I'm trying to get into Letters, by John Barth. Not a good choice for bedtime reading, but that's about all the time I have at the moment.
Also (for scholarly reasons): The Impure Imagination: Toward A Critical Hybridity In Latin American Writing, by Joshua Lund. I'll spare your readers a synopsis, but it's saying something when I note that this is holding my attention better than the Barth.
Speaking for myself, as someone a bit older than you, Joel, I will say, Yes.
I'm somewhat past the midpoint of my life's journey but, I'm pleased to report, I don't yet find myself wandering about a dark wood. I have people in my life who love me and whom I love; my health; a job that I enjoy and pays decently enough and that, barring a serious physical or mental impairment, I can keep on doing pretty much for as long as I want to do it; children who, it appears at this point, are not likely to cause me or their mother undue social or legal embarrassment; and a sense that more remains for me to experience and do besides the various routines of living. Life is pretty good, in other words.
I think it's precisely for that reason that that sense of Time's acceleration is occasionally distressing to me. I'd like for there to be an accompanying sense that I have some time to savor all this pretty-goodness, and I don't always feel I have that. But really, in the grand scheme of things, that's rather selfish, isn't it?: I'm having such a good time, I want to be able to enjoy my Good Time. And I see that if I got my wish, the result might be that I wouldn't fully appreciate my Good Time.
Sorry about the length of this . . . seeing that I have less than a month before meetings for the fall semester begin turns one's thinking in certain directions . . .
I took it, too, and am happy to address you as a fellow Smart American. However, I find that designation a wee bit tainted by the fact that people value "you're opinions."
The one time I messed with Pandora for any length of time, I moved from "mystified" to "put out" pretty quickly. I'm sorry, but when Jack Johnson shows up on a sounds-like-Sigur Ros radio station, sumptim's amiss.
So, yeah. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
It occurs to me that, strangely, as I think back on the interview, the sort of reader I wanted Oprah to be was something like a critic. I say "strangely" because I know she is not a critic. She is a fan: she gets excited about a book because it moves her emotionally. It may move her intellectually as well, but that's not how she presents it to her audience. And there's nothing wrong with that, not in the least; nor is it a criticism of her intelligence. Hence the sorts of connections she was making ("a good Father's Day gift," she said of The Road) and the sorts of questions she was asking ("Is it fair to say The Road would not have been written if your son had not been born?"). Also in fairness to Winfrey, it's just fact that the general public doesn't know much about McCarthy, so it's appropriate for her audience that she cover some of the territory that she did. It would have been a very different interview if, say, Harold Bloom--who likewise admires him, though for more high-brow reasons--had interviewed him. Having said all that, though, the selections for Oprah's Book Club 2.0 have (pace Morrison) more heft to them than did those of the club's first incarnation. It's hard to imagine Middlesex being pitched as a "beach novel," which Oprah did yesterday, but that doesn't lessen the novel's quality. As for books about English teachers: I admit to wanting to read The Human Stain, but because Philip Roth wrote it and not because it's about academe. I already know something about how that world works, so I tend not to be drawn to books about it.
Thanks for the link. For me it was more weird than anything else: somewhat akin to seeing pigs fly after having come to believe as an article of faith that such a thing would never come to pass.
Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you
Congratulations, sir. It's been a pleasure visiting here and reading and commenting--and meeting you and your wife in person that morning at Milton's.
I look forward to visiting you in your new venture.
But, you know: "I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes."
December 14, 2007 at 3:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Howard Kurtz is my friend
I must be doing something wrong. I have yet to get Facebook friend requests from people I don't know.
Even in the blogosphere, I am an anchorite.
November 27, 2007 at 9:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
East Lawrence
As someone who has always enjoyed visiting Lawrence without knowing too much about it, I'm really enjoying these videos, this one in particular.
It's still a little hard for me to imagine Burroughs having lived there, though . . .
September 27, 2007 at 5:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
What I'm reading
I'm trying to get into Letters, by John Barth. Not a good choice for bedtime reading, but that's about all the time I have at the moment.
Also (for scholarly reasons): The Impure Imagination: Toward A Critical Hybridity In Latin American Writing, by Joshua Lund. I'll spare your readers a synopsis, but it's saying something when I note that this is holding my attention better than the Barth.
September 4, 2007 at 9:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Quiet
Imagine! A place more laid-back than Lawrence.
Enjoy.
July 25, 2007 at 9:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Getting older
"Does that make sense?"
Speaking for myself, as someone a bit older than you, Joel, I will say, Yes.
I'm somewhat past the midpoint of my life's journey but, I'm pleased to report, I don't yet find myself wandering about a dark wood. I have people in my life who love me and whom I love; my health; a job that I enjoy and pays decently enough and that, barring a serious physical or mental impairment, I can keep on doing pretty much for as long as I want to do it; children who, it appears at this point, are not likely to cause me or their mother undue social or legal embarrassment; and a sense that more remains for me to experience and do besides the various routines of living. Life is pretty good, in other words.
I think it's precisely for that reason that that sense of Time's acceleration is occasionally distressing to me. I'd like for there to be an accompanying sense that I have some time to savor all this pretty-goodness, and I don't always feel I have that. But really, in the grand scheme of things, that's rather selfish, isn't it?: I'm having such a good time, I want to be able to enjoy my Good Time. And I see that if I got my wish, the result might be that I wouldn't fully appreciate my Good Time.
Sorry about the length of this . . . seeing that I have less than a month before meetings for the fall semester begin turns one's thinking in certain directions . . .
July 16, 2007 at 8:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
I am a smart American
Good to have you back, first of all.
I took it, too, and am happy to address you as a fellow Smart American. However, I find that designation a wee bit tainted by the fact that people value "you're opinions."
But that's just me, you know?
July 14, 2007 at 9:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
A quick note about Pandora and Sufjan Stevens
The one time I messed with Pandora for any length of time, I moved from "mystified" to "put out" pretty quickly. I'm sorry, but when Jack Johnson shows up on a sounds-like-Sigur Ros radio station, sumptim's amiss.
So, yeah. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
June 7, 2007 at 1:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
I surrender ... to Oprah
It occurs to me that, strangely, as I think back on the interview, the sort of reader I wanted Oprah to be was something like a critic. I say "strangely" because I know she is not a critic. She is a fan: she gets excited about a book because it moves her emotionally. It may move her intellectually as well, but that's not how she presents it to her audience. And there's nothing wrong with that, not in the least; nor is it a criticism of her intelligence. Hence the sorts of connections she was making ("a good Father's Day gift," she said of The Road) and the sorts of questions she was asking ("Is it fair to say The Road would not have been written if your son had not been born?"). Also in fairness to Winfrey, it's just fact that the general public doesn't know much about McCarthy, so it's appropriate for her audience that she cover some of the territory that she did. It would have been a very different interview if, say, Harold Bloom--who likewise admires him, though for more high-brow reasons--had interviewed him.
Having said all that, though, the selections for Oprah's Book Club 2.0 have (pace Morrison) more heft to them than did those of the club's first incarnation. It's hard to imagine Middlesex being pitched as a "beach novel," which Oprah did yesterday, but that doesn't lessen the novel's quality.
As for books about English teachers: I admit to wanting to read The Human Stain, but because Philip Roth wrote it and not because it's about academe. I already know something about how that world works, so I tend not to be drawn to books about it.
June 6, 2007 at 9:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
I surrender ... to Oprah
Thanks for the link.
For me it was more weird than anything else: somewhat akin to seeing pigs fly after having come to believe as an article of faith that such a thing would never come to pass.
June 5, 2007 at 9:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )