Thursday, April 27, 2023

Anthony Burgess



Much has been said and written about A Clockwork Orange and I do not intend to wade into the debate. But I will say, having just finished the novel, that there was more here than I was expecting. (Indeed, I had shied away from reading the book because of its associations with violence.) To start, this is a novel about humanity and whether a human, when deprived of the ability to make moral decisions, still amounts to a -- well -- to a human. When Alex, Burgess's central droog, is subject to an intense regimen of therapeutic violence, he loses his ability to engage in violent acts: he has been compelled, in effect, toward good. But as Burgess wonders: is Alex a human at this point, or is he instead more like an animal or infant, knowing only what will produce a smile? This idea of adolescence is woven into the novel and when Alex, toward the end of the book, marks the passage of his youth, he seems to be hinting at some balance: some ability, perhaps, to move beyond violence -- but on his own accord. Of course Burgess was made famous in Clockwork as a result of his invented language. This in itself is worthy of a blog post. But just to say that Burgess's insistence on this language has a remarkable effect: namely that it can be learned by reader and that it provides a sharp -- even violent -- contrast with the traditional forms of English spoken by members of "the State." All told, this would not be among my favorite books, but there was more here to consider than I'd have thought, and that idea of choice, of choosing to be good, is one which will stay with me.  

The passion of language …

… Finding the Words. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Sometimes my process of divination comes easily to me, and other times it’s effortful, but it is always enlightening.

Blogging note …

 I am not feeling well today. So blogging will be minimal.

Something to think on …

Only one who has known how troubled life can be, has a real appreciation of it when it is good.
— Ludwig Bemelmans, born on this date in 1898

Poem of the Day …

 … Gary Snyder — Oysters.

The mystery of being …

… The Sleeper by Walter de La Mare | Poetry Foundation. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)

Walter de La Mare woukd have turned 150 on April 25.

Word of the Day …

… Eleemosynary - Word Daily.

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Helluva girl …

… Retrospectives: Did 16 year old really ride 40 miles to alert colonial forces?

Happy birthday …

 (10) The Life of Marcus Aurelius - Classical Wisdom.

Mel Gibson and Christ’s Passion …

… Appassionato | Eve Tushnet. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I get why it doesn’t work for a lot of people. Passion is an intensely personal vision, and the person having the vision is, you know, Mel Gibson. If you were revolted by it, I think you’re reacting to things that are also really there in the movie. Below are some thoughts on specific aspects of the film.

I saw a preview of it when it first came out. It seemed to me to an ecceliastical snuff movie,


 

Something to think on …

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
— Marcus Aurelius, born on this date in 121

In spite of all …

 (9) Why Am I So Happy? - by William F. Vallicella.

Word of the Day …

… Hippodrome | Word Genius.

Grades of meaning …

 (9) Unusual Experiences and the Problems of Overbelief and Underbelief.

The typical intellectual suffers from hypertrophy of the critical faculty, and in consequence, he suffers the blockage of the channels of intuition.  He hones his intellect on the whetstone of discursivity, and if he is not careful, he may hone it away to nothing, or else perfect the power of slicing while losing the power of splicing.

Sunday, April 23, 2023

This changes everything …

… Retrospectives: Blogging about crimes (real and imagined) begins today.

The other Lewis …

… The Notion Club Papers - an Inklings blog: Review of Inkling, Historian, Brother: A life of Warren Hamilton Lewis, by Don W King, 2022.

In evaluating Warnie as a man; I believe that King has done a good job. Warnie's great character flaw was his alcoholism - he was of an archetypical Irish type of an intermittent but very extreme binger; periods of moderation or teetotalism, punctuated by drinking constantly and in large amounts for several days until he required hospital admission. 

Not in Kansas anymore …

… Retrospectives: When Dorothy Gale arrived in Carnegie Hall.

Something to think on …

Like all great rationalists you believed in things that were twice as incredible as theology.
— Halldór Laxness, born on this date in 1903

Poem of the Day …

… Lewis Warsh — Dreaming Over a Page.

Word of the Day …

… Nubilous - Word Daily.

Friday, April 21, 2023

Odd anniversary …

… 2nd fiddle sworn in 9 days before America’s 1st.

Conversations …

… Paul Davis On Crime: Mark Bowden, Author of "Life Sentence: The Brief And Tragic Career Of Baltimore's Deadliest Gang Leader," In Conversation with Bill Marimow.

Sad anniversary …

… Retrospectives: Remembering his death and a most notable life.

