I had never read Queneau, but Les derniers jours fell into my hands in English. It is very amusing, and I can see that it could be moreso in French. Here, the character goes to a salon: They were impressionist poets or symbolist painters; they had known friends of Paul Verlaine; they still remembered tubercular … More Raymond Queneau
The modern university is sustained by academic freedom; it guarantees higher education’s independence, its quality, and its success in educating students. The need to uphold those values would seem obvious. Yet the university is presently under siege from all corners; workers are being exploited with paltry salaries for full-time work, politics and profit rather than … More Cary Nelson
It is Wednesday, and Julio Cortázar is re-fascinating me. This is the beginning of the first chapter of Rayuela, called chapter 73. Sí, pero quién nos curará del fuego sordo, del fuego sin color que corre al anochecer por la Rue de la Huchette, saliendo de los portales carcomidos, de los parvos zaguanes, del fuego … More Chapter 73
This radio show is about a book I really want to read. Before modern 24-7 life and constant streetlight, humanity was terrified and transfixed by the mystery of the pure, dark, night. The time after sunset was given over to criminals and demons, night terrors and moonstruck lunatics — the night was a menacing world … More Reading for Pleasure Wednesday: The Secret History of Night
In the past two weeks I have read the following works by Tolstoy, all stories and novellas: The Prisoner of the Caucausus The Diary of a Madman The Death of Ivan Ilyich The Kreutzer Sonata The Devil Master and Man Father Sergius After the Ball The Forged Coupon Alyosha the Pot Hadji Murat These are … More Reading for Pleasure Wednesday: Leo Tolstoy
The moral thrust of Dinesen’s tales leads here, to a representation of life as performance–a necessary fiction. In her pliable and accommodating theater, the truth is found in the design of the stories we tell in order to understand whom we might become. Throughout her career, with both the fiction and nonfiction, Dinesen is urging … More Isak Dinesen
Here, in an illustration made about 1400 CE, Gawain beheads the Green Knight, who survives this. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written by the Pearl Poet, and Sir Gawain’s horse is called Gringalet. The story begins at King Arthur’s court, but there is a kind of preface setting it into the context of … More Gawain and the Green Knight
Here is the screenplay for FGL’s avant-garde play or film. Axé.
I read The Racial State for work but it was fun. This book is very revealing and answers many of the questions I had. Axé.
I had not read anything new at all last Wednesday and so did not post, but now I have read two books, one good and one bad. The bad one, Other Peoples’ Skin, a collection of four novellas by four people, is morally uplifting but as writing, it is about at the level of airplane … More Reading for Pleasure Wednesday: ON THE GENEALOGY OF MORALS and OTHER PEOPLES’ SKIN
coldhearted scientist وداد 