Books, Inq. — The Epilogue

Monday, December 31, 2012

Snoop in...

...Talking with Daniel Mendelsohn about the year in literary criticism
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Strained inspiration...

...Everyone Breaks Up Over the Holidays: ‘Dear John’ Letters From Literary Greats
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The original Englishman...

...Macaulay's 'child'
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Crucial difference...

...Students as customers

Update: A reader responds: The business of education

Post bumped.
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The year they left us...

...Nilanjana S Roy: Goodbye, and thanks for all the books
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Good news …

… Paul Davis On Crime: Award Buoys Novelist Elmore Leonard To Write Again.
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A day late …

… Issa's Untidy Hut: Gloria: In Excelsis Deo - Issa's Sunday Service, #150.
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Cinematic apocalypse …

… Epileptic Fits of Blogging: 800 Words: The Survival of Les Miserables - Part 2.

See also: 800 Words: The Survival of Les Miserables Part 1.
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Busy, busy …

… Things I Have Been Doing — Georgy Riecke.
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Secrets …

… Magnificent Octopus: I have waited my whole life.
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Accumulations of traits and experiences …

… A Commonplace Blog: Applesauce and raspberry mousse.
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And why not?

… TT: Just because.
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Stricken to the core …

… First Known When Lost: "Well, Well! All's Past Amend, Unchangeable. It Must Go."
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Listen in …

… Podcast: Daniel Mendelsohn on the Books That Changed His Life : The New Yorker. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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FYI …

… Maverick Philosopher: Leo Strauss on Reading and Writing.

See also: Nassim Taleb's Argument for Banning Semi-Automatic Weapons.

Taleb might want to consider one of the first mass murders of note in the U.S. That would be the Bath School disaster in 1927, which resulted in the deaths of 38 schoolchildren and six adults; 58 others were injured. The principal weapons employed were explosives. Someone who has studied chemistry in high school can probably put together lethal explosives from material easily available at a nearby store.  Taleb, who seems to have a certain sympathy for authoritarianism, also seems oblivious to the fact — acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court — that the Second Amendment recognizes the right to bear arms as a natural right, i.e., one of those that individuals have been endowed with by their Creator. Like it or not, that is the law of the land.
I am finding Taleb increasingly tedious: The critic of experts is rapidly transmogrifying into an expert on everything.
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Dialogue …

… Two Old Germans Drinking Coffee | Religion and Other Curiosities.
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Competition …

… BBC looks to steal Downton ratings with two helpings of PG Wodehouse | Television & radio | The Observer. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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A Norse Nativity …

… The Saga of Bethlehem.
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Grit and wit …

 … rated p. g. - bookforum.com / current issue. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Resolutions …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `I Would Set Up My Tabernacle Here'.

No, I won't be making any resolutions. It's just another date on the calendar.
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The thread in the weave …

… Zealotry of Guerin: Shawl (Ruth Diamond-Guerin), Ad Parnassum (Klee).
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Eliding moral distinctions …

… Sentimentalizing Serial Murder by Theodore Dalrymple - City Journal. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)





By now, reading this, I felt slightly sick, as if I had eaten too many chocolates. One would not expect a person who talks so much of forgiving herself to have anything valuable to say about forgiveness. She does not consider the possibility that incontinent forgiveness, deemed good in itself regardless of the act to be forgiven or the attitude of the person to be forgiven, means that no human behavior is beyond the pale, that nothing is unforgivable. This is to turn forgiveness into a kind of inalienable human right of the wrongdoer (a profoundly un-Christian view, incidentally).
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Thought for the day …

The only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it.
— George C. Marshall, born on this date in 1880
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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Listen in …

… Rupert Sheldrake on materialism - Philosophy and Life.
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Review …

… Book World: Louise Gluck’s ‘Poems 1962-2012’ - The Washington Post. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
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Please visit …

… Memorial to Maxine Clarke.
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Memorable lyrics …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `More Entertaining Than He Was Serious'.
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More tyranny …

… Court upholds long jail sentences for bloggers on appeal - Reporters Without Borders. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
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RIP …

… Paul Davis On Crime: RIP To Cowboy Actor Harry Carey, Jr.
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Inquirer reviews …

… Final roar from the last lion.

… Tightly controlled crime thriller.


These are the only two I can find.

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This is pretty funny …

… and surpisingly like the real thing (for what that's worth): Instapundit — AMUSE YOURSELF ENDLESSLY with the Thomas Friedman Op-Ed Generator….
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Thought for the day …

It's better to write about things you feel than about things you know about.
— L. P. Hartley, born on this date in 1895
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The river ran black...

...A literary bridge to Baghdad
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Make it Russian...

