Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I pay a debt ...
... to an author, for a book that has meant much to me. Norm Geras graciously asked me to write about a book that has been a major influence one me. The result is here: Writer's choice 94: Frank Wilson. My thanks to Norm for the opportunity.
Monday, March 19, 2007
A different sort of dialogue ...
... "Global warming NOT a crisis", IQ2 audience decides.
What is interesting here is the transcript of the debate. For the record, my position on this issue is much the same as Glenn's
What is interesting here is the transcript of the debate. For the record, my position on this issue is much the same as Glenn's
In case you've been wondering ...
... Who the Hell is Troy Jollimore?
Moreover, here are some Poems from Tom Thomson in Purgatory, by Troy Jollimore.
Moreover, here are some Poems from Tom Thomson in Purgatory, by Troy Jollimore.
And what about us ...
... or rather the U.S.? Michael Barone on The Blame-America-First Crowd.
In connection with this, The Gospel of John & Yoko: The Origins of Mad Morality is worth a look, too, considerinmg that the author has seen it from the other side.
In connection with this, The Gospel of John & Yoko: The Origins of Mad Morality is worth a look, too, considerinmg that the author has seen it from the other side.
Oops ...
... seems that, despite being such deep thinkers, we've been duped: Thinking Blogger Award.
Update: As Maxine indicates, we weren't duped after all: Bluestalking Reader: Thinking Blogger Awards.
Update: As Maxine indicates, we weren't duped after all: Bluestalking Reader: Thinking Blogger Awards.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Happy birthday ...
... to John Updike. Hard to believe he's 75. I can remember when The Poorhouse Fair was published. Anyway, here, compliments of Dave Lull, are some links:
... from The Centaurian.
Updike's 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from Christianity and Literature.
And his Life and Times. (This really has a lot.)
... from The Centaurian.
Updike's 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from Christianity and Literature.
And his Life and Times. (This really has a lot.)
A lively discussion ...
... to say the least: Genre Wars from a Different Angle. (Hat tip, Maxine Clarke.)
The future of newspapers ...
... according to Warren Buffett, who owns one. This is from his Annual Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Stockholders. (Hat tip, Roger Miller.)
But this is the money quote, and I think the old boy is pretty much right:
But this is the money quote, and I think the old boy is pretty much right:
Not all of our businesses are destined to increase profits. When an industry’s underlying economics are crumbling, talented management may slow the rate of decline. Eventually, though, eroding fundamentals will overwhelm managerial brilliance. (As a wise friend told me long ago, “If you want to get a reputation as a good businessman, be sure to get into a good business.”) And fundamentals are definitely eroding in the newspaper industry, a trend that has caused the profits of our Buffalo News to decline. The skid will almost certainly continue.
When Charlie and I were young, the newspaper business was as easy a way to make huge returns as existed in America. As one not-too-bright publisher famously said, “I owe my fortune to two great American institutions: monopoly and nepotism.” No paper in a one-paper city, however bad the product or however inept the management, could avoid gushing profits. The industry’s staggering returns could be simply explained. For most of the 20th Century, newspapers were the primary source of information for the American public. Whether the subject was sports, finance, or politics, newspapers reigned supreme. Just as important, their ads were the easiest way to find job opportunities or to learn the price of groceries at your town’s supermarkets.
The great majority of families therefore felt the need for a paper every day, but understandably most didn’t wish to pay for two. Advertisers preferred the paper with the most circulation, and readers tended to want the paper with the most ads and news pages. This circularity led to a law of the newspaper jungle: Survival of the Fattest. Thus, when two or more papers existed in a major city (which was almost universally the case a century ago), the one that pulled ahead usually emerged as the stand-alone winner. After competition disappeared, the paper’s pricing power in both advertising and circulation was unleashed. Typically, rates for both advertisers and readers would be raised annually – and the profits rolled in. For owners this was economic heaven.
(Interestingly, though papers regularly – and often in a disapproving way – reported on the profitability of, say, the auto or steel industries, they never enlightened readers about their own Midas-like situation. Hmmm . . .)
As long ago as my 1991 letter to shareholders, I nonetheless asserted that this insulated world was changing, writing that “the media businesses . . . will prove considerably less marvelous than I, the industry, or lenders thought would be the case only a few years ago.” Some publishers took umbrage at both this remark and other warnings from me that followed. Newspaper properties, moreover, continued to sell as if they were indestructible slot machines. In fact, many intelligent newspaper executives who regularly chronicled and analyzed important worldwide events were either blind or indifferent to what was going on under their noses.
