by way of Rus Bowden:
... Matryoshka.
... 5th Grade Student reads The Sloth by Theodore Roethke.
... Mosquito.
... Composition.
... Signal.
... The Late Summer Bear. (In which the bear learns a lesson more should be taught.)
... The Scary Thing.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Where have all the stories gone?
... High School Graduation Confidential: Lack of Stories Speaks Volumes. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The shape of the states ...
... Borders Defined, 50 Times. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
W.H. Auden says somewhere that he preferred irregular systems of measurement - yards, furlongs, acres - and so do I. Things like the metric system promote an illusion of precision that is in fact unattainable.
Tinseltown tomes ...
... Filmmaker Whit Stillman selects essential books about Hollywood. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Happy birthday ...
... to Walt Whitman.
Whitman, the great poet, has meant so much to me. Whitman, the one man breaking a way ahead. Whitman, the one pioneer. And only Whitman. No English pioneers, no French. No European pioneer-poets. In Europe the would-be pioneers are mere innovators. The same in America. Ahead of Whitman, nothing. Ahead of all poets, pioneering into the wilderness of unopened life, Whitman. Beyond him, none. His wide, strange camp at the end of the great high-road. And lots of new little poets camping on Whitman's camping ground now. But none going really beyond. Because Whitman's camp is at the end of the road, and on the edge of a great precipice.
- D.H Lawrence
I am unpersuaded ...
... Why typewriters beat computers. (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)
I can type faster at a computer than I ever could at a typewriter, almost as quickly as I can think. I can also quickly correct my numerous mistakes. So you can keep your Olivetti - and your nostalgia.
I can type faster at a computer than I ever could at a typewriter, almost as quickly as I can think. I can also quickly correct my numerous mistakes. So you can keep your Olivetti - and your nostalgia.
Is evolution ...
... for the birds? Peacockery.
I think that natural selection plays a major role in the origin and development of species, but I doubt if it comes near to telling the whole story. And isn't that the problem in debates like this, the presumption that there is a simple, one-size-fits-all explanation of reality?
By the bye, mention of peacocks always brings to my mind that line in Wallace Steven's "Domination of Black," "And I remembered the cry of the peacocks," which meant a good deal more to me after I heard what a ghastly sound that cry is.
I think that natural selection plays a major role in the origin and development of species, but I doubt if it comes near to telling the whole story. And isn't that the problem in debates like this, the presumption that there is a simple, one-size-fits-all explanation of reality?
By the bye, mention of peacocks always brings to my mind that line in Wallace Steven's "Domination of Black," "And I remembered the cry of the peacocks," which meant a good deal more to me after I heard what a ghastly sound that cry is.
The debate continues ...
... Beale vs. McDonald. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I'm with Mark on this. Before the internet, very, very few people could make their views known to the general public. Now just about everyone can. True, many of those views are pedestrian, cranky, ill-informed, etc., etc. But a good many are well-informed, incisive, original, etc., etc. And these latter are now available to the public, as they could not have been in the past. Some are proving to be more interesting and pertinent than those provided by the former gatekeepers. The latter defend themselves by pointing out that they would never have permitted those pedestrian, cranky, ill-informed outbursts to intrude on the public. But what about the others? Would they have brought them to the public's attention if they had had the opportunity? I wouldn't bet on it.
I'm with Mark on this. Before the internet, very, very few people could make their views known to the general public. Now just about everyone can. True, many of those views are pedestrian, cranky, ill-informed, etc., etc. But a good many are well-informed, incisive, original, etc., etc. And these latter are now available to the public, as they could not have been in the past. Some are proving to be more interesting and pertinent than those provided by the former gatekeepers. The latter defend themselves by pointing out that they would never have permitted those pedestrian, cranky, ill-informed outbursts to intrude on the public. But what about the others? Would they have brought them to the public's attention if they had had the opportunity? I wouldn't bet on it.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wanted: Media visionary ...
... Michael Crichton, Vindicated. (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)
"Look at how many stories are unsourced or have unnamed sources. Look at how many stories are about what 'may' or 'might' or 'could' happen," he says. "Might and could means the story is speculation. Framing as I described means the story is opinion. And opinion is not factual content."
"The truth is, we live in an age of astonishing conformity. I grew up in the 1950s, supposedly the heyday of conformity, but there was much more freedom of opinion back then. And as a result, you knew that your neighbors might hold different views from you on politics or religion. Today, the notion that men of good will can disagree has disappeared. Can you imagine! Today, if I disagree with you, you conclude there is something wrong with me. This is a childish, parochial view. And of course stupefyingly intolerant. It's truly anti-American. Much of it can be laid at the feet of the environmental movement, which has unfortunately frequently been led by ill-educated and intolerant spokespersons—often with no more than a high-school education, sometimes not even that. Or they are lawyers trained to win at any cost and to say anything about their opponents to win. But you find the same intolerant tone around considerations of defense, taxation, free markets, universal medical care, and so on. There's plenty of zealotry to go around. And it's hardly new in human history."
"The truth is, we live in an age of astonishing conformity. I grew up in the 1950s, supposedly the heyday of conformity, but there was much more freedom of opinion back then. And as a result, you knew that your neighbors might hold different views from you on politics or religion. Today, the notion that men of good will can disagree has disappeared. Can you imagine! Today, if I disagree with you, you conclude there is something wrong with me. This is a childish, parochial view. And of course stupefyingly intolerant. It's truly anti-American. Much of it can be laid at the feet of the environmental movement, which has unfortunately frequently been led by ill-educated and intolerant spokespersons—often with no more than a high-school education, sometimes not even that. Or they are lawyers trained to win at any cost and to say anything about their opponents to win. But you find the same intolerant tone around considerations of defense, taxation, free markets, universal medical care, and so on. There's plenty of zealotry to go around. And it's hardly new in human history."
Well, excuse us ...
... Fine, I'm listening...
"The idea ... is that the internet has created a networked world, so now cheap data can be found by throwing a problem out to the networked masses. ... But my fear has always been that you remove any credibility in this equation. I mean, why trust the masses in this way?! Are you nuts?"
I didn't even know people used the term masses anymore. As for "lowering the bar to the common denominator in place of letting the brightest amongst us speak up," the problem with that is "the brightest among us" are so often designated as such merely by themselves.
"The idea ... is that the internet has created a networked world, so now cheap data can be found by throwing a problem out to the networked masses. ... But my fear has always been that you remove any credibility in this equation. I mean, why trust the masses in this way?! Are you nuts?"