...Gary Shteyngart: How I Write
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Not transgressive anymore...

...On The Road
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Laughing at self...

...'The Literary Equivalent of a Big Mac': Self-Deprecating Quips From Authors
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Saturday, December 29, 2012

Irresistible …

… The Seacunny by Gerard Woodward – review | Books | The Observer. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
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Lovely, with reservations …

… Film review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
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FYI …

… How Do I Write a Book? — BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog.
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Punching back …

… What You Don’t Know About the Agenda-Driven Journalists in Your Neighborhood | The Rockland County Times.
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Check this out …

… The 3D-BSB-Explorer - Reading manuscripts in 3D - YouTube. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Kinda sorta …

… Was poet John Milton the father of science fiction? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

What about his contemporary, Cyrano de Bergerac, who wrote about a voyage to the moon?
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But is it love?

… How the French invented love: Renate Stendhal weighs in | The Book Haven.
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Going strong …

… ‘The Fun Stuff,’ by James Wood, and More - NYTimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Literary bereavement counseling …

… Handled With Care - NYTimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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No comment …

… Is  Michiko Kakutani Incompetent or Just Crazy?  (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

See also: Myth & Errors in the Reporting on Antifragile by the Members of the 1%, The InternationalFraternityofEmptySuitsNotExposedtoHarm (IFESNEH).
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In case you wondered …

… The University Bookman: The State of American Liberal Education These Days.


By higher education Tocqueville meant reading the great books of our tradition in their original languages and being accomplished in the high culture of art and music and so forth—the higher education of, say, Thomas Jefferson. He also meant being on the cutting edge of theoretical science—particularly theoretical physics—which Jefferson also surely was.
 Tocqueville didn’t mean reading textbooks, taking multiple-choice tests, doing problem-identification group projects, absorbing PowerPoint presentations, being edified by self-helpy TED talks, or for getting squishy credit for internships or being civically engaged or picking up technical or entrepreneurial skills through random life experiences.
From Tocqueville’s point of view, there might be less higher education in America than ever.
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Deeply intelligent …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `His Prose Is Nonpareil in American Literature'.
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Urban landscape …

… Zealotry of Guerin: Dream City (Klee).
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Transcending "message" …

… Book Review: Yip Harburg - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lulll.)
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Thought for the day …

Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.
— Rainer Maria Rilke, who died on this date in 1926
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Friday, December 28, 2012

Centenary …

… The Millions : Flowers in the Desert: Patrick White at 100.
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A sample …

… Issa's Untidy Hut: Mary Oliver: Today.
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A slant on winter …

… Maverick Philosopher: S. A. D.
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Big bucks books …

… AbeBooks: AbeBooks’ Most Expensive Sales in 2012.
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A journalist goes out …

… davidthompson: Monbiot and the Morlocks.
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A disptach from Elberry …

… a genuine animal lover — Elberry's Ghost.
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Roundup …

… Quid plura? | “One step ahead of the shoe shine, two steps away from the county line…”
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Hmm …

… A tale of two cities: Newtown and Toulouse | The Book Haven.

To quote Henry Miller: "To want to change the condition of affairs seemed futile to me; nothing would be altered, I was convinced, except by a change of heart, and who could change the hearts of men?"
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In case you care …

… Who killed Newsweek? — The Spectator. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Sitting ducks …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `Melt Like Snow Coming Down Over Warm Ground'.
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Also born on this date …

… in 1950, Alex Chilton.


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Thought for the day …

You have to allow a certain amount of time in which you are doing nothing in order to have things occur to you, to let your mind think.
— Mortimer J. Adler, born on this date in 1902
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Sound judgement...

...Lunch with the FT: Tyler Cowen
What does he look for in a candidate? “What I would like to vote for is a candidate that is socially liberal, a fiscal conservative, broadly libertarian with a small ‘l’ but sensible and pragmatic and with a chance of winning. That’s more or less the empty set.”
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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Beautiful …

… from my friend Eric Mencher, who is in Guatemala with his wife, Kass.

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Useful information …

… The 12 Days of Christmas Slang — The Dabbler.
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In case you wondered …

… Maverick Philosopher: If Everyone Goes Straight to Heaven . . .
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The menacing crowd …

… What Turned Jaron Lanier Against the Web? | Arts and Culture | Smithsonian Magazine. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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A good cause …

… Contribute archipelago books.
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Staring down death …

… or not: 'On the Road' toward mortality: A critic ponders Jack Kerouac - latimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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The original …

… When Falls the Coliseum — Lisa reads Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffman, illustrated by Maurice Sendak.
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Roundup …

… Bookmarks of the Week: From Christmas to Oblivion | Portable Homeland.
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The shape of things to come …

… "The New Abolitionism: Why Education Emancipation is the Moral Imperative of our Time" by C. Bradley Thompson.
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Adventures in reading …

… Magnificent Octopus: I mused on my mistake.
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Penny a pitch …

… Scholarly penny jar helps young authors get published | The Book Haven.
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FYI …

… Self-Deprecating Quotes from Your Favorite Authors | James Russell Ament.
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Not the couple you think …

… Christopher Tayler reviews ‘The Odd Couple’ by Richard Bradford — LRB 20 December 2012. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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A Fork in the Road...

