Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Deeply sad...
...Book review: Shadow Of The Titanic
In today’s parlance, Wilson explains, the after effects would be treated as post-traumatic stress disorder and there would be a slew of psychiatrists and experts to help the survivors. Back then, however, there was nothing. Ten of the survivors committed suicide, unable to handle the depression, social withdrawal and “survivor guilt”.
Beware the thinktank...
...Merchants of policy
The common man might be easily swayed, but he has no hesitation in looking at politicians with utmost suspicion. Many think-tank men appear not to have caught up with the instinctively shrewd wisdom of the masses that politicians cannot be trusted. They pretend to live in the hope that men in power might listen. But politicians have better things to do than trifle with ideas. They might humour ‘intellectuals’ when it suits them, but in a democracy, the ultimate boss happens to be the man on the street. When the masses hate a great idea, politicians do not have enough wriggle room. Think-tanks can only pretend to influence what happens.
Plotting away …
… PD James: inside the head of a criminal mastermind | Books | The Observer. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Orcish simplicity …
… BBC News - A Point of View: The curse of a ridiculous name. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Inquirer reviews …
… "As Texas Goes ..." sees a Lone Star agenda for the U.S.
… Faulkner now full of sound and fury ... and color.
… My first time with ‘The Sound and the Fury': Four decades later, vivid and shattering.
… ‘Treacherous Beauty': The story of a woman married to a real Benedict Arnold.
… ‘Istanbul Passage' a thriller with characters that resonate.
… Romances make enticing summer reading.
… Faulkner now full of sound and fury ... and color.
… My first time with ‘The Sound and the Fury': Four decades later, vivid and shattering.
… ‘Treacherous Beauty': The story of a woman married to a real Benedict Arnold.
… ‘Istanbul Passage' a thriller with characters that resonate.
… Romances make enticing summer reading.
Thought for the day …
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long,
Has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
— Richard Armour, born on this date 1906
Proudly so...
...Angrezi nation
"...The role that English plays in many people’s lives is the role that manners, dress and the family you were born into played in earlier times—there is an English-speaking club that corners 90% of the nation’s wealth and power. You are either in that club or not. Thankfully, you don’t have to be born into it—it is possible to work your way in.”
Saturday, July 14, 2012
The joy of anxiety …
… or something like that: Book Review: Monkey Mind - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The author of "Monkey Mind" comes by his dysfunction honestly. "In his early forties, my father had a series of panic attacks that . . . sent him packing to the behavioral ward for a rest." Mr. Smith's mother "was scared of driving, public speaking, parties, open spaces, and men. . . . She suffered from acid indigestion, heart palpitations, and tremors. She had panic attacks at school. She also had panic attacks at home, at the grocery store, at the laundromat, at the bank, in the shower, and in bed."
By the numbers …
… Lies, Lies and Damned E-Book Lies: Where WSJ Got It Wrong - Forbes. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Sui generis …
… 1p Book Review: The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G.B. Edwards — The Dabbler. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The Book of Ebenezer le Page was the only published work of its almost wilfully obscure author, G.B. Edwards. It was finally written, at a friend’s urging, when the author was already in his late 60s, and it wasn’t published until after his death. Told entirely in the first person, it is the fictional memoir of an elderly, shrewd, cranky, fiercely individual Guernseyman, looking back on his long life – lived entirely on Guernsey, but for one short excursion to Jersey. He seems to be in full flow when we join him, and he never lets up, relating a meandering saga of family quarrels, tragedies, bitter feuds that last for generations – all interwoven with moments of vivid happiness and, especially, with deep and enduring friendships.
Instructor, heal thyself...
...Teaching to the test
Overall, though, GDs are easier to conduct than PIs, which are a different kettle of fish entirely. Students often harbour views they would not share in public that we, as trainers, have to draw out. This is no mean feat. It involves being conscious of their sensitivity levels and an ability to handle criticism. If one is too harsh, one risks doing more harm than good.
Enigmas, riddles, miracles and mysteries
… Book review: ‘In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab .Empire’ examines the roots of Islam | Dallas-Fort Worth Books News and Reviews - Entertainment News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News.
… contrary to Ernest Renan’s claim that “Islam was born … in the clear light of history,” Holland informs us that absolutely zero eyewitness accounts of the prophet’s life or of the early Islamic conquests survive. The oldest biography of Muhammad in our possession dates to nearly two centuries after his death. It is more or less as if historians were only today sitting down to write the first histories of the American Revolution.
Never forget …
… Libraries, a reminder of how little we know - Columns - livemint.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Taleb defines the unread books as an anti-library: They are an ever-present reminder of how much one still does not know. It is a tool of epistemic modesty, or the knowledge that a lot is still unknown, and perhaps unknowable. Such recognition of ignorance is a useful antidote to the disease of certitude, usually present in people who have read too little or not at all. As the great behavioural economist Daniel Kahneman reminds us: “Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” Every library thus has a fundamental tension between knowledge and ignorance, between what you have read and what you have not. A large collection of unread books is both a reminder of our ignorance as well as a call for intellectual modesty.
