Wednesday, January 10, 2007
This is, to say the least ...
... embarrassing: Walk, don't walk.
The next time Peter comes to the U.S. he should make a point of coming to Philadelphia, where you can walk pretty much to your heart's content (unlike, for instance, Los Angeles). I didn't get a driver's license until quite late in life and quickly discovered I detested driving. So I never drive. And I walk to work (it's 2.2 miles).
The next time Peter comes to the U.S. he should make a point of coming to Philadelphia, where you can walk pretty much to your heart's content (unlike, for instance, Los Angeles). I didn't get a driver's license until quite late in life and quickly discovered I detested driving. So I never drive. And I walk to work (it's 2.2 miles).
Ladies and gentlemen ...
... place your bets: An interview with James Connor, author of Pascal's Wager. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Take a look at this ...
... one facet of Maxine's day job: authors & referees.
Update: Maxine explains further here: Birth announcement.
Update: Maxine explains further here: Birth announcement.
Another sympathetic look ...
... at Andrew Klavan's Damnation Street. I reviewed the book in October: Thriller with literary flair, moral depth.
Problems, problems, problems ...
... Notes on the Intractability of Philosophical Problems. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I'm starting to miss things ...
... or maybe I'm just starting to notice that I'm starting to miss things. Anyway, Maxine has put together another blog that is very much worth visiting: Web writer. I shall have more to say about this in the near future.
Another good question ...
... Is anyone borrowing my books? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
And while we're at it, here's some for just about all of us Westerners: On not knowing Arabic.
And while we're at it, here's some for just about all of us Westerners: On not knowing Arabic.
Thinking about ...
... a college or university? You might want to consider John Stuart Mill's idea of a university versus the prevailing one today: Liberal Education, Then and Now.
Victor Davis Hanson has relared thoughts: Cry the Once Beloved University . (Via InstaPundit.)
Victor Davis Hanson has relared thoughts: Cry the Once Beloved University . (Via InstaPundit.)
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Pondering ...
... Science fiction and conservatism. Glenn Reynolds comments.
I think the discussion demonstrates the increasing irrelevance of traditional political taxonomy (it is their attachment to such taxonomy that renders much media irrelevant).
I think the discussion demonstrates the increasing irrelevance of traditional political taxonomy (it is their attachment to such taxonomy that renders much media irrelevant).
I just listened ...
... to Mark Long's Sermon for Epiphany.
Here, incidentally, is something on Joyce's Epiphany. There is more Catholic substance to Joyce than is often ackowledged.
Here, incidentally, is something on Joyce's Epiphany. There is more Catholic substance to Joyce than is often ackowledged.
Before we leave Maxine ...
... I should draw your attention to Thrillerfest and the story behind the New banner for Petrona.
I don't know ...
... about those "conformist 1950s" - after all, they produced me - but this spounds worth keeping an eye out for: Ellen Baker on Keeping the House.
Well, this seems to work ...
... What American Accent Do You Have?
Here's my results (the odd thing is, most people do not think I have a Philadelphia accent. Some years ago, in Chicago, people thought Debbie was from Philly, but not me):
Here's my results (the odd thing is, most people do not think I have a Philadelphia accent. Some years ago, in Chicago, people thought Debbie was from Philly, but not me):
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard. | |
| The Northeast | |
| The Midland | |
| The Inland North | |
| The South | |
| Boston | |
| The West | |
| North Central | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
Bryan is back ...
... and on his favorite lord's case: Jeffrey and Judas.
Bryan isn't letting up on Richard Dawkins, either (nor should he - or any of us): Dawkins, Dark Matter, Dead Martians and Gordon Plays God.
Speaking of Dawkins, Dave Lull sends along this link to The Richard Dawkins Delusion.
Dave also sends along this: The Reality of Non-physical Causes.
Bryan isn't letting up on Richard Dawkins, either (nor should he - or any of us): Dawkins, Dark Matter, Dead Martians and Gordon Plays God.
Speaking of Dawkins, Dave Lull sends along this link to The Richard Dawkins Delusion.
Dave also sends along this: The Reality of Non-physical Causes.
One of the things that has puzzled me about The God Delusion is Dawkins's argument that the creator of so complex a world would have to be even more complex than that world itself. This seems strange coming from someone who has built a career out of showing how simplicity can give birth to complexity.
A good question ...