I didn't even know people used the term masses anymore. As for "lowering the bar to the common denominator in place of letting the brightest amongst us speak up," the problem with that is "the brightest among us" are so often designated as such merely by themselves.
Let's not confuse things ...
... The Dumbest Generation? Don’t Be Dumb. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
This piece would have been much better if the writer had noted that to be ignorant is not the same as being dumb. She serves up evidence that young people are not dumb. That may be so. But that in itself does not disprove the assertion that they are ignorant. And it isn't much good to be able to think if the information you're working with is either unsound or absent. Not only should you know what you're talking about; you should also know what you're thinking about.
I don't know if people are any dumber than they used to be, but I see no evidence that they're any smarter.
This piece would have been much better if the writer had noted that to be ignorant is not the same as being dumb. She serves up evidence that young people are not dumb. That may be so. But that in itself does not disprove the assertion that they are ignorant. And it isn't much good to be able to think if the information you're working with is either unsound or absent. Not only should you know what you're talking about; you should also know what you're thinking about.
I don't know if people are any dumber than they used to be, but I see no evidence that they're any smarter.
Some thoughts ...
... on Freeman Dyson and global warming. See also Does Fashionable Beat Rational When It Comes to Solving the World's Biggest Problems?
Dyson is of course right when he says that "Environmentalism has replaced socialism as the leading secular religion. " What is interesting about this is that there should be such a thing as a secular religion. Does that not suggest that, for whatever reason, the need for a religion comes with the territory of being human? It is certainly why people like Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins so often sound like the evangelists they deplore - and often display many of those evangelists' worst characteristics.
Attention, please ...
... Introducing Standpoint: the English get a magazine for grown ups! (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Dave also sends along a link to Standpoint. Sounds like something Nige might like. Hell, it sounds like something Nige might have founded.
Dave also sends along a link to Standpoint. Sounds like something Nige might like. Hell, it sounds like something Nige might have founded.
If it's Friday ...
... it must be Stump the Experts time: Information, Please! (Classic Broadcast: October 4, 1938) Special Guest: Writer Dorothy Thompson. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Going solo ...
... The bliss of solitude.
I spent a good part of my childhood by myself. My mother and grandmother both worked and my brother is nearly eight years older than I, so by the time I was seven he was already in high school and, like most teenagers, spent as much time as he could out with his friends. I have always regarded this as one of the great strokes of luck in my life. I not only got to know myself, but grew comfortable with myself. I have never felt lonely. Not even these past 11 days while Debbie has been away in Greece. I have, however, felt a poignant lack. An essential component of my life is missing. The house isn't quite the same without her. Life isn't. Debbie is one of those people who knows how to savor life and one of the great delights of mine is to have her tell me what she has done on any given day. Not because what she has done is so unusual or exciting, but because her enthusiasm in infectious. She not only knows how to experience joy, but how to communicate it. Who wouldn't miss someone like that?
Well, how about that ...
... Hackers knocked Comcast.net offline. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Seems to have interfered with my email account for a bit.
Seems to have interfered with my email account for a bit.
Never good ...
... The Condition of Muzak.
I do not have the emotional connection with pop music that so many people younger than I seem to have. I like it, and I can vividly remember the Sunday afternoon when I first heard Elvis Presley singing "Heartbreak Hotel" over the radio. I even remember coming home from high school one afternoon and turning on the TV to watch Bandstand - broadcast from right here in Philadelphia - and hearing that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper had been killed in a plane crash. Why, it was the day the music died - though none of us knew that at the time. Next day, my buddies and I were exchanging the usual sick jokes about it (we were a coarse lot).
Now the Sunday afternoon I first really listened to Debussy's Nuages - that was as near to satori as I have come.
I do not have the emotional connection with pop music that so many people younger than I seem to have. I like it, and I can vividly remember the Sunday afternoon when I first heard Elvis Presley singing "Heartbreak Hotel" over the radio. I even remember coming home from high school one afternoon and turning on the TV to watch Bandstand - broadcast from right here in Philadelphia - and hearing that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper had been killed in a plane crash. Why, it was the day the music died - though none of us knew that at the time. Next day, my buddies and I were exchanging the usual sick jokes about it (we were a coarse lot).
Now the Sunday afternoon I first really listened to Debussy's Nuages - that was as near to satori as I have come.
If so ...
... we need more: CS Lewis, a Writer of Pulp Fiction? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Lewis specifically said that his space trilogy was inspired by David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus.
Incidentally, I never hear anyone mention Lewis's Till We Have Faces, in my view one of the best novels of the last century and Lewis's masterpiece.
Lewis specifically said that his space trilogy was inspired by David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus.
Incidentally, I never hear anyone mention Lewis's Till We Have Faces, in my view one of the best novels of the last century and Lewis's masterpiece.
Oh, Bryan ...
... have you heard The truth according to Archer? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
According to this, "he is a story-teller who appeals to everybody." Everybody would include you, my friend. And me. Frightening thought, don't you think?
According to this, "he is a story-teller who appeals to everybody." Everybody would include you, my friend. And me. Frightening thought, don't you think?
Scott Esposito explains ...
... Why Wyatt Mason Didn't Convince Me and even quotes me. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Scott's reviews of Roberto Bolaño's The Savage Detectives and Quim Monzó's The Enormity of the Tragedy were among the best reviews I ran.
Scott's reviews of Roberto Bolaño's The Savage Detectives and Quim Monzó's The Enormity of the Tragedy were among the best reviews I ran.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
What think you?
... Does Best-Selling Mean Selling Out?
I think it's the luck of the draw myself - though in the case of The Da Vinci Code some high-powered marketing figured, too.
I think it's the luck of the draw myself - though in the case of The Da Vinci Code some high-powered marketing figured, too.
Amy and the classics ...
... first Peter Stothard discussed Amy Winehouse. Now it's Mary Beard's turn: The Amy Winehouse exam.
I think it's time for someone to give Amy an honorary degree.
I think it's time for someone to give Amy an honorary degree.
A nice roundup ...
... over at Quid plura? “I read about it free in a fifty-cent illustrated guide…”
Also check out “Once, there was this kid, who…”
Also check out “Once, there was this kid, who…”
I should have been noting ...
... how much of a Kay Ryan fan Patrick Kurp is. Just visit Anecdotal Evidence and keep scrolling.
Kay is also very engaging in person and reads her poetry quite entertainingly. Debbie was much taken with her when we saw her at last year's WCU Poetry Conference.
Kay is also very engaging in person and reads her poetry quite entertainingly. Debbie was much taken with her when we saw her at last year's WCU Poetry Conference.
Publishing flat ...
