The Coral Sea

by Patti Smith

Paperback, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

PS3569.M53787 C67

Genres

All Topics

Fiction

Publication

W. W. Norton & Company (2012), Edition: Illustrated, 96 pages

Description

In linked pieces Patti Smith tells the story of a man on a journey to see the Southern Cross, who is reflecting on his life and fighting the illness that is consuming him. Metaphoric and dreamy, this tale of transformation arises from Smith's knowledge of Mapplethorpe as a young man and as a mature artist, his close relationship with his patron and friend, Sam Wagstaff, and his years surviving AIDS and his ascent into death. Rich in detail, it is filled with references to Mapplethorpe's work and shows the man beneath the persona. Set against photographs by Mapplethorpe, the work emerges as a hymn, a prayer, a fable wishing him Godspeed on his latest journey."She was once our savage Rimbaud, but suffering has turned her into our St. John of the Cross, a mystic full of compassion."--Edmund White… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member VioletBramble

This review refers to the audiobook.
This is a live reading/ spoken word performance by Patti Smith of the poetry in her book The Coral Sea. The poems are about her friend, the artist, Robert Mapplethorpe and his illness and dying from AIDS. The poems tell the story of a dying man and his journey to

see the southern cross.
I have loved Patti Smiths music and poetry since the 70s. Smith reads these poems with such urgency. With an eerie background soundtrack by Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) on guitar and effects these poems are haunting. The first disc is better, more affecting, than the second disc. Recommended.

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LibraryThing member lisapeet

I liked this. You know how it goes... it's one thing to read a poem but another thing to read a whole book of poetry, and still another to read a book of free verse. This one definitely wanted reading as a whole, and fortunately it was a small thing and lent itself to doing so. It wasn't

ground-breaking as far as the individual pieces were concerned, but very much all of a piece and held together nicely. Plus it's a very pretty little book, readable in a short sitting, and all its parts worked nicely.

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LibraryThing member MaowangVater

Speaking of her close companion Robert Mapplethorpe, in the book’s preface Smith writes, “When he passed away [in 1989], I could not weep so I wrote. Then I took the pages and set them away. Here are those pages [published in 1996], my farewell to my friend, my adventure, my unfettered

joy.”

Her elegy is a prose poem illustrated with photographs by Mapplethorpe. It’s his life as an imaginary cruse to the southern hemisphere. Image after image is piled into a sensual collage of biographical details, his contradictions, and the passion of his art.

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LibraryThing member petervanbeveren

Before the National Book Award-winning Just Kids, Patti Smith addressed the life and passing of her intimate friend, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

Through the linked pieces of The Coral Sea, Patti Smith honors her comrade-in-arms Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). She tells the story of a man on

an ocean journey to see the Southern Cross, who is reflecting on his life and fighting the illness that is consuming him. Metaphoric and dreamy, this tale of transformation arises from Smith's knowledge of Mapplethorpe from a young man to a mature artist; his close relationship with patron and friend, Sam Wagstaff; his years surviving AIDS; and his ascent into death. The Coral Sea is Smith's lyrically compelling recasting of her grief to recapture Mapplethorpe's life in the past and his future in his art. Rich in evocative details, it shows the man beneath the persona.

This edition features a new introduction and new material by Smith. 7 black-and-white photographs

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