... Is Gary Fisketjon the best editor in America? (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
It is similar to one posed in this identically named post: A good question ...
It is similar to one posed in this identically named post: A good question ...
Drumroll, please ....
... William Boyd wins Costa best novel prize.
The Costa prizes sound interesting: Little-known poet beats heavyweights to Costa prize.
The Costa prizes sound interesting: Little-known poet beats heavyweights to Costa prize.
Calling all readers ...
... your help is needed to compile The Reading Experience Database. (Hat tip, Maxine Clarke.)
By the way ...
... I would have been blogging earlier, but Blogger was down for maintenance. I probably won't do a lot tonight, because I'm still a little weary from the dental work - and I have a review and much else to work on.
If you're involved ...
... in regional theater, you'll want to read this: So you want to get reviewed?
Since this part mentions quite a few of my own favorites, I will single it out:
I also have a select list of older plays about which I'd like to write that haven’t been revived in New York lately (or ever). If you’re doing The Beauty Part, The Cocktail Party, The Entertainer, Hotel Paradiso, Man and Superman, Rhinoceros, Six Characters in Search of an Author, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Visit, What the Butler Saw, or anything by Jean Anouilh, Noël Coward, Terence Rattigan, or August Wilson, drop me a line.
I wouldn't mind knowing about any such revivals myself. Have people forgotten that Anouilh wrote Beckett?
Since this part mentions quite a few of my own favorites, I will single it out:
I also have a select list of older plays about which I'd like to write that haven’t been revived in New York lately (or ever). If you’re doing The Beauty Part, The Cocktail Party, The Entertainer, Hotel Paradiso, Man and Superman, Rhinoceros, Six Characters in Search of an Author, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Visit, What the Butler Saw, or anything by Jean Anouilh, Noël Coward, Terence Rattigan, or August Wilson, drop me a line.
I wouldn't mind knowing about any such revivals myself. Have people forgotten that Anouilh wrote Beckett?
It really shouldn't be ...
... all about oneself. James Fenton on keeping oneself out of the story: Less deceived. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Of course, as Fenton notes, there is the problem of readers assuming that everything one writes is autobiographical. After all, one of the fun things about writing fiction is ... making things up.
Of course, as Fenton notes, there is the problem of readers assuming that everything one writes is autobiographical. After all, one of the fun things about writing fiction is ... making things up.
Can philosophy ...
... make a comeback? After all, It's still the thought that counts. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Over the weekend
... there was in our fair city a small gathering devoted to David Goodis, local master of noir. David Hiltbrand was in attendance: Out of darkness.
Monday, January 08, 2007
A conversation with ...
... Martha Nussbaum: Philosophy and public life. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I must confess I was not always sure I knew what she was talking about.
I must confess I was not always sure I knew what she was talking about.
Local girl makes good ...
... and locally: An unexpected honor. Here's more: 21st Annual City Paper Writing Contest. (Hat tip, Bonnie Calhoun.)
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Does he contradict himself ....
... very well, then, he contradicts himself: Sam Harris's Faith in Eastern Spirituality and Muslim Torture. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
This actually makes me think better of Harris. I think it indicates more openness to dialogue than I would have suspected. As for torture, let's say I favor forceful interrogation. Can't say I favor flat-out torture, though. Not only is the very thought of it repellent, but I seriously doubt if it works, because I think eventually the victim will say anything he thinks his tormeneter wants to hear.
Today's Inquirer reviews ...
... Paula Marantz Cohen takes an appreciative look at Philippa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance: Ambition, lust in Henry VIII's court.
The Bibliothecary's Ed Pettit visits magical realms: Faerie lore befitting science and fantasy.
Susan Balée really got a kick out of Richard Grayson's And to Think That He KissedHim on Lorimer Street: An amusing book of lists and riffs.
John Rossi thinks highly of Mark Steyn's America Alone: A cultural critic submits how the West was done in.
Roger Miller finds a biography of Winifred Wagner fascinating: A woman hopelessly devoted to Hitler.
Katie Haegele discovers an intriguing tale: Young Adult Reader In a sizzling summer spent fishing, the unspeakable happens .
During the past week ...
Carlin Romano weighed Ann Coulter's critics in the balance - and found they didn't measure up to Coulter, who he thinks has an important decision to make: Countering Coulter.
Hal Smith liked the sounds of Les Beletsky's Bird Songs: New birding guide appeals to the ear.