... except on demand: Bowker Reports U.S. Book Production Flat in 2007. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Not always the best ...
... is brought of literature, I guess. At least not the practice of it. See Walcott adopts poetic licence to attack Naipal - the second item. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Most unkindest cut ...
... Comparing Human Smoke to The Da Vinci Code.
I would not call the people Anne Applebaum is criticizing "amateurs." I would use the term "dilettante." As Van Wyck Brooks pointed out years ago, we lost something with the decline of the amateur, someone who studies something con amore and takes as much care and is as rigorous as any "expert." And there is the problem that some credentialed experts - think Michael Bellesiles or, for that matter, Michel Foucault or Freud - have proved notably unreliable, while others have become too tendentious to take seriously. Disinterested scholarship suffers when scholars succumb to the lure of "engagement" and "relevance."
To see what I mean: Don’t read further if you are squeamish.
To see what I mean: Don’t read further if you are squeamish.
R.I.P. ...
... George Garrett; Critically Acclaimed Novelist and Poet. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Update: Something more personal: George Garrett's Generosity.
Post bumped.
Update: Something more personal: George Garrett's Generosity.
Post bumped.
Films vs. reality ...
... and in this case films may be winning: Indiana Jones and the image of academics.
"Many archaeologists have enthusiastically embraced the Hollywood fantasy, borrowing a bit of Indiana Jones's mystique for themselves."
"Many archaeologists have enthusiastically embraced the Hollywood fantasy, borrowing a bit of Indiana Jones's mystique for themselves."
Introducing ...
... Bryan "Tex" Appleyard: My Happy Feet: The Cowboy Boot.
Funny, I've been thinking of getting a pair myself. There's a Mexican shop about 100 yards from my house that sells them.
Funny, I've been thinking of getting a pair myself. There's a Mexican shop about 100 yards from my house that sells them.
Today's the day ...
... Happy birthday, Bond's daddy.
... also films vs. books: James Bond: the movies are not enough. (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)
... and more: Happy Birthday, Ian Fleming. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
... also films vs. books: James Bond: the movies are not enough. (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)
... and more: Happy Birthday, Ian Fleming. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Hmm ...
... The Internet Is Making Us Dumber.
There is much in what he says - especially this about "newspapers ... not acting responsibly and instead cheapening their product" - but the internet just happened to come along at a time when fewer and fewer people were being educated properly. But the movement away from formative to instrumental education - which is the problem - began decades ago.
So it's not about books ...
... but it is very worth reading: Karajan and the trouble with utopia.
While reading this, I kept thinking of Somerset Maugham's line: "Perfection is a trifle dull."
But the last two sentences - "Karajan's utopia was something of a prison. He held the keys but used them far too infrequently." - reminded me of something C.S. Lewis wrote, that the door to Hell is locked from the inside.
While reading this, I kept thinking of Somerset Maugham's line: "Perfection is a trifle dull."
But the last two sentences - "Karajan's utopia was something of a prison. He held the keys but used them far too infrequently." - reminded me of something C.S. Lewis wrote, that the door to Hell is locked from the inside.
Haruspicate and scry ...
... The Unknowable Future.
I am reminded of the reporter who asked Nassim Nicholas Taleb how you can predict Black Swans. A useful exercise would be to notice how much of the "news" and the "commentary" that accompanies it consists of predictions. Of course, a good reason not to buy the tout sheet at the track is that, if it were at all to be trusted, the fellow selling wouldn't be selling it: He'd be enjoying the proceeds from his winning bets.
Holy dying ...
... Don't Fight, Ted.
The sad thing is that public figures seem obligated to put themselves through such torment.
The sad thing is that public figures seem obligated to put themselves through such torment.
One more time ...
... Reprise. (Hat tip, Lee Lowe.)
This does sound interesting, though while I was reading it, I kept thinking of the novel I just finished last night and am now about to review. It's called The Gift of Rain and it's by someone called Tan Twan Eng. It was long-listed for the Booker last year. A good bit of it takes place during the Japanese occupation of Malaya during World War II. Genuinely horrible things happen and the characters are faced with truly ghastly choices. The cause and source of their suffering is overwhelmingly palpable. In comparison I have lived a soft and privileged life, as have most of us, as have, I would gather, the characters in Reprise. " ... this is what it feels like to be alive, the movie says." I've not seen the film - though this post makes me want to - but I don't think I need a film - or a book, for that matter - in order to learn what it feels like to be alive. But The Gift of Rain gave me an uncomfortable insight into life's terrifying mix of the fragile and the brutal.
Media accused ...
... of laziness and ignorance.
If this pertained to some other field of endeavor, the media would be editorializing about it from the crack of dawn until the cows came home. In this case, their reaction would be denial and resentment - that is, if they managed to become aware of it.
If this pertained to some other field of endeavor, the media would be editorializing about it from the crack of dawn until the cows came home. In this case, their reaction would be denial and resentment - that is, if they managed to become aware of it.
A twofer ...
... Albert Jay Nock and Ralph Adams Cram: Nockians Left and Right. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Monday, May 26, 2008
What can I say ...
... besides 'Thank you'? Colin Beale, Frank Wilson, Literary Blogging and Connection.
Contra utopianism ...
... Chartres: Maybe Back to Blogging.
"... the desire for critical purity is the aesthetic correlative of the desire for scientific completion. Both are utopian fantasies of a terminal neatness."
Indeed.
"... the desire for critical purity is the aesthetic correlative of the desire for scientific completion. Both are utopian fantasies of a terminal neatness."
Indeed.
Birth pangs ...
... of a golden age: A thriller in ten chapters. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I suspect that's exactly what we're seeing.
I suspect that's exactly what we're seeing.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Publishing con amore ...
... the Zine Scene. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I'm going to make my zine debut sometime in the near future. I was asked to contribute and did.
I'm going to make my zine debut sometime in the near future. I was asked to contribute and did.
An interview ....
... with Mark Sarvas: Literary blogger ventures into the receiving end of critique. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
It's not a crisis in book reviewing; it's the fact that we live in an age that I find distressingly incurious — interested in material pursuits, unreflective, narcissistic, shallow. An age when the thing that's on everyone's mind is ... "Did you see 'American Idol' last night?"
I tend to agree, only I have to note that much the same complaint was being made ... when I was in high school. So we may not be any worse off, just no better off.
It's not a crisis in book reviewing; it's the fact that we live in an age that I find distressingly incurious — interested in material pursuits, unreflective, narcissistic, shallow. An age when the thing that's on everyone's mind is ... "Did you see 'American Idol' last night?"
