7/13/07-Picked up Louis Zukofsky's "A" today and spent most of my time reading it by the pool. This is amazing! Here is a link-Louis Zukofsky - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saturday April 28, 2007
10:30 AM

worth reading-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2066922,00.html

Tuesday April 24, 2007
02:50 PM

Thanks for the Link about Shakespeare . El Fearless Conservative.

Saturday April 21, 2007
08:50 PM

Waste no more time talking about great souls and how they should be. Become one yourself! Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Sunday April 15, 2007
08:27 PM

on the bard-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2055764,00.html

Thursday April 12, 2007
10:35 AM

more here-http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2055226,00.html

Saturday April 07, 2007
10:52 PM

No problem JY. Excellent comments. CL

Saturday April 07, 2007
06:47 PM

CL- thanks for posting the link to the article on Hemingway. I have always found his style of prose to my liking and when I think back to the mid-90s, I always remember my iniital exposure to his A FAREWELL TO ARMS. Of course, critics have always drawn parallels between his larger-than-life persona and subject matter, but upon careful scrutiny of his diction and unadorned sentence structure, Hemigway's sensitivity and intimate poetic style become wonderfully apparent. JY

Saturday April 07, 2007
10:02 AM

I taught this book in the UK-it is excellent-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2051702,00.html CL

Friday April 06, 2007
11:53 AM

Started Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare yesterday. Just Act 1 scene 1, but the students were pretty excited. A great speech by Marullus below. To quote a student, "I was feeling that".

Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? What tributaries follow him to Rome, To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels? 35 You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!

 O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements, To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops,

 40 Your infants in your arms, and there have sat The livelong day, with patient expectation, To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome: And when you saw his chariot but appear, Have you not made an universal shout

, 45 That Tiber trembled underneath her banks, To hear the replication of your sounds Made in her concave shores? And do you now put on your best attire? And do you now cull out a holiday?

50 And do you now strew flowers in his way That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood?

Be gone! Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, Pray to the gods to intermit the plague That needs must light on this ingratitude

CL.

Sunday April 01, 2007
10:25 PM

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering 5 Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade, And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten, 10 And drank coffee, and talked for an hour. Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch. And when we were children, staying at the archduke's, My cousin's, he took me out on a sled, And I was frightened. He said, Marie, 15 Marie, hold on tight. And down we went. In the mountains, there you feel free. I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter T.S Eliot

Wednesday March 28, 2007
02:27 PM

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2044201,00.html

Tuesday March 27, 2007
10:30 AM

Currently reading "The sound of waves" by Yukio Mishima. C.

Wednesday March 21, 2007
06:44 PM

on Ellison-http://www.bookforum.com/Price.html

Sunday March 18, 2007
10:58 AM

currently reading, along with a whole lot of texts on the philosophy of reading, Orson Welles by Peter Conrad Selected Essays by Eugenio Montale, Chinese Poetry (20th century) Short stories by Isabelle Allende- Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar. C looking forward to reading Pynchon as well. CL

Saturday March 17, 2007
01:43 PM

Finshed the crying of Lot 49, my first Pynchon. It is good, very complex and calls for a second reading.

Saturday March 17, 2007
06:32 AM

worth reading-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2035857,00.html

Saturday March 10, 2007
11:10 PM

Recently finished an interesting essay in the latest WILSON QUARTERLY that addresses the current surge of the young "nouveau riche." CL and I have had many discussions regarding this ostentatious trend that manifests itself in the McMansion and SUV. I'm glad to see that scholars here are taking this somewhat seriously, but will such academic scrutiny really change anything, reverse the trend? One would hope so, but with hyper-development having already infected China, what is to prevent the U.S. from "upping the ante," because the homefront bourgeoisie certainly wouldn't want to be considered "second best," especially when it comes to their profligacy. JY

Saturday March 10, 2007
07:32 AM

a fantastic book-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2030162,00.html

Tuesday March 06, 2007
08:17 PM

nice quotes-I read Cool memories in the UK-CL.

Tuesday March 06, 2007
07:25 PM

Every woman is like a timezone. She is a nocturnal fragment of your journey. She brings you unflaggingly closer to the next night.

