Seussical

There is at present a very cheerful, and entirely free, exhibition of Dr Seuss' work to be found in the western gallery of the Sydney Opera House.

Now, I've never been much of a fan of the Dr Seuss I knew through his children's books - I always found his stories irritating and the pictures a bit trippy - but having attended this exhibition I think I am a convert. In the nature of all converts, I am feeling somewhat evangelical about it...

The serigraphs (many available for purchase) and copies of originals demonstrate a surrealist style (think Escher, Dali) with a delightful whimsicality all Seuss' own – see, for example, his Flower Fish - while the bite-sized paragraphs about Seuss himself - his biography, his style, his experiences - are quite manageable and reference a man who epitomises the best of satire, with his light-hearted manner of leading you laughingly to deep ideas and serious conclusions about the environment, consumerism, racial equality, and internationalism, among other themes.

The exhibition is on at the Opera House until Sunday, after which time it removes to the Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery on Oxford Street. See it if you can.

On Stein (briefly)

Reading Gertrude Stein is like reading sunshine and laughter and interest that all got broken up sharply like peanut brittle and bits scattered all over the page... Even when she is describing sad or ordinary things the phrasing and reference and altogether unconventionality give a sense of a rigorous, inquiring mind, playing... Can never read too much at a time - a few pages perhaps, the unconventionality requiring more attention than usual, it's like touring a new and culturally diverse place (the Paris she described, perhaps?) - you need to read a little and then take some time to think about it, let it soak in, to be able to fully appreciate it rather than rushing through just to get to the end (which is OK for rubbish entertainment books perhaps but not Literature thick with idea and poetry and technical skill)...