They say that “talent borrows, genius steals”, and it seems somewhat apt that this aphorism supposedly first uttered by Wilde was taken on so strongly by, and is erroneously attributed to, Morrissey. But the ‘pope of mope’ was not a simple plagiarist – because, even if nothing in the world is original, there are surely different applications of these same feelings – and it is with this in mind that we take a look at the books that have demonstrably influenced Morrissey’s work. The first, in this short series of three, imaginatively named Morrissey’s Bookshelf, is Elizabeth Smart’s 1945 novella, the beautifully titled By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept.
Lauded as a masterpiece of poetic prose, By Grand Central Station recounts the author’s ardent love affair which was conducted with the writer George Barker, despite his marriage. But rather than decorating the tale of what is essentially a love-triangle with various peripheral details, Smart weaves a fragile and narrow thread within her work, allowing the sheer emotion, the crippling sorrow of restrained and part-requited love, to engulf and overwhelm.
By Grand Central Station poignantly displays the protagonist’s oscillation between adoration, “He never passes by me without every drop of my blood springing to attention”, despair, “the bed is cold and jealousy is as cruel as the grave”, and the radical shift from whimsical fantasy to cruel reality, “Perhaps I am his hope. But then she is his present. And then if she is his present, I am not his present. Therefore, I am not, and wonder why no-one has noticed I am dead and taken the trouble to bury me.” The journey is exquisite and painful, capturing majestically the emotive experience of a passionate love affair, and the associated joy and sorrow.
On occasion, the prose seems unnecessarily laced with drawn out metaphors, but to narrow one’s view to the intricate way in which Smart gives voice to her emotions would do a disservice to the outstanding nature of the overall portrait – a sorrowful, adoring woman who loves deeply and cannot accept the tyranny of circumstance. Consume it slowly, roll each syllable around your mouth and each phrase around your mind, let the solitude sink deep into your soul, and let yourself be overcome with envy that you will probably never love as deeply and as cripplingly as is expressed here. By Grand Central Station is a poignant and raw document of a wound caused by the most powerful emotion of all: love.
Alexander Britton
Tags: elizabeth smart, morrissey
Looking forward to the next two.