Thursday, November 11, 2010
Excellent observations ...
... Elaboration: the “Shutting Down” of Literary Culture.
I'm pretty much in agreement with Daniel. I think my original comment -- as well as my initial reaction to Epstein's essay -- came about from a rare attack of nostalgia. The essay reminded me of the time when people like Bennett Cerf and Clifton Fadiman were radio and TV personalities, when you could, on a Sunday afternoon, see Leonard Bernstein on TV explaining Poulenc's Gloria, or Peter Ustinov portraying Samuel Johnson on a series of Omnibus programs. Studio One presented Paddy Chayefsky's Marty; Playhouse 90 presented Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight; Play of the Week had E.G. Marshall starring in Ibsen's The Master Builder. A lot of this was in the '50s, which we have been led to believe was some sort of intellectual dark age.
I am no fan of the hieratic view of art. I think our society today is poorer for the absence of such things not because there is anything high-falutin' about them, but because everything that I have cited -- and I could cite many more -- was first-rate entertainment, the sort of high entertainment that actually broadens one's experience and in so doing deepens the self.
I'm pretty much in agreement with Daniel. I think my original comment -- as well as my initial reaction to Epstein's essay -- came about from a rare attack of nostalgia. The essay reminded me of the time when people like Bennett Cerf and Clifton Fadiman were radio and TV personalities, when you could, on a Sunday afternoon, see Leonard Bernstein on TV explaining Poulenc's Gloria, or Peter Ustinov portraying Samuel Johnson on a series of Omnibus programs. Studio One presented Paddy Chayefsky's Marty; Playhouse 90 presented Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight; Play of the Week had E.G. Marshall starring in Ibsen's The Master Builder. A lot of this was in the '50s, which we have been led to believe was some sort of intellectual dark age.
I am no fan of the hieratic view of art. I think our society today is poorer for the absence of such things not because there is anything high-falutin' about them, but because everything that I have cited -- and I could cite many more -- was first-rate entertainment, the sort of high entertainment that actually broadens one's experience and in so doing deepens the self.
Hmm ...
... Amazon Backing Down? 'Pedophile Guide' Listing Unavailable After Outrage.
Judging by the brief quote from the book, the author appears to be a borderline illiterate, or at least orthographically challenged. Should such a book be banned? I don't suppose we'd want a how-to for suicide bombers easily available. In both cases, though, police might find the books useful to look at. Of course, if Amazon chooses not to sell the book, that is not censorship. Amazon isn't obliged to sell anything it doesn't want to.
What, dear readers, are your thoughts on this?
Judging by the brief quote from the book, the author appears to be a borderline illiterate, or at least orthographically challenged. Should such a book be banned? I don't suppose we'd want a how-to for suicide bombers easily available. In both cases, though, police might find the books useful to look at. Of course, if Amazon chooses not to sell the book, that is not censorship. Amazon isn't obliged to sell anything it doesn't want to.
What, dear readers, are your thoughts on this?
Good question ...
... Who Is the Best Western Novelist? (Via A Momentary Taste of Being.)
Not me, and Allen cites a beauty: “For this will to deceive that is in things luminous may manifest itself likewise in retrospect and so by slight of some fixed part of a journey already accomplished may also post men to fraudulent destinies.” Heavy.
McCarthy’s style has evolved over the years from what Edmund White called “classy Southern gothic” to what might be termed, at its best, heightened poetic realism and, at its worst, overheated myth-mongering. In All the Pretty Horses (1992), The Crossing (1994), and Cities of the Plain (1998), McCarthy’s prose is so rich and gravid with metaphor that many have been willing to overlook his shortcomings and excesses.
Not me, and Allen cites a beauty: “For this will to deceive that is in things luminous may manifest itself likewise in retrospect and so by slight of some fixed part of a journey already accomplished may also post men to fraudulent destinies.” Heavy.
In this corner ...
... City v. Suburbs.
Actually, I wish I had a lawn to mow -- of course, I always used a hand mower (better exercise, better lawn).
Actually, I wish I had a lawn to mow -- of course, I always used a hand mower (better exercise, better lawn).
More than academic ...
... Josiah Royce and the Religious Paradox. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Can the church's teaching authority be invoked to solve the problem? Suppose a point of doctrine regarding salvation and the means thereto is being articulated at a church council. The fathers in attendance debate among themselves, arrive at a result, and claim that it is inspired and certified by the Holy Spirit. By what marks do they authenticate a putative deliverance of the Holy Spirit as a genuine deliverance? How do they know that the Holy Spirit is inspiring them and not something else such as their own subconscious desire for a certain result? But this is exactly Royce's problem.
In my more heretical moments I often wonder why we should be concerned about precise formulations of doctrines, just so long as people authentically "think on these things," as St. Paul suggested we should do.
Thought for the day ...
