... Glenn is right (read his comment).
The principal should be sued and ridiculed.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Prognosis ...
... The Death of Fiction? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I don't see that the death of literary magazines would necessarily translate into the death of fiction.
I don't see that the death of literary magazines would necessarily translate into the death of fiction.
Without issue ...
... As the Flame of Catholic Dissent Dies Out. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I don't think of Catholicism in terms of liberal and conservative. You're either a Catholic or you're not. And if you are, you grasp that the church is populated with people as imperfect, inconsistent, and contradictory as yourself.
I don't think of Catholicism in terms of liberal and conservative. You're either a Catholic or you're not. And if you are, you grasp that the church is populated with people as imperfect, inconsistent, and contradictory as yourself.
England encounters ...
... the real deal: Blue Blood by Edward Conlon. (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)
When I reviewed Blue Blood, I called it the best book about cops I ever read. Conlon's a cool guy, too. Meeting him was a privilege.
When I reviewed Blue Blood, I called it the best book about cops I ever read. Conlon's a cool guy, too. Meeting him was a privilege.
Thought for the day ...
The words are only part of the poetic formula: the rest is ritual, and the reason in THEM must contend with the mechanics of magic-making in IT - and must not win.- Laura Riding, born on this date in 1901
Friday, January 15, 2010
Whither the academy?
... The Conundrum on Campus. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Mr. Menand argues ... that the failing credibility of the humanities has really not been a bad thing at all, because it means that "one part of the university," by continually enacting a "crisis of institutional legitimation," is "performing a service for the rest of the university." This is a little like arguing that it is important to keep psychotics close at hand so that we can better understand the limits of sanity.
Skip Menand. Read this.
Mr. Menand argues ... that the failing credibility of the humanities has really not been a bad thing at all, because it means that "one part of the university," by continually enacting a "crisis of institutional legitimation," is "performing a service for the rest of the university." This is a little like arguing that it is important to keep psychotics close at hand so that we can better understand the limits of sanity.
Skip Menand. Read this.
Worrisome news ...
... Concerning Harold Bloom’s health.
Let's all pray that he recovers. And, if you don't pray, at least hope he does.
Let's all pray that he recovers. And, if you don't pray, at least hope he does.
Well, sure ...
... Enlightening Bridge Between Art And Work. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
How ignorant most of us are by contrast, surrounded by machines and processes of which we have only the loosest grasps; we who know nothing about gantry cranes and iron-ore bulk carriers, who register the economy only as a set of numbers, who think — even now — that it is only about money, who have avoided close study of switch gears and wheat storage and spare ourselves closer acquaintance with the manufacturing protocols for tensile steel cable.
The problem is that we have been told over and over that the sort of work referred to here is dehumanizing, etc. And the people who do that sort of work don't read the approved books or hold the approved opinions (or so many are inclined to assume). What this really is about is the extent to which art has become divorced from life as it actually lived by most people.
Before scientific literalism ...
... Tapestry of faith and science. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Right after Thanksgiving, Ed Champion and Sarah Weinman met Debbie and me and together we went to the Rubin Museum to see Jung's Red Book, which was on display there. It's an interesting place.
Right after Thanksgiving, Ed Champion and Sarah Weinman met Debbie and me and together we went to the Rubin Museum to see Jung's Red Book, which was on display there. It's an interesting place.
This week's batch ...
... of TLS Letters: The 'prebiotic soup', Orientalism, Wotcher, etc.
I think it worth noting, in respect to the prebiotic soup letters, that the truculence evident in Fletcher's letters has the effect of undercutting his argument (as does, obviously, the fact that he doesn't seem to have read the book he so objects to).
I don't think so myself ...
... Is William Blake Britain's best artist? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I admire Blake's work a great deal, but there is Turner, and Constable, and Joseph Wright of Derby.
I admire Blake's work a great deal, but there is Turner, and Constable, and Joseph Wright of Derby.
An author for grownups ...
... Why Read George Eliot? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I agree with Paula that it is a very bad idea to assign Silas Marner to high school students, but I'm not sure assigning Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome is so bad. I read it in high school, and I thought it was funny how Ethan ends up with two shrews. I wasn't the only one in my class to think that, either. Maybe we were just a sick bunch.
Thought for the day ...
Science and art, or by the same token, poetry and prose differ from one another like a journey and an excursion. The purpose of the journey is its goal, the purpose of an excursion is the process.- Franz Grillparzer, born on this date in 1791
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Father and son ...
... Working with Granta - with wine and clay.
Peter links to the excerot from his memoir, buy just to make it easier, here is it is: Essex Clay. Enjoy.
Peter links to the excerot from his memoir, buy just to make it easier, here is it is: Essex Clay. Enjoy.
I'm reviewing the book ...
... so I won't be reading this review just yet: Painted Into a Corner. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Berlin stories ...
... Isaiah Berlin, the Dictaphone don and Isaiah Berlin's Civilized Malice (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Thought for the day ...
A man is never more his single separate self than when he sets out on a journey.- John Dos Passos, born on this date in 1896
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
More on Janon Lanier ...
... this time from John Tierney: The Madness of Crowds and an Internet Delusion. (Hat tiop, Dave Lull.)
... I have selfish reasons for appreciating Mr. Lanier’s complaints about masses of “digital peasants” being forced to provide free material to a few “lords of the clouds” like Google and YouTube. But I’m not sure Mr. Lanier has correctly diagnosed the causes of our discontent, particularly when he blames software design for leading to what he calls exploitative monopolies on the Web like Google.