Now, however, almost all newspaper owners realize that they are constantly losing ground in the battle for eyeballs. Simply put, if cable and satellite broadcasting, as well as the internet, had come along first, newspapers as we know them probably would never have existed. In Berkshire’s world, Stan Lipsey does a terrific job running the Buffalo News, and I am enormously proud of its editor, Margaret Sullivan. The News’ penetration of its market is the highest among that of this country’s large newspapers. We also do better financially than most metropolitan newspapers, even though Buffalo’s population and business trends are not good.
Nevertheless, this operation faces unrelenting pressures that will cause profit margins to slide. True, we have the leading online news operation in Buffalo, and it will continue to attract more viewers and ads. However, the economic potential of a newspaper internet site – given the many alternative sources of information and entertainment that are free and only a click away – is at best a small fraction of that existing in the past for a print newspaper facing no competition. For a local resident, ownership of a city’s paper, like ownership of a sports team, still produces instant prominence. With it typically comes power and influence. These are ruboffs that appeal to many people with money. Beyond that, civic-minded, wealthy individuals may feel that local ownership will serve their community well. That’s why Peter Kiewit bought the Omaha paper more than 40 years ago.
We are likely therefore to see non-economic individual buyers of newspapers emerge, just as we have seen such buyers acquire major sports franchises. Aspiring press lords should be careful, however: There’s no rule that says a newspaper’s revenues can’t fall below its expenses and that losses can’t mushroom. Fixed costs are high in the newspaper business, and that’s bad news when unit volume heads south. As the importance of newspapers diminishes, moreover, the “psychic” value of possessing one will wane, whereas owning a sports franchise will likely retain its cachet.
Unless we face an irreversible cash drain, we will stick with the News, just as we’ve said that we would. (Read economic principle 11, on page 76.) Charlie and I love newspapers – we each read five a day – and believe that a free and energetic press is a key ingredient for maintaining a great democracy. We hope that some combination of print and online will ward off economic doomsday for newspapers, and we will work hard in Buffalo to develop a sustainable business model. I think we will be successful. But the days of lush profits from our newspaper are over.
When Charlie and I were young, the newspaper business was as easy a way to make huge returns as existed in America. As one not-too-bright publisher famously said, “I owe my fortune to two great American institutions: monopoly and nepotism.” No paper in a one-paper city, however bad the product or however inept the management, could avoid gushing profits. The industry’s staggering returns could be simply explained. For most of the 20th Century, newspapers were the primary source of information for the American public. Whether the subject was sports, finance, or politics, newspapers reigned supreme. Just as important, their ads were the easiest way to find job opportunities or to learn the price of groceries at your town’s supermarkets.
The great majority of families therefore felt the need for a paper every day, but understandably most didn’t wish to pay for two. Advertisers preferred the paper with the most circulation, and readers tended to want the paper with the most ads and news pages. This circularity led to a law of the newspaper jungle: Survival of the Fattest. Thus, when two or more papers existed in a major city (which was almost universally the case a century ago), the one that pulled ahead usually emerged as the stand-alone winner. After competition disappeared, the paper’s pricing power in both advertising and circulation was unleashed. Typically, rates for both advertisers and readers would be raised annually – and the profits rolled in. For owners this was economic heaven.
(Interestingly, though papers regularly – and often in a disapproving way – reported on the profitability of, say, the auto or steel industries, they never enlightened readers about their own Midas-like situation. Hmmm . . .)
As long ago as my 1991 letter to shareholders, I nonetheless asserted that this insulated world was changing, writing that “the media businesses . . . will prove considerably less marvelous than I, the industry, or lenders thought would be the case only a few years ago.” Some publishers took umbrage at both this remark and other warnings from me that followed. Newspaper properties, moreover, continued to sell as if they were indestructible slot machines. In fact, many intelligent newspaper executives who regularly chronicled and analyzed important worldwide events were either blind or indifferent to what was going on under their noses.
Now, however, almost all newspaper owners realize that they are constantly losing ground in the battle for eyeballs. Simply put, if cable and satellite broadcasting, as well as the internet, had come along first, newspapers as we know them probably would never have existed. In Berkshire’s world, Stan Lipsey does a terrific job running the Buffalo News, and I am enormously proud of its editor, Margaret Sullivan. The News’ penetration of its market is the highest among that of this country’s large newspapers. We also do better financially than most metropolitan newspapers, even though Buffalo’s population and business trends are not good.
