Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The quality of doubt ...
... Tennyson and the real Arthur Hallam.
...Hallam’s main benefit to mankind was through his posthumous influence. Not only was he the moving force behind In Memoriam, but the rest of his social circle could find comfort in rewriting his story as a tragedy of unfulfilled promise. For friends like Gladstone, his death may even have been something of a relief. Having spent the previous few years mourning a friendship that faded after Hallam left Eton for Cambridge, there was now nothing to prevent him from polishing up his memories like jewels.
A better man ...
... The Recognition of Fr. Damien.
... it is precisely the single-minded devotion to their mission and to those in their charge which make saints so difficult to appreciate by those of us who are “more balanced”.
News from the wasteland ...
... Post-Prosperity II: Why Everybody Watched Bishop Sheen. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The 1950s, so maligned by ignorant generations who didn’t live it, gave us the best picture of the contradictions the ambiguous idea of prosperity offered the world, perhaps in the history of what we still call Western Civilization. Progressives hated the decade ...
Thought for the day ...
Absolute liberty is absence of restraint; responsibility is restraint; therefore, the ideally free individual is responsible to himself.Henry Adams, born on this date in 1838
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
How can this be?
... Alfred North Whitehead: An Ignored Sesquicentennial. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Typical. Whitehead was a vastly deeper thinker than his rather light-weight (as far as philosophy is concerned) sometime collaborator Bertrand Russell. So naturally, he has been forgotten, while other light-weights, such as Richard Dawkins, keep the memory of Russell alive
Somewhat good news ...
... Experts determine age of book 'nobody can read'. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
My own personal theory is that it was written by an evolutionary predecessor of Richard Dawkins.
Turn and turnabout ...
... Radical Transparency: A tell-all memoir offers unflattering details about Julian Assange and his tell-all organization.
If Mr. Assange emerges from the pages on "Inside WikiLeaks" as a fairly ghastly human being, Mr. Domscheit-Berg does not come out looking much better. Apart from his own acknowledged dishonesty as the organization's spokesman, he still shares his former idol's toxic political views. He proudly calls WikiLeaks the "world's most dangerous website" and recently launched his own Assange-free version, called OpenLeaks.
Priceless ...
... Digested read: Bird Cloud by Annie Proulx.
It was also hard to find the right craftsmen. We tried Idle Ian and Bodger Brian, but it was clear when they arrived on site five minutes late that they were not up to my exacting standards. Eventually, Kevin found Patronised Pete and Put-Upon Paul, and the build got under way in late 2005. I had to go away to Capri for the winter and didn't return to Bird Cloud until the following spring. I was horrified. Not only were the tatami prayer mats made of unsustainable rice-straw, but the window in my bedroom had been positioned three inches too far to the left and my view of the eagle's nest was blocked by the cliff. It took three tonnes of dynamite and several hundred thousand dollars to rectify that problem.
Going the distance ...
... Why do some artists seem to fade away while others last forever? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Personally, I was most deeply affected by the letter John Updike writes in response to questions put to him by Delbanco. Delbanco wants to know how Updike's work habits have changed since his early days as a writing "apprentice." He wants to know if Updike's goals have been redefined. He wants to know, finally, if Updike himself had written about lastingness in some oblique or overt way. Updike's response is both eloquent and tactical, reminding us that ultimately it's the daily details that matter most - the discipline of the artistic endeavor, the motivating ideal (again and again) of a finished work, the refined understanding of what true art is:"By and large what lasts best is the most concrete, the most actual, delivering to the reader a piece of earth and humanity. Aesthetic flourishes fade and wrinkle, though they may get attention when new. A blunt sincerity outlasts finely honed irony, I would think. An ability to see over the heads of important contemporary issues into the simple truth of daily life is what we can respond to a century later."
Indeed ...
... Journalists—Stop Pretending To Be Unbiased.
It is indeed true that we all have biases. But having been a journalist, I think I can say that it is possible to be impartial. In fact, that is the fun of being a reporter if a reporter is what you want to be. Some years ago, when I wrote for The Inquirer's religion page, I wrote a story about a woman who had written to tell us that she had seen angels. I paid her a visit, heard what she had to say, and passed it along to readers. Not long after the story appeared, I received a letter from her thanking me profusely ... for just reporting what she said. Seems all of her friends had been telling her that she should never have spoken to a reporter, that all I was going to do was make fun of her. The thought of doing that never crossed my mind. My job, as I saw it, was to report her experience, not pass judgment on it. After all, one of my biases is that experience trumps all theories. Who was I, who was anyone, to say she had not experienced what she claimed to have?
Thought for the day ...
Familiar things happen, and mankind does not bother about them. It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.- Alfred North Whitehead, born on this date in 1861
Monday, February 14, 2011
Where do they find people ...
