Sunday, March 11, 2012
So true ...
... Luc Sante, Author of Low Life, on the Benefits of Self-Editing | Word Craft - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
It does not follow ... that every decent writer is a good editor. Even some justly famous writers are known in the trade for regularly filing dog's breakfasts that require many hours of labor on the other end: unpacking, parsing, cutting, shifting, reordering and so on. I feel for the editors whose working days are thus burdened, but what has made me try to be my own editor is more laziness than generosity. When I turn in a story, I want to be done with it.
My feeling, precisely. It is also worth noting that it works both ways: good editors don't necessarily make good writers, either. The worst editor is the one who wants to turn what you have written into the piece he would have written could he write.
Imitation may not be enough ...
... Tomas Transtromer’s Poems and the Art of Translation - NYTimes.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Pilates for wordsmiths ...
... LATIN IS THE BEST LANGUAGE | More Intelligent Life.
... [Latin] teaches you grammar and syntax, better than your own language, whose structure you will have absorbed before you are capable of noticing it. Latin offers no hiding place, no refuge for the woolly. Each piece of the sentence has to slot in with the rest; every ending has to be the right one. To learn Latin is to learn rigour.
Calling all seekers ...
... The quest for weird fiction across the electronic universe | Books | guardian.co.uk.
Over the next four weeks I will be scouring the internet for the best independently-published weird stories. I genuinely have no idea what to expect. I'm hoping I might stumble upon a new Angela Carter, Mervyn Peake or China Miéville; a weird and fantastically baroque masterpiece from a unique imagination. Maybe even a few of them. On the other hand, I might end up destroying my mind with a steady diet of third-rate Stephen King clones and Harry Potter rip-offs. So to avoid the latter I'm turning to the wisdom of the crowd, and asking you, the readers of guardian.co.uk/books, for your help. And here is how you can give it.
Thought for the day ...
The arts are an even better barometer of what is happening in our world than the stock market or the debates in congress.
— Hendrik Willem van Loon, who died on this date in 1944
Bridging the gap...
... Literature and Literary Tamasha
I submit that a seriousness of purpose about writing does not demand a single-minded commitment to writing and nothing else. The vocation is compatible with—indeed it requires—a serious interest in the things that books are about: life, people, the world. Equally, a commitment to reading does not require us to treat literature as a sanctuary from the cacophony of voices outside the study. Rather, reading can present us with yet other voices that render the cacophony intelligible, give us the resources to live in the world. The converse is also true: it is in engaging with the world’s noise that we form the selves that read and write. Sometimes, the right way to engage is to refuse to engage, but the operative word here is sometimes.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Not your usual list ...
... Who were the favorite authors of Saint Thomas Aquinas? ~ Canterbury Tales by Dr. Taylor Marshall. (Hat tip, Joe of New York.)
Synchronize your watches ... ...
... Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is? - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Since 1966 we've sprung ahead when Washington says to, though Arizona, Hawaii and eastern Indiana stubbornly refuse to adopt Daylight Saving Time. For the rest of us, DST now runs from the first Sunday of April to the last Sunday of October, or seven months a year, "which means that Daylight Saving Time has become our Standard Time."Well, this year it starts tonight.
Hmm ...
... Atheism Is a Religion - Reason Magazine. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Well, its adherents sure do get hot and bothered by anybody who disagrees with them.
Well, its adherents sure do get hot and bothered by anybody who disagrees with them.
Hear, hear ...
... Orwell Watch #18: “Back to the Middle Ages” – an era that “exceeds expectations” | The Book Haven.
Why do we look back on the past with horror, and on the present as the epitome of good? Why were the Middle Ages worse than, say, the Ptolemaic Dynasty, or the time of the Visigoths? What is the purpose of such political exaggerration? Does it feed our notions of inevitable “progress”?
Ignorance, of course. Few people these days have any real acquaintance with Chaucer or Dante or Malory. It is worth noting that in Hildegard's time, abbesses were quite powerful, choosing who would be bishop in the region controlled by their abbey. Eleanor of Acquitaine, the Empress Matilda, and Hildegard would have scoffed at today's feminists.
Q & A ...
... Paul Davis On Crime: A Rogue on Our Side: Bernard Cornwell Discusses His Character Richard Sharpe On The 30th Anniversary of 'Sharpe's Eagle'.
