Reflecting on "Auld Lang Syne"
via Books Inq.
Daily Fare
Friday, December 31, 2010
World's Worst Invasive Mammals
World's worst invasive mammals
Oddly, I often don't think of mammals in this category. On the other hand, the whole list seems undoubtedly true and pervasive.
via Books Inq.
Oddly, I often don't think of mammals in this category. On the other hand, the whole list seems undoubtedly true and pervasive.
via Books Inq.
Greeting the New Year in Poetry
Let's start with an epitome:Kobyashi Issa Then we have the inimitably cheerful Thomas Hardy and, of course, what would a change of year be without For those making resolutions we have Rainer Maria Rilke's Archaic Torso of Apollo My own haiku: The new year comes in the old goes out; nothing stops the baby's crying. (I claim it for my own--but I will readily say that it is so engrained in memory that I may have stolen it from some great writer of haiku and forgotten. If anyone reads this and recognizes the real author (if, indeed, I am not he), please let me know.) Then we have Robert Herrick sending And we can depart the subject where we entered--with Issa's quiet wisdom
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Beginning a New Year of Reading
Suggestions for those casting about for a new year of reading
I'm fortunate--I have a list as long as my arm of things to read now and in the coming months. Right now I am reading and hope to finish today (because it is quite short) Andrew Holleran's Grief. And immediately on its heels Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, and perhaps I'll be able to force my way through Ms. Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, although, I must admit, I don't hold out much hope on that one.
Other posted Reading Plans
I'm fortunate--I have a list as long as my arm of things to read now and in the coming months. Right now I am reading and hope to finish today (because it is quite short) Andrew Holleran's Grief. And immediately on its heels Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, and perhaps I'll be able to force my way through Ms. Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, although, I must admit, I don't hold out much hope on that one.
Other posted Reading Plans
Next--James Hynes
Oh, this was not the book to end a year on.
And with that inauspicious beginning, I'll back up to recommend this book highly to everyone. It has been a sleeper and so there hasn't been enough written about it to prepare me for its high-powered impact. And I will say no more about that because I want you all to endure and enjoy the surprise the probably shouldn't have been such a surprise.
Kevin, from Ann Arbor, has gone to Austin to interview for a job there. On the way he meets a young lady who entrances him and whom he stalks through Austin. (She must be the most completely oblivious person in the world because they have several near encounters along the way, but she never seems to recognize or note him.) After an accident ends his stalking (not in a really predatory sense), he chances upon another woman who helps to repair the damage and has lunch with him. Woven throughout this seeming nothing of a story line is the history of Kevin's relationships with other women throughout his life, and the question of why he is here in Austin and where exactly is he in his life.
The book packs several powerful punches. I have to say that it is, in parts, quite crude and yet it seems like a valid interior monologue (though I have to say that if I'm tracing the thoughts in my own head that actually occur in words, those words do not figure prominently in them) for an educated, intellectual person. I never had trouble believing in and even sympathizing with some of the dilemmas that Kevin notes, although I must admit to having become exasperated by his inability to see what he was doing to himself.
The story is largely about how we put life on hold until life finally takes a hold on us and drags us through. Kevin spends much of his life drifting--not charting a course, not making any fateful determinations, not doing much of anything other than looking at women and thinking about women and being with women and thinking about other women when he is with women. . . you get the drift.
The book, surprisingly works. And equally surprising to me, it is deeply affecting, deeply touching, and mysteriously joyful.
I have to recommend it to all--but wait until next year--it isn't that far off.
Highest recommendation--*****
And with that inauspicious beginning, I'll back up to recommend this book highly to everyone. It has been a sleeper and so there hasn't been enough written about it to prepare me for its high-powered impact. And I will say no more about that because I want you all to endure and enjoy the surprise the probably shouldn't have been such a surprise.
Kevin, from Ann Arbor, has gone to Austin to interview for a job there. On the way he meets a young lady who entrances him and whom he stalks through Austin. (She must be the most completely oblivious person in the world because they have several near encounters along the way, but she never seems to recognize or note him.) After an accident ends his stalking (not in a really predatory sense), he chances upon another woman who helps to repair the damage and has lunch with him. Woven throughout this seeming nothing of a story line is the history of Kevin's relationships with other women throughout his life, and the question of why he is here in Austin and where exactly is he in his life.
The book packs several powerful punches. I have to say that it is, in parts, quite crude and yet it seems like a valid interior monologue (though I have to say that if I'm tracing the thoughts in my own head that actually occur in words, those words do not figure prominently in them) for an educated, intellectual person. I never had trouble believing in and even sympathizing with some of the dilemmas that Kevin notes, although I must admit to having become exasperated by his inability to see what he was doing to himself.
The story is largely about how we put life on hold until life finally takes a hold on us and drags us through. Kevin spends much of his life drifting--not charting a course, not making any fateful determinations, not doing much of anything other than looking at women and thinking about women and being with women and thinking about other women when he is with women. . . you get the drift.
The book, surprisingly works. And equally surprising to me, it is deeply affecting, deeply touching, and mysteriously joyful.
I have to recommend it to all--but wait until next year--it isn't that far off.
Highest recommendation--*****
Thursday, December 30, 2010
An Appreciation of the KJV
400 Years of the KJV
via Books Inq.
When I want to be lost in the sheer majesty of language, in the deep history of our literature, in mastery and beauty--there are few places to find it better than in the KJV. Admittedly, if one wishes to study, analyze, and otherwise participate in scholarly Biblical research, it may not be the best. But it certainly is more ear-considerate than many of the thundering, thudding, thunking modern translations.
via Books Inq.
When I want to be lost in the sheer majesty of language, in the deep history of our literature, in mastery and beauty--there are few places to find it better than in the KJV. Admittedly, if one wishes to study, analyze, and otherwise participate in scholarly Biblical research, it may not be the best. But it certainly is more ear-considerate than many of the thundering, thudding, thunking modern translations.
MA Visits the Year in Books
Mark Athitakis notes the year in books
And I would have made a point of this one even if Yiyun Li were not at the top of the list.
And I would have made a point of this one even if Yiyun Li were not at the top of the list.
Stanley Fish on the Grace of God in True Grit
Stanley Fish comments on True Grit
And if Stanley Fish commenting on the grace of God isn't an odd enough combo for you, then you are truly in Yves Tanguy land.
And if Stanley Fish commenting on the grace of God isn't an odd enough combo for you, then you are truly in Yves Tanguy land.
