Every person who’s fallen under the spell of ideas and history fantasizes about the discovery of a lode of forgotten texts and antiques, covered with cobwebs and protected from sunlight for eons, an archive.
This is a collection of all of the blog posts on this site in the order of publication.
Happily Read and Watched: December 2021
Didn’t do much mountain biking, but I read and watched “Alien Resurrection,” Cynthia Ozick’s “Trust,” Shakespeare’s “Henry IV, Part 1”, Italian Neo-Realism, etc.
Cynthia Ozick’s novel “Trust”: a 1400-word Summary
A summary of Cynthia Ozick’s "Trust", being the story of a peculiar, nameless narrator seeking the reasons for her lack of name and lack of a father.
Reading well an excerpt from Cynthia Ozick’s novel “Trust”
An excerpted passage from the 1966 novel "Trust" by Cynthia Ozick, dripping with the poetry and squalor of Rimbaud.
What was read and viewed during the sad, bad month of November 2021
Was it a sad, bad month, November? I read Athan Theoharis' "Abuse of Power", watched "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" (2019) and "The Lusty Men" (1952)
Tour of Turret Two of the USS New Jersey
The Turret Two Tour of the USS New Jersey was a moment to reflect on the astounding machinery of war.
Cynthia Ozick’s “Trust”: Exegesis | Tom Hanks on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Ruminations on Cynthia Ozick’s knotty, profound prose counterposed to some armchair commentary on Tom Hanks’ eminently forgettable appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Read, Viewed: October 2021
When you begin the month with a film like "Incendies," it’s downhill for the remaining 30 days. Luckily I started reading "Trust."
Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies” (2010): Seeking Expiation
In Denis Villeneuve’s 2010 film "Incendies" siblings seek a brother and father never known to deliver letters from their recently deceased mother.
Read, Viewed: September 2021
During September I finished reading "Shadow of the Torturer" a short story by Adalbert Stifter, luminary of 19th century German literature, and watched "Forbidden Games."
René Clément’s “Forbidden Games” (1952): Mourning as Indifference
"Forbidden Games" (1952) tells a story of how children, uninitiated in the rituals of mourning, recognize the loss of those dearest through substitution.
Read, Viewed: August 2021
Moments of grace: finishing Lois Lowry’s "Number the Stars," Edith Wharton’s "Ethan Frome", and viewing again the 2000 film "Sexy Beast."
Read & Viewed: July 2021
What I read—James. M Cain, Galileo—was more memorable than what I viewed—”The Glory Stompers,” “Marnie”—during the month of July. The former does not include “Portnoy’s Complaint.”
Ain’t it cool?!: “John Wick” (2014)
The culture of the exotic, fascinating underworld thrills us in “John Wick,” not merely the well-choreographed gun-fu.
Read, Viewed: June 2021
In June, read Cain’s “Serenade,” watched Bogart’s “Sahara” (1943), carefully perused Red Sonja, and erred into surprising reflections on time and history in “Star Trek.”
“Collateral” (2004): Notes on Michael Mann and Modern Urban Space
Notes on the debt to “Miami Vice,” the treatment of urban space, and stylistic gunplay in Michael Mann’s 2004 film “Collateral,” which stars Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise.
May 2021 Reading and Viewing: Glorious Consumption, Indeed
Any month (like May) that includes a viewing of “Miller’s Crossing” and a reading of Schiller’s “Don Carlos” is a monument to glorious, edifying cultural consumption.
Fred Hyatt: Not Enough Technology Pessimism!
A spirited response enjoining MORE pessimism to Fred Hyatt’s Washington Post editorial on technology and democracy
Satire or Misanthropy? “Solar,” by Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan’s 2010 novel “Solar” is a misanthropic retelling of ten years in the life of erstwhile Nobel Prize recipient Michael Beard
Read and Viewed: April 2021
April truly was the cruellest month, but only because I read not a word of T.S. Eliot.
Joseph Losey’s “Accident” (1967): Elliptical yet fascinating
“Accident” narrates the sexual and professional tensions between an Oxford philosophy professor, his colleague, and his students, in events leading to the title event.
Read and Watched: March 2021
Black history month extended 60 days, at least, reading through Mary Shelley and seeing my first Dick Powell film …
Affecting Song and W.E.B. Du Bois’ “Souls of Black Folk”
Each chapter of W.E.B. Du Bois’ “The Souls of Black Folk” begins with an excerpt of verse and a few bars of music, begging the question why this song?
Harriet Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”
Harriet Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” tells of her life in and escape from the ‘Demon Slavery,’ and its nonpareil powers of corruption.
Read, Viewed: Black History Month 2021
What I read and viewed during February, the month we devote in the land of freedom to Black History, in our feeble attempts to make reparations for centuries of slavery
“Up From Slavery”: Booker T. Washington’s words
Booker T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery” promotes a vocational training for blacks imbued with Christian virtue. Is W.E.B. Du Bois’ critique of it justified?
Coming to Booker T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery”
The circumstances of my purchase and knowledge of “Up From Slavery,” Booker T. Washington’s most famous autobiography
Black History Month 2021: Consumed
Each year Black History month is another chance to own up to the failures of America, to learn about those who endured and transcended them.
Read, Viewed: January 2021
January 2021 inaugurated both a new year and (Gott sei Dank!!!) a new president, during which I read and watched “Vertigo,” Stanley Cavell, “Signs,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” and others.
Joseph Losey’s “The Servant” (1963): Master/Slave Dialectic Demonstrated
“The Servant” takes the traditional roles between gentleman and manservant and submits them to great artistic violence.
Reading Journal: Assembling Dinosaurs, “War and Peace”
A glorious night when I just wanted to keep reading: first, 25 pages of Lukas Rieppel’s “Assembling the Dinosaur”; then Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, concluding Volume III; a feast of the undeveloped imagination.