I think much German painting has been underrated -- and much French painting overrated. One of the best mid-19th-century was the Austrian writer Adalbert Stifter (his Novellen are exquisite). Here is his Moonrise.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Worth a look ...
... Nature With a German Accent.
I think much German painting has been underrated -- and much French painting overrated. One of the best mid-19th-century was the Austrian writer Adalbert Stifter (his Novellen are exquisite). Here is his Moonrise.
I think much German painting has been underrated -- and much French painting overrated. One of the best mid-19th-century was the Austrian writer Adalbert Stifter (his Novellen are exquisite). Here is his Moonrise.
Sounds well worth missing ...
... National Book Awards proved much ado about not much at all. (Hat tip. Dave Lull.)
Sophisticated and naive ...
... John Banville finds a great American novelist's letters surprisingly calm. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Fair use ...
... Lightning strikes back: Book wars and Bloodlands. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
See also this, from Patrick Kurp: `To Follow an Ancient Trace'.
See also this, from Patrick Kurp: `To Follow an Ancient Trace'.
Definitely worth a listen ...
... JACQUES BARZUN On Berlioz's Damnation of Faust. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Terrifying intensity ....
... James Longenbach Interview on Stevens. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
When Stevens uses words like “things,” “ideas,” or “sense,” you feel that he must use those words in precisely the way he uses them; that is, he is not relying on what you already know about those words—he is making you think hard about what those words might mean in particular contexts. In this way, he is making huge areas of apparently unpoetic language available to poetry, and only a few poets have done this because only a few poets employ generalized diction with such unerring precision.
Thought for the day ...
The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the exercise of his mind.- Jacques Barzun, born on this date in 1907
Monday, November 29, 2010
Beauty is not enough ...
... Beware the Trap of 'Bore-geous' Writing. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
For the last month or so, I'd been spending my days crafting lush and richly imagined bits of narrative—long, lovely descriptions of characters and scenery, page after page of elegant prose in which nothing whatsoever was going on. No wonder I was bored.
In this corner
... Cynthia Ozick vs. Harold Bloom: Foreign Bodies.
My view of Freud was expressed best by Max Beerbohm: "A tense and peculiar family, the Oedipuses, were they not?"
Bloom’s most famous critical idea is his literary adaptation of Freud’s Oedipus complex: according to Bloom, every writer seeks to liberate himself from a powerful literary influence by the “revisionary act” of “emptying” and “undoing” the great precursor, then taking his place.
My view of Freud was expressed best by Max Beerbohm: "A tense and peculiar family, the Oedipuses, were they not?"
James and Newman ...
... and more: William James, part 7: Agnosticism and the will to believe.
Newman makes a crucial distinction between "notional assent" and "real assent." To determine a belief using your philosophical head alone is to give notional assent. But when it comes to religious questions, that's an inadequate way to proceed because it engages only the rational part. Real assent requires more, Newman argues. It's a convergence of the full assortment of evidences and experiences we have – rational, emotional, observational, cultural. Each, in themselves, may not be wholly compelling. But added together, they support a belief that powerfully rings true. Newman likens it to a cable: a single strand is easily broken. But wound together, strands form a cable that is strong. So, real assent implies that God is not a hypothesis.Mark calls himself an agnostic, but his agnosticism -- which seems to me more the practice of apophasis -- is but one strand in his "cable of belief." What would he call himself in terms of the entire cable and not just that one strand, I wonder?
Lots of insight here ...
... The discoverer of the double-helix says the disease can be cured in his lifetime. He's 82.
Another impediment to innovation today is funding. Dr. Watson thinks money is being spread around too much and not enough is going to the best brains. "Great wealth could make an enormous difference over the next decade if they sensibly support the scientific elite. Just the elite. Because the elite makes most of the progress," he says. "You should worry about people who produce really novel inventions, not pedantic hacks."
A nice roundup ...
... though I'm a bit late with it: Today’s literary links: 11/25/2010.
See also: Bill speaks and other publicity for Writers Gone Wild.
See also: Bill speaks and other publicity for Writers Gone Wild.
Hmm, indeed ...
... Paradoxical Truth. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Paradoxes are apparently good arguments that lead to conclusions that are beyond belief (Greek: “para” = beyond, “doxa” = belief).It is probably just a quibble, but the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology has it as "contrary to received opinion." Doxa, which means "opinion," in fact derives from dokein, which means "to seem, appear, think." The word dogma also derives from doxa. A dogma is a settled opinion. Interesting implications at work here, I would guess.