Tuesday March 06, 2007
07:20 PM

more-If you say, I love you, then you have already fallen in love with language, which is already a form of break up and infidelity. Jean Baudrillard

Tuesday March 06, 2007
07:18 PM

Deep down, no one really believes they have a right to live. But this death sentence generally stays tucked away, hidden beneath the difficulty of living. If that difficulty is removed from time to time, death is suddenly there, unintelligibly. Jean Baudrillard

Sunday March 04, 2007
10:53 PM

“I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that's my one fear: that everything has happened; nothing exciting or new or interesting is ever going to happen again... the future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul.” santiz J. G. Ballard quote

Saturday March 03, 2007
07:09 PM

sorry here is the link-http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/books/review/Banks.t.html?ref=review

Saturday March 03, 2007
06:49 PM

More on Kundera-

Friday March 02, 2007
11:13 PM

brilliant writing-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2025087,00.html

Wednesday February 28, 2007
09:06 PM

I have discovered that all human evil comes from this, man's being unable to sit still in a room. Blaise Pascal

Monday February 26, 2007
12:39 PM

http://books.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2021381,00.html

Sunday February 25, 2007
08:56 PM

CL, I'm so pleased you enjoyed THE HEART OF THE MATTER. It is indeed a brilliant work! JY

Sunday February 25, 2007
12:03 PM

strictly for list lovers-beware-http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm/content_id.22845/Books

Saturday February 24, 2007
05:10 PM

finished The Heart of the Matter BY Graham Greene. Brilliant! CL

Friday February 23, 2007
09:55 AM

EFC, I will try to post some kind of review of the "Crying of lot 49" when I am done; I already sense that I might have to read it a second time to be able to grasp it all. C.

Thursday February 22, 2007
07:18 PM

All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume. Noam Chomsky

Tuesday February 20, 2007
07:56 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/world/asia/20matsue.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Sunday February 18, 2007
11:30 PM

Whatsup C, that is a very odd coincidence. I am in the middle of reading Of Human Bondage, and the next book on my list to read is the Crying of Lot 49. I have heard that it is a very trippy quest story. Post a review of it when you finish. Cheers from El Fearless Conservative.

Sunday February 18, 2007
09:53 PM

finished a Biography on Joseph Cornell.

Friday February 16, 2007
09:18 AM

Finished "Kafka on the shore "(Murakami);started Pynchon's "The crying of lot 49". C.

Wednesday February 14, 2007
11:35 AM

On the wonderful lost tapes of Philip Larkin watch-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QugmT1SEIcg

Sunday February 11, 2007
10:05 AM

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1334436.ece

Thursday February 08, 2007
12:35 AM

Durrell's Alexandria is a paradox unto itself: static to the point of familiarity, yet constantly shifting and reinventing itself, at least for Darley and those inhabitants who have left their indelible traces throughout the city. When reading this account, one must be prepared to float. One instant in time dissolves and coalesces into another, transitioning as though from one Beethoven movement to the next. Though the threads of thought and emotion are variegated and multitudinous, they weave a tapestry of experience that is a wonder to behold, asymmetric, yet balanced.

And the depths of those emotional wells one cannot fathom. Justine's "I know. I know" is infinite in its tenderness and compassion for Darley's heartache over Melissa. Yet, how do you connect the strands of one man's agony to the chords of jealousy that bind another's reason and rationale? It does not matter how, but simply that Durrell has. The equilibrium is subtle, yet its movement never goes unnoticed; one can feel its shifting weight in this exquisite prose.

The beauty of a fleeting reflection: "I had sent her [Melissa] some money that afternoon and the thought of her buying herself some fine clothes-or even spending it some foolish way-warmed me." Notice the emotional density that is concentrated within this single, prosaic thought-process! Durrell allows his beloved Alexandrians to suffer so that they might immerse themselves deeper within the sensual healing offered by the city, over and over. JY

Tuesday February 06, 2007
07:37 PM

Let's act like sphinxes, however falsely, until we reach the point of no longer knowing who we are; for we are, in fact, false sphinxes, with no idea of what we are in reality. The only way to be in agreement with life is to disagree with ourselves. Absurdity is divine. Let's develop theories, patiently and honestly thinking them out, in order to promptly act against them- acting and justifying our actions with new theories that condemn them. Let's cut a path in life and then go immediately against that path. Let's adopt all the poses and gestures of something we aren't and don't wish to be, and don't even wish to be taken for being. Let's buy books so as not to read them; let's go to concerts without caring to hear the music or to see who's there; let's take long walks because we're sick of walking; and let's spend whole days in the country, just because it bores us.' Bernardo Soares, The Book of Disquiet , p.27