I tend to agree, only I have to note that much the same complaint was being made ... when I was in high school. So we may not be any worse off, just no better off.
My favorite poet ...
... name writ on water.
Many years ago I spent an afternoon with Seymour Adelman with the collection he had donated to the Bryn Mawr College. I held in my hand and read a letter written by Keats, and A. E. Housman's notebooks. Then, one or another of us noted the time. We had to leave. It was closing time. We had been there for hours, but it seemed as if we had just arrived. Never have I had such an odd experience of time - hours passing in what seemed like minutes.
If this be so ...
... then some of us must being doing great: Blogging--It's Good for You. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I wonder about this reasoning, though: " ... lesions in Wernicke’s area, located in the left temporal lobe, result in excessive speech and loss of language comprehension. People with Wernicke’s aphasia speak in gibberish and often write constantly. In light of these traits, Flaherty speculates that some activity in this area could foster the urge to blog."
Well, yes, an injury to an area of the brain results in bizarre manifestations of speech. But that hardly means that ordinary exercise of speech has its origin in brain activity. Quite the reverse, I would think. It is the ordinary exercise of speech that activates a certain region of the brain.
I wonder about this reasoning, though: " ... lesions in Wernicke’s area, located in the left temporal lobe, result in excessive speech and loss of language comprehension. People with Wernicke’s aphasia speak in gibberish and often write constantly. In light of these traits, Flaherty speculates that some activity in this area could foster the urge to blog."
Well, yes, an injury to an area of the brain results in bizarre manifestations of speech. But that hardly means that ordinary exercise of speech has its origin in brain activity. Quite the reverse, I would think. It is the ordinary exercise of speech that activates a certain region of the brain.
The art of the possible ...
... Gioia is upbeat on the arts.
Not everyone gets that: A Dim View of Dana Gioia.
Let me say upfront that I know Dana and like and admire him and his poetry. The problem I have with what Regina Hackett has to say is that the NEA is meant to serve the citizens of this country regarding art, not simply those citizens of this country who are artists. And the best way to start serving the citizens of this country regarding art is to get a conversation going that persuades those citizen's of art's value. The NEA under Dana has brought more than just Shakespeare and Tennyson to the attention of the public. It has reminded the public of writers like Steinbeck and Willa Cather (to name two that come to mind just off the top of my head) and in so doing has provided readers with what Van Wyck Brooks called a usable past, a literary context.
I think what Hackett would prefer is a government agency doing art patronage. As someone who used to peddle art, I don't think that's a good idea. Art patronage and art collection are best done by individuals not bureaucrats - or even curators, for that matter. As I have said before, visit the Phillips Collection and note the difference between what Duncan Phillips himself collected and what has been gathered since by curators.
The NEA is a government agency. In other words, a political entity. And politics works best when common ground is established. Finding that common ground is what Dana has been doing - and doing well.
Friends told him to "fight the good fight," he said, but he thought the last thing the NEA needed was a fight.
"It's the wrong metaphor. The right one is a conversation, and good conversations are always changing."
Not everyone gets that: A Dim View of Dana Gioia.
Let me say upfront that I know Dana and like and admire him and his poetry. The problem I have with what Regina Hackett has to say is that the NEA is meant to serve the citizens of this country regarding art, not simply those citizens of this country who are artists. And the best way to start serving the citizens of this country regarding art is to get a conversation going that persuades those citizen's of art's value. The NEA under Dana has brought more than just Shakespeare and Tennyson to the attention of the public. It has reminded the public of writers like Steinbeck and Willa Cather (to name two that come to mind just off the top of my head) and in so doing has provided readers with what Van Wyck Brooks called a usable past, a literary context.
I think what Hackett would prefer is a government agency doing art patronage. As someone who used to peddle art, I don't think that's a good idea. Art patronage and art collection are best done by individuals not bureaucrats - or even curators, for that matter. As I have said before, visit the Phillips Collection and note the difference between what Duncan Phillips himself collected and what has been gathered since by curators.
The NEA is a government agency. In other words, a political entity. And politics works best when common ground is established. Finding that common ground is what Dana has been doing - and doing well.
Freeman Dyson examines ...
... The Question of Global Warming. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The clarity of exposition and civility of tone by themselves make this worth reading.
The clarity of exposition and civility of tone by themselves make this worth reading.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
R.I.P. ...
... Wilfrid Melllers (1914-2008).
... Mellers wanted to praise and celebrate the "felt life" in art, and he abhorred anything that smacked of narrowness, system, or cant.
God rest his soul.
... Mellers wanted to praise and celebrate the "felt life" in art, and he abhorred anything that smacked of narrowness, system, or cant.
God rest his soul.
A look at ...
... Native American literature.
I usually follow The Inquirer's stylebook and use the term American Indian. After all, I'm a native American, too, having been born here (remember what Mr. Bloom tells the Citizen: "I'm Irish. I was born here."). I am not, however, descended from the indigenous population. But the book uses the PC phrase, so I did too.
I usually follow The Inquirer's stylebook and use the term American Indian. After all, I'm a native American, too, having been born here (remember what Mr. Bloom tells the Citizen: "I'm Irish. I was born here."). I am not, however, descended from the indigenous population. But the book uses the PC phrase, so I did too.
The wonder of reading ...
... `It Extends the Self'. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
"It is a fact of philistine life that amusement is where the money is."
"It is a fact of philistine life that amusement is where the money is."
The problem for those who don't read is that the satisfaction derived from reading depends upon the active engagement of the reader's imagination. A lot of people, it seems, prefer purely passive entertainment, which is what movies and TV provide. I like to think that if such people found a book that held their attention, they would want more of the co-creative experience that reading provides.
Brow placement ...
... "That excellent American critic, Van Wyck Brooks, writing as a young man just as the European War (as it was then) had broken out, introduced into an essay, to deplore them, those brand-new slang terms 'Highbrow' and 'Lowbrow'. (He was wise enough, even then, to realise that the common use of these terms, dividing people into two opposed classes and somehow disliking both of them, would do far more harm than good. It has in fact done literature a disservice.)
- J.B. Priestley, Literature and Western Man
Priestley's book came out in 1960 and Brooks had made his point more than 40 years before that. But the terms he deplored are still with us, along with 'Middlebrow', which seems to have for some a term of special opprobrium. I suppose Somerset Maugham - one of my favorite writers, I confess - would be an example of a middlebrow author. So this, from W.H. Auden's review of Maugham's A Writer's Notebook, seems pertinent:
"We shall miss you. Of course we shall find new writers to read, but art, like friendship, is personal, that is, unique, and no writer is replaceable by or even comparable with another. Thank you for having given us so much pleasure for so long, for having never been tedious" ...
