It is useless to contend with the irresistible power of Time, which goes on continually creating by a process of constant destruction. —...

... THIS IS DANNY PEARL’SFINAL STORY

... Science, economics cant answer on meaningful life — spiritualism can: Michael Sandel

It's true what they say about Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf : he turned a masterpiece into a masterpiece. I just fi...

For all his human frailties, we do not think of Franklin as a man with enemies, as a man who was deeply hated and capable of deep hatreds...

The moth locked up all winter in the strongbox. Laura Kasischke about the beginning lines of her poem ‘The first resurrection’.  From ...

Allowing commenters on newspaper websites to keep their names secret leads to significantly more hateful comments on online newspaper stori...

… Courtesy of Dave Lull: … Crossing literary borders:    Small presses growing translated fiction's readership . …  The top 10 cr...

If there be a Supreme Someone to Whom we are bound in some way to some degree whether we like it or not, it may well be sound policy to ac...

Courtesy of Dave Lull: …  Janus and "The Snow Man" by Thomas O. Rover - The New Criterion . I didn't know that snows...

… The British amateur who debunked the mathematics of happiness | Science | The Observer . (Hat tip, Lee Lowe.) Following much negotiation...

'Soon the sun will set' — is that prophecy? No, it's merely an assertion of faith in the consistency of events. — Walter M. M...

…  O.E.D.’s New Chief Editor Speaks of Its Future - NYTimes.com .

The 40,000th post in BooksInq is the very next post!!! (This is the pentiultimate.)  (And there are no prizes, awards, party I am afraid, th...

In 1974, clinical psychologist Dennis Upper found himself stricken with writer's block. Though pen was to paper, no words would flow....

…  The 75 Greatest Living Female Authors | AbeBooks' Reading Copy .

Earlier this month, Buzzfeed published a piece called "Why I Bought a House in Detroit for $500." The story ended up getting mor...

… Courtesy of Rus Bowden: …  Angel Taboada Villanueva Arrested: Murderer of Mexican Poet Javier Sicilia's Son Taken Into Custody . …...

…  Paul Davis On Crime: Happy Birthday To Joseph Wambaugh .

Broadly understood, theism means thinking that there’s a Someone behind reality as well as things and actions underlying it.   A Christia...

…  on Drafts for a Third Sketchbook, by Max Frisch, tr. by Mike Mitchell (Seagull Books) | On the Seawall: A Literary Website by Ron Slate (...

…  Eli Stein's Cartoon Caption Contest . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

… Seven Essays I Meet in My Literary Heaven . 

… Courtesy of Dave Lull: … the envelope, please: The Edgar® Nominees . … Taking stock: That’s Material: An Interview with Daniel Menaker...

Death doesn't bargain. — August Strindberg , born on this date in 1849

... Doing “Justice” at Jaipur

... The six things that makestories go viral will amaze, and maybe infuriate, you

…   George Orwell Anniversary of Death | New Republic . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.) Huxley and Orwell do not say gloomily, like Wells and Koestle...

…   Poet Kay Ryan recovering after her bicycle was hit by a car - latimes.com . ups of the hat to dvd Lull. and Rus Bowden.)

… Taking a look at the opening scenes of Marlowe's strange play . . . … Dreams, memory, ghosts: `Do You Ever Think of Me?' …  J...

One person's take. I remember years and years ago arguing about a book with my partner's best friend.  We went to and fro, got qui...

What do editors really want? Why are they putting one thing in the rejection pile and preparing for an auction for another? The difficulty...

…  Miller and Sweeney in Fox Chase January 26th | Fox Chase Review .

… Podcast: The Consolation of Poetry . Rachel Hadas , author of Strange Relation: A Memoir of Marriage, Dementia and Poetry (Paul Dry Bo...

… Courtesy of Dave Lull. … The drama of doubt — The University Bookman: Unamuno: No Evangelist, No Secularist . … More than always at th...

…  How Hipster Toast Made My Week | BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog .

I do not know whether there is Truth or Not. But I instinctively feel that I cannot be without It. And I know that if It is, then It is e...

... BETWEEN THE LINES | Cyrus Mistry says he hopes to get back to writing soon

What began as a story about a brilliant woman with a new invention had turned into the tale of a troubled man who had invented a new lif...

THE HEAVENS—Calling into question centuries of religious dogma and commonly held beliefs, the Lord Our God, Creator and Supreme Ruler of ...

I have much to do today that will take me away from my desk and even my iPad. So blogging will have to wait until later.