Phaedra Trethan found herself won over by Carolyn Turgeon's debut, Rain Village: From farm to circus, a little girl's life journey. (I feel obliged to note, with great sadness, that Phaedra was one of those laid off from The Inquirer this past week.)
I promise not to do this every week, but I do think this is an unusually good mix.
The Bibliothecary's Ed Pettit visits magical realms: Faerie lore befitting science and fantasy.
Susan Balée really got a kick out of Richard Grayson's And to Think That He KissedHim on Lorimer Street: An amusing book of lists and riffs.
John Rossi thinks highly of Mark Steyn's America Alone: A cultural critic submits how the West was done in.
Roger Miller finds a biography of Winifred Wagner fascinating: A woman hopelessly devoted to Hitler.
Katie Haegele discovers an intriguing tale: Young Adult Reader In a sizzling summer spent fishing, the unspeakable happens .
During the past week ...
Carlin Romano weighed Ann Coulter's critics in the balance - and found they didn't measure up to Coulter, who he thinks has an important decision to make: Countering Coulter.
Hal Smith liked the sounds of Les Beletsky's Bird Songs: New birding guide appeals to the ear.
Phaedra Trethan found herself won over by Carolyn Turgeon's debut, Rain Village: From farm to circus, a little girl's life journey. (I feel obliged to note, with great sadness, that Phaedra was one of those laid off from The Inquirer this past week.)
I promise not to do this every week, but I do think this is an unusually good mix.
Wow ...
... there's been a discussion goping on in connection with this post: More and more people ...
I haven't had time to get involved myself, but that's OK. I'm just the emcee here. I don't have to butt into every act.
I haven't had time to get involved myself, but that's OK. I'm just the emcee here. I don't have to butt into every act.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
The future of newspapers ...
... may be here: Updated Journal writes its future. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Dave Lull and Rus Bowden ...
... both sent me this. Sounds like a pretty impressive guy: Columnist Donald Murray dies at 82. (Gee, I wonder if I'll still be doing this at 82, presuming I manage to reach 82.)
You know I agree ...
... A threnody: books and arts coverage. (Hat tip, Dave Lull, without whom I would be hopelessly out of touch. I can't believe I hadn't added Jerome Weeks's blog to the blogroll. It's there now.)
I may have mentioned this before, but it is worth bringing up again in connection with what Jerome says in this post. In 1959, Philadelphia's classical music station at the time, WFLN, celebrated its 10th anniversary. That year they also had a marketing survey done. Now WFLN had a good loyal audience, but it was nowhere near as large as the rock stations'. What the marketing survey revealed, however, is that WFLN's audience accounted for one-third of the buying power of the entire Philadelphia region. This meant, of course, that the station attracted plenty of premium advertising. It is something newspapers might think about.
Priorities askew perhaps ...
... From Bangkok to Banging People on the Head. This, as you can see, is about “a July incident in which [Carl Parkes] beat an 81-year-old woman with a motorcycle helmet.” Parkes blogs as FriskoDude. His last post was about Another Thai Elephant Tragedy .
Good thing the elephants don't do crossword puzzles.
(Hat tip, Lynne Scanlon.)
Good thing the elephants don't do crossword puzzles.
(Hat tip, Lynne Scanlon.)
Thursday was ...
... the 42d aniversary of T.S. Eliot's death. Craig Raine considers Eliot's Private passions. (Hat tip, Vikram Johri, who comments as follows:
"I am forced to agree with Eliot's position. Passion is not all; one must have talent to create something -- to bear something. I wonder if this may be taken forward to mean that all art is creation of some sort, and conversely, denying this creation kills the beauty that art must provide. Could that mean that ideologies that profess destroying against creating, such as fundamentalism, atheism etc. are essentially not only anti-art, but also, anti-life? If this were so, then intellectualising arguments against God and religion would make little sense, since that would be akin to covering up for one's dislike for life, as it were. "
I think Vikram is on to something here - and in rather an original way. I am reminded of e.e.cummings's line, "a world of made is not a world of born." There is something fundamentally different between something that is created and something that is constructed. Ideology - whether it be fundamentalism or narrow rationalism (and the two have much in common) - do not simply see life as being only the sum of its parts. They see life as actually amounting to less than the sum of its parts. Whereas the mystery of life is that it is more than the sum of its parts. The best poems I have written - hell, the best anything I have written - has always seemed to me more like taking dictation - the revision involved making sure I had got it down right. And the latter is where the craft came in. As for the emotions attendant to the creative act, by the time the thing is done I am so far removed from those that the piece could have been written by someone else.)
