It is a myth, not a mandate, a fable not a logic, and symbol rather than a reason by which men are moved.- Irwin Edman, born on this date in 1896
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Gold standard ...
... Riddled with Gilt.
The gilt is beautiful and eye-catching, but also serves a practical purpose - applied in conjunction with glue, it helps to protect the page edges from browning, moisture and dust. They should be treated with care, however, as they are susceptible to physical damage and easy to scratch.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Champions ...
... John Updike, and the Curious Business of Sustaining Literary Reputations. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
This week's batch ...
... of TLS Letters: The Turin Shroud, Kyd and Marlowe, Harry Mulisch, and more.
Thought for the day ...
To him that waits all things reveal themselves, provided that he has the courage not to deny, in the darkness, what he has seen in the light.- Coventry Patmore, who died on this date in 1896
Thursday, November 25, 2010
And the winner is ...
... Daniel Hobbins: Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Indeed ...
... Stephen Sondheim is wrong about Noël Coward.
I also think he's wrong about Hart, Hammerstein, and Berlin, to say nothing of G&S.
I also think he's wrong about Hart, Hammerstein, and Berlin, to say nothing of G&S.
Humanity as a project ...
... "under construction": Science: The Art of Living (an interview with Steve Fuller about his latest book). (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
One more reason ...
... to give thanks: Levi Stahl writes to say that the University of Chicago Press will be "publishing e-book editions of all twelve of the novels that make up Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time--and for the month of December we'll be giving away the first book, A Question of Upbringing, for free." Here is where to go.
I think I have mentioned before that the first review I ever wrote for The Inquirer was of the final volume of Dance, which necessitated reading the preceding 11 first. I loved the novels, but haven't read them since. I don't mind e-books at all, so you can be sure I'll be getting my freebie and buying the rest. Hard to beat the price. And Powell's masterpiece deserves to be better known than it seems to be these days.
I think I have mentioned before that the first review I ever wrote for The Inquirer was of the final volume of Dance, which necessitated reading the preceding 11 first. I loved the novels, but haven't read them since. I don't mind e-books at all, so you can be sure I'll be getting my freebie and buying the rest. Hard to beat the price. And Powell's masterpiece deserves to be better known than it seems to be these days.
Thought for the day ...
Only those within whose own consciousness the sun rises and sets, the leaves burgeon and wither, can be said to be aware of what living is.- Joseph Wood Krutch, born on this date in 1893
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The neverending debate ...
... The God Instinct. Some notes... (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Now there would be an interesting piece: using evolutionary psychology to explain away evolutionists' convictions.
... as [William James] wittily noted: ‘Scientific theories are organically conditioned just as much as religious emotions are; and if we only knew the facts intimately enough, we should doubtless see “the liver” determining the dicta of the sturdy atheist as decisively as it does those of the Methodist under conviction anxious about his soul.’ Only atheists don’t usually consider dismissing their own convictions on evolutionary grounds. Funny that.
Now there would be an interesting piece: using evolutionary psychology to explain away evolutionists' convictions.
An unhappy anniversary ...
... Anniversary of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
And yes, I do remember where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the news.
And yes, I do remember where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the news.
An Honest Review
Readers of the LRB got a significant dose of honesty earlier this month when Richard J. Evans, Regius Professor of History at Cambridge, offered a scathing review of Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin.
The height of the thrashing came about three-quarters of the way through the essay: "What he [Snyder] really wants to do is tell us about the sufferings of the people who lived in the area he knows most about. Assuming we know nothing about any of this, he bludgeons us with facts and figures until we're reeling from it all...[It's] as if Snyder doesn't want us to think critically about what he's telling us, just to feel the pain he's describing."
I have to say, I respect Evans for his review - not only because his arguments are well grounded, but because he fights the tendency among (a fair number of) reviewers to praise pretty much everything they are handed.
Actually, Evans's essay got me thinking about a book that I started several months ago, but which I have been unable to finish. That book is Miranda Carter's abundently-praised George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I.
Let me cut to it: I am perplexed by the acclaim this tome has garnered. Not only is Carter a very (very!) difficult writer to read, her sense for history, and for historical causation, is entirely lacking.
Rarely (in the first 250 pages, at least) does Carter move beyond the realm of personal politics. Put differently: the royal figures to whom she dedicates so much of her time operate in an odd vacuum, one which lacks any semblance of social, political, or economic context. As a result, there were parts of this book which read so impressionistically that they begged the question whether those not trained as professional historians should be crafting these sorts of analyses.
Here are a few examples of Carter's writing:
"In reality, Holstein was an able, acerbic, workaholic bureaucrat, committed to his work in the Foreign Office, with a dry sense of humour and an omnivorous appetite for gossip and foreign affairs, fueled by an obsessive letter-writting habit." (139)
Wait, what?
Or, there's this:
"And around him Wilhelm was able to be both masterful and in charge, but also to shrug off the exhausting hyper-macho persona he felt obliged to adopt so much of the time...Inevitably, he had become enmeshed in the incessant intriguing endemic in the German government..." (141)
I want to close by saying that while Carter does make several smart points (especially about Wilhelm), and while I respect the amount of time and energy that goes into a book of this size, critics need to be far more honest in their assessment of this sort of writing, this type of study.
I can only imagine what Evans might have said...
Thought for the day ...
Throughout the centuries, man has considered himself beautiful. I rather suppose that man only believes in his own beauty out of pride; that he is not really beautiful and he suspects this himself; for why does he look on the face of his fellow-man with such scorn?- Isidore Ducasse (Comte de Lautréamont), who died on this date in 1874
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Not so fast, Chris ...
... Why I am thankful for artistic failure.
I don't think this is an account of artistic failure. It is an account of not committing oneself obsessively to self-promotion. The latter can actually get in the way of artistic creation -- and usually does.
I don't think this is an account of artistic failure. It is an account of not committing oneself obsessively to self-promotion. The latter can actually get in the way of artistic creation -- and usually does.
Haphazard blogging ...
... until later on. Thursday's holiday has me running around a bit. I also have to stop at The Inquirer and have my tai chi lesson. Later.
Check out ...
... The Dylan Thomas Prize for Young Writers.
I'll be monitoring this closely. One of those shortlisted is from Philly. And I hear it's a tight race this year.
I'll be monitoring this closely. One of those shortlisted is from Philly. And I hear it's a tight race this year.
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