Tuesday, May 17, 2011

♥ love is just love. it can never be explained.

"where does it lead? what will become of us?
these were our young questions, and young answers were revealed.
it leads to eachother. we become ourselves." (79).


this winter i read patti smith's memoir, just kids,
and although i honestly do not know much about the late sixties or
the contemporary artists with whom she mixed, mingled and created art with
in new york- (andy warhol, jimi hendrix, allen ginsberg & janis joplin
to name a few!) one thing i do know is that the story of her life-long relationship
with bestfriend/lover/confidante, robert mapplethorpe is one
of such complex beauty and unwavering, uncompromising love,
that it begged to be told- and i am so glad she did.

"there are many stories i could write about robert, about us.
but this is the story i have told. it is the one he wished me to tell
and i have kept my promise. we were hansel and gretel and we
ventured out into the black forst of the world. there were temptations
and witches and demons we never dreamed of and there was splendor we
only partially imagined. no one could speak for those two young
people, nor tell with any truth of their days and nights together.
only robert could tell it. our story, he called it." (288)


patti smith portrait plate via beatup creations


what i loved best about this book is that it was told from the perspective
of a true artist- patti was compelled to write & recite poetry, to act, to draw,
to sing, to surround herself always with other creative souls, and to keep
on creating- no matter what. she had no idea which direction her
life would take when she came to new york, but she worked at
bookstores and oddjobs to support her artistic lifestyle, and
eventually found a way to share her art and become the star
she always knew she could be. love her.

"i was both scattered and stymied, surrounded by unfinished songs
and abandoned poems. i would go as far as i could and hit a wall,
my own imagined limitations. and then i met a fellow who gave
me his secret, and it was pretty simple. when you hit a wall,
just kick it in. " (170).

8 ♥ love notes.:

  1. i know that would be fascinating, i want to read it!

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  2. Her words are magical. Totally on my list of things to read :)

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  3. i've been wanting to read this!!! like you, i know very little about the late sixties or any of those artists, and really, i know very little of patti. but i was so intrigued when i heard first of heard of this book. (i am a little familiar with robert's photography, but still not very well.)

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  4. I honestly don't know much about Patti Smith, but I'm kinda compelled to pick up that book after hearing what you had to say about it.

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  5. Adding to my reading list. Her era is so intriguing but i love that she is telling her story, always nice to hear from direct source.

    thanks for sharing!
    Annina

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  6. This was totally enchanting to read. Her life seems so inspiring to all of us out there that have creative minds/ideas but can't financially get anywhere with them. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. this book was devastatingly good. i really loved it. the last book to make me cry.

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  8. This has been in my shopping cart at Amazon for months. I need to finish up Ketih Richards raucous bio first though. I have a feeling this might be a bit more nourishing for the soul.....

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