Nevertheless, this operation faces unrelenting pressures that will cause profit margins to slide. True, we have the leading online news operation in Buffalo, and it will continue to attract more viewers and ads. However, the economic potential of a newspaper internet site – given the many alternative sources of information and entertainment that are free and only a click away – is at best a small fraction of that existing in the past for a print newspaper facing no competition. For a local resident, ownership of a city’s paper, like ownership of a sports team, still produces instant prominence. With it typically comes power and influence. These are ruboffs that appeal to many people with money. Beyond that, civic-minded, wealthy individuals may feel that local ownership will serve their community well. That’s why Peter Kiewit bought the Omaha paper more than 40 years ago.
We are likely therefore to see non-economic individual buyers of newspapers emerge, just as we have seen such buyers acquire major sports franchises. Aspiring press lords should be careful, however: There’s no rule that says a newspaper’s revenues can’t fall below its expenses and that losses can’t mushroom. Fixed costs are high in the newspaper business, and that’s bad news when unit volume heads south. As the importance of newspapers diminishes, moreover, the “psychic” value of possessing one will wane, whereas owning a sports franchise will likely retain its cachet.
Unless we face an irreversible cash drain, we will stick with the News, just as we’ve said that we would. (Read economic principle 11, on page 76.) Charlie and I love newspapers – we each read five a day – and believe that a free and energetic press is a key ingredient for maintaining a great democracy. We hope that some combination of print and online will ward off economic doomsday for newspapers, and we will work hard in Buffalo to develop a sustainable business model. I think we will be successful. But the days of lush profits from our newspaper are over.
Today's Inquirer reviews ...
Patrick Kurp praises the work of Zbigniew Herbert: The impersonal poet, sharing rays of light.
Edward Champion finds a surfeit of plurality in Joshua Ferris's latest: Unusual, one could say singular, look at work.
Scotia MacRae is utterly charmed by The Lady in the Palazzo: Memoir of a life resettled in Italian romance.
Elizabeth Fox is swept away by Laura Restrepo's Delirium: Memoir of a life resettled in Italian romance.
Sarah Weinman is impressed by Charity Girl: Moral crusade sweeps up a young girl.
Katie Haegele thinks this young adult book is perfect for adults, too: Young Adult Reader | A mother's quick death, but daughter's sweet remembrance.
During the past week ...
Dan DeLuca reviewed Chris Abani: Poems, a novel with language most luminous.
Suzanne Blair reviewed a volume of poems by doctors-to-be: Trying their hand at medicine and poetry.
And I reviewed some fine poems by John McNamee: How faith looks to one who lives it.
Gee, just think: In one week The Inquirer reviewed four books of poetry.
Postscript: The Inquirer is in the process of changing over to a new online platform. In the course of making the change the books page seems have been left behind. You can still link to it from this blog, however (right below my currently non-existent picture).
Edward Champion finds a surfeit of plurality in Joshua Ferris's latest: Unusual, one could say singular, look at work.
Scotia MacRae is utterly charmed by The Lady in the Palazzo: Memoir of a life resettled in Italian romance.
Elizabeth Fox is swept away by Laura Restrepo's Delirium: Memoir of a life resettled in Italian romance.
Sarah Weinman is impressed by Charity Girl: Moral crusade sweeps up a young girl.
Katie Haegele thinks this young adult book is perfect for adults, too: Young Adult Reader | A mother's quick death, but daughter's sweet remembrance.
During the past week ...
Dan DeLuca reviewed Chris Abani: Poems, a novel with language most luminous.
Suzanne Blair reviewed a volume of poems by doctors-to-be: Trying their hand at medicine and poetry.
And I reviewed some fine poems by John McNamee: How faith looks to one who lives it.
Gee, just think: In one week The Inquirer reviewed four books of poetry.
Postscript: The Inquirer is in the process of changing over to a new online platform. In the course of making the change the books page seems have been left behind. You can still link to it from this blog, however (right below my currently non-existent picture).
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Nothing like not liking ...
... what you don't read: To Heck With You, Richard Schickel! (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
A couple of these guys ...
... have been visiting out backyard. The fox sparrows (below right) are rather plump and agressive, I might add. The juncos seem to be permanent winter visitors.
This is terrific ...
... Juxtaposition. (Hat tip, Maxine Clarke.)