The Auden review is among much to read, all of it with pleasure, in The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose: Volume III 1949-1955 (Princeton University Press).
"We shall miss you. Of course we shall find new writers to read, but art, like friendship, is personal, that is, unique, and no writer is replaceable by or even comparable with another. Thank you for having given us so much pleasure for so long, for having never been tedious" ...
The Auden review is among much to read, all of it with pleasure, in The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose: Volume III 1949-1955 (Princeton University Press).
Friday, May 23, 2008
Idling ...
Absence
It’s not too bad
At first, when she’s away.
I putter about
Doing things, but when
The second day nears
Its end, I can’t help
Noticing something’s
Missing, like the necessary
Ingredient in a magic potion.
The house remains friendly
Enough, but no longer
Charms, mere property
Dispossessed.
Not just Londoners ...
... we all need to know, since most of us will never have a classicist mayor: 10 things Londoners need to know about having a Classicist in County Hall.
The bloodletting continues ...
... More Than 100 Post Journalists Take Buyout. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I know Peter Kaufman. I sure hope someone thinks to give him a Dean Martin collection as a going away present.
I know Peter Kaufman. I sure hope someone thinks to give him a Dean Martin collection as a going away present.
Did I say that?
... Ignoring David Broder. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
"But in the structureless, unsupervised, uncontrolled environment of the Internet, what is worrisome is that we will experience a race to the bottom rather than the more desirable opposite."
What's to say a structure or structures will not emerge without top-down supervision or control by a process of - what should I call it? I know! Natural selection, how's that?
What's to say a structure or structures will not emerge without top-down supervision or control by a process of - what should I call it? I know! Natural selection, how's that?
The great span ...
... The Brooklyn Bridge opened to traffic on May 24, 1883: Hart Crane: THE BRIDGE.
I'm posting this today because this is Memorial Day Weekend and I suspect that few sane people are going to be spending much time in front of their computers reading blogs or blogging. I know I plan on taking it easy.
More on the bridge here: Happy Birthday to the Great Bridge.
I'm posting this today because this is Memorial Day Weekend and I suspect that few sane people are going to be spending much time in front of their computers reading blogs or blogging. I know I plan on taking it easy.
More on the bridge here: Happy Birthday to the Great Bridge.
Look out ...
... this is bound to raise some hackles: J.K. Rowling, Lexicon and Oz. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
That is not a précis of Harry Potter.
A young kid growing up in an oppressive family situation suddenly learns that he is one of a special class of children with special abilities, who are to be educated in a remote training facility where student life is dominated by an intense game played by teams flying in midair, at which this kid turns out to be exceptionally talented and a natural leader. He trains other kids in unauthorized extra sessions, which enrages his enemies, who attack him with the intention of killing him; but he is protected by his loyal, brilliant friends and gains strength from the love of some of his family members. He is given special guidance by an older man of legendary accomplishments who previously kept the enemy at bay. He goes on to become the crucial figure in a struggle against an unseen enemy who threatens the whole world.
That is not a précis of Harry Potter.
One world at a time ...
... Heaven may be the perfect library but some on earth come close. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Call Dick the Butcher ...
... The freedom of the internet is a happy accident; but do we need more laws? Carlin Romano on Net libertarianism.
As Albert Jay Nock observed in "On Doing the Right Thing," increasing the scope of the law necessarily "reduces the scope of individual responsibility, and this retards and cripples the education which can be a product of nothing but the free exercise of moral judgment. ... It seems to be a fond notion with the legalists and authoritarians that the vast majority of mankind would at once begin to thieve and murder and generally misconduct itself if the restraints of law and authority were removed."
As Albert Jay Nock observed in "On Doing the Right Thing," increasing the scope of the law necessarily "reduces the scope of individual responsibility, and this retards and cripples the education which can be a product of nothing but the free exercise of moral judgment. ... It seems to be a fond notion with the legalists and authoritarians that the vast majority of mankind would at once begin to thieve and murder and generally misconduct itself if the restraints of law and authority were removed."
Let's start the day ...
... with a wonder: Christian Novel Climbs the Charts, Miraculously. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
One-stop shopping ...
... 50 Awesome Open Source Resources for Online Writers. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Precisely ...
... Does a poem Communicate?
"A poem ... is the only thing that can communicate what it has to communicate."
A poem means everything that it says all at once. It cannot be paraphrased.
See also: Ars Poetica.
"A poem ... is the only thing that can communicate what it has to communicate."
A poem means everything that it says all at once. It cannot be paraphrased.
See also: Ars Poetica.
Suggestions, please ...
... 100 Books to Read After You Die.
Regarding the list that Nige links to, surprising that Homer and Hesiod didn't make it. Neither did Horace or Virgil. A lot of crap did, though. The Corrections? Please. Definitely a posthumous read.
Regarding the list that Nige links to, surprising that Homer and Hesiod didn't make it. Neither did Horace or Virgil. A lot of crap did, though. The Corrections? Please. Definitely a posthumous read.
Sounds interesting ...
... Introducing: Gamer Theory.
One of the commonest questions I was asked when I was a book review editor was how I chose books for review. Well, a lot of factors entered in it, but reading what publishers had to say about the books they were planning to bring out was one of them.
Update: Here, courtesy of Lee Lowe, is the original website: GAM3R 7H30RY.
Post bumped.
Update: Here, courtesy of Lee Lowe, is the original website: GAM3R 7H30RY.
Post bumped.
This is neat ...
... The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats: Online Exhibition. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Truth in advertising ...
... Mark's not exaggerating: SO MUCH TO SAY. (Hat tip, Dave Lull, who draws my attention to Steven Augustine's response - in the comments below - to the James Wood Email posted by Nigel Beale. I also see no reason to doubt that the email is genuine.)
Dave also sends me this post at Ed's: Roundup. Steven Augustine has a comment there also.
Lots to consider here.
Dave also sends me this post at Ed's: Roundup. Steven Augustine has a comment there also.
Lots to consider here.
Good reasons ...
... not to pay attention to any of them: Rank-Breakers: The Anatomy of an Industry.
As Brian of Nazareth declared: "You're all individuals! You can think for yourselves!"
As Brian of Nazareth declared: "You're all individuals! You can think for yourselves!"
It resonates still ...
... that's for sure, but not as some glib sociopolitical parable. Wind in the Willows still resonates. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Mindsets like this take the magic out of everything everything. "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is one of the best ways of grasping what Rudolf Otto was trying to get across.
