A poem by Bill Coyle, called “Hindsight.”
I like this kind of thing, though I wish I had a better grasp of it.
All posts by Phil
Those Gods, I Tell You–It’s Shocking
Mr. Holtsberry praises Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips as light-hearted fun loosely based on Greek myths.
Holding Back the Praise
The Literary Saloon is excited about a 29 word compliment of a translated crime novel in the NY Times Book Review. They can’t stop talking about it.
No doubt [reviewer Marilyn] Stasio only managed to slip this by [NYTBR] editor Tanenhaus and his eagle-eyed translation-phobic cohorts by not mentioning that Devil’s Peak was not written in English …..
(For what it’s worth: the book was written in Afrikaans and translated by K.L.Seegers — something Little, Brown doesn’t care to mention on their publicity page either (so that when Tanenhaus or one of his assistants does a quick check they won’t be scared off ?) — and which they managed to keep out of sight on the Amazon.com page for the book as well (as did the British publishers).)
Maybe excited is too strong a word, but I thought I would help The Saloon rejoice at this development.
Nearly All Lies
Andree Seu riffs on a verse in Ecclesiastes, “All things are full of weariness.” She quotes C.S. Lewis’ explanation on why he doesn’t read newspapers: “Why does anyone? They’re nearly all lies, and one has to wade thru’ such reams of verbiage and ‘write up’ to find out even what they’re saying.”
Do you think that’s accurate for today’s newspapers or other news outlets?
Blockbuster Offers to Buy Circuit City
Blockbuster is trying to remaking itself into an major entertainment center. Today it offered to buy Circuit City at about twice its stock value. Blockbuster’s Chief Executive and Chairman Jim Keyes said the new company would be “the most convenient source for media entertainment.”
Tags: Blockbuster, Circuit City, movies, electronics
Chattanooga Mayor Talks of Library Renovation
The mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is talking about the funding needed to renovate the downtown library. Private funding works well, and taxes could help if the people support it. The library system needs more money as is without any remodeling plans. Three branches, including the one closest to me, close one more day of week due to limited funds.
Naturally, I like the idea of a great looking downtown library and more of revived branch libraries, but I hope this can be accomplished through private funds. Even special purpose taxes tend to remain after their stated goal is completed. I wonder what a fund-drive would raise or if their is any grant money out there for this. I also think the horse should be before the cart in that a great book collection should precede a great library building.
Tags: books, library, Chattanooga, taxes
Academie Francaise Deals in Deathlessness
Pop-song writer Jean-Loup Dabadie, 69, has been admitted into “The Académie Française, France’s oldest and grandest cultural institution,” according to this TimesOnline aricle.
“For four centuries only literary stars and distinguished elders of the Establishment have been elevated to the status of ‘immortal,'” which is what the chosen are called. Allow this pop culture dude in is supposed to be keeping up with modern life. Keeping up with anything may be a problem for the Immortals.
“Seven members have died in two years and the surviving immortals, whose average age is 79, have rejected a string of literary contenders as unworthy. Six of the numbered chairs remain empty and there are not enough volunteers to attend the Thursday meetings to edit the dictionary. Work on the latest one began in 1935 and they have reached the letter R. The Second World War is blamed for the slow pace.”
Perhaps the surviving immortals should take a gander–or the French equivalent–at Bryan Appleyard’s book on living forever. It might read better than the dictionary project.
Tags: culture, pop culture, France
Patrick Stewart as Soviet Macbeth
Terry Teachout reviews a couple strong plays, the first of which is a Soviet-styled Macbeth. “Mr. Goole’s staging is a prosy, purposefully unmagical updating of Shakespeare’s tragedy in which the action is transplanted from ancient Scotland to the Soviet Union in the darkest days of the Great Terror,” he writes, and Patrick Stewart as Macbeth delivers his role with lines which “still make you feel as though they’d just been written.”
Imprisoned Chinese Writer Wins International Prize
An international prize given to “an imprisoned or persecuted writer in jeopardy because of health or other reasons” has been awarded to Yang Tongyan, a Chinese writer in jail on anti-government charges. I did not find excerpts of what he wrote, but the panel behind the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award says he is a champion of free speech and democracy in China. Apparently Yang is serving a 12-year prison term for speaking his mind too freely.
Of Easter Sunday
SLEEP sleep old Sun, thou canst not have repast
As yet, the wound thou took’st on friday last;
Sleepe then, and rest; The world may beare thy stay,
A better Sun rose before thee to day