Night Elie Wiesel
Inspired by a review I looked at yesterday, I took this book up (again?--I honestly can't recall if I've read it before, though I'm certain I've held it in my hands and nearly certain I've read it--but upon rereading remember almost nothing of it) and swiftly finished. It is a short book. Very short. And like Frankl's but in some sense a mirror image of it, a powerful book.
Elie Wiesel was a 14 year old boy living in Hungary when the Hungarian Holocaust occurred. Now, I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that for the majority of the war, the Hungarian Jews had a measure of protection from the Holocaust. The ruler of Hungary refused to go along with the German plan with regard to the Jews. That isn't to say that life was easy or without hardships or prejudice, but until 1944, the Hungarian Jews knew little or nothing of the holocaust. That all stopped suddenly, dramatically, in 1944 when a new government, a more cooperative government came into power and Hungary's Jews were gathered for the final solution.
Night is the story of one of these Hungarian Jews. It is spare and unrelenting. While it does not flinch at looking the horror of what happened in the face, it's merciful brevity adds more punch to the profound questions that the author makes no real attempt to address. Where was God? What was God doing while this happened to the chosen people? Here was a young, ardent Jew, one who wanted to study the Kabbalah, faced with one of the greatest horrors humankind had ever brought forth.
I can add nothing to the recommendation that I noted yesterday. But this seems to me to be required reading. with Anne Frank, Victor Frankl, Tadeusz Borokowski, Primo Levi, Imre Kertesz and a few others, this narrative gives yet another picture, from the inside, of the horrors of that time. Even when we are invited in through the narrow camera-view of a single person, it is beyond our ability to imagine the extent of the horror, the alienation, the complete unreality/surreality of what was undoubtedly real and happening then and there. It is a merciful blankness on our part, but a dangerous one. Our inability to truly grasp what occurred makes it all too probable that events may transpire to allow it to happen again. And so, chronicles like these are valuable as signposts and warnings--constant reminders of the depths to which humanity can stoop--and our willingness to do so at the slightest provocation--or, in this instance, no provocation at all except the one we dream up.
Elie Wiesel was a 14 year old boy living in Hungary when the Hungarian Holocaust occurred. Now, I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that for the majority of the war, the Hungarian Jews had a measure of protection from the Holocaust. The ruler of Hungary refused to go along with the German plan with regard to the Jews. That isn't to say that life was easy or without hardships or prejudice, but until 1944, the Hungarian Jews knew little or nothing of the holocaust. That all stopped suddenly, dramatically, in 1944 when a new government, a more cooperative government came into power and Hungary's Jews were gathered for the final solution.
Night is the story of one of these Hungarian Jews. It is spare and unrelenting. While it does not flinch at looking the horror of what happened in the face, it's merciful brevity adds more punch to the profound questions that the author makes no real attempt to address. Where was God? What was God doing while this happened to the chosen people? Here was a young, ardent Jew, one who wanted to study the Kabbalah, faced with one of the greatest horrors humankind had ever brought forth.
I can add nothing to the recommendation that I noted yesterday. But this seems to me to be required reading. with Anne Frank, Victor Frankl, Tadeusz Borokowski, Primo Levi, Imre Kertesz and a few others, this narrative gives yet another picture, from the inside, of the horrors of that time. Even when we are invited in through the narrow camera-view of a single person, it is beyond our ability to imagine the extent of the horror, the alienation, the complete unreality/surreality of what was undoubtedly real and happening then and there. It is a merciful blankness on our part, but a dangerous one. Our inability to truly grasp what occurred makes it all too probable that events may transpire to allow it to happen again. And so, chronicles like these are valuable as signposts and warnings--constant reminders of the depths to which humanity can stoop--and our willingness to do so at the slightest provocation--or, in this instance, no provocation at all except the one we dream up.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Leads to Interesting Places
"Declaration on the Notion of 'The Future'"
And the complete manifesto from the International Necronautical Association
Two Excerpts of interest
6. To phrase it in more directly political terms: the INS rejects the idea of the future, which is always the ultimate trump card of dominant socioeconomic narratives of progress. As our Chief Philosopher Simon Critchley has recently argued, the neoliberal versions of capitalism and democracy present themselves as an inevitability, a destiny to whom the future belongs. We resist this ideology of the future, in the name of the sheer radical potentiality of the past, and of the way the past can shape the creative impulses and imaginative landscape of the present. The future of thinking is its past, a thinking which turns its back on the future.
. . . .
25. A footnote on Ballard: When, in 2006, a range of writers, scientists, artists, architects, and misc. were asked to contribute a sentence each to Hans Ulrich Obrist’s reader on the Future, J. G.’s cleaned the floor with all the rest. While they came up with sweeping, visionary statements on technology, society, the virtual, and every other futurological motif, Ballard confined himself to four words: “The Future is boring.”
Being nearly completely tone-deaf to irony, I cannot tell in what spirit this was advanced or what its real or intended meanings are. Is it some vast and elaborate joke, a facade, a pretend-play? Or is it to be taken seriously. Or is there some combination of the two? Because I oppose irony (except dramatic irony, which makes for more interesting plays and movies) I read the manifesto as at least semi-serious--which is problematic in itself.
And the complete manifesto from the International Necronautical Association
Two Excerpts of interest
6. To phrase it in more directly political terms: the INS rejects the idea of the future, which is always the ultimate trump card of dominant socioeconomic narratives of progress. As our Chief Philosopher Simon Critchley has recently argued, the neoliberal versions of capitalism and democracy present themselves as an inevitability, a destiny to whom the future belongs. We resist this ideology of the future, in the name of the sheer radical potentiality of the past, and of the way the past can shape the creative impulses and imaginative landscape of the present. The future of thinking is its past, a thinking which turns its back on the future.
. . . .
25. A footnote on Ballard: When, in 2006, a range of writers, scientists, artists, architects, and misc. were asked to contribute a sentence each to Hans Ulrich Obrist’s reader on the Future, J. G.’s cleaned the floor with all the rest. While they came up with sweeping, visionary statements on technology, society, the virtual, and every other futurological motif, Ballard confined himself to four words: “The Future is boring.”
Being nearly completely tone-deaf to irony, I cannot tell in what spirit this was advanced or what its real or intended meanings are. Is it some vast and elaborate joke, a facade, a pretend-play? Or is it to be taken seriously. Or is there some combination of the two? Because I oppose irony (except dramatic irony, which makes for more interesting plays and movies) I read the manifesto as at least semi-serious--which is problematic in itself.
Chesterton on Film
Alec Guinness Playing Father Brown and Chesterton Himself.
GKC's voice comes as something of a surprise to me.
GKC's voice comes as something of a surprise to me.
Considering Pym?