Mindsets like this take the magic out of everything everything. "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is one of the best ways of grasping what Rudolf Otto was trying to get across.
A new natural theology?
... Possibly: Sacred evolution, or an ear from the jaw of a fish? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I was hoping Mark would weigh in on Kauffman's essay, which I have been thinking about a lot myself. My one reservation about Kauffman's essay has to do with his view of a Creator God. Human encounters with a transcendent presence have almost always been clumsily translated into human terms. So, for the ancient Hebrews, "I Am Who Am" became a kind of Hammurabi in the sky. For proponents of Intelligent Design, God is the Divine Artificer. If, however, we posit knowing, loving Presence at the heart of being we come nearer to the experience mystics have tried to describe. This would be no Everlasting Edison or Cosmic Emperor, but rather a living Tao or Logos. Wordsworth described it well:
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.
Poet of the Week ...
... ladies and gentlemen, let's have a big hand for ... Mr. John Dryden. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Dryden's prose is worth some attention, too. Somerset Maugham praised its naturalness, which is evident in this short passage:
Dryden's prose is worth some attention, too. Somerset Maugham praised its naturalness, which is evident in this short passage:
It was that memorable day, in the first Summer of the late War, when our Navy ingag'd the Dutch: a day wherein the two most mighty and best appointed Fleets which any age had ever seen, disputed the command of the greater half of the Globe, the commerce of Nations, and the riches of the Universe. While these vast floating bodies, on either side, mov'd against each other in parallel lines, and our Country men, under the happy conduct of his Royal Highness, went breaking, by little and little, into the line of the Enemies; the noise of the Cannon from both Navies reach'd our ears about the City: so that all men, being alarm'd with it, and in a dreadful suspence of the event, which we knew was then deciding, every one went following the sound as his fancy led him; and leaving the Town almost empty, some took towards the Park, some cross the River, others down it; all seeking the noise in the depth of silence.
Thanks to Maxine ...
... and Ed, I've been on an Alan Price kick. So let's start the day with The Jarrow Song.
Here's a bit of background: With the Jarrow marchers.
Here's a bit of background: With the Jarrow marchers.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
He's right, you know ...
... Spoken word rant.
When the message isn’t born of social consciousness, it’s generally born of self-aggrandizement and cocky posturing. Either way, it’s fucking horrible to watch, even worse to listen to, and does it a disservice to actual poetry by calling itself “poetry”.
When the message isn’t born of social consciousness, it’s generally born of self-aggrandizement and cocky posturing. Either way, it’s fucking horrible to watch, even worse to listen to, and does it a disservice to actual poetry by calling itself “poetry”.
Of course, not that many poets read their work that well. Often it's because the poet doesn't have a very good voice, or doesn't really know how to read aloud in public - it is a skill, and like all skills must be mastered, and it is mastered through practice and rehearsal. There is also the problem that too many poets' poems are made up of words that are merely written, whereas the best poems are grounded in the spoken word.
Check this out ...
... Ed and Edgar.
Nigel, of course, interviewed me also, and if you look at those Philly shots you'll see a few of me as well. Actually, I took Nigel around Saturday night, when he took some of those shots.
Nigel, of course, interviewed me also, and if you look at those Philly shots you'll see a few of me as well. Actually, I took Nigel around Saturday night, when he took some of those shots.
A fellow Emersonian ...
... `To Dare and Violate and Make Escapades'.
"In silence we must wrap much of our life, because it is too fine for speech, because also we cannot explain it to others, and because somewhat we cannot yet understand."
Patrick is right. This is indeed "a powerfully moving insight."
"In silence we must wrap much of our life, because it is too fine for speech, because also we cannot explain it to others, and because somewhat we cannot yet understand."
Patrick is right. This is indeed "a powerfully moving insight."
Being is seeing ...
... Phenomenology as a Mystical Discipline. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
This is also the essence of Husserl’s revolution: that consciousness is intentional, that it is active, not passive. It is like a hand reaching out and grabbing things, not just a searchlight.
This is also very similar to Thomas Aquinas's theory of knowledge. For Aquinas the intellect was not a passive faculty, but an active one, which reached out toward the known and grasped its form and in so doing made the form of the known a part of the form of the knower, so that knower and known become one - and the knower is enriched in being.
This is also the essence of Husserl’s revolution: that consciousness is intentional, that it is active, not passive. It is like a hand reaching out and grabbing things, not just a searchlight.
This is also very similar to Thomas Aquinas's theory of knowledge. For Aquinas the intellect was not a passive faculty, but an active one, which reached out toward the known and grasped its form and in so doing made the form of the known a part of the form of the knower, so that knower and known become one - and the knower is enriched in being.
In dubious battle ...
... surely that is what Doing Battle With the Bard amounts to. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I read a good chunk of Paradise Lost in March. It displays much sonorous eloquence, to be sure, but I found it hard to love. As tours of Hell go, Dante remains the better guide - and the better poet (though interestingly, both Milton and Dante are humorless).
I read a good chunk of Paradise Lost in March. It displays much sonorous eloquence, to be sure, but I found it hard to love. As tours of Hell go, Dante remains the better guide - and the better poet (though interestingly, both Milton and Dante are humorless).
Merrily on our way ...
... to nowhere in particular: Progress Prevails?
C.S. Lewis once made what seems to me a very good point, that if you discover you have been walking in the wrong direction, progress would actually amount to retracing your steps.
C.S. Lewis once made what seems to me a very good point, that if you discover you have been walking in the wrong direction, progress would actually amount to retracing your steps.
Crystallized fiction
... Telling Stories. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
When space constraints started to seriously affect newspapers I discovered - as may others, I am sure, have - how much more difficult it is to write short. It has since become second nature to me and I have concluded that, when it comes to writing, I am a sprinter, not a marathoner. But one of the great things about writing short is how much attention to brevity requires you to pay closer attention to form. And how much the shape of what you say has to do with what you are trying to say. It is fascinating to see just how much you can leave out and not only make your point but make it better than you might have had you been able to go on more.
But enough said. Do read "Rhythm Method," to which Henry links.
But enough said. Do read "Rhythm Method," to which Henry links.
Making ends meet ...
... What's the best job choice for a poet?
I think if I had been able to stay in it - and was better at it than I was - working in the construction business is a good choice. You see something actually taking shape, you meet real people. True, you are pretty tired at the end of the day.
I think if I had been able to stay in it - and was better at it than I was - working in the construction business is a good choice. You see something actually taking shape, you meet real people. True, you are pretty tired at the end of the day.
Something we missed ...
... The La-La Theory: "The Language of Love...For Zines!"
