A very happy new year to the BooksInq community.
We've recently passed 75,000 posts! Here's to next year and beyond.
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Please be careful …
… remember, it’s amateurs’ night, which is why I’m not out: Out partying on New Year's Eve? Here's a safety checklist - UPI.com.
The tale of Dim Kenney …
… (14) Is Wilson Goode off the hook? - by Ralph Cipriano.
Ralph and I are former Inquirer colleagues. He’s a great reporter and a great writer. What he says about The Inquirer today is true.
Sounds good …
… Make Christmas Medieval Again. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… The yuletide is supposed to start with Christmas, not end with it. The 12 days of Christmas run from Dec. 25 through Jan. 5, with that last evening called Twelfth Night—the evening before Epiphany. It’s a time for skits, with a Lord of Misrule appointed to lead the festivities: an evening of “cakes and ale,” as Shakespeare has the drunken Sir Toby proclaim in his own “Twelfth Night” play.
Something to think on …
To fall into a habit is to begin to cease to be
— Miguel de Unamuno, who died on this date in 1936
Hmm …
… (14) The Concept of 'Standoff' in Philosophy.
If philosopher A urges (1) and philosopher B urges (2), and neither can convince the other, then I say that A and B are in a standoff
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Something to think on …
A woman's guess is much more accurate than a man's certainty.
— Rudyard Kipling, born on this date in 1865
Friday, December 29, 2023
Something to think on …
How some of the writers I come across get through their books without dying of boredom is beyond me.
— William Gaddis, born on this date in 1922
Thursday, December 28, 2023
Mark thy calendar …
… Poet Helen Pinkerton on the “gentle preference” of Bartleby (hHat tip, Dave Lull.)
Savage maybe …
… but not so noble :Let’s finally recognize the slavery, conquest, and genocide of Native Americans by Native Americans.
Consider the cruelty of the Aztecs. For decades, the Aztecs brutally attacked neighboring tribes and built a vast empire in what is now central Mexico. They raped women, enslaved children, and participated in human sacrifice and capital punishment. Additionally, studies have shown that the Aztecs punished homosexuality with death and routinely exploited and murdered women.
Something to think on …
More consequences for thought and action follow the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question.
— Mortimer J. Adler, born on this date in 1992
Take a look …
… This Hobbit-Like Village in Japan Gets the Most Snowfall of Anywhere on Earth | Moss and Fog. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Something to think on …
Mr Michener, as timeless as a stack of 'National Geographics,' is the ultimate Summer Writer. Just as one goes back to the cottage in Maine, so one goes back to one's Michener.
— Wilfred Sheed, born on this date in 1930
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
The start of late night TV …
…(25) First Tonight Show 9/27/54 - YouTube. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Steve Allen would have turned 100 today.
Pondering Agatha Christie …
… Poison Pen - Taki's Magazine. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… one of the things life teaches us is how to rationalize well. Just as Miss Marple said that there is a lot of wickedness in an English village, so there is a lot of spiritual sustenance in Agatha Christie. I do not mean by this the sustenance to be found in her convoluted plots, but rather in her shrewd observations of life, which might even be called philosophical
Something to think on …
Music is the can-opener of the soul.
— Henry Miller, born on this date in 1891
Remembering …
… Opinion | Hank Williams at 100: A Country Crooner With Heartfelt Depth. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Monday, December 25, 2023
A fine rebuttal …
… (14) Galen Strawson on God - by William F. Vallicella.
The God I have faith in created me as a free induvudual, not as a automaton.
Endgame …
… On the Fear of Death - by William F. Vallicella.
But the surge before death. My friend Harold Boatrite told his nurse, who had complimented him on how well he seemed and spoke, that he felt better than he had in months. A few minutes later he was dead.
Sunday, December 24, 2023
Getting at the truth …
… In the Details There Is No Devil | The Russell Kirk Center. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
How can we know what Jesus really taught? That is, how can we know that Christianity today is the same Christianity that Christ taught 2,000 years ago? Are the gospels accurate? These are questions taken up in an important new book by theologian Gary Michuta in The Gospel Truth: How We Can Know What Christ Taught.