In praise of a master …

… Paul Davis On Crime: Foreign Devil: My Washington Times On Crime Column On Richard Hughes, The Far East Correspondent Who Inspired Ian Fleming And John le Carre.

Surprise, surprise …

Oops. That climate science isn't quite as settled.

… rather than adding even more thermal energy to the atmosphere, as previously thought, methane’s solar absorption sets off a cascade of events that reduces its overall warming effect by about 30 percent, researchers report March 16 in Nature Geoscience.

Something to think on …

A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.
— Charlotte Brontë, born on this date in 1816

Poem of the Day …

… Anne McCarty — Homage to H.D.

Word of the Day …

… Arrière-pensée - Word Daily.

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Poem of the Day …

… Alfred Corn Apartment on 22nd St.

Diplomatic progress …

… Retrospectives: John Adams secures recognition of the new government.

Yes, indeed …

… Let's give our regards to Broadway. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Much more than escapism or diverting entertainment, the great Broadway musicals, though almost never radical in their perspective, went much further than Hollywood in wrestling with race (in Porgy and Bess), racial prejudice (ShowboatSouth Pacific), family tensions (Gypsy), ethnic conflict (West Side Story), ethnic identity (Funny GirlFiddler on the Roof), social class (My Fair Lady), fascism (Cabaret) and AIDS (Rent)—as well as the sleazy, seedy, salacious underbelly of American life displayed in Pal Joey.

Something to think on …

Happiness happens when you fit with your life, when you fit so harmoniously that whatsoever you are doing is your joy. Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.
— Daphne du Maurier, who died on this date in 1989

Word of the Day …

… Matronymic - Word Daily.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

A genuine masterpiece …

… Retrospectives: Estate planning can be challenging.
 I stood outside her house once. She is as true a poet as ever existed.

Amen …

 … A true priest.

And by the way, I am not in the least homophobic. My friend Katherine and I shared power of attorney for a gay couple and I have had many gay friends.

Surprise, surprise …

… Chinese Lab Developed COVID-19 Virus, Senate Report Claims.

Time for a chuckle …

… Paul Davis On Crime: A Little Humor From The Babylon Bee:.

Giddy up …

… Retrospectives: Listen my children, and you shall hear the whole story.

Something to think on …

These transnationalists have little need for national loyalty, view national boundaries as obstacles that thankfully are vanishing, and see national governments as residues from the past whose only useful function is to facilitate the elite's global operations.
— Samuel P.  Huntinton, born on this date in 1927

Word of the Day …

… Flibbertigibbet - Word Daily.

Monday, April 17, 2023

Maybe the greatest kite flyer of all …

… Retrospectives: Remembering the statesman, printer, scientist, and writer.

At the very least …

… Don’t Defund The FBI – Change Its Leadership: My Broad + Liberty Piece On How The FBI Is Important To Maintaining Law And Order In America, Even If Change At The Top Is Desperately Needed.

Poem of the Day …

 … Sandra McPherson Night Vision.

Something to think on …

Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.
— Thortin Wilder, born on this date in 1897

One does have to wonder …

… Retrospectives: Another great plan hatched and botched by your CIA.

Just so you know…

… The End of the English Major | The New Yorker. (Hat tip, Jon Caroulis.)

Listen in …

… Paul Davis On Crime: A Little Night Music: Jazz Fusion Band Incognito Live In Japan.

Word of the Day …

… Syzygy - Word Daily.

Sunday, April 16, 2023

Beats the other kid nd …

… Naming the “war” that would go on for half of my lifetime.

More crap …

 … Jeeves and Wooster stories censored to avoid offending modern readers. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Well, they have their work cut out for them. A lot of thought and writing has accumulated over the Millenia.  And yes the people back were different from us. How dare they

As well they should …

… Vatican academy will probe 'mystical phenomena' around the world | Daily Mail Online

… including 'weeping' statues of the Virgin Mary, stigmata and ghost sightings under plans for a new dedicated observatory.

Something to think on …

Politics is a thing that only the unsophisticated can really go for.
— Kingsley Amis, born on this date in 1922

Poem of the Day …

 … Yusef Komunyakaa Night of the Armadillo.

In case you wondered …

Why Dorothy Day couldn’t get enough of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

Word of the Day …

… Collywobbles - Word Daily.

Friday, April 14, 2023

Mark thy calendar …

… Bob Dylan Releasing Shadow Kingdom Live Album, Shares “Watching the River Flow”: Listen. (Hat tip, Dave Lul.)