Thought for the day ...
Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.- C.S. Lewis, born on this date in 1898
Hmm ...
... some thoughts from Nassim Nicholas Taleb. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Good, of course, should be done for its own sake. We should eschew thoughts of heaven. One life at a time.
On the other hand, C. S. Lewis points out that "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."
More here (courtesy Dave Lull).
(Bumped.)
Good, of course, should be done for its own sake. We should eschew thoughts of heaven. One life at a time.
On the other hand, C. S. Lewis points out that "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."
More here (courtesy Dave Lull).
(Bumped.)
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A book of wonders ...
... The Buried Book--David Damrosch.
In connection with this I would recommend Bohuslav Martinu's oratorio The Epic of Gilgamesh.
In connection with this I would recommend Bohuslav Martinu's oratorio The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Ongoing ...
... Flannery O'Connor fans may just want skip over to Novels, Stories, and More and scroll away.
Different ...
... from what went before: Gail sees a movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Gold standard ...
... Riddled with Gilt.
The gilt is beautiful and eye-catching, but also serves a practical purpose - applied in conjunction with glue, it helps to protect the page edges from browning, moisture and dust. They should be treated with care, however, as they are susceptible to physical damage and easy to scratch.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Champions ...
... John Updike, and the Curious Business of Sustaining Literary Reputations. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
This week's batch ...
... of TLS Letters: The Turin Shroud, Kyd and Marlowe, Harry Mulisch, and more.
Thought for the day ...
To him that waits all things reveal themselves, provided that he has the courage not to deny, in the darkness, what he has seen in the light.- Coventry Patmore, who died on this date in 1896
Thursday, November 25, 2010
And the winner is ...
... Daniel Hobbins: Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Indeed ...
... Stephen Sondheim is wrong about Noël Coward.
I also think he's wrong about Hart, Hammerstein, and Berlin, to say nothing of G&S.
I also think he's wrong about Hart, Hammerstein, and Berlin, to say nothing of G&S.
Humanity as a project ...
... "under construction": Science: The Art of Living (an interview with Steve Fuller about his latest book). (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
One more reason ...
... to give thanks: Levi Stahl writes to say that the University of Chicago Press will be "publishing e-book editions of all twelve of the novels that make up Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time--and for the month of December we'll be giving away the first book, A Question of Upbringing, for free." Here is where to go.
I think I have mentioned before that the first review I ever wrote for The Inquirer was of the final volume of Dance, which necessitated reading the preceding 11 first. I loved the novels, but haven't read them since. I don't mind e-books at all, so you can be sure I'll be getting my freebie and buying the rest. Hard to beat the price. And Powell's masterpiece deserves to be better known than it seems to be these days.
I think I have mentioned before that the first review I ever wrote for The Inquirer was of the final volume of Dance, which necessitated reading the preceding 11 first. I loved the novels, but haven't read them since. I don't mind e-books at all, so you can be sure I'll be getting my freebie and buying the rest. Hard to beat the price. And Powell's masterpiece deserves to be better known than it seems to be these days.
Thought for the day ...
Only those within whose own consciousness the sun rises and sets, the leaves burgeon and wither, can be said to be aware of what living is.- Joseph Wood Krutch, born on this date in 1893
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The neverending debate ...
... The God Instinct. Some notes... (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Now there would be an interesting piece: using evolutionary psychology to explain away evolutionists' convictions.
... as [William James] wittily noted: ‘Scientific theories are organically conditioned just as much as religious emotions are; and if we only knew the facts intimately enough, we should doubtless see “the liver” determining the dicta of the sturdy atheist as decisively as it does those of the Methodist under conviction anxious about his soul.’ Only atheists don’t usually consider dismissing their own convictions on evolutionary grounds. Funny that.
Now there would be an interesting piece: using evolutionary psychology to explain away evolutionists' convictions.
An unhappy anniversary ...
... Anniversary of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
And yes, I do remember where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the news.
And yes, I do remember where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the news.
An Honest Review
Readers of the LRB got a significant dose of honesty earlier this month when Richard J. Evans, Regius Professor of History at Cambridge, offered a scathing review of Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin.