… courtesy of Dave Lull. …  A God That Grounds All Things, Ctd —  The Dish . I think it's a waste of time trying to engage with som...

…  Paul Davis On Crime: Command Authority: Tom Clancy's Last Thriller .

Let every dawn be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close. — John Ruskin , who died on this date ...

... Book Review: The New Middle East

... Knowing your own history is armour—and catharsis: Gaiutra Bahadur

… courtesy of Dave Lull. … Good to know:  'Jane Austen, Game Theorist' by Michael Suk-Young Chwe Is a Joke | New Republic . One wo...

…  ' Orfeo,' richly told, details our culture of fear . …  Two on the road into nothingness . …  In Doctorow's new novel, ...

When you read a great book, you don't escape from life, you plunge deeper into it. — Julian Barnes , born on this date in 1946

…  Why Representative Democracies Can't Write Off Transparency — Alexander Furnas — The Atlantic . The simplistic dichotomy between di...

…  BBC News - Has the Sun gone to sleep? Don't tell Al Gore … Mmm mmm good: What if natural products came with a list of ingredient...

…  Paul Davis On Crime: Happy Birthday To Cary Grant . Grant once said that "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary ...

… courtesy of Dave Lull. …  The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography, by Alan Jacobs | Books | Times Higher Education . Alan Jacobs calls ...

…  Zealotry of Guerin: The Fall of the Rebel Angels (Bruegel), Sonnet #157 .

No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power. — J. Bronowski , born on this date in 1908

…  Ancient skulls discovered in London speak of Roman headhunters .

…  10 Questions for Philip Dacey | Fox Chase Review .

…  The 28 Days of Beautiful Things Project | BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog .

…  The Best Arguments for God's Existence Don't Challenge Atheists | New Republic . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.) Anyone who claims that ...

… Courtesy of Dave Lull. …  Bruce Charlton's Miscellany: Subversion and blog comments . … Poetry as Liturgy: Review of Sounding The...

Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away. —Compton MacKenzie , born on this date in 1883

... Jaipur Lit Fest: Words with heat

... Poet Laureate of Golpitha

... Hilary Mantel to publish new short story collection

… back later on.

We are said to be made in the image and likeness of God. But God has no image to make a likeness of. And yet ….  The essence of a thing i...

… Courtesy of Dave Lull. … Uh-oh: Joyce Carol Oates, At It Again . I tend to agree that Rockwell and Andrew Wyeth ares "   minor ar...

If you find something to tell, tell it to your truest, though that make little to tell; the truer you speak, the more you will know to tel...

... An interview with Adam Thirlwell

…  Thomas Larson’s Heart and Soul | BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog .

…  A Commonplace Blog: Reply to critics of “Academe Quits Me” . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.) In light of the comments to my essay yesterday, I’d ...

St. Paul urged the Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing." This is not as odd as it sounds. Just about anything we do can be tur...

… The art of gas stations:  `Those Stationary Trivialities' . … Fess up:  My quest continues, and a 2nd century gnostic offers a chall...

Courtesy of Rus Bowden. … John Timpane on   Amiri Baraka, 79, poet, playwright, activist . … See also:  Remembering Amiri Baraka . …  ...

... ON TRANSLATING KAFKA’S “THE METAMORPHOSIS”

... Fame maintenance

…  On Being an Inept Blogger | BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog .

…  Everything That Rises — Nothing Less Than Phenomenal . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)   That so few of the contemporary American novels with a r...

… courtesy of Dave Lull. … Peter Geach - obituary . Geach’s interest in the thought of both Wittgenstein and Aquinas made him an honora...

Love is often the fruit of marriage. — Moliere , born on this date in 1622

... “You Turn Yourself into an Outsider”: An interview with Anita Desai

"The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." This may be so for individuals.  But  histor...

...in modern Germany

…  Madness and Survival in the Memoir | BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog .

 I'll pass on Duluth in winter.

… courtesy of Dave Lull: …  Richard Powers’ novel Orfeo, reviewed . In  Orfeo , the specter of the music is different. “God,” Els says, ...

…  Podcast: A Place To Rest | Virtual Memories .

(Hat tip, Benjamin Knox.)

…  Inky Lawyers Huddle With Judge As Auction Block Looms | Big Trial | Philadelphia Trial Blog .

Somewhere in the world there is an epigram for every dilemma. — Hendrik Willem van Loon , born on this date in 1882

... TS Eliot poetry prize goes to Sinéad Morrissey's Parallax

…  Nothing More Timeless Than Ignorance by Heather Mac Donald - City Journal . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.) This year’s [MLA] conference theme i...