Commonplace Book: Coriolanus and the mob
“With every minute you change a mind,
And call him noble that was now your hate,
Him vile that was your garland.” Continue reading Commonplace Book: Coriolanus and the mob
“With every minute you change a mind,
And call him noble that was now your hate,
Him vile that was your garland.” Continue reading Commonplace Book: Coriolanus and the mob
Jack Burton: I don’t get this at all. I thought Lo Pan— David Lo Pan: Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to “get it!” Big Trouble in Little China (John Carpenter, 1986) Earlier in my life, I read Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Ulysses, all by James Joyce. This year I decided to read Finnegans Wake, a novel notorious for its inaccessibility. Like The Cantos by Ezra Pound, it is a text many know, few read, and less understand. While the Wake is difficult, this shouldn’t be seen as a … Continue reading Critic’s Notebook: The Wake without training wheels
“Recommended reading for those looking for a more lighthearted take on a region riven by suffering and war. Voroshilovgrad is yet another example of Ukraine’s cultural uniqueness and its post-Soviet literary scene.” Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: Voroshilovgrad, by Serhiy Zhadan @ nyjb
From posh districts to dangerous back-alleys, Inhospitable is an adventure involving this life and the next. Continue reading Espresso Shots: Inhospitable, by Marshall Moore
As always, Akashic Books crafts a brilliant anthology. Highly recommended for those wanting to explore Hong Kong’s dark underbelly. Continue reading Espresso Shots: Hong Kong Noir, edited by Jason Y. Ng and Susan Blumberg-Kason
“Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa recounts a disastrous event in the past, but it is also highly relevant in this era of disinformation, extremism, and violence.” Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa @ nyjb
CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK: SOME THOUGHTS ON DUNE (2021) Neither a “hot take” nor a full-blown movie review, this essay is more inchoate and formless. More a chance to ruminate on the current blockbuster. Media analysis at its most impressionistic; less a … Continue reading CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK: SOME THOUGHTS ON DUNE (2021)
I have’t posted in six months. What gives? Continue reading BLOG UPDATE: END OF HIATUS, AN EXPLANATION
Natural Complexions is a book that illuminates our addiction to social media, news cycles replete with violence and scandal, and the farcical idiocies of modern celebrities. Continue reading Natural Complexions, by D. Harlan Wilson
GlassHouse is a neo-noir phantasmorgia, Faulknerian and Lynchian by turns, written by a scholar of James Joyce and the avant-garde. Continue reading GlassHouse by Louis Armand