The height of the thrashing came about three-quarters of the way through the essay: "What he [Snyder] really wants to do is tell us about the sufferings of the people who lived in the area he knows most about. Assuming we know nothing about any of this, he bludgeons us with facts and figures until we're reeling from it all...[It's] as if Snyder doesn't want us to think critically about what he's telling us, just to feel the pain he's describing."
I have to say, I respect Evans for his review - not only because his arguments are well grounded, but because he fights the tendency among (a fair number of) reviewers to praise pretty much everything they are handed.
Actually, Evans's essay got me thinking about a book that I started several months ago, but which I have been unable to finish. That book is Miranda Carter's abundently-praised George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I.
Let me cut to it: I am perplexed by the acclaim this tome has garnered. Not only is Carter a very (very!) difficult writer to read, her sense for history, and for historical causation, is entirely lacking.
Rarely (in the first 250 pages, at least) does Carter move beyond the realm of personal politics. Put differently: the royal figures to whom she dedicates so much of her time operate in an odd vacuum, one which lacks any semblance of social, political, or economic context. As a result, there were parts of this book which read so impressionistically that they begged the question whether those not trained as professional historians should be crafting these sorts of analyses.
Here are a few examples of Carter's writing:
"In reality, Holstein was an able, acerbic, workaholic bureaucrat, committed to his work in the Foreign Office, with a dry sense of humour and an omnivorous appetite for gossip and foreign affairs, fueled by an obsessive letter-writting habit." (139)
Wait, what?
Or, there's this:
"And around him Wilhelm was able to be both masterful and in charge, but also to shrug off the exhausting hyper-macho persona he felt obliged to adopt so much of the time...Inevitably, he had become enmeshed in the incessant intriguing endemic in the German government..." (141)
I want to close by saying that while Carter does make several smart points (especially about Wilhelm), and while I respect the amount of time and energy that goes into a book of this size, critics need to be far more honest in their assessment of this sort of writing, this type of study.
I can only imagine what Evans might have said...
Thought for the day ...
Throughout the centuries, man has considered himself beautiful. I rather suppose that man only believes in his own beauty out of pride; that he is not really beautiful and he suspects this himself; for why does he look on the face of his fellow-man with such scorn?- Isidore Ducasse (Comte de Lautréamont), who died on this date in 1874
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Not so fast, Chris ...
... Why I am thankful for artistic failure.
I don't think this is an account of artistic failure. It is an account of not committing oneself obsessively to self-promotion. The latter can actually get in the way of artistic creation -- and usually does.
I don't think this is an account of artistic failure. It is an account of not committing oneself obsessively to self-promotion. The latter can actually get in the way of artistic creation -- and usually does.
Haphazard blogging ...
... until later on. Thursday's holiday has me running around a bit. I also have to stop at The Inquirer and have my tai chi lesson. Later.
Check out ...
... The Dylan Thomas Prize for Young Writers.
I'll be monitoring this closely. One of those shortlisted is from Philly. And I hear it's a tight race this year.
I'll be monitoring this closely. One of those shortlisted is from Philly. And I hear it's a tight race this year.
Governance ...
... Anarcho-Monarchism.
Monarchy, I fear, can only work in a society fundamentally grounded in ritual properly understood. My heart belongs to anarchy.
Monarchy, I fear, can only work in a society fundamentally grounded in ritual properly understood. My heart belongs to anarchy.
Thought for the day ...
When Heraclitus said that everything passes steadily along, he was not inciting us to make the best of the moment, an idea unseemly to his placid mind, but to pay attention to the pace of things. Each has its own rhythm: the nap of a dog, the procession of the equinoxes, the dances of Lydia, the majestically slow beat of the drums at Dodona, the swift runners at Olympia.- Guy Davenport, born on this date in 1927
Monday, November 22, 2010
Check this out ...
... Living With Music: A Playlist by Bill Peschel. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
By the way, I've been reading Bill's book on my Kindle. So far, it is simply addicting.
By the way, I've been reading Bill's book on my Kindle. So far, it is simply addicting.
Nautae, nautae ...
... Making It New: How the Greek and Latin classics have been imitated, adulated and misunderstood over the centuries. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Fierce and lonely ...
... Gwen John: Art and Faith in the Shadows.
I don't think she's minor at all.
"... though perhaps a minor one, she must nonetheless be acclaimed as an enduring master."