Barbara Pym considered
If you haven't read her, you may want to pick up a novel and give it a whirl. You might be pleasantly surprised.
If you haven't read her, you may want to pick up a novel and give it a whirl. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Poetry is Politics
Poetry Out Loud examined.
via Books Inq.
The best multicultural education one can get is a grounding in the classics of one's own culture--the ability to understand how literature works at a base level in a vernacular that is comprehensible to the individual. This was my training--and though I am occasionally mystified by my forays into other cultures, I can claim that I'm occasionally mystified by my forays into my own--it is all equal. While much should be done to redress the historic discrimination that has kept out of our hands works of quality by women and minorities--it seems a shame to make that one of the overriding criteria for a selection of work.
via Books Inq.
The best multicultural education one can get is a grounding in the classics of one's own culture--the ability to understand how literature works at a base level in a vernacular that is comprehensible to the individual. This was my training--and though I am occasionally mystified by my forays into other cultures, I can claim that I'm occasionally mystified by my forays into my own--it is all equal. While much should be done to redress the historic discrimination that has kept out of our hands works of quality by women and minorities--it seems a shame to make that one of the overriding criteria for a selection of work.
Black Swan
A review of Black Swan
via Books Inq.
Sounds interesting, when I first read about it, I thought All About Eve in Ballet or, to cite one of my very favorite all time terrible, horrible, big bad movies Showgirls Goes Classical. Apparently more than that (as what could not be?) and intriguing--but not one I'm going to race out to see.
via Books Inq.
Sounds interesting, when I first read about it, I thought All About Eve in Ballet or, to cite one of my very favorite all time terrible, horrible, big bad movies Showgirls Goes Classical. Apparently more than that (as what could not be?) and intriguing--but not one I'm going to race out to see.
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets
One that I must have--but know I sha'n't find in my library--any generous spirits want to send it to me?
Ha! Thought not.
One that I must have--but know I sha'n't find in my library--any generous spirits want to send it to me?
Ha! Thought not.
Twelve Books of 2010
Twelve Books of 2010
Agreement on A Fine Balance, East of Eden, and The Imperfectionists, partial agreement with caveat on Insignificant Others. Agreement on the merits, but not necessarily on all aspects of the analysis (a notable demurral on the interpretation of The Imperfectionists--but then, a book well-written admits of many possible views.)
Agreement on A Fine Balance, East of Eden, and The Imperfectionists, partial agreement with caveat on Insignificant Others. Agreement on the merits, but not necessarily on all aspects of the analysis (a notable demurral on the interpretation of The Imperfectionists--but then, a book well-written admits of many possible views.)
"And Now for Something Completely Different. . . "
The Mummies perform Justine live
From what little one can make out of melody and lyrics, one assumes that this is Durrell's Justine not DeSade's--although from the assault on the ears, one could easily infer the latter as well.
From what little one can make out of melody and lyrics, one assumes that this is Durrell's Justine not DeSade's--although from the assault on the ears, one could easily infer the latter as well.
Why Books Still Matter
The Lost Art of Reading--Why Books Still Matter
Sometimes, it seems, we go out of our way to try to show that something we enjoy or appreciate still matters, and yet the attempt in itself almost makes itself redundant. Of course it matters, but we're preaching to the choir, for the only person likely to read a book about why books and reading matter is a person who is already convinced that they do. Such a manifesto is unlikely to persuade the nonreader, because said person won't pick it up. So, it is interesting. But whatever adds dignity, vision, peace, and harmony to human life matters--and certainly reading CAN do that, even if it does not always.
Sometimes, it seems, we go out of our way to try to show that something we enjoy or appreciate still matters, and yet the attempt in itself almost makes itself redundant. Of course it matters, but we're preaching to the choir, for the only person likely to read a book about why books and reading matter is a person who is already convinced that they do. Such a manifesto is unlikely to persuade the nonreader, because said person won't pick it up. So, it is interesting. But whatever adds dignity, vision, peace, and harmony to human life matters--and certainly reading CAN do that, even if it does not always.
The Fallen Angels Do Not Weep
"Just Like the Rain, I'll Always Be Falling. . . "
A delightful couple of lines:
"I holp no palmers whon thot thay bay seck;
No elvysh poppets twang may turvy rhyme;
Their ferney hawls I longen for to wreck"
I don't want to call them mock-medieval because the person composing them certainly has the credentials to produce a rounded medieval rhyme. Nevertheless, the ringing Chaucerian laughter of the last line, which echoes that "thanne longen folkes to goon on pilgrimage// and palmeres for to seken straugne strondes" from the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales certainly marks an allusiveness worth examining.
A delightful couple of lines:
"I holp no palmers whon thot thay bay seck;
No elvysh poppets twang may turvy rhyme;
Their ferney hawls I longen for to wreck"
I don't want to call them mock-medieval because the person composing them certainly has the credentials to produce a rounded medieval rhyme. Nevertheless, the ringing Chaucerian laughter of the last line, which echoes that "thanne longen folkes to goon on pilgrimage// and palmeres for to seken straugne strondes" from the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales certainly marks an allusiveness worth examining.
One of the Great and Neglected Golden Age Mystery Authors
Shelf Love discovers Michael Innes
Highlights of his work (for me) consist of Hamlet, Revenge!, Lament for a Maker, Hare Sitting Up, and Silence Observed--although all of them are quite good in a quiet, English, golden-age way.
Highlights of his work (for me) consist of Hamlet, Revenge!, Lament for a Maker, Hare Sitting Up, and Silence Observed--although all of them are quite good in a quiet, English, golden-age way.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
A Novel Around Tristan and Isolde
The Metropolitan Case a novel with Tristan and Isolde at the center.
As one who learned to love Wagner early on in life, this sounds fascinating. I'm given to understand that Wagner, like Lovecraft, Poe, and some others (perhaps even Mozart) is a taste acquired early on, and after a certain age, while appreciation may set in, true love is lost to one who hasn't already fallen.
As one who learned to love Wagner early on in life, this sounds fascinating. I'm given to understand that Wagner, like Lovecraft, Poe, and some others (perhaps even Mozart) is a taste acquired early on, and after a certain age, while appreciation may set in, true love is lost to one who hasn't already fallen.
Facing Night
Elie Wiesel's Night examined
A powerful novel--spare, taut, uncompromising. Truly one of the essentials--perhaps best balanced by a does of Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning or perhaps Imre Kertesz's Fatelessness (if you're made of sterner stuff than am I).
A powerful novel--spare, taut, uncompromising. Truly one of the essentials--perhaps best balanced by a does of Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning or perhaps Imre Kertesz's Fatelessness (if you're made of sterner stuff than am I).
