Chekhov's “A Boring Story: From an Old Man’s Notes” does not have the most promising title. The tale is about an elderly university professor, also not very promising. But, then, in the middle of this "boring story," the professor talks about lecturing at a college The passage is quite literally stunning. It is without a doubt the single best description of what it is like for me to give a lecture (or a sermon) that I have ever read. It’s a bit long for a blog post, … [Read more...] about On Lecturing
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Do You Know Your Own Mind?
Do you know your own mind? More interestingly, does anyone else know your mind? Now add the subgroup: do scientists know your mind? Does modern science provide an adequate understanding of the human mind? Marilynne Robinson’s Absence of Mind is a reflection on that topic. First, though, it is worth noting the curiosity of this book and author combination. Robinson is best known as a novelist. (Gilead is a very good novel. Perhaps, fifty years from … [Read more...] about Do You Know Your Own Mind?
Fiction Posing as Nonfiction
“Writing enters into us when it gives us information about ourselves we’re in need of at the time we’re reading.” Reality Hunger, by David Shields. I liked the book for reasons that have nothing to do with the author’s main thesis, but that isn’t the sort of thing that would bother Shields in the least since part of his thesis is that I probably shouldn’t agree with his primary thesis. The quotation at the outset is from his book, though he would frown on the fact that I put it in … [Read more...] about Fiction Posing as Nonfiction
Isn’t It Enough Just To Be Charming?
"A priceless part of our literary heritage.” Thus the blurb reads on the front cover of the book in question. Now that is the sort of accolade which obviously applies to a Great Book. Yet, the book in question in not in the Library of America series. The blurb writer of this particular accolade is also noteworthy; many blurbs are written by the friends of the author, some by luminaries who write in the same genre (once can sense an undertone of “I praise your book, you … [Read more...] about Isn’t It Enough Just To Be Charming?
UBIKuitous Incoherence
The Library of America (that authoritative guide to all things Classic in American Letters) has a three volume set of Philip Dick, the science fiction author from the 1960s and 70s. UBIK, the fourth novel in the first volume of that set. Having read all four, I must confess to a certain wonder why Dick deserves this All-Star treatment. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed UBIK. Reading it was a pleasant diversion. Dick writes in a … [Read more...] about UBIKuitous Incoherence
No Longer at Ease
The last time I read Things Fall Apart, I read the author bio at the back and was quite surprised to discover that the author, Chinua Achebe, had written a sequel. Obviously I had never read the author bio before. I was intrigued by the idea of the sequel. Then I noticed the title: No Longer at Ease. Shock. That book was on my bookshelf. I had picked it up at a library book sale years ago and filed it away for later reading. I had no idea it was a sequel. … [Read more...] about No Longer at Ease