I don't think she's minor at all.
Ongoing ...
... William James, part 6: Mystical states. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
But delusions themselves really happen. So they are not entirely unreal. The water of the mirage is not real, but the mirage is actually happening.
... there is, for James, such a thing as genuine mystical experience, providing a pointer to a reality that is more likely true not false. The monism and optimism that is their product have such a demonstrably positive impact upon those who have them. And, James concludes, "that which produces effects within another reality must be termed a reality itself".
James's logic is faulty on this point. Robert Segal, of Lancaster University, has called it the "functional fallacy": delusions can lead an individual to act in positive ways, too.
But delusions themselves really happen. So they are not entirely unreal. The water of the mirage is not real, but the mirage is actually happening.
Thought for the day ...
Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.- André Gide, born on this date in 1869
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Ho, ho, ho ...
... Crime fiction to give for Christmas.
Also check out this: Book Review: The Siege by Stephen White.
Also check out this: Book Review: The Siege by Stephen White.
Bravo, Professsor Petsko ...
... Ouch! A scientist’s sharp letter about the Albany massacre.
“That single chapter in a much longer book is one of the great works of modern literature. You would find a lot in it to think about. I’m sure your Russian faculty would love to talk with you about it – if only you had a Russian department, which now, of course, you don’t."
Today's Inquirer reviews ...
... one of mine: Daphne Kalotay's 'Russian Winter' is about jewels, and Stalin, and how one becomes who one is. (Though it was cut for space - a good cut, by the way, since it the point was really ancillary - I also noted that the book was very good at conveying the terrifying claustrophobia of life under Stalin. In this it was better than Martin Amis's House of Meetings, also set in the Stalin era, and which I also reviewed. Amis has his story narrated by a character whose addiction to irony undercuts the emotional impact of the story.)
... 'The Whites of Their Eyes': Tea party's fundamentalist streak.
... and one by Judith: Panthea Reid penetrates riddles of the troubled yet creative Tillie Olsen.
... Oliver Sacks' new book seeks meaning in perception
... 'The Whites of Their Eyes': Tea party's fundamentalist streak.
... and one by Judith: Panthea Reid penetrates riddles of the troubled yet creative Tillie Olsen.
... Oliver Sacks' new book seeks meaning in perception
Thought for the day ...
Everything else you grow out of, but you never recover from childhood.- Beryl Bainbridge, born on this date in 1934
Saturday, November 20, 2010
FYI ...
... “Refudiate” Didn’t Start with Sarah Palin. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
So the people who down Palin for using the word must have know this, right? Because, after all, they're real smart and well-educated.
So the people who down Palin for using the word must have know this, right? Because, after all, they're real smart and well-educated.
Funny strange maybe ...
... `The Heart of Every Human Being'.
“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"Sounds a bit like the parable of the cockle and the wheat.
Thought for the day ...
Listen to any musical phrase or rhythm, and grasp it as a whole, and you thereupon have present in you the image, so to speak, of the divine knowledge of the temporal order.- Josiah Royce, born on this date in 1855
Friday, November 19, 2010
Heads up ...
... The cardinal's hat. (Hat tip, Dave Lull, whoc also sends along Mary's Guardian piece: Mary Beard's photograph of the decade.)
Thought for the day ...
We do not know what God is. God himself doesn't know what He is because He is not anything. Literally God is not, because He transcends being.- John Scotus Eriugena
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Aural comedians ...
... `That Peculiarly Metallic, Clangorous Sound'.
Patrick's allusion to the saxophone brings to mind something Debussy -- who wrote a fine rhapsody for the instrument -- said in a letter about it. He called it "that aquatic instrument."
Patrick's allusion to the saxophone brings to mind something Debussy -- who wrote a fine rhapsody for the instrument -- said in a letter about it. He called it "that aquatic instrument."
Marking the spot ...
... XXXXX for Evolving English at The British Library.
Here's another from Peter that I missed: James Ellroy's partner writes - and other surprise responses.
Here's another from Peter that I missed: James Ellroy's partner writes - and other surprise responses.
This week's batch ...
... of TLS Letters: Gulliver and the Yahoos, Hop-pickers, Grimpen Mire, and more!
And the winners are ...
... National Book Awards - 2010. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I was pulling for Lionel, because I know her and like her, but she did win the Orange Prize. I do, however, think that Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy is a more important book than Patti Smith's. But that's just me.