It's not that far off the mark. The last cassoulet I made had goose and goose confit in it. And somehow it works - just like cassoulet.
It's not that far off the mark. The last cassoulet I made had goose and goose confit in it. And somehow it works - just like cassoulet.
Joe of New York ...
... has posted on an earlier post of mine a comment that is so interesting that I have decided to reproduce it here as a separate post. I'd love to see this film.
Maxine looks ...
... at some Ghosts from the past in crime novels.
She also alerts us to this: Win Kate Pepper's newest thriller.
She also alerts us to this: Win Kate Pepper's newest thriller.
Leave it to Bryan ...
... to make sense of Susan Sontag.
Like Bryan, I have never been a fan. Many years ago, I concluded a review of I, Etcetera, her collection of stories, by saying that it was great book to curl up with in front of the fire and use as kindling. But the insight Bryan has extracted from this essay is right on the money.
Today's must read ...
... is from the TLS: Evolution myths.
Morse Peckham was one of my teachers when I attended Penn's graduate school many years ago. He was very good.
Morse Peckham was one of my teachers when I attended Penn's graduate school many years ago. He was very good.
Something to take ...
... to heart:`Look Into Everything, Keep the Best'. (Hat tip, Dave Lull, who notes that Patrick forgot to mention that Ormsby "was a librarian (MLS, Rutgers): Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, director of libraries, 1983-86; McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, director of libraries, 1986-96.")
Interestingly, I find that I am not open, either, to most of what Patrick says he is not open to. The pop music I like is not today's (except when I get a chance to hear a country station). I watch baseball now and then and go to a game occasionally. I play the ponies a couple of times a year - after all, I used to do the racing charts at The Inquirer. Otherwise, pretty much not interested.
Interestingly, I find that I am not open, either, to most of what Patrick says he is not open to. The pop music I like is not today's (except when I get a chance to hear a country station). I watch baseball now and then and go to a game occasionally. I play the ponies a couple of times a year - after all, I used to do the racing charts at The Inquirer. Otherwise, pretty much not interested.
Friday, March 16, 2007
I had trouble with Blogger today ...
... which explains the blogging gap. Can't resume again until tonight, though, since I have an appointment to go to. Later.
At first, I thought it had to do ...
... with drinking, but apparently not: Red Nose Day and Immortality .
Judging by the people Bryan profiles in his book, a sense of humor is one path to immortality they don't seem to be exploring.
Judging by the people Bryan profiles in his book, a sense of humor is one path to immortality they don't seem to be exploring.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
I have had a wearying week ...
... and am fighting off a cold. So that's going to be it for tonight. I'm going to curl up with a good book - Giulio Leoni's The Mosaic Crimes, which Maxine brought to my attention and that seems pretty good so far.
Believe or not, I should be back in regular blogging form by tomorrow.
Believe or not, I should be back in regular blogging form by tomorrow.
Bluestalking Reader got there first ...
... else I would surely have nominated Petrona myself, but here are Maxine's picks.
The future of newspapers (cont'd) ...
... 24/7 Newsroom management principles for the Guardian and the Observer. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Sounds about right to me.
Sounds about right to me.
Well, thank you, Steve ...
... for the kind words and the nomination.
The participation rules are simple:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).
Anecdotal Evidence is simply one of the best literary blogs around, precisely because it is so thoughtful.
I don't see that anyone has nominated the Grumpy Old Bookman yet, so I will. Even though he has cut back a bit, Michael remains must reading.
Clattery MacHinery on Poetry always gets me thinking afresh about one of my favorite topics.
Hard to think of a blog that gets you thinking more than Peter Stothard's.
And I just have to pick one of my favorite blogs, period: Books, Words, and Writing . The games and quizzes alone that Amy links to keep my mind from stagnating.
Material well-being's nothing to sneeze at, either ...
... Philosopher Wins Templeton Prize for Spiritual Matters . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
So you want to be a writer ...
... well, then take a look inside Balzac's boiler room. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
A couple of reviews ...
... Dan DeLuca looks at a novel and some poems by Chris Abani: Poems, a novel with language most luminous.
And I review something in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day: How faith looks to one who lives it.
And I review something in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day: How faith looks to one who lives it.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
A look at ...
... Bad Published Writer Photos. Of course they can't really be that bad when you're really good looking. But they are funy.
A primer on lives ...
... Biography: the Highest Form of Cannibalism? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Nothing cannibalistic about John Heilpern's splendid biography of John Osborne (I jnow, I know, I've said this already).