... like the reporter of this piece? Conservatives queue up for peek at 'Atlas Shrugged' at CPAC. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Once upon a time I gave a lecture at Rockford College on Albert Jay Nock. In the audience was a large contingent of Randians (also a large contingent of Rothbardians). Both groups proved difficult to have a conversation with, because both were comprised of true believers. At any rate, though CPAC calls itself "conservative," the fact that Ron Paul was the big winner t its powwow indicates it was dominated by libertarians. Which is OK by me. I'm a registered Libertarian. On the other hand, I think Ron Paul, though he is sometimes on the mark, is also something of a flake. Conservatives and libertarians agree on some things, but there are also salient differences between the two groups. Ms. Hesse seems oblivious to these and all other pertinent distinctions.
This should cheer the pols ...
... and kindred parasites: How to crash the Internet. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Experientia docet ...
... Time and Possibilities. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Let me confess that when I finally understood what Kugel was up to in this somewhat rambling memoir-meditation, I gave a little adolescent fist-pump. I was glad to see him point out that the recent debates about religion — is it a force for good or for evil, intrinsically violent or intrinsically peaceful? — have on the whole been a bit “narrow.” Too many pundits, anthropologists and evolutionary biologists fail to imagine their way into the rich, elusive mental condition called “believing in God” or “being religious.”
Ozick on Bellow ...
... Lasting Man. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The writer’s last brief words in this bountiful volume of letters, set down fourteen months before his death, should all at once break open the hidden-in-plain-sight code that reveals why Bellow stays:
[My parents] needed all the help they could get. They were forever asking, “What does the man say?” and I would translate for them into heavy-footed English. That didn’t help much either. The old people were as ignorant of English as they were of Canadian French. We often stopped before a display of children’s shoes. My mother coveted for me a pair of patent-leather sandals with an elegantissimo strap. I finally got them—I rubbed them with butter to preserve the leather. This is when I was six or seven years old.... Amazing how it all boils down to a pair of patent-leather sandals.
Good points indeed ...
... courtesy of Lee Lowe, who correctly observes that "it only works if you're already fairly well known."
Very thoughtful ...
... Henry Hitchings – The Language Wars… and Blogging. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
For me blogging has always been related to one of the words it is made up of: log, as in "captain's log." Of course, I don't tend to write long posts. I link to something of interest, and may append a comment thereunto. This blog quickly became a record of things I thought of interest while "covering the beat," as they say in the news business.
Thought for the day ...
Criticism is the windows and chandeliers of art: it illuminates the enveloping darkness in which art might otherwise rest only vaguely discernible, and perhaps altogether unseen.- George Jean Nathan, born on this date in 1882
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Unstable truth ...
... 31 Books in 31 Days: Mark Athitakis on Ander Monson’s “Vanishing Point”. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Truth is so unstable for Monson, in fact, that Vanishing Point is not only not a memoir but not a book as well––or, rather, not just a printed, permanent one. Monson’s website, www.otherelectricities.com, is an essential part of the experience of reading the book: Footnoted words are expanded upon online, to move the book beyond its status as an artifact and to reflect “flux, motion, synapses connecting and reconnecting and thinking exploding everywhere.” Even so, the old-fashioned text explodes in its own way. In “Exteriority” he pushes the text to the very edge of the page, removing the margins to show just how much they frame stories on paper. “Solipsism”––the essay that opens with those two pages of “Me”s––sprays out into sidebars, footnotes, and marginal digressions, the better to expose the performative act of writing.
You are not alone ...
... A Dreadful Confession. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I can think of some novels I would not have finished if I had not been paid to write about them. Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Paul Theroux's Blinding Light. Just to name two. When reading for pleasure, I let the pleasure principle be my guide.
Hmm ...
... Classical Music Linked to High Intelligence.
Like Jim, I don't think rap amounts to much in the way of music, but I think those who like symphonic music do so simply because they've become sufficiently acquainted with it. I think that most people, if they heard, say, Beethoven's eighth symphony once a day over a period of maybe three days, would come to like it. A symphony is a code, a more complex one than a song, but once you get to know the code, the rewards are great. Also, a really smart person knows when to listen to ragtime instead of Brahms.
Emptyspeak ...
... What Happens in Vagueness Stays in Vagueness. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
By autumn 1987, the job interviews revealed that “like” was no longer a mere slang usage. It had mutated from hip preposition into the verbal milfoil that still clogs spoken English today. Vagueness was on the march. Double-clutching (“What I said was, I said . . .”) sprang into the arena. Playbacks, in which a speaker re-creates past events by narrating both sides of a conversation (“So I’m like, ‘Want to, like, see a movie?’ And he goes, ‘No way.’ And I go . . .”), made their entrance.
Today's Inquirer reviews ...
... once again, I could not figure out how to link to any of The Inquirer's reviews. Guess they don't want anybody to link to their stuff. So be it.
Thought for the day ...
Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness.- Georges Simenon, born on this date in 1903
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Tinsel lives ...
... Remarkable Hollywood Lives.
Debbie and I recently watched Paul Muni in The Life of Emile Zola. What a wonderful actor. And I was bothered to learn recently how few of his great films -- Juarez, for instance -- are not easily available.
Debbie and I recently watched Paul Muni in The Life of Emile Zola. What a wonderful actor. And I was bothered to learn recently how few of his great films -- Juarez, for instance -- are not easily available.
I'm with Peter on this ...
... Women and men in the TLS.