Thought for the day ...
The marriage of reason and nightmare which has dominated the 20th century has given birth to an ever more ambiguous world. Across the communications landscape move the specters of sinister technologies and the dreams that money can buy.- J. G. Ballard, born on this date in 1930
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
One of the great stories ...
... Jack London Considered.
Steven is right: Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" is also a great story.
Steven is right: Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" is also a great story.
Salvation without sacrifice...
... Secret Sequel: New Age “Mind Cure” Misses the Point. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
In this corner ...
... Paul Krugman vs. George Orwell. (Hint: Orwell wins.)
Of course, it was a mismatch from the start.
Of course, it was a mismatch from the start.
Rhyme and reason ...
... `Write What You Like'.
As Kay Ryan's poem demonstrates, though, rhyme need can be employed more imaginatively than is often the case. You can even scatter it in fragments throughout the poem, giving the poem a kind of subliminal unity (I do this all the time and have come to calling it chromatic rhyme, but you can call it what you like, or call it nothing at all).
As Kay Ryan's poem demonstrates, though, rhyme need can be employed more imaginatively than is often the case. You can even scatter it in fragments throughout the poem, giving the poem a kind of subliminal unity (I do this all the time and have come to calling it chromatic rhyme, but you can call it what you like, or call it nothing at all).
Hmm ...
... healing & therapy are largely subtractive. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I think most people would be better off not worrying about their health so much.
I think most people would be better off not worrying about their health so much.
Not the greatest ...
... mob story, but pretty good: Mob Stories: Hit Man John Veasey's Life After the South Philly Mob.
Thought for the day ...
If you want to study writing, read Dickens. That's how to study writing, or Faulkner, or D.H. Lawrence, or John Keats. They can teach you everything you need to know about writing.- Shelby Foote, born on this dare in 1916
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Laurel, Hardy, and Beckett ...
... `Made Merry With the Hardy Laurel'.
For my money, no one is funnier than Laurel and Hardy, especially when they dance.For my money, too. Here they dance, and Ollie sings:
I'm not so sure ...
... Taste Will Not Make You Superior.
From Grief's article:
From Grief's article:
"The things you prefer — tastes that you like to think of as personal, unique, justified only by sensibility — correspond tightly to defining measures of social class: your profession, your highest degree and your father’s profession."
Maybe -- if you're preoccupied with defining yourself socially. I come from a pretty poor working-class background. Nobody in my family went to the orchestra or the opera or listened to either on the radio. But when I was in high school I fell in love with classical music. Why? I thought it sounded great. Same thing with painting. Sometimes a painting is just so beautiful you want to climb inside it. Works of art have an intrinsic value altogether apart from any value we may place upon them.
Good luck ...
... CEO: Inquirer to host startup incubator next year. (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)
Former Newsweek CEO, eh? Wasn't Newsweek just sold for $1?
Former Newsweek CEO, eh? Wasn't Newsweek just sold for $1?
Thought for the day ...
The famous saying 'God is love', it is generally assumed, means that God is like our immediate emotional indulgence, not that the meaning of love ought to have something of the 'otherness' and terror of God.
- Charles Williams
Monday, November 15, 2010
Academic mercenary ...
... The man who writes your students' papers tells his story.
At one point in my checkered career I edited dissertations. Not the same thing as writing them, of course -- which I would never have agreed to do, old-fashioned sort that I am -- but I was surprised to find how far along the track to a Ph.D people could get without becoming very skillful in organizing material or developing anything resembling an engaging style.
Listen in ...
... as Richard Rodriguez talks about his latest book, which will examine Islam in America. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
In the running ..
... 'Lord of Misrule' beautifully captures language of the racetrack. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
One more time ...
... for those who don't quite get it: Peace Train? The Atlantic revisits Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam, Salman Rushdie.
Indeed.
Peace is more than dreaming and singing songs. Sometimes it requires courage. In fact, it doesn’t mean much unless it does. Otherwise, it’s just the easy pacifism of the non-combatant.
Indeed.
Thought for the day ...
Poetry evokes out of words the resonance of the primordial world.- Gerhart Hauptmann, born on this date in 1862
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Art and life ...
... completely intertwined: Romain Gary: au revoir et merci.
That would be a tw0-place aircraft.
... he fled in a two-seater plane...