Nothing cannibalistic about John Heilpern's splendid biography of John Osborne (I jnow, I know, I've said this already).
Oddly, I believe ...
... that Richard Dawkins might agree: We live in the land of biblical idiots. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Today's must read ...
... 2+2=5.
... abundant events are real to those who experience them, who absolutely know them not to be dreams, hallucinations, delusions, or other kinds of sensory error, even though others around them may and often do contest this. All languages provide such categories of unreality and all cultures define boundaries among the real, the not-as-real, and the unreal, but people explicitly reject these words in describing the abundant event. They experience the abundant event as something outside themselves, really in the world, and out of their control. Indeed, they may, and often do, experience themselves as being in the control of the abundant event.
Or, as I am fond pointing out, experience trumps all theories.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Congratulations ...
... Poet Laureate Chooses Two New Voices in American Poetry for 10th Annual Witter Bynner Award and Reading, March 29.
One of them, David Tucker, used to be The Inquirer's city editor. Way to go, Dave.
One of them, David Tucker, used to be The Inquirer's city editor. Way to go, Dave.
Big game ...
... Daniel Dennett Hunts the Snark. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Like Hart, I have never "got" Daniel Dennett, and Hart's reasons are virtually identical to my own:
Like Hart, I have never "got" Daniel Dennett, and Hart's reasons are virtually identical to my own:
I have thought all his large books-especially one entitled Consciousness Explained-poorly reasoned and infuriatingly inadequate in their approaches to the questions they address. Too often he shows a preference for the cumulative argument over the cogent and for repetition over demonstration. The Bellman’s maxim, "What I tell you three times is true," is not alien to Dennett’s method. He seems to work on the supposition that an assertion made with sufficient force and frequency is soon transformed, by some subtle alchemy, into a settled principle. And there are rather too many instances when Dennett seems either clumsily to miss or willfully to ignore pertinent objections to his views and so races past them with a perfunctory wave in what he takes to be their general direction-though usually in another direction altogether. Consider, for example, this dialectical gem, plucked from his book Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: "Perhaps the most misguided criticism of gene centrism is the frequently heard claim that genes simply cannot have interests. This . . . is flatly mistaken. . . . If a body politic, or General Motors, can have interests, so can genes." At moments like this, one feels that something has been overlooked.
Today's must read ...
... Time capsules. Like Terry, I have long been a fan of Percy Grainger's music.
"Once you put this book down ...
... you just can't pick it up again." That's how Mark Twain once reviewed a Henry James novel. Some readers just don't connect to some books: On the shelf: the books you can't finish. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Monday, March 12, 2007
Blogging has been spotty ...
... and is likely to remain so for a couple of days, because I have a terrific backlog of work
Over the weekend ...
... I rented the film Get Carter because I wanted to see John Osborne's performance. I hadn't seen the film in years and, as it happened, the only part of I remembered was the scene at the end where Michael Caine forces his brother's killer to drink a bottle of whiskey. I certainly didn't notice when I saw it the first time that John Osborne was in it. According to John Heilpern in his recent, great biography of Osborne, the playwright was no great shakes as a stage actor. But judging by his performance in Get Carter he could have had a career as a screen actor. In character roles - I don't know that he could have carried a film by himself. He certainly is heartwarmingly evil in Get Carter.
This has got me thinking ...
... in my sub-Mensa sort of way: Microsoft and Immortality .
I confess to harboring a wish that a couple of my poems survive me, though I don't care whether anybody knows that I wrote them or who I was. It is that moment of authenticity that I hope the poem represents I would like to echo on as it were and make some connection with another person.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
I'm with Bryan on this ...
... Are Mensa Members Thick?
This may be, however, because I tend to feel happy and like to think I'm reasonably bright. Of course I could be a lot dimmer than I think I am. On the other hand I am pretty sure that Mensa members are thick.
Update: As Andrew points out, my typing skills are definitely sub-Mensa. I have therefore corrected my misspelling of thick.
This may be, however, because I tend to feel happy and like to think I'm reasonably bright. Of course I could be a lot dimmer than I think I am. On the other hand I am pretty sure that Mensa members are thick.
Update: As Andrew points out, my typing skills are definitely sub-Mensa. I have therefore corrected my misspelling of thick.
Today's Inquirer reviews ...
... include:
... my review of John Banville's Benjamin Black thriller: Prize-winner offers his first crime novel.