More on Full Dark, No Stars
I have been thinking over a couple of ideas that cropped up while reading the book. I propose to discuss two here: why, exactly, I found "Fair Extension" as disturbing as I did and Stephen King's disingenuous distinctions.
Let's start with disingenuous distinctions. Mr. King states in the afterward something to the effect that literary fiction is ultimately about extraordinary people in ordinary events and that he has ever fashioned his fiction from ordinary people facing extraordinary events. Neither half of this generalization is true although one understands the underlying distinction he is trying to make. Let's start with the first half--extraordinary people in ordinary times. In the course of a blog entry, it isn't possible to consider every case of literary fiction; however, let's just take a few. Let us consider for a moment Leopold Bloom. In what way can we say that Mr. Bloom is an extraordinary person--what attributes does he have that make him stand out from the crowd? I would say that he is, in fact, the apotheosis of ordinary--and perhaps in that alone extraordinary. Mr. Bloom does not start out extraordinary, but he becomes so through the reader's investment in him. He is an ordinary working, walking through an ordinary day in Dublin and he has not set out to accomplish the extraordinary. Does the claim Mr. King makes aimed at saying that he does not want to create extraordinary characters who stand out in memory--characters who through their personification of all that we share allow us to stake some part of our being in their own--characters from whom we can learn important essentials of life? I don't think that is his desire. Surely he does not want to be consigned to the oblivion of yesterday's best-sellers? And if we continue--we can ask the same question of any number of characters in literature. Let's just look at Henry James--in what way is Daisy Miller extraordinary? Isabel Archer? Memorable, yes, extraordinary--well their lives and their ends exhibit the myriad ways in which they are terribly and terrifyingly ordinary.
Let us consider, just for a moment, the other side of that equation. How exactly is Carrie ordinary? In her psychokinetic ability and psychological fragility? And Randall Flagg? And Jack Torrance--he is "ordinary" in what way. Dolores Claiborne? Indeed, I would argue that Mr. King got it wrong in a very big way. Literary fiction is more often than not about ordinary people in ordinary situations who, in the course of dealing with the events of the story become extraordinary people in our minds--stand-outs from the remainder of humanity. On the other hand, I would also say that Mr. King's people are extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances who are sometimes overwhelmed by the circumstances, and sometimes emerge from them in some transcendent, and usually horrible way.
Enough, already I have beaten a horse that emerged from the womb dead. But another point in the book is more worthy of consideration. What is it that makes "Fair Extension" such a terrible, nauseous story (for me)? And I think here, the answer is straightforward. The attitudes undertaken by the main characters are so much in tune with the ordinary, with what any person in extremis is capable of. From here on out, reading has become unsafe, I'll need to talk about details of the plot that will ruin the story for those who have not yet indulged in the tale.
Let's start with disingenuous distinctions. Mr. King states in the afterward something to the effect that literary fiction is ultimately about extraordinary people in ordinary events and that he has ever fashioned his fiction from ordinary people facing extraordinary events. Neither half of this generalization is true although one understands the underlying distinction he is trying to make. Let's start with the first half--extraordinary people in ordinary times. In the course of a blog entry, it isn't possible to consider every case of literary fiction; however, let's just take a few. Let us consider for a moment Leopold Bloom. In what way can we say that Mr. Bloom is an extraordinary person--what attributes does he have that make him stand out from the crowd? I would say that he is, in fact, the apotheosis of ordinary--and perhaps in that alone extraordinary. Mr. Bloom does not start out extraordinary, but he becomes so through the reader's investment in him. He is an ordinary working, walking through an ordinary day in Dublin and he has not set out to accomplish the extraordinary. Does the claim Mr. King makes aimed at saying that he does not want to create extraordinary characters who stand out in memory--characters who through their personification of all that we share allow us to stake some part of our being in their own--characters from whom we can learn important essentials of life? I don't think that is his desire. Surely he does not want to be consigned to the oblivion of yesterday's best-sellers? And if we continue--we can ask the same question of any number of characters in literature. Let's just look at Henry James--in what way is Daisy Miller extraordinary? Isabel Archer? Memorable, yes, extraordinary--well their lives and their ends exhibit the myriad ways in which they are terribly and terrifyingly ordinary.
Let us consider, just for a moment, the other side of that equation. How exactly is Carrie ordinary? In her psychokinetic ability and psychological fragility? And Randall Flagg? And Jack Torrance--he is "ordinary" in what way. Dolores Claiborne? Indeed, I would argue that Mr. King got it wrong in a very big way. Literary fiction is more often than not about ordinary people in ordinary situations who, in the course of dealing with the events of the story become extraordinary people in our minds--stand-outs from the remainder of humanity. On the other hand, I would also say that Mr. King's people are extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances who are sometimes overwhelmed by the circumstances, and sometimes emerge from them in some transcendent, and usually horrible way.
Enough, already I have beaten a horse that emerged from the womb dead. But another point in the book is more worthy of consideration. What is it that makes "Fair Extension" such a terrible, nauseous story (for me)? And I think here, the answer is straightforward. The attitudes undertaken by the main characters are so much in tune with the ordinary, with what any person in extremis is capable of. From here on out, reading has become unsafe, I'll need to talk about details of the plot that will ruin the story for those who have not yet indulged in the tale.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Martian Sunset and Phobos in Transit
Martian Sunset and Phobos in Transit
Eclipse, while probably technically correct, seems strong for a body that would never fully block even the tiny Martian sun. But interesting watching nevertheless.
Eclipse, while probably technically correct, seems strong for a body that would never fully block even the tiny Martian sun. But interesting watching nevertheless.
Gratitude as a Way of Life
Gratitude as a Way of Life
One of the key components to happiness in life is the ability to be grateful for what we have--not in comparison to others, not with respect to some place we would like to be--but here and now being thankful for what is in our lives. It is, at times, very difficult because our thoughts are clouded by disordered desires. But gratitude helps to align those desires, put them in perspective, and order our living accordingly.
And another
via Books Inq.
One of the key components to happiness in life is the ability to be grateful for what we have--not in comparison to others, not with respect to some place we would like to be--but here and now being thankful for what is in our lives. It is, at times, very difficult because our thoughts are clouded by disordered desires. But gratitude helps to align those desires, put them in perspective, and order our living accordingly.
And another
via Books Inq.
A Conversation with Father James Schall S. J.
Advent Conversation
via Books Inq.
Fr. Schall is well-known for his writing about literature (particularly G. K. Chesterton and other such) as well as other Catholic Matters--he's a favorite of mine for many things.
via Books Inq.
