Lincoln is Not That Good

Before I get to proving that, let me head off a few arguments which will probably be offered in Lincoln’s favor, these being the usual inane claims made by an embarrassingly large chunk of the movie criticism world (and the idiot who is usually walking out of the theater right behind you). I don’t mean … Continue reading Lincoln is Not That Good →

The Original Original Position?

Check out this passage from William Godwin's Political Justice, from 1793: The two great questions upon which the theory of government depends are: Upon what foundation can political authority with the greatest propriety rest? and, What are the considerations which bind us to political obedience? Having entered at length into the first of these questions, … Continue reading The Original Original Position? →

The Face that Launched 1186 Ships

Nates is wrong when he says The Iliad Book 2's Catalog of Ships is not interesting. To wit - below is a chart, of each place name, who the leader(s) are, and how many ships each of them have brought to the shores of Troy. Harper's Index - Book 2 of The Iliad. Total Number of … Continue reading The Face that Launched 1186 Ships →

Remainder

The premise behind this book is one you might think you’ve encountered before: its main character (who narrates in the first person, and I think remains unnamed otherwise) begins by explaining that he’s recently been struck on the head in an industrial accident of some sort, and it’s caused him some memory loss. I think … Continue reading Remainder →

C – by Tom McCarthy

The steward leaves. As he passes the kitchen door on his way back to the stairs a Sudanese cook comes out and tips scraps from a bucket over the Borromeo’s stern. The steward pauses and watches the scraps bobbing in the churned-up water for a while. The moon’s gone: only the ship’s electric glow illuminates … Continue reading C – by Tom McCarthy →

Don DeLillo’s _The Names_

For a long time I stayed away from the acropolis. So opens an early-ish DeLillo novel, The Names. I have read many other books by Don DeLillo – probably at least 10. This is the first book that, at least as far as I can remember, I thought about the opening line the whole time. … Continue reading Don DeLillo’s _The Names_ →

The Olympics Poem

So my sister, Julie, doubted whether one could write a good poem about the Olympics in a hurry. This may not be good, but it's not terrible, I think, and it was written in a hurry (under an hour). The Olympics Poem O! Lympics, Now so many thousands of years old, Still tempting one-dimensional … Continue reading The Olympics Poem →

The Cantor Poem

Here's the latest in my series of love poems a la the Great Philosophers. Cantor was technically a mathematician, of course, but apparently he regarded himself as more of a philosopher. Anyway... THE CANTOR POEM In the house we once shared There were old wooden stairs On which we etched a Lemniscate. … Continue reading The Cantor Poem →

The Dostoevsky Project – My Final Thoughts

The library was deserted during the break. I entered with a keycard and took a novel by Dostoevsky down from the shelves. I placed the book on a table and opened it and then leaned down into the splayed pages, reading and breathing. We seemed to assimilate each other, the characters and I, and when … Continue reading The Dostoevsky Project – My Final Thoughts →

The Hobbes Poem

For some reason I like the idea of writing love poems organized around themes from the Great Philosophers. The Hobbes Poem Our Love was a Prisoner’s Dilemma. ... And you defected first.