...for James Wood?
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The charm of the comic eye …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `Future Ancient Tradition'.
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Fun to read

… Book Review: The Selected Letters of Anthony Hecht - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Q & A …

… Caitlin Rider | Exhibition A: Read.
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Thought for the day …

The heroes of the present will retreat to the imitation they are anyhow.
— Charles Olson, born on this date in 1910
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An open mind...

...Fearlessness and Loving in Cairo
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The cost of surviving...

...Sebastian Faulks’s ‘A Possible Life,’ reviewed by Ron Charles
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Perfectly timed...

...A Duckburg Holiday
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A clear eye...

...Raised from the Ground by José Saramago – review
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Are there no prisons …

… are there no workhouses: Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At 'A Christmas Carol' With The Late Great George C. Scott As Scrooge.


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Hmm …

… Peter Pan, Alzheimer's Patient : The New Yorker. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

If memory serves, the ancient Greeks thought forgetfulness was a gift. Of course, they meant the memories from the past that might haunt us in later years, not near-memory loss that prevents people what they went upstairs for. I've always thought myself blessed for my lack of a sense of nostalgia or sentimentality, though I have noticed that the internet, by allowing one to see persons over time — from starlet to elderly actress, say — can make that matter moot.
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We can only hope …

… that the twit is prosecuted to the full extent of the law: Cops told NBC not to use gun clip - Katie Glueck - POLITICO.com.

Laws are for you and me, but not for the likes of the exalted David Gregory. I think a little time in the slammer would do the lad some good.
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In case you wondered …

… If XMAS were a Jewish Holiday. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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A Dabbler tradition …

… Ghosts of Christmas —The Dabbler.
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Eminently worthy enterprise …

… Richler, Saul and Fischman among authors at BookFest Windsor - The Globe and Mail.


Scroll down to see what I'm referring to.
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Sounds intriguing …

… 'The Heart Broke In': A Novel to Ponder but also Delight In | Kirkus Book Blog Network | Kirkus Book Reviews. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Q & A …

… Tyler Stoddard Smith "interviewed" by Allen Ginsberg - Identity Theory.
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Reader profiles

… Book Patrol.
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Comeback …

… The Bible is surprise bestseller in Norway | Books | guardian.co.uk. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
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Tacking and hoisting …

… Poem of the week: Christmas at Sea by Robert Louis Stevenson | Books | guardian.co.uk. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
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Still going after all these years …

… Celebrating Newton, 325 years after Principia | OUPblog. (Hat tip, Dave Lull)

He had developed his theory of gravity to explain the cause of the mysterious motion of the planets through the sky: in a nutshell, he derived a formula for the force needed to keep a planet moving in its observed elliptical orbit, and he connected this force with everyday gravity through the experimentally derived mathematics of falling motion. Ironically (in hindsight), some of his greatest peers, like Leibniz and Huygens, dismissed the theory of gravity as “mystical” because it was “too mathematical.” As far as they were concerned, the law of gravity may have been brilliant, but it didn’t explain how an invisible gravitational force could reach all the way from the sun to the earth without any apparent material mechanism.
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FYI …

… Ten rules for writing fiction(part two) | Books | guardian.co.uk. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Worth pondering …

… Column: Reflections on Newtown.

Calling people murderers and wishing them to be shot sits oddly with claims to be against violence. The NRA -- like the ACLU, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers or Planned Parenthood -- exists to advocate policies its members want. It's free speech. The group-hate directed at the NRA is ugly and says ugly things about those consumed by it.
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What's in a name …

… Genesis and Jesus | Books and Culture.
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Getting personal …

… The Associated Press: Robert Frost's Christmas cards collected in NH. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
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Slaughter …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `The Paths of Glory Lead But to The Grave'.

Were we rally rational one such event as this would prompt those in charge to find a better way of resolving the dispute. But not humans. Or at least not the humans who tend to be in charge.
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The times they were a-changin'

… Book Review: The Eve of Destruction - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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The story and the history …

… Enjoy Les Miserables. But please get the history straight. | The Book Haven.
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A change of medium...