Fr. Schall is well-known for his writing about literature (particularly G. K. Chesterton and other such) as well as other Catholic Matters--he's a favorite of mine for many things.
Elegantly Old School
"Elegantly Old School"
Or how to revive common courtesy and knit society back together again.
What was once common courtesy is now a rare and somewhat precious (in both senses of the word) thing. I think about the rules we were taught for writing letters--and then I see how we commonly do e-mails. The address line is determined to be salutation enough. If we leave comments, we rarely trouble ourselves to acknowledge the individual behind them. I know the electronic is metaphor for the new conversation in which we commonly do not acknowledge the speaker--but then, because we are present and evidently attentive, there is little cause to.
Courtesy, acknowledging the presence of one another, saluting the spark of the divine that travels within each one of us, is the stuff of which civil society is made--and it isn't a set of elaborate rules about whether or not one is required to wear elbow-length gloves or use the fish fork before the ice-cream knife (although those things in themselves have a charm and an other-worldly elegance). Instead it is about being present to one another and acknowledging by that presence the worth of the individual who is trying to communicate. This is done in small ways--by using a name, by saluting with one's own name.
I know, I have an antiquated idea of how things should progress in the world of the new spelling, twitter, and text messages. But as everyone who has been aggravated by them will attest, even my text messages make some attempt at salutation and valedictory.
Or how to revive common courtesy and knit society back together again.
What was once common courtesy is now a rare and somewhat precious (in both senses of the word) thing. I think about the rules we were taught for writing letters--and then I see how we commonly do e-mails. The address line is determined to be salutation enough. If we leave comments, we rarely trouble ourselves to acknowledge the individual behind them. I know the electronic is metaphor for the new conversation in which we commonly do not acknowledge the speaker--but then, because we are present and evidently attentive, there is little cause to.
Courtesy, acknowledging the presence of one another, saluting the spark of the divine that travels within each one of us, is the stuff of which civil society is made--and it isn't a set of elaborate rules about whether or not one is required to wear elbow-length gloves or use the fish fork before the ice-cream knife (although those things in themselves have a charm and an other-worldly elegance). Instead it is about being present to one another and acknowledging by that presence the worth of the individual who is trying to communicate. This is done in small ways--by using a name, by saluting with one's own name.
I know, I have an antiquated idea of how things should progress in the world of the new spelling, twitter, and text messages. But as everyone who has been aggravated by them will attest, even my text messages make some attempt at salutation and valedictory.
How True Grit Made the Best Seller Lists
How True Grit hit the big time (first time around)
I read this book a long, long time ago and remember really loving it--not being able to read it fast enough. I guess it was one of the first generation of YA fiction. I'm not certain I would find it so compellingly readable now--but I'm told the new film clings more closely to the contours of the book, and that comes as welcome news.
I read this book a long, long time ago and remember really loving it--not being able to read it fast enough. I guess it was one of the first generation of YA fiction. I'm not certain I would find it so compellingly readable now--but I'm told the new film clings more closely to the contours of the book, and that comes as welcome news.
Harry Potter Actress Threatened with Honor Killing
Harry Potter Actress Threatened with Honor Killing
via North Face
What is a shame is that a small number of practitioners of a faith, any faith, should so color our perception of the faith as a whole. I know that as a Christian, I'm not particularly fond of abortion clinic bombers, cults in the style of David Koresh, or even (in a much different vein) a great many televangelists--all of these detract from the dignity of a truly noble and humanizing faith. So, too, with these stories as they emerge. I'm glad they emerge to cast light on what should not be left in darkness and so exemplify and spotlight what ought to change; however, it saddens me to think that as a result a great many will have reinforced conceptions, misconceptions, and prejudices about a system of belief.
via North Face
What is a shame is that a small number of practitioners of a faith, any faith, should so color our perception of the faith as a whole. I know that as a Christian, I'm not particularly fond of abortion clinic bombers, cults in the style of David Koresh, or even (in a much different vein) a great many televangelists--all of these detract from the dignity of a truly noble and humanizing faith. So, too, with these stories as they emerge. I'm glad they emerge to cast light on what should not be left in darkness and so exemplify and spotlight what ought to change; however, it saddens me to think that as a result a great many will have reinforced conceptions, misconceptions, and prejudices about a system of belief.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Full Dark, No Stars--Stephen King
I received Mr. King's latest opus as a Christmas gift and finished it this morning.
The book lives up to the title, and one can only hope that it serves as a form of therapy or hope for Mr. King, for if not, the darkness is very dark indeed. For the most part, it is fairly standard King fare, rats (hearkening back to very early work in his first short story collection, which in turn hearkens back to H. P. Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls"), a tale of rape, near-murder and revenge, a story about a marriage--with secrets, and a Needful Things extension, which is, perhaps the ugliest and most deeply disturbing story in the book.
Indeed, it was this tale that actually caused a gut-churning nausea--not because of the details--which, in fact, were mild in the realm of Kingian detail, but the very concept of the story was deeply disturbing to me. It truly exemplified Roethke's famous line, "Dark, dark my light and darker my desire."
All of the stories in the book are dark, darker by far than much of what Mr. King has produced before. One might say that the outer darkness so prevalent in much of Mr. King's fiction has through time undergone a transformation to a deep inner darkness. In some cases, this darkness has been provoked by incidents beyond the perpetrator's control. But, and this is what makes "Fair Extension" so deeply disturbing, Mr. King has come to the realization that some of us choose deep darkness and evil and choose it willingly. And Mr. King is very, very Aquinian in his understanding of this choice--no one chooses darkness for darkness, but they choose darkness because they see good.
These stories are good, well-written, haunting in the best sense of that term. For me the most haunting being the dark choice of "Fair Extension" and the good that plays out from it--good for one--not so much for another. Again, not a new theme for Mr. King, think Thinner.
What is refreshing is to see a distinct lack of excess, a deliberation and a control that I had thought had long since left Mr. King's command. Also refreshing is the relative lack of political diatribe that has polluted some of the more recent (and very fine) work such as Duma Key.
For fans of this master of dark tales, highly recommended. For those who have not yet entered the pale, you might be well advised to keep away--this form of nightshade is less poisonous, but highly addictive.
****1/2
The book lives up to the title, and one can only hope that it serves as a form of therapy or hope for Mr. King, for if not, the darkness is very dark indeed. For the most part, it is fairly standard King fare, rats (hearkening back to very early work in his first short story collection, which in turn hearkens back to H. P. Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls"), a tale of rape, near-murder and revenge, a story about a marriage--with secrets, and a Needful Things extension, which is, perhaps the ugliest and most deeply disturbing story in the book.