Carlin Romano on Milan Kundera: Kundera's musings on the novel.
Glenn Altschuler on Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas: Essayist explores act, art of seeing.
Michael McHale takes to the road with Colum McCann: Compelling look at a Gypsy's life .
Allen Barra is much taken with Kurt Anderson's Heyday: Two for the road through America, 1848 .
Martha Woodall thinks Kimg Hurley may be on to something: Business thriller is a promising debut .
Katie Haegele's DigitaLit column looks at another Michael Betcherman email mystery: Follow the adventures of 'Suzanne' via a flurry of e-mails .
During the past week, Karen Heller really liked Vendela Vida's Let the Northern Lights
Erase Your Name: She heads north to a fresh start.
Finally, Sandy Bauers likes the sound of Down Under: The Aussie accent and lingo carry us along down under.
... my review of John Banville's Benjamin Black thriller: Prize-winner offers his first crime novel.
Carlin Romano on Milan Kundera: Kundera's musings on the novel.
Glenn Altschuler on Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas: Essayist explores act, art of seeing.
Michael McHale takes to the road with Colum McCann: Compelling look at a Gypsy's life .
Allen Barra is much taken with Kurt Anderson's Heyday: Two for the road through America, 1848 .
Martha Woodall thinks Kimg Hurley may be on to something: Business thriller is a promising debut .
Katie Haegele's DigitaLit column looks at another Michael Betcherman email mystery: Follow the adventures of 'Suzanne' via a flurry of e-mails .
During the past week, Karen Heller really liked Vendela Vida's Let the Northern Lights
Erase Your Name: She heads north to a fresh start.
Finally, Sandy Bauers likes the sound of Down Under: The Aussie accent and lingo carry us along down under.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Michael Novak learns it's hard ...
... to find a good atheist to talk to: Lonely Atheists of The Global Village. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
It would have been wonderful if any of our three authors had measured their vision of religion against the hard-won Biblical faith of the originally atheist scientist Anatoly Sharansky, who served nine years in the Soviet Gulag simply for vindicating the rights of Soviet citizens who were Jews. Sharansky has written the record of his suffering in a brilliant autobiography, Fear No Evil.
Their natural habit of mind is anthropomorphic. They tend to think of God as if He were a human being, bound to human limitations. They are almost as literal in their readings of the Bible as the least educated, most literal-minded fundamentalist in Flannery O’Connor’s rural Georgia.
It would have been wonderful if any of our three authors had measured their vision of religion against the hard-won Biblical faith of the originally atheist scientist Anatoly Sharansky, who served nine years in the Soviet Gulag simply for vindicating the rights of Soviet citizens who were Jews. Sharansky has written the record of his suffering in a brilliant autobiography, Fear No Evil.
Their natural habit of mind is anthropomorphic. They tend to think of God as if He were a human being, bound to human limitations. They are almost as literal in their readings of the Bible as the least educated, most literal-minded fundamentalist in Flannery O’Connor’s rural Georgia.
There's no excuse ...
... Confessions of a Book Abuser. (Hat tip, Christine Klocek-Lim)
I make few an very tiny notes sometimes in the books I review. Mostly, I rely on my memory (nothing odd about that: I picked up a skill in that respect years ago when I was an editor of books, as distinct from a book editor).
I make few an very tiny notes sometimes in the books I review. Mostly, I rely on my memory (nothing odd about that: I picked up a skill in that respect years ago when I was an editor of books, as distinct from a book editor).
Friday, March 09, 2007
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Father Richard John Neuhaus wries in First Things:
Russell Hittinger of Tulsa University and a frequent contributor to First Things was in town this week, and he persuaded me to go see the film Into Great Silence. It is nearly three hours of nearly silent filming of the life of the monks at Grand Chartreuse, the Carthusian monastery founded by St. Bruno in 1084 in the Swiss Alps near Grenoble.
The film was a big hit in Europe but is showing here in only one theater, the Film Forum over on West Houston (For non-New Yorkers, that’s Howston.) It was scheduled for a week, then held over for another week, and is now held over indefinitely. The lines to get in are long and steady, and let’s hope theater owners elsewhere will recognize its potential. I understand it will be out in DVD in a few months, but this is something that should, if possible, be seen in the theater.
The packed house was almost preternaturally silent as people were caught up into a way of life radically directed to the transcendent, to God. For me, the film made a deep and, I expect, lasting impression. If you have the opportunity, I suggest you not miss it.
Joe(New York)