Stroke by Stroke

by Henri Michaux, Richard Sieburth (Translator)

Stroke by Stroke is a pairing of two of Henri Michaux’s most suggestive texts, Stroke by Stroke (Par des traits, 1984) and Grasp (Saisir, 1979), written towards the end of his life. Michaux’s ideogrammic ink drawings accompany his poetic explorations of animals, humans, and the origins of language. This series of verbal and pictorial gestures is at once explosive and contemplative. Michaux emerges at his most Zen.

Genres: Poetry, Art, France

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

Henri Michaux was a highly idiosyncratic Belgian poet, writer and painter who wrote in the French language. Michaux is best known for his esoteric books written in a highly accessible style, and his body of work includes poetry, travelogues, and art criticism. Michaux travelled widely, tried his hand at several careers, and experimented with drugs, the latter resulting in two of his most intriguing works, Miserable Miracle and The Major Ordeals of the Mind and the Countless Minor Ones.

Reviews

[Troy S · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Animals, men, gestures are no longer the problem, the problem at the present is situations."

We are tautological. The apparatus is only a metaphor for the function. The function cannot be communicated without the metaphor of communication.

"Everything is translation at every level, in every direction."

I can't say that I am a fan of this style of avant-garde, this proto-Cagean minimalism. The way I see it there are two ways of glimpsing infinity- through excess and maximalism, and through suspension and temperance. I am starting to believe that I greatly prefer the former, to the irony of this review.

"The handcuffs of words are on for good."

. . . Word.

[Milanimal · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the little I've read a about Ezra Pound's fascination with ideograms, I was expecting to find a good amount of trifling with Chinese characters. Not the case. Michaux illustrates his frustration with the written word in a way that is personal and original. His bestiaries take on a life of their own as tense clashes against legibility, form, and the strictures of language explode across the page. Stroke by Stroke is an incredible and exciting discovery.

[Sig]

selin from the idiot would eat this up

[Martyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michaux has given us a fabulous manifesto toward something simpler; a primal connection to art and language that would, paradoxically, enrich us all. Occasionally, just occasionally, I read a philosophical book like this and I 'get' it. It's wonderful when it happens. I also appreciated the translator's essay at the end; he seems to have made genuine decisions about word choice and their applicable meanings and senses that left me feeling, for once, that I may not have lost anything from the original.

[Boris Gregoric · Rating 1 out of 5]

As for me, the emperor is butt naked here. So much wasted ink and paper on ugly squiggles. Embarrassing to have something like this published.

[Adrian Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The works collected here (Saisir and Par des Traits) track a bold and revolutionary project. One that was predetermined, sadly, to remain personal. We read his struggle to make language new again and in doing that I suppose we see through to Michaux's purpose.

Art, as defined by the Russian formalist Viktor Shlovsky, is the distance between seeing and recognizing. Michaux will never relent. He insisted we never skip the former. In fact, he dreamed of a language we can only see while simultaneously maintaining sanity.

This wonderful production from Archipelago books preserves something truly inspiring.

[JB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across Stroke by Stroke in the wake of reading The Wilds of Poetry, an anthology assembled by David Hinton, a poet and translator of Chinese poetry. In the introduction, he calls attention to writing’s pictographic origin, which ideograms maintained but alphabetic languages abandoned… https://anewmeasurepoetryreport.blogs...

[Tomi Alger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was translated from the French by Richard Sleburth. Michaux's writings, musings, drawings, and fonts cover the pages. He is part philosopher and poet and artist. I found it interesting, though I think a person interested in fonts, graphics, and fonts would find in more fascinating than I did.

[Alexander Asay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stroke by Stroke is a collection that encapsulates the spirit of a man wrestling with the very act of creation. This slender volume delves into Michaux's obsessive relationship with writing, where every stroke of the pen is both a discovery and a battle. Originally published in French, this work showcases Michaux's experimental style, blending poetry, prose, and visual art.

Michaux, known for his incursions into the subconscious and his explorations of altered states, here turns his gaze inward, examining the process of writing with an intensity that is both philosophical and visceral. The book is divided into short, intense pieces that range from reflections on language to the physicality of ink on paper. Sieburth's translation, published by Archipelago, captures the rhythm and the urgency of Michaux's original texts, preserving the sensation of thought in motion, the struggle to articulate the inexpressible.

The work is punctuated by Michaux's own drawings and ink blots, which serve as a visual counterpart to his textual explorations, embodying the idea that writing is not just about words but the very act of marking one's existence. These elements together create a multi-sensory experience, where the reader is invited to see writing as both a physical and metaphysical endeavor.

Stroke by Stroke demands engagement with its themes of creativity, the limits of language, and the existential quest for meaning. Michaux's voice is one of introspection, sometimes dark, often humorous, always profound. This collection is a testament to the process of writing as an exploration of self, where each line drawn or written is a step into the unknown.

[Sean A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

full of wonder and wonderment. who knew that one could take amateur calligraphs as such a commitment to primal revolt, and once again wonder...?