Thought for the day …
Culture's essential service to a religion is to destroy intellectual idolatry, the recurrent tendency in religion to replace the object of its worship with its present understanding and forms of approach to that object.
— Northup Frye, born on this date in 1912
Friday, July 13, 2012
By yours truly …
… Boudreau opens the door to old Philadelphia.
This online version includes at least one error: The City Tavern as it now exists is a reconstruction, not the original.
Update for those in the area: George Boudreau will be doing a signing at the Independence Visitor Center bookstore 11-2 Saturday, July 14. The IVC is located at 6th and Market.
Post bumped.
This online version includes at least one error: The City Tavern as it now exists is a reconstruction, not the original.
Update for those in the area: George Boudreau will be doing a signing at the Independence Visitor Center bookstore 11-2 Saturday, July 14. The IVC is located at 6th and Market.
Post bumped.
Footloose …
… Ray Bradbury, the Pedestrian | First Things. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
“To enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o’clock of a misty evening in November,” the story begins, “to put your feet upon that buckling concrete walk, to step over grassy seams and make your way, hands in pockets, through the silences, that was what Mr. Leonard Mead most dearly loved to do.”
I quite understand.
A day late …
… but I doubt if Henry cared much about clock time Happy Birthday, Henry — Backyard and Beyond.
Rough times …
… Historian Ian Mortimer Describes Everyday Life in the Middle Ages - SPIEGEL ONLINE.
Chivalry has its darker side. Just think of the awful example of Sir John Arundel and his men. During a spell of bad weather, his band found shelter at a convent. They used their time there to rape all the nuns and steal valuables. When the gang moved on, it was to rob a church, raid a wedding party and gang rape the bride. When the weather finally improved enough for them to return to their ship and set sail, they forced many of the nuns to come with them as sex slaves. But when the weather worsened again, they threw the nuns overboard to lighten the ship's load and keep it from capsizing.
Blogger's progress …
Debbie and I are getting ready to off for the mountains for a couple of weeks. So blogging over the next few days will be haphazard. I have all sorts of loose ends to tie up before we leave.
Thought for the day …
Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.
— Julius Caesar, born on this date in 100 B.C.
Another centenary...
...Literary criticism
The defining feature of modern Christianity has been its desire to reconcile modernity in the West with Christianity. Abrams helped me see that modernity is in many respects a devolved form of Christianity that, taken as a whole, competes for control over our spiritual imaginations. That’s why many, many aspects of modernity can be affirmed by a Christianity, but not “modernity.”
For a variety of reasons...
...Why we should toast Northrop Frye’s 100th birthday
Consequently, Frye’s insights into literature seeped through the entire culture in ways that most people weren’t aware of. Shakespeare, Greek myths, inspirational poems and science fiction all had a place in his carefully orchestrated literary universe. But to Frye, the most dominant literary work of all was the Bible, to which attention must be paid if you hoped to understand anything at all.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
FYI …
… What would disprove evolution? — Why Evolution Is True. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I wonder what bearing, if any, epigenetics has on all this.
I wonder what bearing, if any, epigenetics has on all this.
Progress report …
… The dead end of DIY publishing — Books. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Recently, academic and Internet pundit Clay Shirky told Findings.com, "Publishing is not evolving. Publishing is going away. Because the word 'publishing' means a cadre of professionals who are taking on the incredible difficulty and complexity and expense of making something public. That's not a job anymore. That's a button. There's a button that says 'publish,' and when you press it, it's done."
Thought for the day …
As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
— Henry David Thoreau, born on this date in 1817
Get set...
...Comic-Con to celebrate history, heritage
To honor the 50th anniversary of Bond -- and stir up hype for the release of a 22-disc Blu-ray box set -- MGM Home Entertainment will park different vehicles from Bond movies in its booth each day on the show floor. Fans can pose for photos with rides like the Aston Martin Volante from 'The Living Daylights' and a parahawk from 'The World is Not Enough'.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Hanging it up …
… Peter O'Toole: Oft-nominated actor retires - Washington Times. (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)
Also born today …
… E. B. White, Midtown and Off-Road - The Barnes and Noble Review. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
RIP …
… Goodbye, old friend — Local News — SalemNews.com, Salem, MA. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
John Updike's Poem.
John Updike's Poem.
In case you wondered...
...Thrill of the chaste: The truth about Gandhi's sex life
Questioned in the 1970s, Sushila revealingly placed the elevation of this lifestyle to a brahmacharya experiment was a response to criticism of this behaviour. "Later on, when people started asking questions about his physical contact with women – with Manu, with Abha, with me – the idea of brahmacharya experiments was developed ... in the early days, there was no question of calling this a brahmacharya experiment." It seems that Gandhi lived as he wished, and only when challenged did he turn his own preferences into a cosmic system of rewards and benefits. Like many great men, Gandhi made up the rules as he went along.
Thought for the day …
It is as impossible for man to demonstrate the existence of God as it would be for even Sherlock Holmes to demonstrate the existence of Arthur Conan Doyle.
— Frederick Buechner, born on this date in 1926
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
A vast bloodletting …
… I Sing the Body Dismembered - Walt Whitman - Obit Magazine.