I recently finished for review Cornwell's latest Saxon novel. I thought it was great.
I recently finished for review Cornwell's latest Saxon novel. I thought it was great.
Complicated identities ...
... Edith Pearlman’s Pins and Buckles and Clips — Commentary Magazine. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Real community art ...
... The Most Interesting Underpants in London | Discovering London. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
... there is no sadness for me in the display, quite the opposite I find in it a celebration of life and a call to enjoy all that we can in the here and now. Fashion is transitory, businesses are transitory, we are all individually transitory – so let’s make the most of the moment whilst we can.
Surprisingly informative ...
... No Shit! | Sprachlog. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I found this particularly interesting: "Dundes claims that German farmers (but not farmers in other cultures) used to keep a manure pile in the back yard, to be used as fertilizer (p. 12ff.)."
Professor Dundes apparently knew little of gardening. I have a com poster in my own backyard. I'm not German, and I live in the city. I always thought this canard had something to do with Martin Luther's predilection for scatology. Shows you what I know.
I found this particularly interesting: "Dundes claims that German farmers (but not farmers in other cultures) used to keep a manure pile in the back yard, to be used as fertilizer (p. 12ff.)."
Professor Dundes apparently knew little of gardening. I have a com poster in my own backyard. I'm not German, and I live in the city. I always thought this canard had something to do with Martin Luther's predilection for scatology. Shows you what I know.
This one's for keeps...
...12 Great Articles that Inspired Films
The one on Blackhawk Down is from an Inquirer writeup of 1997!
Horrifying and tragic...
....Swinton’s Oscar-worthy turn lost amid Streep hype
What is horrifying and tragic about the film is that there is no reason for Kevin's sociopathy. Kevin kills because he likes it and because he has always wanted to hurt people (foremost his mother).
Offensive enough...
... The Earnest Orientalist
Thompson's infatuation with Orientalism, and his preoccupation with the use and abuse of highly sexualised heroine combine to produce the opposite effect to what he claims he had in mind.
Interesting list ...
... In Which These Are The 100 Greatest Writers Of AllTime - Home - This Recording.
I agree about most, but not all.
I agree about most, but not all.
Thought for the day ...
Art and works of art do not make an artist; sense and enthusiasm and instinct do.
— Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, born on this date in 1772
Friday, March 09, 2012
My friend Amit...
...is a photographer and has spent the better part of the last year in Kutch in Gujarat state in India. He has photographed tribes who still follow their unique customs and way of life. A photofeature of his work has appeared in Business Standard, a business daily in India. Do check it out. It's a riotous burst of color!!
Say it ain't so ...
... Contemporary fiction: The death of chick lit? | The Economist.
A decade after "Bridget Jones’s Diary" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic" unleashed a tsunami of stiletto heels, chick lit isn’t as much dead as transformed. The genre has grown up and moved on. If anything should be laid to rest, many women in publishing argue, it’s the dubious and denigrating label that has hung on it like an albatross from the start.
Second chance ...
... The Lady From Dubuque | Tribes | Everybody Was Wrong About This Play | Theater Review by Terry Teachout - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
It is, of course, no secret that critics can be wrong, both individually and collectively, but I find it hard to understand how the critics who wrote about "The Lady From Dubuque" in 1980 could have been so far off the mark.
Good question ...
... The Q&A: John Burnside: What makes you write poetry? | The Economist. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
"What makes me write is the rhythm of the world around me—the rhythms of the language, of course, but also of the land, the wind, the sky, other lives. Before the words comes the rhythm—that seems to me to be of the essence."
Can anyone say "acweorna"?
... Why Can't Germans Say 'Squirrel'? | Pronunciation of the Word Squirrel | LifesLittleMysteries.com. (Hat tip, Joseph Chovanes.)
Acweorna, by the way, is the Old English word for squirrel. Given how poorly so many Americans pronounce so many foreign words, I don't think we're in any position to gloat.
Acweorna, by the way, is the Old English word for squirrel. Given how poorly so many Americans pronounce so many foreign words, I don't think we're in any position to gloat.
Hmm ...
