Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
On Dietrich Fischer Dieskau, and why classical music is worth the learning curve. "You’ll hate it at first perhaps. But leave it on. Leave it on over the next few days and suddenly, it will steal into you and never leave you"
"Puzzles in Wodehouse, like those in the real world, feature words with conveniently placed vowels - the god RA, the prophet EMU and the prophet ELI - more often than everyday life tends to. The emu pops up time and again"
Fan of 40 years reflects on music of Van Morrison: "If the music of Astral Weeks had mined a deep vein of human pain then Moondance provided an acute contrast, being in equal measure romantic, life-affirming and celebratory"
On the Gatsby renaissance. Why now? "The novel, with its clear sense that money comes and goes, and that detachment from opulence is as empty a gesture as indulgence in it, seems to come to mind whenever we aren't doing so well"
There is something exhilarating about a truly hostile review, whether deserved or not. This one begins: "The last time I saw paintings as deluded as Damien Hirst's latest works, the artist's name was Saif al-Islam Gaddafi"
You would be forgiven for thinking that spoilers ruin mysteries. But research suggests this isn't the case, rather that readers prefer spoiled to unspoiled stories. This is the paradox of suspense - that suspense survives certainty
The play, Clybourne Park, has become a cultural fixture during the Obama presidency. It suggests that, when it comes to race in America, not much has changed over the past half-century. "It is the audacity of rage, not hope"
Pessimism in science fiction has a long history, but has it gone too far? Author Neal Stephenson worries sci-fi writers are dwelling too much on apocalyptic scenarios and nihilistic philosophy. Is he right? LaBossiere considers
"He’s so attuned to the fervent emotions of German lyric poetry that you almost feel he might have written the poem in a previous life. He seems to be inside each song, speaking with the voice of both the composer and the poet"
Goebbels knew he had to engage the public, at home and abroad. "It was an effort that led directly to the creation of that oxymoron in four-bar form: A Nazi-approved, state-sponsored hot jazz band known as Charlie and His Orchestra"
Enjoyable blogpost on how people interact with museum exhibits. Suggests we often look at paintings for just three seconds, and very rarely for more than 45. Fine art encourages us to walk in orderly fashion, but not so modern art
On falling in love with audiobooks. "There are exquisite pleasures to be derived from hearing how a talented actor brings forth characters and stories—often in a way that points up one’s own inner-ear tone deafness to certain books"
"You confuse two things: solving a problem, and stating a problem correctly. It is only the second that is obligatory for the artist"