Appreciation …
… Willa Cather’s Nobility. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Few things would Willa Cather, were she alive today, loathe more than being taught in the contemporary university in a course on gay women writers, where today she no doubt often is. Taylor is excellent on Willa Cather’s lesbianism. He recognizes it without dwelling on it, never using it as a lever to pry open the putatively secret meanings in her fiction
Saturday, December 23, 2023
Friday, December 22, 2023
In case you wondered …
… Why we still have to talk about antisemitism and the Holocaust. (Hat tip, Dave Lull)
Getting the tune right …
… ‘Bach Against Modernity’ Review: Sacred Cantatas and Concertos. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The 11 essays of “Bach Against Modernity” are mainly concerned, Mr. Marissen writes, with guarding against “a kind of cultural narcissism in which we end up miscasting Bach in our own ideological image and proclaiming the authenticity of that image, and hence its prestige value, in support of our own agendas.”
Thursday, December 21, 2023
A poem
The Alert
Mind and heart uplifted
In the dim light and silence
After Mass, out of somewhere
He hears whispered: Listen.
Outside he can see
Fall is nearly over.
The bare, curving limbs,
Pale blond sunlight, and sky
As blue as longed-for eyes
Somehow remind him: Listen
In case you wondered …
… The 2023 Top Titles in US Public Libraries - Stephen's Lighthouse. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.8
Appreciation …
… Remembering John Gardner. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… every year since 1996, on an invariably chilly evening in late October, a far-flung score of folks have gathered in Gardner’s (and my) hometown of Batavia, New York, to read from his works, discuss his legacy and collectively fall short of his typical alcohol intake.
A poem …
… Webs and Weeds by Colleen J. McElroy | Poetry Foundation. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Colleen McElroy recently passed away.
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Another must-read …
… (14) Civilizational Jenga - by Glenn Harlan Reynolds.
Half the country – maybe more – will conclude that the whole system is rigged, that the establishment doesn’t follow the rules, and that it will gang up on anyone it sees is a threat. They will conclude, in short, that the government, and indeed the entire system, is illegitimate.
And they will be right. And the politicians of even a generation ago recognized that as enormously dangerous
A poem …
She Has Moved
They took her to a nursing home today,
After being in hospital these past few weeks.
His life is not the same with her not here.
The empty closet breaks his heart. Just now
Emptiness is what defines his life.
Words of wisdom …
… Safe Speech.
When I was The Inquirer”s book editor I had many attractive young women who reviewed for me. We went out to lunch together. But I was raised — and trained by my mother and my teachers (nuns and priests) to be a gentleman, which I believe I still am. I never did, nor ever would have, thought of making a pass. I also love my wife,
In case you wondered …
… What Does “Stylist” Even Mean? On Steven Millhauser’s “Disruptions”. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Lisa Halliday
I've gone through another phase of intense appreciation for Philip Roth, and that's led me to Asymmetry, the novel by Lisa Halliday which, if not exactly about Roth, sure seems to be about an author very similar in age and outlook to him. (See more about the relationship between Halliday and Roth here.)
Published in 2018, Asymmetry is a book about power: about how it's acquired, wielded, and countered. For me, the novel was primarily about the imbalances which result from power: whether those are a result of gender dynamics, racism, or politics. The novel's three parts speak to this: in the first, a young female author enters into a relationship with an older novelist resembling Roth. The nature of power here is built not only on gender, but on sexuality and fame. The second part, which focuses on an immigration episode at London's Heathrow Airport, and which is seemingly disconnected from the first part of the book, casts an upsetting gaze on what it is to be powerless, on what it is to have no agency, no recourse. These two parts of the novel are distinct -- in the sense that their characters are unrelated: but of course, upon reflection, they share a considerable amount when it comes to their exploration of power and its misproportion.
The third part of the novel is the shortest and reads like a radio interview with Roth. The imbalance is present here, too, as Roth -- who is not Roth -- asks out the interviewer at the end of the story, effectively exercising his power over a married woman. This part of the book, while fluent and comical, struck me as the least complete. Compared with the second part, for instance, with its emotional backdrop and evolved characters, the final portion seemed predictable -- as if the theme of power had reached its conclusion. Ultimately, I was not sure what to think about Asymmetry: some sections felt gimmicky, while others packed a genuine punch. In some ways, the book read like a series of short stories, united under the banner of a certain theme. Whether they unite to become a novel is debatable. This, in the end, despite all the veiled references to Roth, is what gave me pause.