"I am forced to agree with Eliot's position. Passion is not all; one must have talent to create something -- to bear something. I wonder if this may be taken forward to mean that all art is creation of some sort, and conversely, denying this creation kills the beauty that art must provide. Could that mean that ideologies that profess destroying against creating, such as fundamentalism, atheism etc. are essentially not only anti-art, but also, anti-life? If this were so, then intellectualising arguments against God and religion would make little sense, since that would be akin to covering up for one's dislike for life, as it were. "
I think Vikram is on to something here - and in rather an original way. I am reminded of e.e.cummings's line, "a world of made is not a world of born." There is something fundamentally different between something that is created and something that is constructed. Ideology - whether it be fundamentalism or narrow rationalism (and the two have much in common) - do not simply see life as being only the sum of its parts. They see life as actually amounting to less than the sum of its parts. Whereas the mystery of life is that it is more than the sum of its parts. The best poems I have written - hell, the best anything I have written - has always seemed to me more like taking dictation - the revision involved making sure I had got it down right. And the latter is where the craft came in. As for the emotions attendant to the creative act, by the time the thing is done I am so far removed from those that the piece could have been written by someone else.)
It's about time ...
... Vatican comes out of the closet and embraces Oscar.
Any discerning reader of Wilde quickly notices how much of a moralist Wilde was, and how deep his religious sentiments in fact were - read "The Selfish Giant" or "The Happy Prince." In connection with this I will once again recommend Ellis Hanson's Decadence and Catholicism.
Any discerning reader of Wilde quickly notices how much of a moralist Wilde was, and how deep his religious sentiments in fact were - read "The Selfish Giant" or "The Happy Prince." In connection with this I will once again recommend Ellis Hanson's Decadence and Catholicism.
Friday, January 05, 2007
As a native of city ...
... renowned for losing teams - the Phillies not only hold the modern record losing streak (23 straight games in 1961), they will soon become the first professional sports franchise to rack up an astounding 10,000 losses - this naturally caught my eye: Those losingest kittens.
Language problem ...
... Cá Bhfuil Na Gaeilg eoirí? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
When Debbie and I were in Ireland a few years ago, we found that if you asked about "Gaelic," you were told the term was "Irish." There were signs and occasionally someone would pronounce a word for you, but we certainly didn't run into anybody speaking Irish.
When Debbie and I were in Ireland a few years ago, we found that if you asked about "Gaelic," you were told the term was "Irish." There were signs and occasionally someone would pronounce a word for you, but we certainly didn't run into anybody speaking Irish.
Well, here's a ...
... Political Quiz. Glenn Reynolds and Ann Althouse both scored 21. I scored 29, but I agree with many of the comments here that the test is flawed. A lot of times I , too, would have preferred none of the above. I don 't trust either the CIA or the Peace Corps very much and to choose between the FBI and the IRS is nonsensical.
More and more people ...
... seem to be noticing this: Without God, Gall Is Permitted. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The faith that the new atheists describe is a simple-minded parody. It is impossible to see within it what might have preoccupied great artists and thinkers like Homer, Milton, Michelangelo, Newton and Spinoza--let alone Aquinas, Dr. Johnson, Kierkegaard, Goya, Cardinal Newman, Reinhold Niebuhr or, for that matter, Albert Einstein. But to pass over this deeper faith--the kind that engaged the great minds of Western history--is to diminish the loss of faith too. The new atheists are separated from the old by their shallowness.
Indeed.
The faith that the new atheists describe is a simple-minded parody. It is impossible to see within it what might have preoccupied great artists and thinkers like Homer, Milton, Michelangelo, Newton and Spinoza--let alone Aquinas, Dr. Johnson, Kierkegaard, Goya, Cardinal Newman, Reinhold Niebuhr or, for that matter, Albert Einstein. But to pass over this deeper faith--the kind that engaged the great minds of Western history--is to diminish the loss of faith too. The new atheists are separated from the old by their shallowness.
Indeed.
Let's get ready ...
... Six Literary Centennials to Celebrate in 2007 . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road.
This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road.
Not always right ...
... and sometimes spectacularly wrong. But George Orwell was More often right than wrong. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
One the one hand ...