.... The Millions : The Slacker in Modern Fiction: The Flâneur Goes to the Mall. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
One of the keys to the flâneur and his porous qualities, in my mind, is his idleness: a character engaged in strenuous work has no time to hang out and observe; his insights will have to come from elsewhere. In the 19th century, it wasn’t all that strange to designate your protagonist a “loafer.” But today, this kind of aimlessness strikes an odd chord: it is in and of itself a plot point, a defining characteristic. Flaubert’s Parisian rambler who hangs around cafes, people watching, would today most likely be called a slacker.
I think I can weigh in on this subject with a certain authority. I have been in the habit of strolling about town since my teens. During that time I have held down quite a few jobs. But I nearly always found some time every day to stroll about, and let my mind stroll about as well. The key is to combine relaxation with a kind of free-floating mentation, what might be called an open point of view. I certainly don't see things as I did when I when 17, but the way I see things now is certainly connected to the way I saw things then: It is the descendent, as it were, of my point of view then. Being a flâneur involves a good deal more than just strolling about. It helps to be reasonably well-read, to like to stand in front a painting or sculpture until you have seen your fill. Above all, one needs a certain detachment, including a measure of detachment from oneself.
A unique voice ...
... Second Glance at Barbara Pym | Open Letters Monthly - an Arts and Literature Review. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Reviewers, not makers...
...The League of Extraordinary Critics
“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism… but the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defence of the new.”
I disagree...
...The Artist
Sure the movie is cute, but it pays a genuine tribute to a time in Hollywood that is hardly remembered today. Also, by using the trope of voicelessness in a movie but mixing it with sound at crucial junctures -- and then using that to make a statement on the era was more than just cute. Yes, the dog was excellent but so were the leads. And the love story was heartfelt.
Sure the movie is cute, but it pays a genuine tribute to a time in Hollywood that is hardly remembered today. Also, by using the trope of voicelessness in a movie but mixing it with sound at crucial junctures -- and then using that to make a statement on the era was more than just cute. Yes, the dog was excellent but so were the leads. And the love story was heartfelt.
Thought for the day ...
Among the many problems which beset the novelist, not the least weighty is the choice of the moment at which to begin his novel.
— Vita Sackville-West, born on this date in 1892
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Q & A ...
... Adam Gopnik on Favourite Essay Collections | FiveBooks | The Browser. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
There are certain kinds of criticism that I think of as essentially essays – Clive James or Randall Jarrell’s criticism, for instance – whereas there are other critics whom I admire just as much – say [William] Empson and [WH] Auden – but whom I don’t think of as essayists. They’re superior literary critics.
I can't agree about Auden. I think he was a fine essayist.
How we got here ...
... Turing's Cathedral by George Dyson – review | Books | The Guardian. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
... no other book about the beginnings of the digital age brings to life anything like so vividly or appreciatively the immense engineering difficulty of creating electronic logic for the first time; of creating originally, and without a template, the pattern of organisation which has since become absolutely routine, and been etched on silicon at ever smaller micron-distances in chip foundries.
Ouch ...
... Overrated: Umberto Eco | Standpoint.
But Paula got there first:
... The Smart Set: The Eco Chamber - December 16, 2011.
Eco found his pseudo-religion in the pseudo-science of semiotics, which he has taught for many years. His novels are case studies in postmodernism, which elides all categories of truth, beauty, morality and politics into an esoteric game. The Plan, which forms the theme of Foucault's Pendulum, his second bestseller, shows Eco was already obsessed with conspiracy theories, involving everything from the Knights Templar to Kabbalah. But the subversive message of the novel is that conspiracy theories may after all be true, and secret societies may actually exist. The dissolution of reality into mere "narratives" lends the conspiracy theory new life.
But Paula got there first:
... The Smart Set: The Eco Chamber - December 16, 2011.
Plus ça change ...
... Book Review: How to Win an Election - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Quintus's election book is frank about the gullibility of the masses and firm in its requirement that they be deceived in their own best interests. Rome was a "cesspool of humanity," and its would-be leaders could be excused of behavior to match. An assumed personality need not be maintained for long. But Marcus, his brother advised, must make himself seem to be a man of the people while reassuring the wealthy that the "new man" knows his place. There has been much modern argument about how democratic Rome really was. "How to Win an Election" shows that a campaigner's concerns have remained just as constant as the debate about whether any democracy is ever democratic enough.
So, what else is new ...
... Jonathan Franzen – this time taking on Twitter – heaps more scorn on social media - CSMonitor.com.