Good riddance …

New College employee quits, rants about Hillsdale and says DeSantis is like Hitler | The College Fix.

Having been clasiccaly educatted — Latin, Greek, philosophy, erc. — I was spared be taught by a clown like this.

Still radical after all these years …

… Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez | Book review | The TLS. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Rodriguez is unafraid, too, to challenge the orthodoxies of public opinion, and staunchly refused to fall in with a tribe. His views on affirmative action have made him “notorious among certain leaders of America’s Ethnic Left”, who consider him “a dupe, an ass, the fool – Tom Brown, the brown Uncle Tom, interpreting the writing on the wall to a bunch of cigar-smoking pharaohs”. It is not as a contrarian or devil’s advocate that he writes, however, but in pursuit of the truth about himself and the society in which he lives.

Word of the Day …

… Gestalt - Word Daily.

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Happy Birthday …

… Paul Davis On Crime: Happy 70th Birthday, Mr. Bond: On This Day In History 'Casino Royale,' Ian Fleming's First James Bond Thriller, Was Published.

Happy birthday, Tom …

… salmagundi : Thomas Jefferson Memorial dedicated on his birthday.

Two buck anniversary …

… salmagundi : Two-dollar bill gets reintroduced in 1976..

Bad day …

… American forces ambushed and defeated at Bound Brook.

Reason, evidence, and faith …

 (6) The Pragmatic and the Evidential - by William F. Vallicella.

Something to think on

All poetry, as discriminated from the various paradigms of prosody, is prayer.
— Samuel Beckett, born on this date in 1906

Word of the Day …

… Corybantic - Word Daily.

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

A lot of the rest of us were there too …

… salmagundi: This was why I became and remain a student of history.

Q&A: Author on character …

… Paul Davis On Crime: Craig Johnson On His Popular Character Walt Longmire.

Blogging note …

My tech advisor will be by shortly to improve security on my computer, etc. Laye yesterday I got a call telling me I had been charged with a crime and to call a certain number. I was also given a case number. Luckily, my son-in-law is a Wall Street lawyer. So I sent him the phone number and case number. He immediately war=ned me me never to call such a number. It's a scam. Welcome to the information age.

A dubious decision …

… salmagundi: Perhaps our most famous civilian-military confrontation.

Something to think on …

Extremists think 'communication' means agreeing with them.
— Leo Rosten, born on this date in 1908

Word of the Day …

… Hidebound | Word Genius.

Hmm …

… Documents Reveal FBI Sought to Develop Sources in Local Catholic Churches | House Judiciary Committee Republicans.

This information is outrageous and reinforces the Committee’s need for all FBI records about the domain perspective document. Accordingly, and because Director Wray has not fully responded to the Committee’s earlier voluntary requests, Chairman Jordan is issuing a subpoena to the FBI for all records about the FBI’s January 23 domain perspective document.

In case you wondered …

… Why You Should Befriend St. Therese This Spring.

I just finished reading Therese’s The Story of a Soul. There’s really nothing else quite like it.

Monday, April 10, 2023

Just a reminder …

… 2ND WEDNESDAYS POETRY @ NORTHEAST REGIONAL LIBRARY – APRIL 12TH.

Blogging note …

 I appear to have been seriously hacked. My bank exec is calling the people purporting to be PayPay, but who may be the hackers. This could have resulted in the theft of everything in my savings account. So I won’t be blogging for awhile.

The great Vincent Price …

… salmagundi : 1st major 3D film features a sculptor who goes insane.

Something to think on …

It is more beautiful to trust in God. The beautiful in this world is all from his hand, declaring the perfection of taste; he is the author of all form; he clothes the lily, he colours the rose, he distils the dewdrop, he makes the music of nature; in a word, he organized us for this life, and imposed its conditions; and they are such guaranty to me that, trustful as a little child, I leave to him the organization of my Soul, and every arrangement for the life after death. I know he loves me.
— Lew Wallace, born on this date in 1827

Word of the Day …

… Crepuscular - Word Daily.

Sunday, April 09, 2023

For the birds …

A review of Birds of North Americs. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Rollin’ on the river …

… 23-year-old receives his steamboat pilot’s license. 

Happy Easter …

… DC Shroud Exhibit Could Mean New Believers | Newsmax.com.

The distinction is that the Shroud of Turin turns out to be a precise photographic negative, which is mysteriously imprinted on cloth material that does not accept photographic impressions.