... and on the other: Arnold Kling's Two Strategies for Avoiding Truth.
Like Kling, I "believe in democracy because I distrust the elites. I distrust the elites because I believe that self-deception is widespread, and the elites are particularly skilled at it."
Like Kling, I "believe in democracy because I distrust the elites. I distrust the elites because I believe that self-deception is widespread, and the elites are particularly skilled at it."
Thursday, January 04, 2007
A flourish of trumpets ...
... and a roll of drums please for The Asinine Parody Contest Winners.
I had the privilege of being one of the judges and let me just say it was not and easy task - but it was a lot of fun.
I had the privilege of being one of the judges and let me just say it was not and easy task - but it was a lot of fun.
For all those who doubt ....
... the value of blogs, I give you this post of Maxine's: Fast-moving books and science. Together, the link to the GOB's post and Maxine's gloss about the scientific publication ranking system provide knowledge and insight you're unlikely to find elsewhere.
Tells you what I know ...
... Testing Your Knowledge of 2006 Literary Matters.
And here's how I did (which is better than I would have thought, since I guessed a bit):
You scored 13 out of a possible 21
Not bad at all. A keen awareness of the literary landscape, with just enough omissions to confirm that you have also managed to retain the semblance of a functioning social life. Merry Christmas!
Amazing that they think I managed to retain a semblance of a social life.
And here's how I did (which is better than I would have thought, since I guessed a bit):
You scored 13 out of a possible 21
Not bad at all. A keen awareness of the literary landscape, with just enough omissions to confirm that you have also managed to retain the semblance of a functioning social life. Merry Christmas!
Amazing that they think I managed to retain a semblance of a social life.
Terry Teachout has posted ...
... My (public) New Year's resolutions. I have to admit they're rather more adventurous than mine.
Well, isn't this nice?
... The Redeker Affair.
Redeker ... soon received a large number of threats by letter and e-mail. On an Islamist website, he was sentenced to death in a posting that, in order to facilitate a potential assassin’s task, also provided his address and a photograph of his home. Fearful for himself and his family, Redeker sought protection from the local police, who transferred the case to the national counter-espionage authorities. On their advice, Redeker, his wife, and three children fled their home and took shelter in a secret location. Since then, they have moved from city to city, at their own expense, under police protection. Another teacher has been appointed by the French Ministry of Education to replace Redeker, who will probably never see his students again.
Redeker ... soon received a large number of threats by letter and e-mail. On an Islamist website, he was sentenced to death in a posting that, in order to facilitate a potential assassin’s task, also provided his address and a photograph of his home. Fearful for himself and his family, Redeker sought protection from the local police, who transferred the case to the national counter-espionage authorities. On their advice, Redeker, his wife, and three children fled their home and took shelter in a secret location. Since then, they have moved from city to city, at their own expense, under police protection. Another teacher has been appointed by the French Ministry of Education to replace Redeker, who will probably never see his students again.
This year may mark ...
... the beginning of the end of Longfellow's neglect. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I hope so, because the neglect is grounded in a narrowing of the scope of poetry.
I hope so, because the neglect is grounded in a narrowing of the scope of poetry.
Scott McLemee records...
... the Most interesting thing noticed in the course of various sessions of the MLA. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I find it very odd myself. I presume all those laughing have read Castiglione.
I find it very odd myself. I presume all those laughing have read Castiglione.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
First, though ...
... here's something to distract from, ugliness and unpleasantness: Kenneth Parker Photographs. (Via InstaPundit.)
In case you've been wondering ....
... why there were relatively few posts here until just a few minutes ago - well, more layoffs were announced today, and in fact it has proved to be an even worse day than yesterday, which is saying something.
So I plan on taking another night off from blogging, in the hope that I can get back into focus by tomorrow.
I have made the point ...
... that if the only Richard Dawkins book you knew was The God Delusion you would have a hard time believing that the author of The Blind Watchmaker is a very good writer. This same point among those made in this rather thorough piece by Colin Bower: The Dawkins Delusion. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
You shouldn't miss ...
... the comment Dave Lull has appended to this post: This doesn't sound good ...
Ten religious poems worth knowing........
...........at least in the estimation of the Poetry Foundation .
A trio of poems ...
... by Pascale Petit, who will be the IBPC's judge for January. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
New Year's resolutions......