"Twitter is unspeakably irritating. Twitter stands for everything I oppose," said Franzen, according to author Jami Attenberg, who was at the talk. "It's hard to cite facts or create an argument in 140 characters … It's like if Kafka had decided to make a video semaphoring The Metamorphosis. Or it's like writing a novel without the letter 'P'… It's the ultimate irresponsible medium. People I care about are readers … particularly serious readers and writers, these are my people. And we do not like to yak about ourselves."
This sure sounds like yakking about oneself to me. And I suspect Basho could have done a lot with 140 characters.
Interesting question ...
... Should Libraries Get Out of the eBook Business? | Librarian by Day. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Thought for the day ...
Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.
— Sir Thomas Beecham, who died on this date in 1961
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
The way things were ...
... The Dangerous Novel | Nordisk Kvinde Litteratur Historie.
For the middle-class woman who was confined in so many ways, reading was to become both a diversion and an education in the woman’s new role. It also became a much discussed and criticised occupation. It may be that this literature, with its intense discussion of the woman’s new role and the problems concerning it, also became a way of communicating and debating, carrying on a dialogue, among the hemmed-in women.
Negative capability ...
... Let our angry cardinals believe in their doubts | Richard Holloway | Comment is free | The Guardian. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
It is obvious to us now that economics is as cloudy and inexact a subject as parapsychology, which is why we are depressed when we see our politicians hammering out their rival economic certainties on the airwaves without any sense of the absurdities of the exercise. It is not that we want them to be endlessly swithering over what to do, but we do expect them to have the kind of experimental modesty that will acknowledge when something is not working and try something else. Sadly, like bishops, politicians are never allowed to air their doubts in public.
This piece makes some good points, but overall strikes me as something of a muddle. What makes Mr. Holloway think that, regarding the marriage of same-sex couples, the bishops harbor any doubts? Maybe they should, but I doubt if they do. (My own view? Get the government out of the marriage business and leave it to the different denominations to determine the matter for themselves.)
Instant books ...
... Brooklyn Library Gets On-Demand Printing - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The Espresso Book Machine 2.0 is about 5 feet tall and 7 feet wide. It smells of glue, hums like a copy machine and can print a book in as little as four minutes.
Baker Street Irregular ...
... A Momentary Taste of Being: House of Silk--Anthony Horowitz.
... I'm here to tell you that House of Silk is among the very finest continuations of the Holmes saga. Perhaps a bit too much Elephants Can Remember, Sleeping Murder, orCurtain--but that's rather a matter of taste. And to my taste, this was superb.
Thought for the day ...
Less than fifteen per cent of the people do any original thinking on any subject. The greatest torture in the world for most people is to think.
— Luther Burbank, born on this date in 1849
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Something and nothing ...
... More about Nothing and the Scientists Who Abuse It: Catholic World Report.
It is increasingly difficult for me to avoid a harsh conclusion regarding some scientists and their discussions of the cosmos bringing itself into existence from "nothing". That conclusion would be either (1) the scientists in question are philosophically incompetent or (2) they're dishonest, or (3) some combination of the two. Clearly, they don't mean by "nothing" what most people mean--the absence of any reality altogether.
I think the first of the three is overwhelmingly the problem. If you don't know how to do something in the first place, what you do may turn to at least look dishonest.
The piece by Carroll that is linked to looks very interesting, starting off as it does by discussing the adage "from nothing, nothing comes." I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet, but the topic is one I have lately been pondering. The Christian notion of creation ex nihilo — which I am reasonably familiar with; I am unqualified to speak for other faiths — as I understand it is not that something ever came from nothing, but more precisely that God evokes everything out of nothing (only the present tense works when speaking of God).
Humors and imbalances ...
... From Melancholia to Prozac by Clark Lawlor - review | Books | The Guardian. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Many years ago I edited some papers for the Carrier Foundation Clinic.On paper in particular has stayed in my memory. It was a historical study of depression. It seems that in fifth century Athens and also Elizabethan England there appears to have been epidemics of depression. It was so common among the English that people on the continent referred to melancholia as "the Englishman's disease." Luckily, my fundamental shallowness has rendered me more or less immune to the condition.
Broad farce and subtle snideness ...
... 1p Review: Scoop by Evelyn Waugh — The Dabbler. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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