Dreams must be heeded and accepted. For a great many of them come true.- Paracelsus, born on this date in 1493
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
A talent for friendship ...
... and a lot of courage: Diane Middlebrook: “It’s all been delicious. Every minute.”
The mystery of time ...
... Watches and the Watchmaker. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
For Barbour, kenosis shows that the Platonic notion of God was simply wrong. God is not an “imperial ruler,” he writes, but “the fellow sufferer who understands.” God persuades by love rather than coerces by power. For Polkinghorne, there’s a danger here of overly reducing God, so that his aid to humankind is reduced to mere pleading. Where, then, his power to save? Instead, Polkinghorne adopts a dipolar notion of the divine. An “eternal” pole is permanent and consistent. A temporal pole suffers with us.
Thought for the day ...
There is no such thing as chance; and what seem to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny.- Friedrich Schiller, born on this date in 1759
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
This is very good ...
... Awakenings.
You know it's good when you wish you had written it and wonder why you have bothered writing anything.
You know it's good when you wish you had written it and wonder why you have bothered writing anything.
I grew up ...
... loving Hoagy Carmichael and Nat King Cole. Here's Hoagy doing "Ole Buttermilk Sky" and Nat doing Hoagy's "Stardust."
It's off my menu ...
... The Bluefin tuna problem.
If nobody buys it, nobody will fish for it. This does not appear to be one of the envirocrazies' campaigns.
If nobody buys it, nobody will fish for it. This does not appear to be one of the envirocrazies' campaigns.
Oh, I guess ...
... I'll just jump into this: Erica Jong on Mother Madness.
I wouldn't just blame mothers. Why I am glad I am not a kid these days is that parents just don't seem capable of butting out. They didn't have the term in my day, but my brother and I were latch-key kids. Our mother and grandmother worked in factories (my grandmother stayed home and took care of me until I was old enough to go to kindergarten, then she went back to work). Once we were old enough to find our way to the bathroom, etc. we were pretty much on our own. Even better, my brother is nearly eight years older than I, so we were on different tracks right from the get go (though he did have to spend more time than he wanted -- he was, after all, sane -- keeping an eye on me).
The point is that, in our day, we kids were pretty much left to ourselves. Most of us were smart enough to keep our behavior within bounds that kept us out of the kind of trouble that would have interfered with our freedom. I see kids today with all the goddamn organization that their interfering parens have imposed upon them and I feel so sorry for the little suckers. It's like sex education. I wouldn't have wanted any damn teacher instructing me on sex. It's a hell of lot more fun to discover that dimension of being on your own.
On the other hand: Motherlode. Books, Inq.: Fair and balanced.
Our obsession with parenting is an avoidance strategy. It allows us to substitute our own small world for the world as a whole. But the entire planet is a child's home, and other adults are also mothers and fathers. We cannot separate our children from the ills that affect everyone, however hard we try. Aspiring to be perfect parents seems like a pathetic attempt to control what we can while ignoring problems that seem beyond our reach.
I wouldn't just blame mothers. Why I am glad I am not a kid these days is that parents just don't seem capable of butting out. They didn't have the term in my day, but my brother and I were latch-key kids. Our mother and grandmother worked in factories (my grandmother stayed home and took care of me until I was old enough to go to kindergarten, then she went back to work). Once we were old enough to find our way to the bathroom, etc. we were pretty much on our own. Even better, my brother is nearly eight years older than I, so we were on different tracks right from the get go (though he did have to spend more time than he wanted -- he was, after all, sane -- keeping an eye on me).
The point is that, in our day, we kids were pretty much left to ourselves. Most of us were smart enough to keep our behavior within bounds that kept us out of the kind of trouble that would have interfered with our freedom. I see kids today with all the goddamn organization that their interfering parens have imposed upon them and I feel so sorry for the little suckers. It's like sex education. I wouldn't have wanted any damn teacher instructing me on sex. It's a hell of lot more fun to discover that dimension of being on your own.
On the other hand: Motherlode. Books, Inq.: Fair and balanced.
So lovely ...
... Frosty Photo Friday.
That's one of the great things about blogs. If I hadn't started this one, I'd be a lot more ignorant than I am -- which may not be saying much, but you get my drift.
I'm not saying I'm a brilliant photographer or anything, but having this blog is definitely forcing allowing me to learn a lot.
That's one of the great things about blogs. If I hadn't started this one, I'd be a lot more ignorant than I am -- which may not be saying much, but you get my drift.
Some poems ...
... courtesy of Rus Bowden:
... Divorced Fathers and Pizza Crusts, by Mark Halliday.
... All the Good Help, by Togara Muzanenhamo.
... She Is Awakened by a Hair, by Kim Dower.
... Divorced Fathers and Pizza Crusts, by Mark Halliday.
... All the Good Help, by Togara Muzanenhamo.