Link fixed - hat tip, Dave Lull. Post also bumped up.
Link fixed - hat tip, Dave Lull. Post also bumped up.
Amazing ...
... Duffy likely to be first woman to follow Tennyson and Betjeman as laureate.
By my count, nine women have been U.S. Poet Laureate.
By my count, nine women have been U.S. Poet Laureate.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Ya know somethin's happenin ...
...but ya don't know what it is: Lost Media, Found Media.
Maybe the reporting wasn't so painstaking, after all: HE WAS NOT A CROOK. (Hat tip, Paul Davis - for both.)
Imagine any of those great Pulitzer-winners of the past being done today. Think the blogosphere would weigh in?
Maybe the reporting wasn't so painstaking, after all: HE WAS NOT A CROOK. (Hat tip, Paul Davis - for both.)
Imagine any of those great Pulitzer-winners of the past being done today. Think the blogosphere would weigh in?
Painstaking reporting strikes again...
... What I really said about Harry Potter. (Hat tip, Maxine Clarke.)
I'd think twice ...
...about this, kids: Readers Not Wanted: Student Writers Fight to Keep Their Work Off the Web.
After all, it's not as if publishers are just waiting to snap up works by graduate students. I would think that building a reputation online might prompt publishers to an interest your work - not the work that's appeared online, but other work that hasn't.
Maxine descants ...
... on Kindred spirits and business models. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
To the right, by the way, is Asher Brown Durand's Kindred Spirits. The simpatico pair are painter Thomas Cole and poet William Cullen Bryant.
Annin Street Almanac ...
"... let us beware of saying, with our latest literati, that politics are poetry, or a suitable subject for the poet. The English poet Thomson wrote a very good poem on the Seasons, but a very bad one on Liberty; and that not from want of poetry in the poet, but from want of poetry in the subject.
'If a poet would work politically, he must give himself up to a party; and so soon as he does that, he is lost as a poet - he must bid farewell to his free spirit, his unbiased view, and draw over his ears the cap of bigotry and blind hatred."
'If a poet would work politically, he must give himself up to a party; and so soon as he does that, he is lost as a poet - he must bid farewell to his free spirit, his unbiased view, and draw over his ears the cap of bigotry and blind hatred."
- Goethe, Conversations With Eckermann
Just a thought ....
... concerning absent-mindedness.
Or use the line I've always favored: "I'm a professor. I'm supposed to be absent-minded."
Or use the line I've always favored: "I'm a professor. I'm supposed to be absent-minded."
Isn't it interesting that absent-mindedness used to be thought of as a sign that you were preoccupied with other, deeper thoughts. Now it's taken to be a sign that you're losing it. Here's a worthwhile exercise: Note how much of what is purveyed as news is meant to give you cause for worry.
The future of books (cont'd.) ...
... or, to be more precise, The Digital Future of Books. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
In "Print Is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age" – published in hardcover last November, and now available for the Kindle – author Jeff Gomez challenges authors and publishers to think creatively about the new medium: "It's not about the page versus the screen in a technological grudge match. It's about the screen doing a dozen things the page can't do." Digitized words should count for more. "What's going to be transformed isn't just the reading of one book, but the ability to read a passage from practically any book that exists, at any time that you want to, as well as the ability to click on hyperlinks, experience multimedia, and add notes and share passages with others."
In praise of ...
... praise itself: Criticism's vocabulary of cruelty. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
As one who wrote a weekly column whose purpose was to recommend a book for reading, I can attest that it is harder to write positive reviews. Negative reviews are a cinch. You have to really think and examine you feelings to explain why you have liked something. When you succeed, though, the result can have a life of its own. Here is J.B. Priestley writing of Gerard de Nerval:
"His best poetry, to be found in Les Chimères, has a classical concentration and density and yet is also mysteriously evocative in the manner of the later Symbolists. And his semi-autobiographical stories, in Les Filles du feu, especially Sylvie, have an extraordinary nostalgic charm, the green and gold of long-lost summers."
That last phrase says it all.
"His best poetry, to be found in Les Chimères, has a classical concentration and density and yet is also mysteriously evocative in the manner of the later Symbolists. And his semi-autobiographical stories, in Les Filles du feu, especially Sylvie, have an extraordinary nostalgic charm, the green and gold of long-lost summers."
That last phrase says it all.
Beats me ...
... Quote Competition - No Prizes.
Though I certainly think that many of the sex scenes in books are laughable.
Though I certainly think that many of the sex scenes in books are laughable.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Hmm ...
... What’s So Scary About Evolution?--For Both Left and Right, a Lot. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Really? I don't see that these are necessarily irreconcilable.
I notice that Taki Mag also has a piece by Bill Kauffman about Ron Paul. Kauffman declares, in his usual ex cathedra manner, that in the debates Paul spoke "in the lost language of constitutionalism." I saw those debates, and Paul struck me as one of those cranks you see atop soapboxes in parks. Of course I was one of those go-go-Goldwater kids - most of whom, by the way, thought Leonard Read was a bit a nut, too.
Only one view of human nature can be correct. Either we are the ensouled favorites of an omniscient deity; or we are biology and nothing else; or we are biological vehicles for a perfectly plastic uniform essence whose every trait is a consequence of the world immediately around us.
Really? I don't see that these are necessarily irreconcilable.
I notice that Taki Mag also has a piece by Bill Kauffman about Ron Paul. Kauffman declares, in his usual ex cathedra manner, that in the debates Paul spoke "in the lost language of constitutionalism." I saw those debates, and Paul struck me as one of those cranks you see atop soapboxes in parks. Of course I was one of those go-go-Goldwater kids - most of whom, by the way, thought Leonard Read was a bit a nut, too.
The conversation continues ...
... `Enlivened'. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Earlier today, I happened to read Wallace Stevens's "Esthetique du Mal." These lines in particular caught my attention:
Revolution
Is the affair of logical lunatics.
The politics of emotion must appear
To be an intellectual structure. The cause
Creates a logic not to be distinguished
From lunacy ...
Ponder that. It is more to the point than anything you will read on any op-ed page.
Earlier today, I happened to read Wallace Stevens's "Esthetique du Mal." These lines in particular caught my attention:
Revolution
Is the affair of logical lunatics.
The politics of emotion must appear
To be an intellectual structure. The cause
Creates a logic not to be distinguished
From lunacy ...
Ponder that. It is more to the point than anything you will read on any op-ed page.
Neti Neti ...
... Is God a Black Swan?: Part 2, Disruption, the Narrative Fallacy, and Antitheology.
(Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The title of this post is explained here. There's this, too:
(Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The title of this post is explained here. There's this, too:
Neti Neti
May blossoms fall, unalike
As snowflakes. So a coat of many colors,
Unalike as blossoms, all the ground
Now covers. One is there, unlike
Another, desires but his own.
Take his cloak, he gives his tunic
Also. But those would take his life
Beware. For one never makes another
And always is the difference.
As well he might ...
... and as we all should: Emerson Celebrates Libraries.
Nice to know there's a fellow Emersonian out there - I believe Patrick Kurp also is a fan. When I was 15 and read "Self-Reliance" for the first time, it hit me like a personal Declaration of Independence. I feel a personal connection with Emerson that I feel for very few writers and some years ago - quite a few, actually - when I was visiting Gwen, we made pilgrimage to his house in Concord. I don't think you can understand America or Americans if you haven't read Emerson. I think it significant that Nietzsche never traveled without his volume of Emerson.
Wonder what Maxine thinks ...
.. of this: Harry Potter books are boring, says Children's Laureate Michael Rosen. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
To be honest, I trust Maxine's judgment on this, because I think her literary judgment is sound (No, that's not quite right. I edited a number of reviews Maxine wrote, and editors get to understand their writers. So I know that Maxine's literary judgments are sound.) Also, Maxine's view coincides exactly with my stepdaughter Gwen's. And Gwen's judgment, too, tends to be quite sound. It was sound even when she was a kid.
To be honest, I trust Maxine's judgment on this, because I think her literary judgment is sound (No, that's not quite right. I edited a number of reviews Maxine wrote, and editors get to understand their writers. So I know that Maxine's literary judgments are sound.) Also, Maxine's view coincides exactly with my stepdaughter Gwen's. And Gwen's judgment, too, tends to be quite sound. It was sound even when she was a kid.
Good to know ...
... Two New Online Literary Ventures.
The Kenyon Review Online has been out there for a while, actually. I was interviewed by them - a couple of years ago, I think. But it has obviously developed very nicely since then.
The Kenyon Review Online has been out there for a while, actually. I was interviewed by them - a couple of years ago, I think. But it has obviously developed very nicely since then.
Splendid ...
Nigel Beale told me about this site over the weekend. Now he's sent me the link: piony's Journal.
This looks to be worth a daily visit.
This looks to be worth a daily visit.
One news consumer ...
... has some hard thoughts that news providers - and other news consumers - might want to ponder: Ethical Voyeursim and Selective Squeamishness.
Annin Street Almanac
God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.
- Dag Hammarskjold
The first book I reviewed professionally was Hammarskjold's Markings.
The first book I reviewed professionally was Hammarskjold's Markings.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
A little caritas, please ...
... Speaking for Myself - The Autobiography by Cherie Blair.
What I have just read in this review constitutes just about everything I know about Cherie Blair. There is much I can identify with - working class, absent father, grandmother who cleaned. Why this would bother anyone - at least to the extent that it continues to rankle years later - I do not understand. But, as I've said many times, I'm a shallow fellow. I certainly know people who are still angry over things a parent, now long dead, did or didn't do to or for them. (I am referring, of course, to people who bring this up constantly and use it to justify their often ill behavior. I do understand how that sort of hurt can stay with you.) I don't get that either.
Still, this review conveys something that makes me feel sympathetic to Cherie Blair - and certainly resentful of the boorish comment appended to the review by one Bob from Warrington.
What I have just read in this review constitutes just about everything I know about Cherie Blair. There is much I can identify with - working class, absent father, grandmother who cleaned. Why this would bother anyone - at least to the extent that it continues to rankle years later - I do not understand. But, as I've said many times, I'm a shallow fellow. I certainly know people who are still angry over things a parent, now long dead, did or didn't do to or for them. (I am referring, of course, to people who bring this up constantly and use it to justify their often ill behavior. I do understand how that sort of hurt can stay with you.) I don't get that either.
Still, this review conveys something that makes me feel sympathetic to Cherie Blair - and certainly resentful of the boorish comment appended to the review by one Bob from Warrington.
While we're revisiting ...
... past aesthetic experiences, here's something I saw in concert (I confess I was quite high, though I won't say on what) - oh, maybe 28 years ago :
Speaking of ...
... Lindsay Anderson and Alan Price, this is worth a look, too:
Ed Champion gathers all the links for IsThat All There Is? in this post: O Lucky DVD! (Post bumped up.)
I had forgotten that both Rachel Roberts and Jill Bennett committed suicide.
Ed Champion gathers all the links for IsThat All There Is? in this post: O Lucky DVD! (Post bumped up.)
I had forgotten that both Rachel Roberts and Jill Bennett committed suicide.
A splendid time ...
Update: See, I told you: Blogs and Race coming together.Post has been bumped up.
... Nigel Beale (shown standing in our patio garden) came to Philly on Friday to take in the Philadelphia Book Festival and was gracious enough to pay me a couple of visits. As a result, any lingering doubts I may have had about the value and the future of blogging have been completely dispelled. You had only to watch Nigel taking pictures at the Book Trader over on Second Street to know that Nigel loves books - their look, their smell, their magic. Talking to him about literature is like talking with someone about mutual friends.
Not that many years ago, he would have been a book lover in Canada and I a reviewer in Philadelphia and anything we knew about each would have been purely accidental. Thanks to blogging we are part of a worldwide network of kindred spirits. Admission to that network is based on mutual love of books and reading and writing. Note to newspaper editors: People like Nigel and I - and Dave and Paul and Maxine and Patrick - are the people you should go to if you want to know what people who care about books and reading are really interested in. And politics and policy do not top the list, even though it appears to exhaust the list for said editors, most of whom couldn't quote a line of poetry if their lives depended on it, have never really listened to the Bach cello suites, or stood in front of a Sargent for several minutes just taking it in. It's called civilization.
I think I was able to give Nigel a glimpse of Philadelphia rather different from what the guidebooks would serve up. We had dinner last night at the Mexican restaurant around the corner (La Lupe), followed by some hot chocolate at the RIM Cafe, and thence to Molly's Bookstore, along the way encountering some of the local denizens. Next it was off to photograph some other book shops. In between, just great conversation.
The fact is, most newspapers no longer come close to providing much of interest to reading enthusiasts, because they haven't a clue as to what they are interested in. Reading litblogs would help, but I suspect the world they would encounter there would seem alien to them. After all, what kind of people would prefer reading Shakespeare to reading David Broder? Nevertheless, that global network of book lovers is only going to grow and strengthen. Whatever the future of publishing may be, it is a future that will be inextricably bound up with that network
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