...Message survives the medium
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Thought for the day …

No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance.
— Henry Miller, born on this date in 1891
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Renegade artist...

...The agonies of a whistle blower
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Merry Christmas!


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Thought for the day …

We build too many walls and not enough bridges.
— Isaac Newton, born on this date in 1642
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Embellishing the past...

...The girl at the Grand Palais
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Be a writer, be...

...Posthumous
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Monday, December 24, 2012

Fascist pig alert …

… Prof. Richard Parncutt: Death Penalty for Global Warming Deniers? — Tallbloke's Talkshop.

In this article I am going to suggest that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for influential GW deniers. But before coming to this surprising conclusion, please allow me to explain where I am coming from.

We know where you're coming from, putz.  Like to know where you should go?
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Enjoy …

… Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At The Beaton Marionettes' The Nativity And Twas The Night Before Christmas.
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For the season (cont'd.) …

… First Known When Lost: Christmas, Part Seven: "Out In The Dark".
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Well-phrased …

… The University Bookman: On Quotations. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Antiphony …

… Adventum — The Dabbler.
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Free sample …

… An Excerpt from Rebecca McClanahan’s “Everywhere at Once, 1903” | Journal.
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Hmm …

… Finally! Dawkins Being Called to Account on Child Abuse Claims – Thinking Christian.

Dawkins is simply one more fanatic in a world full of them.
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FYI …

… Scott Turow on Legal Novels | James Russell Ament.
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Undermined by memory …

… A Common Reader: Death of an Athlete by Miklós Mészöly: links.
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Together at last …

… Detectives Beyond Borders: Musil, (Joseph) Roth, and Hammett.
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Indeed …

… Bryan Appleyard — Christmas Continues. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

“For heaven’s sake,’ Marilynne Robinson once said to me, “the idea that the dome is the sky is the skull of a murdered god. What is being described there? A very great deal. The idea that that is the kind of statement that could be displaced by something aboout gravity or the atmopshere – that’s a bizarre assumption to make.”
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Bletting medlars …

… Quid plura? | “Winter is the glad song that you hear…”
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Don't be so sure …

… Half the Facts You Know Are Probably Wrong - Reason.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Objection …

… A Shameful Chapter in Nobel History. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
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The pursuit of happiness …

… The Paperback Quest for Joy by Laura Vanderkam, City Journal Autumn 2012. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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The human spirit …

… The Landfill Harmonic: An Orchestra Built From Trash : Deceptive Cadence : NPR. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Bloated and repetitive...

...Journey to Middle Earth
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Check this out …

… zmkc: Hold On a Minute.
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Favorites …

… A Commonplace Blog: My favorite Martians. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Life in miniature …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `Mutual Murmurs Urge the Slow Disease'.
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For Christmas Eve …


Advent

The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear
(Though winter’s scheduling an arctic flight).
The rumor is a rendezvous draws near.

Some say a telling sign will soon appear,
Though evidence this may be so is slight:
The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear.

Pale skeptics may be perfectly sincere
To postulate no ground for hope, despite
The rumor that a rendezvous draws near.

More enterprising souls may shed a tear
And, looking up, behold a striking light:
The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear.

The king, his courtiers, and priests, all fear
Arrival of a challenge to their might:
The rumor is a rendezvous draws near.

The wise in search of something all can cheer
May not rely on ordinary sight:
The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear.

Within a common place may rest one dear
To all who yearn to see the world made right.
The leaves are fallen, but the sky is clear.
The rumor is a rendezvous draws near.
© 2006
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Thought for the day …

Not a having and a resting, but a growing and becoming, is the character of perfection as culture conceives it.
— Matthew Arnold, born on this date in 1822
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Paperwork narrative...

...The Paper Trail Through History
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Elegiac ruminations...

...The best bookshelf of 2012
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Sunday, December 23, 2012

For today …

… Faith and Theology: Yes, it is true: sermon for Advent 4.
Posted by Frank Wilson at 6:20 PM No comments:
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Differing views …

… THE CRITICAL FLAME :: Henry Gould on Wiman's Mandelstam.

… James Stotts on Stolen Air.

I'm with Gould on this: Solemn magic in translated poetry.
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Q & A …

… Pocket Poets, David Foote interviews Paul Stephens - Guernica / A Magazine of Art and Politics. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
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Spelunking …

… The Basement | cabel.me.  (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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A collage-like series of responses …

… Fred Wah: A portrait in his own words (and a few others’) - The Globe and Mail. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Who knew?