The Civil War produced many profound social changes, but what it was most productive of was corpses. Six hundred twenty thousand died during four years of combat. The Union lost 360,000, 10 percent of the entire male population of the North aged 20 to 45. The South, with about 260,000 dead, lost 30 percent of its males between 18 and 40.
Let it stand …
… Restoring James Joyce’s book of the night | TLS. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Joyce’s narrative was certainly liable to impulsive and whimsical changes. Once when he was dictating to Samuel Beckett, then his secretary, someone knocked at the door and Joyce said, “Come in”. Beckett duly wrote down “Come in” and when Joyce saw it he said, “Let it stand”. On another occasion, when a printer’s error was pointed out he said, “Leave it. It sounds better that way than the way I wrote it”. So can the editors here be sure that Joyce did not himself spot certain “errors” in the published book and simply decide to let them stand?
No kidding …
… Newspaper Industry Is Running Out of Time to Adapt to Digital Future - NYTimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
FYI…
… I spoke recently with a young St. Joe's grad who studied with my friend Joseph Feeney, S.J. (like everyone else I've met who studied with Joe, he thinks Joe's the best teacher he ever had). Anyway, Chris is in a band and I thought I'd give them a plug: The Bailey Hounds.
Stream of unconsciousness …
… James Courter: Teaching 'Taco Bell's Canon' - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Q & A …
… Poetry Daily Prose Feature - Beth Gylys: An Interview with A. E. Stallings. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Sincerity, continued …
… “Just Write!”: The Corruption of Criticism - Montevidayo. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Thought for the day …
The great achievement of the Catholic Church lay in harmonizing, civilizing the deepest impulses of ordinary, ignorant people.
— Kenneth Clark, born on this date in 1903
Finding oneself...
...Yes, elitist!
V tried very hard to not feel elitist, but was unsuccessful. He looked down upon his roomies, there were no two ways about it. It made him sad, but it was important that he not merge his discretion with theirs. His perception with theirs. His perspicacity with theirs, and there was a real danger of that happening if he didn't move out.
Monday, July 09, 2012
Semicolons: A Love Story
Vonnegut on semicolons:
“They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”
From a recent piece in The New York Times.
“They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”
From a recent piece in The New York Times.
War, love, and fiction …
… Bryan Appleyard — Blog Archive — New Fiction for New Wars. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
A group of “heroes” has been brought home from Iraq for a kind of victory tour. They are confronted with rabid bellicosity, a deranged patriotism. At one point, some too-dumb-to-live footballers ask the poor grunts if they can come out and kill a few Muslims — they wouldn’t need paying. “People accused me of exaggerating,” Fountain says, “but I don’t think so.”Color me skeptical. Not thinking that you're exaggerating means you didn't go to the trouble of making sure that you weren't.
International anthology …
… Belize News - Belize Leading Newspaper | Breaking News - Amandala Online. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Sincerely yours …
… Book Review: Sincerity - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The problem with sincerity is that it has no bearing on truth. One can be quite sincerely ignorant and wrong.
Extreme frankness is often called "brutal," after all, and unbridled truth-telling at all times and in all places would probably result in bloodletting. Despite such doubts, sincerity is a cherished trait. We admire it and feel badly treated when a comment or action, assumed to be heartfelt, turns out to be insincere. Sincerity—broadly speaking, the alignment of outer and inner selves—would seem to be essential to the modern conception of a virtuous life.
The problem with sincerity is that it has no bearing on truth. One can be quite sincerely ignorant and wrong.
Studied distance …
… Poetry: Next poet laureate stands out with poise | OregonLive.com. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Read and think about contributing …
… Grumpy Old Bookman: Bruce Holland Rogers rides again. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Words and music …
… A story of notes - FT.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The poetic force of the writing is not the appropriated work of a hitherto undiscovered piper from the past but that of a novelist of some distinction – one attempting to recreate, no less, the inimical sound of bagpipe music, and the shape of Ceol Mor, in words.Sounds risky, given that a principal characteristic of bagpipes is the drone.
Taking a closer look …
… sp!ked review of books | Re-opening the American mind. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
If you view The Closing of the American Mindthrough the prism of the culture wars, as most on the left and right still do, you miss what’s vital and distinct about it. That perspective also makes the book appear to be mainly an artifact of its era, and not a work of more lasting value. Twenty-five years on, it’s time to rescue Bloom from the partisans.
Thought for the day …
Each reader needs to bring his or her own mind and heart to the text.
— Dean Koontz, born on this date in 1945
Sunday, July 08, 2012
Hmm …
… On blogging standards | Talking Philosophy. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Civility is always good. But blog posts tend to be written au courant de la plume. That is their charm and their limitation.
Civility is always good. But blog posts tend to be written au courant de la plume. That is their charm and their limitation.
Hmm …
… In Defense of “Spiritual” : Sam Harris. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The problem is that term has come to refer to something we might call religion lite and in some case simply to faux religion.
The problem is that term has come to refer to something we might call religion lite and in some case simply to faux religion.
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