Indeed, it was this tale that actually caused a gut-churning nausea--not because of the details--which, in fact, were mild in the realm of Kingian detail, but the very concept of the story was deeply disturbing to me. It truly exemplified Roethke's famous line, "Dark, dark my light and darker my desire."
All of the stories in the book are dark, darker by far than much of what Mr. King has produced before. One might say that the outer darkness so prevalent in much of Mr. King's fiction has through time undergone a transformation to a deep inner darkness. In some cases, this darkness has been provoked by incidents beyond the perpetrator's control. But, and this is what makes "Fair Extension" so deeply disturbing, Mr. King has come to the realization that some of us choose deep darkness and evil and choose it willingly. And Mr. King is very, very Aquinian in his understanding of this choice--no one chooses darkness for darkness, but they choose darkness because they see good.
These stories are good, well-written, haunting in the best sense of that term. For me the most haunting being the dark choice of "Fair Extension" and the good that plays out from it--good for one--not so much for another. Again, not a new theme for Mr. King, think Thinner.
What is refreshing is to see a distinct lack of excess, a deliberation and a control that I had thought had long since left Mr. King's command. Also refreshing is the relative lack of political diatribe that has polluted some of the more recent (and very fine) work such as Duma Key.
For fans of this master of dark tales, highly recommended. For those who have not yet entered the pale, you might be well advised to keep away--this form of nightshade is less poisonous, but highly addictive.
****1/2
Friday, December 24, 2010
A Christmas Poem
The Burning Babe
St. Robert Southwell
As I in hoary winter's night stood shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow ;
And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear ;
Who, scorchëd with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed
As though his floods should quench his flames which with his tears were fed.
Alas, quoth he, but newly born in fiery heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I !
My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns,
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns ;
The fuel justice layeth on, and mercy blows the coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought are men's defilëd souls,
For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood.
With this he vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away,
And straight I callëd unto mind that it was Christmas day.
The Scorch Trials--James Dashner
The Scorch Trials is a young adult novel, follow-up to The Maze Runner. While the puzzle and quest are neither as intricate nor as interesting as in the first book, the systematic and unremitting cruelty of WICKED continues.
The teens from The Maze Runner are forced out into the Scorch to cross one hundred miles of desert in two weeks. The stretch leads past a city of abandoned people--quarantined victims of The Flare, called Cranks, in various states of psychological and physical collapse. And of course, if that were not enough, other elements are stacked up against the success of the trial. The story is high energy and charges along at a good pace, though there are elements about it that would cause me not to recommend it for most young people. They'll find it themselves, surely, and they don't need my advice about what is good for them. However, as an adult gift-giver, these would not be in my long list of literature for young adults--this set in particular because I'm not struck by the quality of writing, nor am I particularly partial to the notion that expletive dotted language (no matter how the expletives are disguised) is particularly the mode of conversation you want to encourage in those whose ethos and approach to life is still forming. Words have power and when you attenuate that power with words designed for a meaningless emphasis, you are draining the language for its richness. I know too many whose language reflects this etiolation.
There is something deeply disturbing about the present trend in YA fiction toward these very dark and exceedingly distrustful books about relationships between the generations. The distrust and anxiety are already prevalent, and perhaps these books, along with those by Suzanne Collins, Scott Westerfeld and others merely play on this riff--but if so, it is a very long riff with little about it that suggests reconciliation. Perhaps that is okay. Perhaps the message is that the way you feel is common, everyone feels that one sometimes. Perhaps not.
***
The teens from The Maze Runner are forced out into the Scorch to cross one hundred miles of desert in two weeks. The stretch leads past a city of abandoned people--quarantined victims of The Flare, called Cranks, in various states of psychological and physical collapse. And of course, if that were not enough, other elements are stacked up against the success of the trial. The story is high energy and charges along at a good pace, though there are elements about it that would cause me not to recommend it for most young people. They'll find it themselves, surely, and they don't need my advice about what is good for them. However, as an adult gift-giver, these would not be in my long list of literature for young adults--this set in particular because I'm not struck by the quality of writing, nor am I particularly partial to the notion that expletive dotted language (no matter how the expletives are disguised) is particularly the mode of conversation you want to encourage in those whose ethos and approach to life is still forming. Words have power and when you attenuate that power with words designed for a meaningless emphasis, you are draining the language for its richness. I know too many whose language reflects this etiolation.
There is something deeply disturbing about the present trend in YA fiction toward these very dark and exceedingly distrustful books about relationships between the generations. The distrust and anxiety are already prevalent, and perhaps these books, along with those by Suzanne Collins, Scott Westerfeld and others merely play on this riff--but if so, it is a very long riff with little about it that suggests reconciliation. Perhaps that is okay. Perhaps the message is that the way you feel is common, everyone feels that one sometimes. Perhaps not.
***
Christmas Greetings to All!
A day early, but as I don't plan to be on tomorrow to extend these seasonal greetings--a favorite carol:
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici,
Devotes gens, crions a Dieu merci!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
L'ange disait! pasteurs partez d'ici!
En Bethleem trouverez l'angelet.
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
En Bethleem, etant tous reunis,
Trouverent l'enfant, Joseph, Marie aussi.
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
Bientot, les Rois, par l'etoile eclaircis,
A Bethleem vinrent un matinee.
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
L'un partait l'or; l'autre l'encens bem;
L'etable alors au Paradis semblait.
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici,
Devotes gens, crions a Dieu merci!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
L'ange disait! pasteurs partez d'ici!
En Bethleem trouverez l'angelet.
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
En Bethleem, etant tous reunis,
Trouverent l'enfant, Joseph, Marie aussi.
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
Bientot, les Rois, par l'etoile eclaircis,
A Bethleem vinrent un matinee.
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
L'un partait l'or; l'autre l'encens bem;
L'etable alors au Paradis semblait.
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet, Noel!
Chantons Noel pour le Roi nouvelet,
Noel nouvelet, Noel chantons ici!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
The PoMo Drops Off the Deep End Again
Or so it sounds from this review of Stanley Fish's How to Write a Sentence
A Considerable List of Notables
via A Commonplace Blog, a considerable list of the year's notable books
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Triffids reconsidered
John Wyndham's unread best seller
"I really got hot
when Janette Scott
fought a triffid that shoots poison and kills. . . "
"I really got hot
when Janette Scott
fought a triffid that shoots poison and kills. . . "
Book Munch Book of the Year
A somewhat disappointing list and a very disappointing winner.
If that's the best of the year, I would have to mourn for the state of literature that should have this at the apex.