Note this as well:  

  • The energy it took to produce the image would be equal to all the electrical power generated in the world today
He is risen.

Poem of the Day …

… Linda Gregg Taken By Each Thing.

Word of the Day …

… Saudade | Word Genius.

Something to think on …

The devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.
— Charles Baudelaire, born on this date in 1821

He is risen …

… 6 Powerful quotes from St. Thérèto boost your Easter week.

Saturday, April 08, 2023

We have to look closey …

Can We No Longer Believe Anything We See?

Experts fear the technology could hasten an erosion of trust in media, in government and in society. If any image can be manufactured — and manipulated — how can we believe anything we see?

Methinks the media is doing enough on its to hasten that erosion of trust.

Noble and absurd …

… salmagundi : One of the noblest and most absurd undertakings.

A lot like us …

… Zealotry of Guerin: Poetry and Fiction by Christopher Guerin: Petals.

Harry gives ‘em hell …

… salmagundi : President calls for seizure of all domestic steel mills.

Something to think on …

Philosophers, as things now stand, are all too fond of offering criticism from on high instead of studying and understanding things from within.
— Esmund Husserl, born on this date in 1850

Poem of the Day …

… Robert Pinsky. Immortal Longings.

Word of the Day …

… Solipsistic - Word Daily.

Friday, April 07, 2023

Thursday, April 06, 2023

No worms for this early bird …

… salmagundi : Early satellite shares name but no worms with famous bird.

Not a victory at sea …

… salmagundi : Navy fails in its attempt to capture an enemy dispatch boat.

Something to think on …

The man who can speak acceptably is usually given credit for an ability out of all proportion to what he really possesses.
— Lowell Thomas, born on this date in 1892

In caseyou wondered …

… Why You Should Befriend St. Therese This Spring.

With a new study guide, Endow is offering women a chance to truly get to know this great Saint. Acknowledging that many find Therese difficult (it’s not just me!), this study guide helps women to see how her somewhat over the top femininity deepens and strengthens her spirituality, helping both men and women to find a path to Sainthood.

Word of the Day …

… Epigraph | Word Genius.

Wednesday, April 05, 2023

FYI …

… Webinar Registration - Zoom.

Start and finish …

… Saying hello to “green” and goodbye to “gold”.

Tracking the decline …

… Chicago School of Law: EXPOSED.

Too many Americans still think a law degree from Harvard means that the graduating lawyer is competent to practice law. The opposite is becoming more true.

Poem of the Day …

João Cabral de Melo Neto The Word Silk

Me, too …

… salmagundi : Well, I believe God made a commandment against killing

Very interesting …

Why I stopped watching 'The Chosen'.. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I stopped watching “The Chosen” because I suddenly realized, in a deep and visceral way, that television was robbing me of what the hard work of imaginatively constructing biblical scenes in prayer affords me. The problem was not the content or the quality of the production, but the very medium itself.

Something to think on …

There is a certain class of race problem-solvers who don't want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public.
— Booker T. Washington, born on this date in 1856

Word of the Day …

… Rivière | Word Genius.

Tuesday, April 04, 2023

I don’t know …

… Friendships Superficially Satisfying.

I seem to have a talent for friendship. When my friend of nearly years, the composer Harold Boatrite, died, I sat beside and recited  Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “Felix Randall.” I just felt he could hear it and be comforted. I could give more examples, but I’ll spare everyone.

These days …

… The Cancelling of Christianity - Crisis Magazine.

Consider the media coverage surrounding this latest event, the shooting of six unarmed Christians, including three nine-year-old children, by an enraged member of the transgender community. How cleverly our news outlets have managed to spin the story, insinuating somehow into the narrative the notion, wholly preposterous on its face, that the killer was no less a victim than the six human beings left dead on the floor of that small Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee.

I certainly believe in individual rights. If someone wants to change the sex they were born with, that’s their choice. My first wife met Christine Jorgensen and had an autographed photo of her.

A strange novel …

Waugh’s last cruel novel. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Among Waugh’s targets in The Loved One was the English community in Hollywood, personified by the character Sir Ambrose Abercrombie, who was modeled on the English character actor C. Aubrey Smith, a dictator of behavior on all matters English. The community is portrayed in stiff-upper-lip style, determined not to lose face before the decadent Americans. The protagonist, Dennis Barlow, has done that by being sacked at the studio (for failing to complete a screenplay of the life of the English poet Shelley), and, to make matters worse, he now works at an animal cemetery, the Happier Hunting Grounds.