Wednesday January 31, 2007
08:57 PM

reading the master-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Alan_Poe

Monday January 29, 2007
11:25 AM

http://www.powells.com/review/2007_01_25.html

Monday January 29, 2007
01:36 AM

JUSTINE was the perfect dinner companion, speaking her thoughts as I waited to dine. But on this particular night (Friday), I was especially taken by a detailed passage focusing on Pursewarden. His wisdom is apparent: "No one thing can explain everything: though everything can illuminate something." Brilliant quote! Pursewarden's discourse on the nature of faith is deeply enaging, for though it challenges the modalities of conventional worship, it does not discredit the worshipper. In some respects, his perception of God's relationship with man is "Greenesque" at its core: "...for He makes such a powerful appeal to what is lowest in human nature-our insufficiency, fear of the unknown, personal failings..." And then there is the explicit anatomical (though hardly sexual) depiction of two lovers meeting by the railway bridge. The further I read, the more I become entranced by Durrell's deeply sensitive, humanistic attention to detail, especially to those that imbue the most mundane, "insignificant" gestures or words: "'Meanwhile,' as Nessim was to say in those gentle tones so full of sobriety which comes into the voice of those who have loved truly and failed to be loved in return." Such splendid understanding of the human drama, as expressed in the utterance of a simple word! And still, Clea enthralls me with her brief, yet impressionable appearances. Her act of kindness toward old Panayotis would later produce an even greater joy for the old man.   Are happiness and suffering (as with Justine) the polar endpoints of a fragile timeline?  Perhaps.

Durrell has fashioned an entire novel around the subtleties of human behavior and emotion.  JY

Saturday January 27, 2007
11:20 AM

love the quote below-more on the enigmatic Hardy-http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/books/review/Mallon.t.html?_r=1&ref=review&oref=slogin

Wednesday January 24, 2007
09:09 PM

“Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing growth of our techniques, the adaptability and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits they are creating, make it a certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beautiful. In all the arts there is a physical component which can no longer be considered or treated as it used to be, which cannot remain unaffected by our modern knowledge and power. For the last twenty years neither matter nor space nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art.” Paul Valéry, Pièces sur L’Art, 1931 Le Conquete de l’ubiquite

Wednesday January 24, 2007
11:32 AM

http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=t4qclp5gps7qp17lc9jxxr0s20t7335x

Monday January 22, 2007
03:33 PM

I have been immersed in the "Portable Jack Kerouac". Cheers from El Fearless Conservative!

Saturday January 20, 2007
11:16 PM

excellent analysis on Hardy here-http://www.slate.com/id/2157841/pagenum/all/#page_start

Thursday January 18, 2007
03:33 PM

Alice Walker poems and short stories.

Sunday January 14, 2007
08:17 PM

Parallel reading to Durrell's JUSTINE: Aeschylus' PROMETHEUS BOUND. A fitting tale of two-sided betrayal. Suffering is universal and timeless. JY

Saturday January 13, 2007
11:41 AM

great article here-http://www.bookforum.com/anderson.html

Thursday January 11, 2007
12:52 AM

JUSTINE is an experience in the truest sense. Its words are a living and breathing physical presence unto themselves. Glowing within is a timeless illumination that beckons one towards a deeper understanding of human nature and interaction. Interestingly enough, perhaps the most enigmatic and intriguing figure is not the novel's namesake, but instead is its lovely, unassuming artist, Clea. Consider her simple, yet profound, philosophy on amatory love: "There are three things to be done with a woman. You can love her, suffer for her, or turn her into literature." The statement's implicit flux suggests a migration from the base physical manifestations of love and desire to the intellectual/artistic sublimation of the feminine object into the flawed ideal. ( I write "flawed" because in Durrell's Alexandria human weakness is cherished, not exploited.) And it is only after her textual immortalization that she can be loved without hindrance or complication. Therefore, the central paradox, an equilibrium between familiarity and detachment, is characteristic of both the creative process and its creation.  Propinquity and Distance. These are the characters who populate Durrell's world. More later. JY

Monday January 08, 2007
11:18 PM

Revisiting JUSTINE (JY)

Friday January 05, 2007
08:18 PM

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1983075,00.html

Wednesday January 03, 2007
07:11 PM

looking forward to reading this-http://www.bookforum.com/spillman.html

Tuesday January 02, 2007
05:11 PM

ovid and horace

Monday January 01, 2007
04:05 AM

Watsup everybody, I came across this brilliant clip of Johnny Depp reading Jack Kerouac. Let me know what you think of it. http://myspace.com/veritasaquetias Cheers from El Fearless Conservative.

Thursday December 21, 2006
08:01 PM

covered these poets and writers in class recently: Sylvia Plath; Maya Angelou; Cathy Song; Julia Alvarez.

