Pavese (42). Took an overdose of sleeping
tablets on August the 27th, 1950.
DFW- You tried that before you used the oven, didn’t you?
SP- Yes, I did. Another time, I drove headlong into a wall in my car.
DFW- That suddenly brings Lady Di to mind.
SP- Well, let’s carry on, shall we? I’ll keep it short.
I’m getting tired.
Paul Celan (50). Jumped into the Seine in Paris on
April 30th, 1970.
John Berryman (58). Threw himself into the Mississippi on January 7th,1972.
Beppe Salvia (31). Jumped from the window of his
house in Rome in March. 1985.
Gabriel Ferrater (50). Swallowed pills and put a
plastic bag over his head. April 27th, 1972.
Alejandra Pizarnik (36). Overdosed on pills in Buenos Aires on September 25th, 1972.
Jon Mirande (47). Overdosed on pills in Paris on
Christmas Eve, 1972.
DFW- You realize that the last three died in the same year and all used pills?
SP- I’m starting to get bored with this list. And it’s a never-ending one.
DFW- A lot has been written about why so many
writers kill themselves.
SP- I think the question is a different one … Why do suicides decide to become writers?
DFW- But a writer always dreams of a literary death, surely.
SP- That’s the typical nonsense that only a writer
could come up with.
DFW- Two more before we finish.
SP- And let the curtain fall for once and all.
DFW- I’ll miss your sweet apple pie smell.
David Foster Wallace (45). D.F. Wallace used his
belt to hang himself from a beam in his house on the 12th of September, 2008.
Sylvia Plath (31). Stuck her head in the oven in her kitchen on turned the gas on. February 11th, 1963.