........Sure, from time to time we all make them for ourselves, but here's a list one wag has made for other people -- hellish people, perhaps.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The first layoffs ...
... at The Inquirer became known today. In all the nearly 27 years I have been at the paper, this is perhaps the saddest. You will understand that I do not feel like blogging.
Well, OK ...
... this is garnering a bit of attention, so let's link to it. Or rather let's link first to this, which dave Lull sent me yesterday: Rebecca Goldstein's We Have the Capacity to Understand One Another.
This is one of 160 answers to The Edge Annual Question — 2007 - which is "What are you optimistic about? Why?"
Maxine has some comments and links to a fine Patrick Kurp post: Grounds for optimism?
As for myself, while I am an optimistic sort, I tend not to express that optimism in the form of predictions. Lots of a good things are happening - as usual. Some bad things are happening, too - as usual. I place my faith and trust in goodness. I will have more to say on this later, but I have bins and bins of books to open and sort and shelve.
This is one of 160 answers to The Edge Annual Question — 2007 - which is "What are you optimistic about? Why?"
Maxine has some comments and links to a fine Patrick Kurp post: Grounds for optimism?
As for myself, while I am an optimistic sort, I tend not to express that optimism in the form of predictions. Lots of a good things are happening - as usual. Some bad things are happening, too - as usual. I place my faith and trust in goodness. I will have more to say on this later, but I have bins and bins of books to open and sort and shelve.
Jet Set poet ...
... The Motorcycle Diarist: Frederick Seidel may be hopelessly rich, but so are his poems . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
We link ...
... you decide: Does Poetry Have a Social Function? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
What do I think? I think the question represents a category error. On New Year's Eve, one of our dinner guests, a beutiful Chinese woman, read several classical Chinese poems for us. This proved that Auden was right when he said that when you hear real poetry it doesn't matter if you know the language - you know it is poetry. Our friend also sang, with the voice of an angel, one of Li Bai's poems. It is this sort of experience of poetry that makes such a question as the one posed on this link seem so banal. The essence of poetry is enchantment, not utility.
What do I think? I think the question represents a category error. On New Year's Eve, one of our dinner guests, a beutiful Chinese woman, read several classical Chinese poems for us. This proved that Auden was right when he said that when you hear real poetry it doesn't matter if you know the language - you know it is poetry. Our friend also sang, with the voice of an angel, one of Li Bai's poems. It is this sort of experience of poetry that makes such a question as the one posed on this link seem so banal. The essence of poetry is enchantment, not utility.
Local connection ...
... Now You See It...Stories from Cokesville by Bathsheba Monk. (Hat tip, Maxine Clarke.)
Here's Karen Heller's Inquirer review: Short stories A town full of characters bathed in a warm Martian orange .
Here's Karen Heller's Inquirer review: Short stories A town full of characters bathed in a warm Martian orange .
Monday, January 01, 2007
Something to think about ...
Marcus ... was interested in resemblance, in something he called imitation, without knowing if, or where, there was a will to imitate. Consider the bee orchid, the trap in the form of a female bee that invites the agitated male to grasp, to penetrate, to shake on the flower that then tips him into a vegetable prison where he must roll, for its fertilization, until it withers. Marcus, like most human beings, was constrained to see this as a work of intelligence, not of pure chance. If over millenia the form of the flower has more and more exactly approached the deceptive form of the bee, and the live mechanism has been perfected, it is beyond our intelligence to conceive of this happening without intelligence. Blind chance is so much harder to imagine, and bears little relation to what we usually mean by chance, the random blow of fate or stroke of luck, the falling of the coin, or rocketing of the billiard balls, this way or that. Through centuries we have believed that our minds mirror the order of things and can therefore apprehend it. The flower has no eyes to see the exactness of its parody. How it knows, if it knows, that it is exact is beyond the scope of our apprehension. Because of the bee orchid, because of that disturbing exact trope ( like Coleridge's marble peach in one sense, a copy, not an image), Marcus had come to extend his ant-god into a pervasive organizing intelligence. He still believed it had nothing to do with him. He struggled not to say, "It was designed to look like a female bee," but it was almost impossible not to believe in a Designer.
-- A.S. Byatt, Still Life
Sounds good to me ...
... God and Comfort: Getting Atheists to Take Theism Seriously. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I'm pressed for time once again ...
... but luckily, Maxine has taken A quick dash round the blogosphere.
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