… Poetry Makes You Weird - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)


A father and son immediately appeared, in virginal Wake Forest T-shirts and blond crew cuts. They smiled at me as if I had just praised their promptness. The younger looked up at dad, and father nodded to son, and son blurted: "Sell me the English major!" Through my brain's murk, I searched for the hype. Failing to find it, I confessed: "It makes you weird."
After a confused "OK," the two looked down, backed away, and were gone. They shouldn't have been so hasty. I had revealed to them, though I didn't know it then, the great payoff of literary study: It estranges us from our normal habits of thought and perception, nullifies old conceptual maps, and so propels us into uncharted regions, outlandish and bracing, where we must create, if we are to thrive, coordinates more capacious, more sublime than the ones we already know. The uncanny—not truth, beauty, or goodness—is literature's boon.
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Crime for Christmas …

… Paul Davis On Crime: Paul Davis' Crime Fiction: A Christmas Crime Story.
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Listen in …

… Rupert Sheldrake on materialism - Philosophy and Life.
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For the season …

… Issa's Untidy Hut: Star of Bethlehem: Issa's Sunday Service.
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Sic transit …

… After 76 years, finis for bookstore.
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Cracking down …

… Amazon Book Reviews Deleted in a Purge Aimed at Manipulation - NYTimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Eat or savor?

… Anecdotal Evidence: `Their Laded Branches Bow'.
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Lamentations …

… We Are The Last Men | The American Conservative. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Not surprisingly, I prefer a policy of watchful waiting.
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Parsing great fiction...

...'The Fun Stuff' by James Wood
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Inquirer reviews …

… I take a look at Thomas Nagel's Mind & Cosmos: Atheist rebuts neo-Darwinism. 

… Stories old, new, and true.

… The Blood of Free Men.

… and in case you missed it: Young-adult books that may tempt older readers as well.

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A full life ...

...POSTSCRIPT: CHARLES ROSEN
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The horror of war...

...Melville’s About-Face
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Thought for the day …

Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered: it is something molded.
— Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, born on this date in 1804
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Saturday, December 22, 2012

Bring up the bodies...

...Die another day
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Start looking …

… Eight crime writers worth tracking down.
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A mighty wind …

… Book Review: The Beautiful Music All Around Us - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I think folk music has suffered from the aura surrounding folk festivals and the like. Too much peace, love and understanding.
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Once again, a day late …

… Issa's Untidy Hut: John Bennett: Small Press Friday.
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We link, you decide …

… Matt Ridley: Cooling Down the Fears of Climate Change - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull, who also sent along the next piece.)

… Why Climate Deniers Have No Scientific Credibility - In One Pie Chart.


My view? Ridley is offering facts and figures. Powell is simply proceeding on the assumption that science is somehow a matter of consensus. It is not. It is a matter of evidence, and the scientist holding the correct evidence is a majority of one by definition. Copernicus was right. The scientific consensus of his day was wrong. Ignaz Semmmelweiss was right. The scientific consensus of his day was wrong.

It is also worth noting this little bit leaked from the working draft of the next IPCC report:
Many empirical relationships have been reported between GCR or cosmogenic isotope archives and some aspects of the climate system (e.g., Bond et al., 2001; Dengel et al., 2009; Ram and Stolz, 1999). The forcing from changes in total solar irradiance alone does not seem to account for these observations, implying the existence of an amplifying mechanism such as the hypothesized GCR-cloud link. We focus here on observed relationships between GCR and aerosol and cloud properties.

Also the term climate denier takes that slur to a new low. Who in the hell denies climate, or climate change for that matter? Climate is a chaotic system. It is in continuous change. The "denier" part, of course, suggests that to be skeptical on this issue is tantamount to being a denier of the Holocaust, something that doesn't even rise to the level of a cheap shot. It is more of an obscenity.
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J. D. Salinger Revisited


J. D. Salinger might be associated with high school syllabi, but Franny and Zooey is a great book, one that has as much to say about adolescence as it does adulthood, epistemology, and faith. 

Much has been written about Salinger and I won't delve too deeply into his sensitivity to authenticity; I also won't say much about his conception of individuality (as compared with the "phony"). 

But I did want to add a few observations about Franny and Zooey.

First, I was surprised by the book's focus on religion. In some sense, Salinger uses the pursuit of prayer as a mask for artistic integrity: both Franny and Zooey discover that artistry - true artistry - is akin to a state of meditation, a state without (what Salinger calls) "personal" difference. 

Second, it's clear that Franny and Zooey is built to endure: the story is one that continues to be told today by families doing their best to navigate the social and economic complexities of boarding schools, elitism, and New York City. Embarking on this journey, Salinger seems to suggest, results (at best) in fragmented identity and (at worst) in irritating eccentricity. 