That would be a tw0-place aircraft.
I think I agree ...
... if only because I can't remember ever using the word: Words and Phrases that Make Me Grind My Teeth.
A day late with this ...
... but I did choose Higgins for my quote of the day: Happy Birthday to Crime Writer George V. Higgins.
Thought for the day ...
What makes old age so sad is not that our joys but our hopes cease.- Jean Paul, who died on this date in 1825
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Limousine radicals ...
... The Zealotry Of Free Thinkers. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Mr. Blom focuses on the rival salons of Paris and the often fraught personal relations of his subjects. The salons were organized by aristocratic men and women, affording the philosophes opportunities to try out their literary wares and show off their quick-wittedness. Some of these convivial occasions involved gargantuan quantities of food and wine, if Mr. Blom's sample menu offering 30 dishes is any guide. No wonder so many philosophes seem to have ended up gouty and spherical, despite the moral austerities they often enjoined on others.
Dimensions of evil ...
... Naimark, Snyder and Applebaum: We need to rethink “genocide”.
Of course, as Kenneth Patchen put it, "There are no proportions in death."
Of course, as Kenneth Patchen put it, "There are no proportions in death."
Thought for the day ...
Writing is the only trade I know of in which sniveling confessions of extreme incompetence are taken as credentials probative of powers to astound the multitude.- George V. Higgins, born on this date in 1939
Friday, November 12, 2010
Chasing Sheep?
I've just finished Haruki Murakami's Wild Sheep Chase - and I must say: here's a book that starts out great, rises toward something profound, and then gradually fades away. In this sense, the novel is something of a disappointment. I suppose I felt tricked: I mean, I was willing to go along for a literary ride, but by the end, I struggled to find meaning in Murakami's unyielding attention to, well, to sheep. Were these animals (who enter the human psyche) intended as a metaphor? Or are they instead (merely) players in an artistic scavenger hunt? So opaque and disjointed had things become by the final third of this novel that I struggled to remember what I had enjoyed so much about its opening pages. Still, though, despite this criticism, I'd like to register an intense appreciation for Murakami's Norwegian Wood - not a perfect novel, but a lasting one...and one without the animals.
On second thought ...
... The Danger of Cosmic Genius.
Dave Lull brought this to my attention the other day, but I didn't post a link because I didn't think the article was very good. In particular, I found it odd that Brower, who -- as he mentions -- wrote a book in which Dyson figured prominently -- a book I reviewed and rather liked -- didn't bother to get in touch with Dyson, who is alive and well in Princeton and still quite able to explain himself.
Anyway, I post a link now because I find the bulk of the comments heart-warming.
Dave Lull brought this to my attention the other day, but I didn't post a link because I didn't think the article was very good. In particular, I found it odd that Brower, who -- as he mentions -- wrote a book in which Dyson figured prominently -- a book I reviewed and rather liked -- didn't bother to get in touch with Dyson, who is alive and well in Princeton and still quite able to explain himself.
Anyway, I post a link now because I find the bulk of the comments heart-warming.
Something I missed ...
... and shouldn't have: Can one election change a man's life?
Jack Rossi is a tad older than I, but the 1948 election is the first one I remember also.
Jack Rossi is a tad older than I, but the 1948 election is the first one I remember also.
A day late ...
... but the words are forever: “…pray you’ll never know The hell where youth and laughter go.”
Resilience ...
... The Defiant Ones. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Following the publication of "Seabiscuit," Ms. Hillenbrand wrote to Mr. Zamperini. Shortly thereafter they had the first of many long phone conversations. His tale of survival captivated her both on its merits and because she could relate to it personally. "I'm attracted," she says, "to subjects who overcome tremendous suffering and learn to cope emotionally with it."
Attention ...
... all those who complain about what technology is doing to literature: A renaissance rooted in technology: the literary magazine returns. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
You, too, can be a genius ...
... No You Can't. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
In Tycho & Kepler, Kitty Ferguson says that "to discover, as Kepler did, the true orbit of Mars using Tycho's observations ;required a level of subtlety, insight, and inventiveness . . . that arguably has not been surpassed in the history of science.' " Sounds to me as if he was a cut above the rest.