... She Is Awakened by a Hair, by Kim Dower.
Marriage a la mode ...
... The last of the legendary Mitfords on her eccentric family. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
In this corner ...
... Dabbler Country – Crows versus Squirrels.
I, too, am on the crows' side. Interestingly, crows fly into my neighborhood every day, but I have never seen one in my back yard, where there is usually plenty of fare for birds. I read once that they commute into the city, often from quite a distance. See Urban Crows.
I, too, am on the crows' side. Interestingly, crows fly into my neighborhood every day, but I have never seen one in my back yard, where there is usually plenty of fare for birds. I read once that they commute into the city, often from quite a distance. See Urban Crows.
Thought for the day ...
Time sometimes flies like a bird, sometimes crawls like a snail; but a man is happiest when he does not even notice whether it passes swiftly or slowly.- Ivan Turgenev, born on this date in 1818
Monday, November 08, 2010
What to make of this ...
... even the researcher isn't sure: Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds.
But it does lead one to question other "certainties."
But it does lead one to question other "certainties."
New media ...
... The Day The Internet Threw A Righteous Hissyfit About Copyright And Pie.
If Judith Griggs has a rational defense, well she knows where to post it, right?
If Judith Griggs has a rational defense, well she knows where to post it, right?
Whoopee ...
... Top Ten Final. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Am I becoming horrible jaded, or is there really something utterly conventional and predictable about most of these choices?
Am I becoming horrible jaded, or is there really something utterly conventional and predictable about most of these choices?
A refreshed collection ...
... Rumi's Poetry: 'All Religions, All This Singing, One Song'. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
I avoid, wherever I can, using the word God. It feels so freighted, to me, with doctrine and division and violence.I understand what he means but I think we are obligated to rescue God (and "God") from this.
Not so simple ...
... Taking the test. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I think Terry's right: It's all a little more complicated than Murray suggests.
I think Terry's right: It's all a little more complicated than Murray suggests.
Hmm ...
... The day the Observer lost its poetic soul. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
.. this year's festival, dedicated to peace in the Middle East, is not about personalities either. From the beginning, Ted Hughes, who founded that first festival, hoped to reconcile "ferocious contradictions" between nations (not poets).
I think Auden was right and that "poetry changes nothing" -- though it may change the poet and the individual reader. To dedicate a poetry festival to peace in the Middle East brings to my mind the Feiffer cartoon in which a woman announces that she is about to do a dance for world hunger.
Metanoia ...
... William James, part 4: The psychology of conversion. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
... James examines what he takes to be the most valuable material: the best articulated and most profound records of conversion. For him, to do otherwise would be like declaring you were going to study music by excluding the work of Bach in favour of nursery rhymes, on the grounds that more people sing Three blind mice than the St Matthew Passion.
Thought for the day ...
The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?- Dorothy Day, born on this date in 1897
Sunday, November 07, 2010
The voice of experience ...
... Cancer etiquette.
(Post bumped.)
... hope is a dicey thing. And as far as I can tell, no one else can raise your hopes for you. There is no standardized method for achieving it, no universally valid argument for its reality. Despair may be a sin, as my Catholic friends told me in the first weeks after my diagnosis, but their telling me so did nothing whatever to lift me out of it. I had to find my own way out. Every man’s capacity for hope is as unique as his taste buds.See also: Tom Lubbock: a memoir of living with a brain tumour. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
(Post bumped.)
Slavery (cont'd.) ...
... Big plans for a small book — kudos for Olga Trusova and Dan Archer.
There are more slaves today than ever in history. Yet, the issue of modern-day slavery has not yet cracked mainstream discourse the way we’d like. So we are always heartened to see when intelligent, creative people use innovative ways to raise awareness about what we see as the human rights issue of our time.
Perspective ...
... Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Prince Charles.
All those years of waiting seem to have caused him to come unhinged.
All those years of waiting seem to have caused him to come unhinged.
First-rate story-telling ...
... along with passion and depth: Book Review: A Capital Crime by Laura Wilson.
See also Maxine's preview of Spring 2011 books from Pan Macmillan.
See also Maxine's preview of Spring 2011 books from Pan Macmillan.
Today's Inquirer reviews ...
... including one from Ed Pettit: At long last, walks on this city's dark side.
... a review of Elmore Leonard's latest: A beauty among the pirates.
... a review by yours truly: 'The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham': Incisive biography of an underrated author.
... Stories of truths that explode.
Also:
... An ocean of captivating lore about the Atlantic.
... Into Siberia, of his own free, curious, and captivating will.
... a review of Elmore Leonard's latest: A beauty among the pirates.
... a review by yours truly: 'The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham': Incisive biography of an underrated author.
... Stories of truths that explode.
Also:
... An ocean of captivating lore about the Atlantic.
... Into Siberia, of his own free, curious, and captivating will.
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