In many ways, Franny and Zooey struggle to overcome the intellectualism bequeathed to them. Their enlightenment - which is reinforced by the book's religious overtones - takes the form of their channeling ego toward something good, toward something constant and true. 

As Zooey advices at the conclusion of the book: "An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's."

Easier said than done. 

(Final thoughts: the focus on religion here reminded me of Waugh; the focus on struggle and authenticity established connections for me with Plath; and the focus on the delicacies of culture had me thinking of Capote's Breakfast.)

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Assertion sans proof …

… BOOK REVIEW: ‘A Wicked War’ - Washington Times.
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Absence of life …

… RealClearBooks - Washington Post Boring Itself to Death. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I don't think this is problem with only the Post. Newspaper people need to get out more, meet people besides their colleagues., stop reviewing stuff everybody else is reviewing and discover some things on their own. Funny, newspapers are really fascinated by trends, thinking that's the way to be hip, but to be hip means precisely not following trends.
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Together at last …

… Tolkien, Auden, and an evening of mushrooms and Elvish | The Book Haven.
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Guess you had to be there …

… Missing The Beat: The Story Of Adapting Kerouac’s On The Road - The Rumpus.net. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Many of On The Road’s themes could hardly be more relevant in today’s turbulent political environment, and the social fabric of the United States in the early 1950s bears a closer resemblance to modern-day America than many people will admit. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s tireless Communist witch hunts during the second “Red Scare” were beginning to gain momentum toward the end of the timeframe of Kerouac’s novel, just as the relentless hunt for al-Qaida operatives has become a commonly-used device for political control spanning two government administrations. The sadness and emptiness of the American people that Sal Paradise observes during his travels mirror the frustration and hopelessness felt by many people today.
If I may quote myself (though it mostly Kerouac) this is from something I wrote when the Library of America issued Kerouac's road novels in a single volume:
Yeah, Jack knew something was wrong with America in the ’50s — it’s still wrong  — and he knew, as he said much later in probably his saddest book, Satori in Paris (sad because by then he was a broken-down drunk and knew it) that what was needed was “a tale that’s told for companionship and to teach something religious, of religious reverence, about real life, in this real world,” not the “silence in the yards,”  but  — and we’re back to The Dharma Bums now — “the roar of silence itself, which is a great Shhhh reminding you of something you’ve seemed to have forgotten in the stress of your days since birth.” 
Kerouac's is a religious, not a socio-political vision.

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The future of newspapers …

… Jenkins: The Newspaper Paywall Holy War - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Hmm …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `Something Is Here That Was Not Here Before'.

I'm not so sure it's that unconvincing.
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Creative minority …

… Les Miserables as Via Crucis. (Hat tip, Dave lull.)
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Whisper of love …

… First Known When Lost: Christmas, Part Six: "The Hearth". (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Favorites …

… Favorite Books of 2012 | Books and Culture.
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Spreading …

… More Bedbug Hysteria in Canadian Libraries.

It's still safe to visit your local library. Great work here.
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Ring of space …

… Zealotry of Guerin: View of Fuji From the Rice Fields in Owari Province (Hokusai).
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Going with the flow …

… Take a stab at the unknown. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Thought for the day …

The basic line in any good verse is cadenced... building it around the natural breath structures of speech.
— Kenneth Rexroth, born on this date in 1905
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Sound advice...

...If You're Serious About Ideas, Get Serious About Blogging
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Friday, December 21, 2012

By the time this posts …

… I will be back in bed.
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Gruesome fatalities and similes

… ‘Memorial,’ Alice Oswald’s Version of the ‘Iliad’ - NYTimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Periods, members, and limbs …

… Metaphors, Take Flight - NYTimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Q & A …

… Библиотека имени Кальдера: An Interview With Mikhail Shishkin (Publishing Perspectives).
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Unrelenting certainty …

… Nassim Nicholas Taleb's 'Antifragile' dares us to expect the unexpected: Book review - latimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Not a good thing to think you're the only person who has everything right  — especially since no one does.
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FYI …

… BookRx | Northwestern University's Knight Lab. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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In which I repay Frank's debt...

...to the extent possible: Returning to faith
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Fortunate son

… NewMusicBox — My Mentor, My Collaborator, My Father: Dave Brubeck. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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FYI …

… The John Updike Society — Library of America to publish Updike’s collected stories in two volumes. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Favorites …

… at Brandywine Books:  Best of 2012.
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Help from the dead …

… When Falls the Coliseum — Lisa reads Father Night by Eric van Lustbader.
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While there's still time …

… 2012 in Review: Apocalypticism | Britannica Blog. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Re-reading Shakespeare …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `In His Ruminative Moods'.