The problem with the 10,000-hour rule is that many of its most ardent proponents are political ideologues who see the existence of genius as an affront to their vision of human equality, and will do anything to explain it away. They have a lot of explaining to do, starting with the case of Mozart. As Mr. Robinson points out, Nannerl, Mozart's older sister, was a gifted pianist who received the same intensive training as her better-known brother, yet she failed to develop as a composer. What stopped her? The simplest explanation is also the most persuasive one: He had something to say and she didn't. Or, to put it even more bluntly, he was a genius and she wasn't.
In Tycho & Kepler, Kitty Ferguson says that "to discover, as Kepler did, the true orbit of Mars using Tycho's observations ;required a level of subtlety, insight, and inventiveness . . . that arguably has not been surpassed in the history of science.' " Sounds to me as if he was a cut above the rest.
Thought for the day ...
Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which nature herself is animated.- Auguste Rodin, born on this date in 1840
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Holding up well ...
... Happy 90th Birthday, Mr. Bond.
FYI: From a Wikipedia article about Hoagy Carmichael: "Author Ian Fleming wrote in his novels Casino Royale and Moonraker that British secret agent James Bond resembled Carmichael, but with a scar down one cheek. In the book Casino Royale, James Bond compares himself unfavorably with Carmichael."
FYI: From a Wikipedia article about Hoagy Carmichael: "Author Ian Fleming wrote in his novels Casino Royale and Moonraker that British secret agent James Bond resembled Carmichael, but with a scar down one cheek. In the book Casino Royale, James Bond compares himself unfavorably with Carmichael."
Excellent observations ...
... Elaboration: the “Shutting Down” of Literary Culture.
I'm pretty much in agreement with Daniel. I think my original comment -- as well as my initial reaction to Epstein's essay -- came about from a rare attack of nostalgia. The essay reminded me of the time when people like Bennett Cerf and Clifton Fadiman were radio and TV personalities, when you could, on a Sunday afternoon, see Leonard Bernstein on TV explaining Poulenc's Gloria, or Peter Ustinov portraying Samuel Johnson on a series of Omnibus programs. Studio One presented Paddy Chayefsky's Marty; Playhouse 90 presented Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight; Play of the Week had E.G. Marshall starring in Ibsen's The Master Builder. A lot of this was in the '50s, which we have been led to believe was some sort of intellectual dark age.
I am no fan of the hieratic view of art. I think our society today is poorer for the absence of such things not because there is anything high-falutin' about them, but because everything that I have cited -- and I could cite many more -- was first-rate entertainment, the sort of high entertainment that actually broadens one's experience and in so doing deepens the self.
I'm pretty much in agreement with Daniel. I think my original comment -- as well as my initial reaction to Epstein's essay -- came about from a rare attack of nostalgia. The essay reminded me of the time when people like Bennett Cerf and Clifton Fadiman were radio and TV personalities, when you could, on a Sunday afternoon, see Leonard Bernstein on TV explaining Poulenc's Gloria, or Peter Ustinov portraying Samuel Johnson on a series of Omnibus programs. Studio One presented Paddy Chayefsky's Marty; Playhouse 90 presented Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight; Play of the Week had E.G. Marshall starring in Ibsen's The Master Builder. A lot of this was in the '50s, which we have been led to believe was some sort of intellectual dark age.
I am no fan of the hieratic view of art. I think our society today is poorer for the absence of such things not because there is anything high-falutin' about them, but because everything that I have cited -- and I could cite many more -- was first-rate entertainment, the sort of high entertainment that actually broadens one's experience and in so doing deepens the self.
Hmm ...
... Amazon Backing Down? 'Pedophile Guide' Listing Unavailable After Outrage.
Judging by the brief quote from the book, the author appears to be a borderline illiterate, or at least orthographically challenged. Should such a book be banned? I don't suppose we'd want a how-to for suicide bombers easily available. In both cases, though, police might find the books useful to look at. Of course, if Amazon chooses not to sell the book, that is not censorship. Amazon isn't obliged to sell anything it doesn't want to.
What, dear readers, are your thoughts on this?
Judging by the brief quote from the book, the author appears to be a borderline illiterate, or at least orthographically challenged. Should such a book be banned? I don't suppose we'd want a how-to for suicide bombers easily available. In both cases, though, police might find the books useful to look at. Of course, if Amazon chooses not to sell the book, that is not censorship. Amazon isn't obliged to sell anything it doesn't want to.
What, dear readers, are your thoughts on this?
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