Saturday December 16, 2006
11:54 AM

more classics-http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/books/review/Leithauser.t.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1166288063-XWJCLQvJqgJTMuB6+kCF/g

Friday December 15, 2006
09:47 PM

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1972874,00.html

Thursday December 07, 2006
04:43 PM

El Fearless, I'm really glad you're enjoying the volume. It really is a splendid collection of poems and one my most cherished souvenirs from Toronto. Cheers! JY

Thursday December 07, 2006
02:37 PM

To the person who recommended SURREALIST LOVE POEMS ed. by Mary Ann Caws, thanks a lot. I just got it yesterday and I could not put it down. Some of the imagery that the poems painted in my imagination were quite intoxicating. Cheers from El Fearless Conservative!

Saturday December 02, 2006
02:30 PM

Wazza JY, no I have not read Pynchon. The person who first brought Pynchon to my attention also recommended "Madam Bouvary" as well. When I finish going through some of the books I am reading, I will read that book next. There is a particularly good book I am currently in the middle of called "Pistol Poets", when I am done reading it I will post a review for it on the site. Cheers from El Fearless Conservative.

Saturday December 02, 2006
11:20 AM

more books-http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/review/20061210tenbestbooks.html?ref=review

Saturday December 02, 2006
11:03 AM

writers pick their faves here-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1956350,00.html

Friday December 01, 2006
11:04 AM

El Fearless! Great to hear from you! Indeed, I will post a review once I've finished, so check back in about a year or two-just kidding (I hope)! Have you read Pynchon? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this most reclusive, unconventional writer. Cheers! JY

Wednesday November 29, 2006
03:12 PM

Wazza JY, I have heard about that book, and it is said to be exceptionally brilliant. I am very curious to know what it is about and if it is any good. Post a review of it when you finish. Cheers from El Fearless Conservative.

Tuesday November 28, 2006
12:18 AM

Tackling Pynchon's mammoth GRAVITY'S RAINBOW. JY

Saturday November 25, 2006
11:36 AM

Covering these poets with my students: Pablo Neruda,Carl Sandburg, D.H.Lawrence, Robert Hayden, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Nikki Giovanni, Walt Whitman, E.E Cummings...Poems covered different aspects of love and war-we also looked at form, repetition, tone, figurative language-good stuff really.. CL

Tuesday November 21, 2006
08:52 AM

The state of literature in France in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/books/18fren.html?_r=1&oref=slogin C.

Saturday November 18, 2006
10:07 AM

on Pynchon-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1950557,00.html

Wednesday November 15, 2006
02:43 AM

I am reading "War and Peace" and "A Farewell to Arms". Cheers from El Fearless Conservative.

Tuesday November 14, 2006
10:48 PM

this is a bit late, but I thought I would share-http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/magazine/10sontag.html?ei=5090&en=b61461caa1366d6d&ex=1315540800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

Tuesday November 14, 2006
12:17 AM

Immersing myself, once again, in Salinger's charming NINE STORIES. JY

Thursday November 09, 2006
10:19 AM

Currently reading "Les Immemoriaux" by V. Segalen, and "Kafka on the shore" by Murakami. C.

Tuesday November 07, 2006
11:02 PM

kaddish

Sunday November 05, 2006
10:43 AM

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1939523,00.html Auster

Saturday November 04, 2006
11:44 AM

reading Richard Wright.

Sunday October 29, 2006
07:52 PM

reading Graham Greene "The Heart of the Matter"; a biography on Joseph Cornell; Haunted Weather by David Toop(my second time)Poetry by D.H. Lawrence. Short works by Achebe and Atwood(for teaching)CL

Sunday October 29, 2006
10:56 AM

Sinclair on London-http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,923-2390779,00.html

Monday October 16, 2006
07:30 PM

great poet from New Hampshire-http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/entertainment/poetry/poet_hall.html

Saturday October 14, 2006
11:04 AM

more on Pamuk

Saturday October 14, 2006
10:52 AM

http://books.guardian.co.uk/nobelprize/story/0,,1922050,00.html

Friday October 13, 2006
08:36 PM

Just finished "Les belles images" by Simone de Beauvoir;liked it a lot. Written in 1966 yet very contemporary. i had not read her in years. Very enjoyable. C.

Wednesday October 11, 2006
11:56 AM

SURREALIST LOVE POEMS ed. by Mary Ann Caws

Monday October 09, 2006
11:21 AM

more lists-http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,,1890247,00.html

Monday October 09, 2006
11:20 AM

great stuff here-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1888574,00.html

Sunday October 01, 2006
09:33 PM

Thanks for the Cohen link!

Saturday September 30, 2006
10:31 AM

New Leonard Cohen poems here-http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1882835,00.html