February 2006
4 posts
1 tag
Match Point
Brilliant.
3 tags
Selected Stories by Anton Chekhov
It has been awhile since I have read anything written in the 19th century and I must say I found the realism a little refreshing. There are twenty stories in this collection, probably not meant to be read as a whole, but that’s the nature of my reading at the moment. However, I enjoy reading collections of stories that way. It’s a good way of hearing the voice of the author when some...
January 2006
15 posts
2 tags
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
When I think of Joan Didion, I am reminded of watching Don’t Look Back. No matter how many times I listen to Bob Dylan’s music, I will always see and think of him as he was in 1965. After reading The Year of Magical Thinking, I imagined Didion forty years ago. I imagined it always being forty years ago. I was selfish. I am caught in the belief (or the desire for) Didion’s...
1 tag
Georgetown Students - 1 Alberto Gonzales - 0
During a lecture where Alberto Gonzales was defending the NSA’s surveilance of US citzens, a few US citizens decided to make a statement.
(via Maud.)
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Interview with Marilynne Robinson
Powells.com has an interview with Marilynne Robinson. She has this to say about experience:
There is that certain line from William Carlos Williams that I love: “No ideas but in things.” I think that when ideas lose their roots in experience, they begin to falsify themselves. From the point of view of Ames, from the point of view of his intellectual and religious background,...
3 tags
Women and Children First by Francine Prose
What struck me about Francine Prose’s Women and Children First was the striking corporeality of each story and each character. In each of the stories, Prose illustrates the characters’ needs, either past or present. These needs are so fundamental they require - demand - physical attention and Prose relates these necessities with simple but sharp intelligence. From one of my favorite...
2 tags
"Relieving Me of the Obligation to be Right"
Michiko Kakutani of the NYT writes an article on the consequences of the truth as relative:
We live in a relativistic culture where television “reality shows” are staged or stage-managed, where spin sessions and spin doctors are an accepted part of politics, where academics argue that history depends on who is writing the history, where an aide to President Bush, dismissing reporters...
2 tags
A Better Look Ahead...
You can find a great list of anticipated books of 2006 over at The Millions where you can also find a link to a cool website about book cover design.
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Another reason to love Chicago...
The Adventures of Augie March in pictures.
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Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande
Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande is an instructional manual for writers who have set out to become writers as a profession. Meaning, it is a book for those who, for whatever reason, have chosen writing as a profession but have no idea how to harness their ideas. Brande gives interesting, though grossly outdated, insights into the psyche of an artist and how to use its duality: the intellectual...
1 tag
Funny, in that "so true it's sad" kind of way...
Ideas for Creating American Jobs That Are Better Than the 735,000 Jobs Promised If Drilling Is Allowed in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Bruce Springsteen Songs, If the Title More Accurately Reflected the Subject Matter.
1 tag
Men and Cartoons by Jonathan Lethem
After reading The Fortress of Solitude, I was quite excited. I thought it was fresh (I’d hate to use the word hip for fearing a coming of age) and I wasn’t overwhelmed by the fantastic and surreal turn at the end. However, after finishing Men and Cartoons, I have found that I can no longer relate to the characters (not always necessary for the enjoyment of a book) to such an extent I...
1 tag
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
In Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, the characters face distances and barriers. The stories are poignant and the characters are unique yet unremarkable. They suffer from both emotional and physical ailments that are worsened by a deep miscommunication and a loss of land and culture. Many things go unsaid or they are said to the wrong people, as in the title story, and the situations...
1 tag
"There Are Very Few People Around Who Understand...
The Times Online published an article entitled: Publishers Toss Booker Winners into the Reject Pile.
The exercise by The Sunday Times draws attention to concerns that the industry has become incapable of spotting genuine literary talent.
Typed manuscripts of the opening chapters of Naipaul’s In a Free State and a second novel, Holiday, by Stanley Middleton, were sent to 20 publishers and...
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A Look Ahead...
The Guardian and the Boston Globe have previews of what to read in 2006.