Occupied France
There have been a fair number of books published in recent months addressing the Occupation of Paris between '40 and '44. Several are reviewed here.
Listen to the silence ...
... Cynthia L. Haven considers René Girard's Battling to the End, the recent translation of the scholar's acclaimed 2007 Achever Clausewitz. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
A Christian accused of bypassing orthodox Christian mysticism (notwithstanding echoes of Thomas A. Kempis), Girard is inspired by the image of the otherworldly Friedrich Holderlin, in the poet's final years of seclusion. Girard asserts that "salvation lies in imitating Christ, in other words, in imitating the 'withdrawal relationship' that links him with his Father....To listen to the Father's silence is to abandon oneself to his withdrawal, to conform to it."
When everyone ...
... joins the In Crowd - Glenn Reynolds reviews Jaron Lanier's You Are Not a Gadget: Caught in the Web.
Come one, come all, I say. That's how evolution works, right?... what Mr. Lanier is missing is the sheer fun of a lot of social-media interaction and the way it has brought non-geeks into the computer world. As I look at the social Web that he finds sterile and overly corporatized, I see Tea Party activists, "caveman diet" enthusiasts and model-rocketry devotees—among countless others—coming together and finding ways to collaborate, organize and socialize as never before. I see individuals and small groups acquiring creative power and the sort of organizational reach that only large companies or governments once had. Ordinary Americans are experiencing the same kind of buzz and excitement that used to be known only to the "digerati" elite in the halcyon days of the early 1990s.
Just get it right ...
... Wrangling on Liturgy. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
All of the principals in this dispute should simply come to my parish at noon on Sunday and see how the Tridentine Mass, done correctly, with love and care, bears a striking resemblance to an actual religious service.
Thought for the day ...
The Christian is like the ripening corn; the riper he grows the more lowly he bends his head.- A.B. Guthrie Jr., born on this date in 1901
Ladies and gentlemen ...
... Welcome To The Book. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The first thing to know about The Book is that it is a supplement to our print content–an attempt to apply the new technology to the old and untarnished purposes. While our online book review will certainly be lively, it will not be significantly more relaxed than our magazine itself. We are not slumming here, or surrendering to the carnival of the web. Quite the contrary. We are hoping to offer an example of resistance to it.
Look and listen ...
... Slide Show: Dominique Nabokov on Robert Frank's Americans. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Habitats ...
... On Poetry: Poets’ homes usually eccentric and full of character. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Vintage opinion ...
... Rebecca West on The Duty of Harsh Criticism. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Especially interesting considering that West had an affair with Wells (the author Anthony West was their son).
Especially interesting considering that West had an affair with Wells (the author Anthony West was their son).
Family matters ...
... Poe kin to have say on city with best claim to legacy. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I think an author should be buried where he did his best work. In Poe's case, that would be here in Philadelphia.
I think an author should be buried where he did his best work. In Poe's case, that would be here in Philadelphia.
Well, at least we're safe ...
... from poets: Georgina poet barred from entering U.S. for benefit concert. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
New American Voice
I've just finished Jerry Gabriel's masterful collection of stories, Drowned Boy. My advice (and this from a skeptic of the Short Story): buy this book as soon as you can. What Gabriel has done represents the modernization of Sherwood Anderson's classic, Winesburg, Ohio. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
A correction ...
... Why I Do All This Walking, or How Systems Become Fragile. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Thought for the day ...
You can't do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh.- J0hn Singer Sargent, born on this date in 1856
Monday, January 11, 2010
RIP ...
... Eric Rohmer: director whose films included Le genou de Claire.
I think Rohmer was a great director. In L’Amour l’après-midi, it is not morality that triumphs, but love. When the protagonist, charmed by the always alluring Zouzou, begins to take off his turtleneck sweater, the same one he had used for playing with his infant son earlier, he realizes that the price for this afternoon of pleasure - betraying his love for his wife and children - is simply too high.
For no particular reason ...
... other than I like both the music and the singer. Notice also that everyone appears to be enjoying themselves. Not like classical music concerts here, where efryone acts as if they were in church.
I confess ...
... I am unpersuaded: Writers, Commentators, and the In-Between. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I am unpersuaded by this because the two greatest on the list are Steven and Hill.
I am unpersuaded by this because the two greatest on the list are Steven and Hill.
A peculiar list ...
... America's Favorite Plays. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Last night. some friends of mine watched a DVD of Kleist's The Prince of Homburg starring Frank Langella. That's the sort of thing that would get me to the theater.
Last night. some friends of mine watched a DVD of Kleist's The Prince of Homburg starring Frank Langella. That's the sort of thing that would get me to the theater.
Oops ...
... Finger of Fate strikes again.
See also “wild life rifle fire” – A collection of concrete poems by Paul Siegell and this.
See also “wild life rifle fire” – A collection of concrete poems by Paul Siegell and this.
Thought for the day ...
Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.- William James, born on this date in 1842
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Pot and kettle moment ...
... Great moments in New Atheist hypocrisy, Part 2,526. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Spruced up ...
... London's St. Paul's is 300 years old but looks brand-new. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
"... what the Brits call the 'tercentenary' "- what the hell is that supposed to mean?
"... what the Brits call the 'tercentenary' "- what the hell is that supposed to mean?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)