Monday, December 18, 2023
This is worrisome …
… Are Catholic Colleges Catholic? - The Catholic Thing.
It’s worrisome to me because I’m Jesuit-trained and once taught (briefly) at the University of Dayton. I remind myself often these days that the Pope is only a stand-in. Jesus is the head of the Church.
Something to think on …
The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened.
— Saki, born on this date in 1870
Nature and art …
… Class explores Nabokov as writer and ‘butterfly man”. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
‘
Nabokov’s deep interest in and connection to the natural world and his cross-pollinating interests in the sciences and the arts were the focus of a new seminar, “Nabokov, Naturally,” taught in fall 2023 by Anindita Banerjee, associate professor of comparative literature in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S).
Sunday, December 17, 2023
I fear so …
… ‘Liberty and Justice For All’ – A Tattered Cliche?
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial whose slug got to the nub of the issue. “The special counsel,” it read, “tries to drag the Justices into his political timetable for the Jan. 6 trial of Donald Trump.” That’s it exactly. Smith wants the Court to decide now, today, so he can pursue his vendetta against Trump on the time table the election calendar has set. Most observers believe that the Court will be more circumspect. The writers of that editorial caution that “The wiser decision would have been to lay out the facts of what the special counsel found and let the voters decide. They chose to prosecute, and the damage has begun to unfold.”
Anniversary …
… The Quest for Community at 70 | The Russell Kirk Center. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
While deep in a variety of ways, The Quest for Community offers a discernible, if exceedingly complex, line of thought regarding the nature of humanity and the communities we form to maintain stability, order, and freedom. State, nation, and totalitarianism, as Nisbet saw it, challenged association and voluntary community.
A most interesting story …
… A faith healer in skinny jeans is bringing Catholics back to Mass.
A priest keeps watchful vigil over her gatherings, which are preceded by a Mass and Eucharistic adoration. This fall, the archbishop of Rosario released a remarkable statement endorsing her, describing her as a “phenomenon occurring within the Catholic Church.”
Something to think on …
Jesus Christ is too important to be left to the theologians.
— Jaroslav Pelikan, born on this date in 1923
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Maybe not what you thought …
… The latest, greatest last word on Homer | Washington Examiner. (Hat tip, Dave Lull )
Where Lane Fox shines, however, is in his evaluation of the poem’s literary power. In the second part of the book, he looks at the heroes of the poem and the world they inhabit and finds that our lives are not so different from theirs without diminishing any of the poem’s foreignness.
Something to think on …
There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.
— Janr Austen, born on this date in 1775
Something to read carefully …
… and put into practice — (14) The Jesus Prayer: A Primer - by Michael Warren Davis. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Friday, December 15, 2023
A comprehensive analysis …
… How to Really Fix American Higher Education | The Free Press.
… above all else, we must focus on returning American higher education to its original purposes: to seek the truth; to teach young adults the things they need to flourish; and to pass on the knowledge that is the basis of our exceptional civilization.
Something to think on …
Science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries.
— Freeman Dyson, born on this date in 1923
Thursday, December 14, 2023
In case you wondered …
… What Is Magical Realism in Literature? (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
In 1955, Angel Flores first used the term magical realism, drawing on Roh’s earlier and similar term in asserting that magical realism was an amalgamation of magic realism and marvelous realism. According to Flores, the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges was the movement’s originator. The newly coined term magical realism was soon used to name a trend that emerged within German fiction in the 1950s, which included such works as Günter Grass’ 1959 novel Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum).
Something to think on …
In the country of the story the writer is king.
—Shirley Jackson, born on this date in 1916
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Just so you know …
… Chaos at Synagogue Thwarted: Shooter Cries “Free Palestine” on Hannukah!
What is this anti-Semitic shit.? I can’t believe that the neo-Nazi crap is actually happening.