If that's the best of the year, I would have to mourn for the state of literature that should have this at the apex.
Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse
Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse video
Flying home last evening, I was privileged to see the ochre full moon reflecting off of the water on Florida's east coast. It was glorious, gorgeous, wonderful, and mysterious. So, beautiful. I missed this eclipse, not realizing that it was to happen--so this video is a wonderful "catch-up."
Flying home last evening, I was privileged to see the ochre full moon reflecting off of the water on Florida's east coast. It was glorious, gorgeous, wonderful, and mysterious. So, beautiful. I missed this eclipse, not realizing that it was to happen--so this video is a wonderful "catch-up."
Achebe's Achievement
Things Fall Apart considered
Along with Nectar in a Seive, Things Fall Apart was one of the few "multicultural books" to which I was exposed in my early formal education.
It is my contention that a thorough grounding in the pale patriarchy's canon made possible for me to access multicultural reading (take a look at the sidebar).
All of that said, this is one of those titles that deserve again and again a place within the canon of great works.
Along with Nectar in a Seive, Things Fall Apart was one of the few "multicultural books" to which I was exposed in my early formal education.
It is my contention that a thorough grounding in the pale patriarchy's canon made possible for me to access multicultural reading (take a look at the sidebar).
All of that said, this is one of those titles that deserve again and again a place within the canon of great works.
"Solstice Song"
"Solstice Song"
Celebrating that shortest of days--the "beginning of winter" though many have had it well-begun for some weeks now.
Celebrating that shortest of days--the "beginning of winter" though many have had it well-begun for some weeks now.
Critique of Criminal Reason--Michael Gregorio
NOTE: R/T, Bea, Ron, you may not want to read what follows the break if you plan to read the book. While I will try to be discrete, it may prove impossible to discuss the book without giving away some sense of it.
I saw that Fred had recommended this to R/T, and being something of a reader of mysteries, I thought I would take it up myself. Let me start unabashedly. Despite some problems I had with the book, which I'll detail below, overall, I enjoyed it tremendously.
The story: A young magistrate from Nowhere, Germany is summoned by the king to Königsberg to investigate a series of murders that has the town terrorized. On the even of possible Napoleonic invasion, many officials are convinced that these are the work of terrorists, designed to undermine the morale of the town and make it easy pickings for Napoleon's forces. As our intrepid investigator looks deeper into the crimes, they begin to proliferate and he finds. . . well, let's not go there.
Possibly one of the more interesting aspects of the novel is the presence of Immanuel Kant (as presaged in the title--to parallel two of the master philosophers most well-known texts.) Fortunately for us Kant is not the investigator, but, and this is the interesting twist, he does tutor our investigator in all of techniques associated with criminal investigation--thus "creating" a detective.
Before I launch into my comments about some of the problems with the book, let me give my final analysis. Well written, highly enjoyable--well-drawn characters, some extremely unlikeable, but all a very human mix of likable and unlikable. The author does a nice job of dealing with the real horror of the crimes and the atmosphere it creates in the city overall. Finally, this is not "precious" the way some mysteries featuring historical characters are. It is saved from preciousness by the fact that Kant, while central to the progress of the story is not the central intelligence behind its telling. I can say, without reservation, that I would gladly take up another novel by the same author.
**** recommended for readers of mysteries, with some small reservations.
I saw that Fred had recommended this to R/T, and being something of a reader of mysteries, I thought I would take it up myself. Let me start unabashedly. Despite some problems I had with the book, which I'll detail below, overall, I enjoyed it tremendously.
The story: A young magistrate from Nowhere, Germany is summoned by the king to Königsberg to investigate a series of murders that has the town terrorized. On the even of possible Napoleonic invasion, many officials are convinced that these are the work of terrorists, designed to undermine the morale of the town and make it easy pickings for Napoleon's forces. As our intrepid investigator looks deeper into the crimes, they begin to proliferate and he finds. . . well, let's not go there.
Possibly one of the more interesting aspects of the novel is the presence of Immanuel Kant (as presaged in the title--to parallel two of the master philosophers most well-known texts.) Fortunately for us Kant is not the investigator, but, and this is the interesting twist, he does tutor our investigator in all of techniques associated with criminal investigation--thus "creating" a detective.
Before I launch into my comments about some of the problems with the book, let me give my final analysis. Well written, highly enjoyable--well-drawn characters, some extremely unlikeable, but all a very human mix of likable and unlikable. The author does a nice job of dealing with the real horror of the crimes and the atmosphere it creates in the city overall. Finally, this is not "precious" the way some mysteries featuring historical characters are. It is saved from preciousness by the fact that Kant, while central to the progress of the story is not the central intelligence behind its telling. I can say, without reservation, that I would gladly take up another novel by the same author.
**** recommended for readers of mysteries, with some small reservations.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Not Your Mother's Narnia
Sarah Palin is reading C. S. Lewis, and, predictably being attacked for it
This WSJ article speaks of one of the main themes of Dawn Treader--the importance of reading the right books, including fiction.
Posted from my iPad while waiting for a commuter flight to Miami--don't know how much more I'll be able to get to today.
This WSJ article speaks of one of the main themes of Dawn Treader--the importance of reading the right books, including fiction.
Posted from my iPad while waiting for a commuter flight to Miami--don't know how much more I'll be able to get to today.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Brief Biographies
Brief Biographies of those who left too soon.
Including my second favorite composer: Felix Mendelssohn. (My favorite in the realm--Claude Debussy).
Including my second favorite composer: Felix Mendelssohn. (My favorite in the realm--Claude Debussy).
Poem of the Week: Thomas Traherne
"Shadows in the Water"
Thomas Traherne gave us the Centuries of Meditations, which were, by my recollection one of those "lost" and refound collections. Worth your attention and careful reading.
Thomas Traherne gave us the Centuries of Meditations, which were, by my recollection one of those "lost" and refound collections. Worth your attention and careful reading.
Countee Cullen on the Nativity
Christus natus est
One of the great crimes of the twentieth century is the virtual disappearance of Countee Cullen from the record of its poetry. The power, integrity, and beauty of his opus is worth looking for and looking into. A few years back a Collected Poems was published--I think it is out of print, but it's worth picking up if you should find a copy.
One of the great crimes of the twentieth century is the virtual disappearance of Countee Cullen from the record of its poetry. The power, integrity, and beauty of his opus is worth looking for and looking into. A few years back a Collected Poems was published--I think it is out of print, but it's worth picking up if you should find a copy.
Why Euphemism?