I, too, have never been especially charmed by Hamlet. Actually, I'm not sure if I have a favorite Shakespeare character (Dogberry or Falstaff maybe), but a friend told me one once that I reminded him of Richard II.
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Discovering success...

...Alan Moore: why I turned my back on Hollywood
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Forced to agree …

… getguerilla.com - Issue #34 – Feature #4. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Thought for the day …

Great music is in a sense serene; it is certain of the values it asserts.
— Rebecca West, born on this date in 1892
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Unlikely legend...

...NEAL CASSADY: AMERICAN MUSE, HOLY FOOL
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The wages of truth...

...THREE SENATORS AND “ZERO DARK THIRTY”
In reality, when the C.I.A. first subjected a detainee to incarceration in a coffin-size “confinement box,” as is shown in the movie, an F.B.I. agent present at the scene threw a fit, warned the C.I.A. contractor proposing the plan that it was illegal, counterproductive, and reprehensible. The fight went all the way to the top of the Bush Administration. Bigelow airbrushes out this showdown, as she does virtually the entire debate during the Bush years about the treatment of detainees.
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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Beyond the grave...

...Return of the living dead
Posted by Vikram Johri at 10:25 PM No comments:
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Present everywhere...

...The geometry of turbulence
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Back and forth …

… Oh God! by A.C. Grayling and Ian Alterman | The New York Review of Books. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I was about to say much the same thing as Nagel does in response to Grayling. I'll leave it to Nagel. I also agree with Nagel about "the incomprehension of God's purposes." See Job.
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Not dead yet …

… A Commonplace Blog: The novel of belief. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I'll have to check out Beha's novel.
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And a-one and a-two …

… The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: Georges Dreyfus on Buddhism - Waggish. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I feel Dreyfus is hinting at a certain underlying commonality to philosophical debate, in which the processes taken by the ruthless examination of words and concepts breaks free from what those particular concepts may be and their culturally conditioned particulars. 
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Second impression …

… Hobbitry | The End Of The Pier Show.
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Well, maybe …

… A Commonplace Blog: Genre fiction is fan fiction. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Books are either a pleasure to read or they're not. I'd rather read Elmore Leonard than Jonathan Franzen any day.
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Fashion and morality …

… Poppin' Tags: Vintage, Thrift, and Slow Fashion. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)


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Yes, I am back …

Too bad the world may end tomorrow, since I now feel better than I have in a long, long time. Whatever I had, I finally sweated it it out last night (no exaggeration) and even my knees no longer ache. Go figure. Not sure if I'll blog as much today as normally, since I've fallen behind in a lot of things, but I'll soon be back up to speed.
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Just in time for the end …

… Transmissions from a Lone Star: 2012, The Apocalypse, and My Five Favorite Prophets | Columnists | RIA Novosti.
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Sounds like fun …

… Dwile Flonking at the Cotswold Olimpicks — The Dabbler.
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Becoming Keats …

… TLS: When did Keats become a great writer? Ask Gigante. | The Book Haven.
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Smart warning, dumb prophet …

… Book Review: Cypherpunks | This Machine Kills Secrets - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The cypherpunks of the 1990s were prescient in the sense that the issues they were discussing—anonymity, privacy, censorship, the surveillance state—are still the fault lines running through policy debates about the Internet. But they couldn't have found a worse standard-bearer for their message than Mr. Assange. Many in the press who at first embraced him have found that they couldn't trust him, and his public image has slipped from charismatic rebel to something close to a farcical figure, as he ducked sexual-assault claims, suffered house arrest in an English stately home and finally took refuge in the embassy of a Latin American government with a dubious record on press freedom.
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Not mourning an idol …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `And For Each Small, Individual Life'.
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Revisiting a masterpiece …

… The Indispensable Eye | Bernard Berenson | Italian Painters of the Renaissance | Masterpiece by Joseph Epstein - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Enter now …

… QAE’s Brief Prose Contest — BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog.
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No easy match …

… Faith and Fiction | The American Conservative. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Posted by Frank Wilson at 10:47 AM 1 comment:
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Thought for the day …

In some sense man is a microcosm of the universe; therefore what man is, is a clue to the universe. We are enfolded in the universe.
— David Bohm, born on this date in 1917
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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Lovely …

… KEEPER OF THE SNAILS: Maxine Clarke. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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You have been warned...

...This Is Not a Profile of Nassim Taleb
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Oh, no …

Dave has just sent me links bearing heartbreaking news. I will have more to say later. I have to try to take this in.

… In Memoriam – Maxine Clarke | Confessions of a Mystery Novelist…

… Vale Petrona | Reactions to Reading.