I didn’t find it especially funny. It’s my least favorite Waugh novel. 

A great film …

… Diary of a Country Priest movie review (2023) | Roger Ebert.. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The novel by Georges Bernanos is also well worth reading.

Remembering …

salmagundi : Watching the birdie and striking out on my own in 1963.

I graduated from college in 1964.

A big change …

… salmagundi : Childhood friends help make typewriters obsolete.

A saint’s fun …

… The childhood toys of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

Monday, April 03, 2023

So true …

 … https://youtu.be/wcnQJd_XRQQ,

Where are we and where are we going …

… Lloyd Austin Blames Pro-Lifers for DoD Weakness - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

A personal note: I am an illegitimate child. That means my mother and father were not married. I knew my father as Uncle Ray. I instinctively loved him. I don’t think my mother ever thought of aborting me. Indeed I was the so-called apple of her eye. The so-called fetus has a unique genetic code, different from both mother snd father. As for rape or even incest, the baby is as much a victim as the woman. I look forward to comments, especially from bastards like me.

A sensible plan …

… salmagundi : President authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.

Maybe the best writer around

… Nihilism as Public Policy | The Russell Kirk Center.

Interventions 2020 is quintessential Houellebecq, a writer in the vein of Celine, a spokesman for common sense who exposes the debilitating effect that nihilism, as a form of public policy, has on meaning and purpose in private life.



And they wonder why nobody trusts the media …

… The Washington Post's gross partisan practice when reporting on alleged sex crimes | Washington Examiner.

Why we no longer need phone ooths …

… salmagundi : 1st handheld mobile phone call happened 50 years ago.

Anniversary …

… salmagundi : 1st successful portable computer unveiled in 1981.

Something to think on …

Villainy wears many masks; none so dangerous as the mask of virtue.
— Washington Irving, born on this date in 1783

The original …

 … https://youtu.be/fkWba2sX3xA.

Word of the Day …

… Verisimilitude - Word Daily.

Tom Terrific …

… Out of a Hat - BallNine.

Wonderful …

… Door by Daniel G. Hoffman | Poetry Magazine. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)

Danial Hoffman was born 100 years ago today. He was a nice man.

Listen in …

… The Biblio File hosted by Nigel Beale: Jeff Deutsch on a new model of bookstore and the paradox of the browse.

Sunday, April 02, 2023

There are so many …

… Zealotry of Guerin: Poetry and Fiction by Christopher Guerin: This.

Revised and updated …

salmagundi : Actor returns to U.S. after being labeled a communist.

One of the greats …

… Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At The Late, Great Crime Writer Dashiell Hammett.

Just so you know …

John Lennon was Actually an Awful Role Model - Foundation for Economic Education
Now you know why the violent despot Fidel Castro had a soft spot in his heart for John Lennon. If Cuban communism is a Disney-like park, “Imagine” is its theme, the counterpart to the annoying “It’s a Small World” that some people can never get out of their heads.

Tracking the decline …

A Cesspool of Narcissistic Insular Self-Gratification': How the Mainstream Media Squandered the Public's Trust (and How To Win It Back.

They are geographically (and culturally) isolated from the vast majority of Americans. They are highly credentialed, prone to "egotism and self-absorption," loath to admit mistakes and correct them. They're just as lazy and incompetent as the rest of us, increasingly susceptible to perverse financial incentives. They've been absorbed into The Establishment, grown too cozy and incestually involved with the powerful figures they're supposed to be scrutinizing, too aloof and even hostile toward the public they're supposed to serve.

Turning world and edgy night …

… salmagundi : Once upon a time in the so-called wasteland that was TV.

Blogging note …

 I have to get ready to go to Mass. Blogging will resume later on.

For today …

…. Palm Sunday: A Sonnet | Malcolm Guite. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

About time …

… Restoring the True and the Beautiful | The Russell Kirk Center. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

For two-thirds of The Truth and Beauty, Klavan does exactly what he says artists should do: he perceives what things mean and beautifully speaks that meaning. With a novelist’s scintillating touch, he extracts significance from works as disparate as HamletParadise LostFrankensteinRime of the Ancient Mariner, and Ode to a Grecian Urn. These pages demand to be devoured in one sitting.

Something to think on …

Every man's life is a fairy tale written by God's fingers.
— Hans Christian Andersen, born on this date in 1805

This year marks her sesquicentennial …

… St. Therese Of Lisieux Shows Us It Is Ok To Have Questions | Henry Karlson.