Euphemania reviewed
This sounds like one of those really interesting books I would never pick up if not recommended by so redoubtable a source as Biblioklept, with whom I do not agree on everything, but whose wide-ranging and eclectic interests never fail to intrigue--I have found many, many good things to read and see through the blog.
This sounds like one of those really interesting books I would never pick up if not recommended by so redoubtable a source as Biblioklept, with whom I do not agree on everything, but whose wide-ranging and eclectic interests never fail to intrigue--I have found many, many good things to read and see through the blog.
Barbara Pym: Because It's in My Reading Stack
Excellent Women reviewed
I hope we see a reevaluation and reemergence of Ms. Pym whose works I have long admired from afar and have only recently begun to explore close-up.
I hope we see a reevaluation and reemergence of Ms. Pym whose works I have long admired from afar and have only recently begun to explore close-up.
An Update on Mistry's Masterpiece
Underbelly provides us with an interesting look into the world that Mistry so superbly chronicled in his (to date) masterpiece A Fine Balance.
Do yourself and the world a favor--if you have not yet read it, pick up Mistry's powerful, humane, beautiful, and terrible masterpiece and read it. Internalize it, and then act upon it. This is the way the world is, despite Ms. Greer's denial of it.
Do yourself and the world a favor--if you have not yet read it, pick up Mistry's powerful, humane, beautiful, and terrible masterpiece and read it. Internalize it, and then act upon it. This is the way the world is, despite Ms. Greer's denial of it.
A Tribute to Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart (RIP), whose magnum opus Trout Mask Replica, occupied many (far too many) of my college hours seeking first to understand, then to decide whether or not I liked it, then to figure out how it had ever made it out into the world of music at all given the less that liberal allowances of the recording industry even at that time.
Later: Frank at Books Inq. has rounded up a number of tributes
Later: Frank at Books Inq. has rounded up a number of tributes
On the Problem of Evil
Evil as It Appears to Atheists and Theists
from which I derive the quotation du jour:
"Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct, but to find these reasons is no less an instinct." F. H. Bradley
from which I derive the quotation du jour:
"Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct, but to find these reasons is no less an instinct." F. H. Bradley
Traveling with Edith Wharton
In Morocco reviewed
I note this book with particular delight because, until today, I was in complete ignorance of it. Now I can delight in looking forward to an Edith Wharton of which I had been unaware.
I note this book with particular delight because, until today, I was in complete ignorance of it. Now I can delight in looking forward to an Edith Wharton of which I had been unaware.
LoA--Story of the Week--Mark Twain
The Christmas Fireside (for Good Little Boys and Girls)
Knowing as I do Mr. Twain, I doubt I shall read this until well after the Christmas season--but for those for whom the Twainian brand of cynicism comes as a restorative, I offer LoA's seasonal offering.
Knowing as I do Mr. Twain, I doubt I shall read this until well after the Christmas season--but for those for whom the Twainian brand of cynicism comes as a restorative, I offer LoA's seasonal offering.
Bound to Last Sean Manning (ed.)
The wonderful folks at Da Capo books offered me a review copy of one of their most recent, and, after all, who am I to turn down a free book--I took them up on the offer and I'm pleased that I did. Bound to Last: 30 Writers on Their Most Cherished Book is an unusual volume. It's comprised of a series of thirty essays about, predictably books. But this is really about books, not content, not story, not literature. And as a result some unusual volumes find their way into the collection. For example, Rabih Alameddine highlights as his most cherished book a battered paperback edition of Harold Robbins's The Carpetbaggers. Shahrihar Mandanipour looks to a Farsi translation of Das Kapital. Victoria Patterson, not surprisingly, considering the power of her own work, looks to William Trevor: The Collected Stories. Perhaps the most touching of all of these is Karen Green's tribute to her late husband via The Collected Stories of Amy Hempl, and perhaps it is touching because we understand the circumstances.
Each of these essays examines an actual copy of a book--some still owned, some long since vanished, that occupies a central place in each author's life and looks at why that volume is so important. This is really about books--about stories, but also about paper, binding, blue, covers, hard and fast real life printed on paper books. But I should note that there is nothing, or at least very little reactionary here. This isn't an argument for books against electronics, rather is is a celebration of the very tactility, the very corporality of books that so many people have cherish. It is a tribute to the power of incarnation, or at very least inpaperation of words. While I will continue to argue that what matters is what was written, no matter how conveyed, I know that I too am deeply subject to the intangible lure of the book--paper, binding, thread, ink, cover, all. I have not left off buying or acquiring them, nor will I, even though I can carry ten thousand or more with me in my various e-book readers.
A beautiful collection--perfect for the bibliophile--I can't recommend highly enough the celebration caught between these covers--the book that, perhaps, in the future, if asked, I might choose as the one to celebrate.
*****
Each of these essays examines an actual copy of a book--some still owned, some long since vanished, that occupies a central place in each author's life and looks at why that volume is so important. This is really about books--about stories, but also about paper, binding, blue, covers, hard and fast real life printed on paper books. But I should note that there is nothing, or at least very little reactionary here. This isn't an argument for books against electronics, rather is is a celebration of the very tactility, the very corporality of books that so many people have cherish. It is a tribute to the power of incarnation, or at very least inpaperation of words. While I will continue to argue that what matters is what was written, no matter how conveyed, I know that I too am deeply subject to the intangible lure of the book--paper, binding, thread, ink, cover, all. I have not left off buying or acquiring them, nor will I, even though I can carry ten thousand or more with me in my various e-book readers.
A beautiful collection--perfect for the bibliophile--I can't recommend highly enough the celebration caught between these covers--the book that, perhaps, in the future, if asked, I might choose as the one to celebrate.
*****
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wow! Kevin Gave Me an Early Christmas Gift
Mr. Interpolations (with whom, I promise, I will eventually talk about Flannery O'Connor) politely requested a gift from a number of bloggers, most of whom were already on my list. but one who was not turned out to be a real gift. Check out
Carvana de Recuerdos.
Kevin from Canada
Nonsuch Books
Thanks Kevin, hope you like your gift when you open it. If not, the exchange counter is open and I'm more than happy to offer something more slimming or entallating or embulking--whatever.
Carvana de Recuerdos.
Kevin from Canada
Nonsuch Books
Thanks Kevin, hope you like your gift when you open it. If not, the exchange counter is open and I'm more than happy to offer something more slimming or entallating or embulking--whatever.
The Other Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins wrote a number of worthwhile the most famous of which are The Moonstone and The Woman in White, reviewed here.
Both are worthy of the attention of anyone who appreciates Victoriana or the classic mystery.
Both are worthy of the attention of anyone who appreciates Victoriana or the classic mystery.