You find the best reviewers that happen to come your way. You don't think about gender or race or whatever.
More comments. So I bumped the post.
Eudaimonia ...
... and more: For a Little Room Behind the Shop. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I think what is most contemporary about this piece is Brunskill's own assumption regarding "the blogger’s fear of silence or the desperate modern need to connect and communicate."
The last time I checked checked -- which was quite some time ago -- there were some 40 million column for the the same reason.blogs. Do either Bill Vallicella or Nige -- mon semblable, mon frère -- give any indication that they fear silence? Some of us blog for the same reason Montaigne wrote essays. I even write a column for that reason.
The talented Mr. Assange ...
... Julian Assange helped crack Victorian kid porn ring. (Hat tip, Lee Lowe.)
Ah, here we go ...
... Peter has posted the remarks he sent me yesterday: Vida and the pie charts. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Want to see a great artist?
... bear in mind. this is a studio recording: Jacques Brel La Quete.
This is the passion we all strive for. He is my favorite artist, period. I simply find him more authentic than any other. I would love to have known him.
Thought for the day ...
Ah, what a dusty answer gets the soul when hot for certainties in this our life!- George Meredith, born on this date in 1828
Friday, February 11, 2011
'Twas ever thus ...
... Green’s Dictionary of Slang: Nagging wives and henpecked husbands.
The wise Montaigne says somewhere that the ideal marriage is one between a blind wife and a deaf husband.
Unusual trinity ...
... `All Interweavingly Working Together'.
"... chance—aye, chance, free will, and necessity—no wise incompatible ..."
This would not appear to be Ahab's view, however.
Too proud to love ...
... O'Neill Staged on an Intimate Scale. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Debbie and I already have plans to see this.
Most interesting ...
... StratBlog.
This will explain: An Introduction and a Welcome.
Debbie's son, Kevin, is a Bard graduate. Before it became Bard, it was St. Stephen's. One noted graduate of St. Stephen's was Albert Jay Nock.
Unexpected perspectives ...
... Art's Web. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Radicalism in the arts, with its search for root causes, can be more closely aligned with conservatism than many people imagine. Harris opens Romantic Moderns with a crisis within England’s visual arts avant-garde, when the painter John Piper rejected a nonobjective vision in favor of a growing enthusiasm for earlier strains in English art, ranging from Romanesque sculpture to the picturesque landscape.
We, the Jesuit- trained, are smiling ...
... Forget Mandarin. Latin is the key to success.
Why, only yesterday, I was reacquainting myself with Virgil's Georgics. Really. There's a new Penguin edition out with Latin and English on facing pages. I was actually surprised at how much I remembered.
Thought for the day ...
The whole is simpler than the sum of its parts.- J. Willard Gibbs, born on this date in 1839
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Eyewitness report ...
... Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Kicks Off Book Tour At National Constitution Center In Philadelphia.
When Paul says the questions were softball, you can rest assured that's what they were.
Should you be near Baltimore ...
... you might want to check this out: February 26 at Windup Space: The New Mercury Return.
Susan McCallum-Smith reviewed for me -- oh my, another woman! -- and her collection of short stories, Slipping the Moorings, is excellent.
Susan McCallum-Smith reviewed for me -- oh my, another woman! -- and her collection of short stories, Slipping the Moorings, is excellent.
Recognition at last ...
... The Architect of the City. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
No mention is made here of a Philadelphia he worked with and spoke well in his Autobiography of and Idea: Frank Furness.
Best at her minimalist ...
... Fighting The New Yorker Over Extra Commas and Steaming Cowflops. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
This week's batch ...
... of TLS Letters: Mycenaeans and Hittites, Chinese archives, Misology, and more!
Something else ...
... from the dark, dank '50s, when television was a vast wasteland: DVD Review: The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Well, he is a politician ...
... Not Far Enough. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
More and more Western politicians, alas, have turned themselves into Islamic theologians, taking it upon themselves to assert that the jihadists have misunderstood their religion. The sobering truth is that jihad—the effort, in whatever form it may take, to bring the “House of War” (that is, the non-Muslim world) under sharia—is consistent with the teachings of the Koran and the example of Mohammed.
Well, yes. But a certain reading of the Bible could lead one to advocate policies frighteningly similar to those of the paleo-Muslims. Most Christians have moved beyond, that and I see no reason why Muslims could not as well.
Checking in
I wanted to provide a quick update as it's been a few weeks since I posted a response (as I like to do) on the books that I'm enjoying. The reason for this delay owes not to a lack of reading, but to the fact that I've written formal reviews for Rain Taxi covering two of the most recent books that I've completed. These reviews - which address the collected South American letters of Stefan and Lotte Zweig as well as a short anthology of Hemingway's dispatches as a young journalist in Paris - are slated to appear online, and in print, later this winter. When they do, I'll post a link. In the meanwhile, it's back to Thomas Cromwell in Mantel's Wolf Hall. It's long, but man can she wield a semi-colon!
Thought for the day ...
Clap an extinguisher upon your irony if you are unhappily blessed with a vein of it.- Charles Lamb, born on this date in 1775
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