September 11: Where Is The Great Art From It?
Like the Queen, I was awakened this morning by bagpipes. Mine were playing outside my window because I happen to live just above the Firemen’s Memorial for the city of New York. Every 9/11, as you can imagine, there is an elaborate ceremony here to honor the fallen. Every year, as I think about that terrible day, I ask myself: has any great art come out of it? Eleven years on, I still must answer: No. “United 93” is the best movie, but only pretty good. In terms of literature, we have “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” (the book was far superior to the movie, trust me). Is there even a pretty good 9/11 opera? No. Great pop CD on the theme? No. Maybe the composer Stockhausen was correct, however chilling, when he said that the attack itself was akin to a great artwork.
