At the New York Sun, Alberto Manguel reviews William Goldbloom Bloch’s The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges’ Library of Babel.
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Monthly Archives: September 2008
Every Conceivable Book
Posted in Reading
Tagged alberto manguel, book review, jorge luis borges, library, nysun, william goldbloom bloch
Wry and Pleasingly Exacting
It isn’t necessarily an advantage in the poetry world, especially the American poetry world, to be known for writing things that aren’t poetry. We’re suspicious of dabblers; we’d prefer for the poet to have, as Emerson put it, “only this one dream, which holds him like an insanity,” and we sometimes view single-minded devotion to poetry’s institutions as evidence of that larger dedication.
The New York Times has David Orr’s review of Clive James’s Opal Sunset.
Posted in Reading
Tagged australia, book review, clive james, david orr, new york times, poetry
In the Library
More Intelligent Life has an article on the perfumes of Christopher Brosius, including one described as “First Edition, Russian and Moroccan Leather, Binding Cloth and a hint of Wood Polish.”
Posted in Reading
Tagged christopher brosius, jessica gallucci, library, more intelligent life, usa
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata (川端康成)
Recommended.
Posted in Read in 2008
Tagged edward g seidensticker, japan, recommended, translation, vintage books, yasunari kawabata
Aimless Despair
In the Washington Post, Ron Charles reviews Per Petterson’s To Siberia.
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, norway, per petterson, ron charles, washington post
The Devil She Hides
At n+1 Mark Greif writes of the political theology of the GOP.
If I had to play for one side or the other, and I had no other thoughts or feelings but the will to side with genius, I’d play for the Republicans. The GOP convention trumped the Democratic—because some intelligence there is, in their control room, who can conceive of mastery on the grandest scale; a moral monster, to be sure; a jinni of evil; a trafficker in political eschatology, unafraid to trespass on myths of the gravest consequence. Someone behind the scenes held the key and boldly turned it: someone foresaw that the means of hatching a McCain triumphant was to make of him a risen God. This was the burden of the Vice Presidential and Presidential addresses, and the galvanism of the last few days.
Posted in Reading
Tagged mark greif, n plus one, politics, usa
In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien
Not recommended.
Posted in Read in 2008
Tagged mariner, not recommended, tim obrien, usa
Cultural Treasures
Britain is a nation of museums, where they have collected everything worth collecting. A good museum typically requires generations of hard work. With long and careful planning the British have plundered collectibles from Egypt, India and Mexico, from China, and all corners of the world, carting valuables home like tireless ants. They spent no small amount of taxpayers’ money doing this, and they have spent even more on preservation.
They were spending pounds sterling, and everyone knows how far the pound goes.
The Guardian has “Collecting” by Zhu Wen.
Posted in Reading
Tagged china, eric abrahamsen, guardian, museum, short story, translation, uk, zhu wen