… Euro Crime: My Friend Maxine.

… 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?': Maxine Clarke.

… Maxine « barbara fister’s place.

… Maxine Clarke – Petrona – a tribute to a dedicated crime fiction reader | It's a crime! (Or a mystery...)

… Tribute to Maxine Clarke / Petrona | Mrs. Peabody Investigates.

… MYSTERIES in PARADISE: Maxine (Petrona) will be sorely missed.

… Aly Monroe. The Official Blog: Maxine Clarke.

… Maxine Clarke of Petrona « CRIME SCRAPS REVIEW.

… We Remember… | Confessions of a Mystery Novelist…
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Thought for the day …

There are three things I always forget. Names, faces and... the third I can't remember.
— Italo Svevo, born on this date in 1861
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Voice of protest...

...Reaping the long Harvest
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Masters of form...

...Literary criticism by Julian Barnes and Ali Smith
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Help at hand...

...Successful Query Letters for Literary Agents
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Q & A …

… A Conversation With William Gass —Tin House. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Substantive and engaging

… Young-adult books that may tempt older readers as well.
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Thought for the day …

The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened.
— Saki, born on this date 1870
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Monday, December 17, 2012

Sick bay alert …

I have been ambushed by a truly awful respiratory ailment. A friend just dropped off some cough medicine and some cough drops. I am withdrawing from the fray until I feel something nearer to life.
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In case you wondered …

… Los Angeles Review of Books - An Age Of Broken Glances: On 'Why Love Hurts'.
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The reality of community …

… TT: What you do see. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Time to move on …

… Sam Carter Reviews Roberto Bolaño's "Woes Of The True Policeman" | The New Republic.
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The need for humility …

… Paul Davis On Crime: After Newtown, And Before It.
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The muse of curiosity …

… Geoff Dyer’s Renovation Of Contemporary Nonfiction | The New Republic. (Hat tip, Lee Lowe.)
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Favorites …

… Seth's Blog — Best Books of the Year 2012. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Therianthropes …

… Poetica Critique: Miroslav Holub, "Intensive Care."
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Certainty and vigor …

… ‘Antifragile,’ by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - NYTimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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In this corner …

… Cat fight pits government against Hemingway museum - TODAY Travel.
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OK with me, too …

… Quick Question by John Ashberry - Chicago Tribune. (Hat tip, Fave Lull.)
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A day late …

… Issa's Untidy Hut: Good Shepherd: Issa's Sunday Service, #148.
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In and outside time...

...Geoff Dyer’s Renovation of Contemporary Nonfiction

We have reached, once again, the enabling moment for Dyer. Yoga, like Rage, is built on the wreck of a different project, a counter-book the negation of which makes it possible. By not writing, or not-writing, Dyer clears the space to write, just as not-being the person he’s supposed to be enables him to be himself. Lawrence pursued his fate with high passion. By not-pursuing his, not-going to the place where he already finds himself and so arriving at a moment of stillness, Dyer lets it come to him. “How one becomes what one is,” reads the subtitle of Ecce Homo. Dyer becomes himself by not-becoming all the things he might have been.
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Rapid mechanical transaction …

… More on bad sex: “Eros calls for something better.” | The Book Haven.
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Not a moment too soon...

...Arifa Akbar: A new age for the literary biography, without yesterday's men of action
Taylor also points out that the lives of our contemporary writers would hardly make for exciting reading: "The modern novelist merely takes his A-levels, studies creative writing somewhere and then sits down to begin a lifetime at his or her desk. It is no disparagement of such modern grandees as Ian McEwan or William Boyd to wonder what, exactly, you would put in their biographies".
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Bearing a name …

… The University Bookman: The Real Charm of Oxford. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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In case you wondered...

...What Killed New York’s Literary Nightlife?
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The judges are in...

...Man Booker honour for former literary editor of Scotland on Sunday
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Making us cozy …

… Anecdotal Evidence: `Without the Help of Scaffolding'.
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Thought for the day …

If they don't depend on true evidence, scientists are no better than gossips.
— Penelope Fitzgerald, born on this date in 1916
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Never discount...

...Role of luck in investments
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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Dinner time …

By the time this posts, I will be having dinner with my guests. Not sure when blogging will resume.
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Good question …

… Dr. Helen — If the Second Amendment is to Blame for Mass Murder, Then the First is to Blame as Well: Do We Get Rid of Both?

See also: The media should be ashamed of its Connecticut coverage.
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Anniversary …

… Samuel Johnson and human flight | OUPblog. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Exile and/or death …

… Boston Review — Roger Boylan: A March to the Grave (Joseph Roth). (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Spinning wheels …

… Volvelles | The Collation. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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