1. Another disappointing week as far as job prospects are concerned. A job I really wanted and would love to do turns out to have a relocation requirement that’s likely to make it impractical. Meaning I’m once again back to square one. My life feels a lot like that board game I mentioned a while … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Job Search Reset, Chesterton Meets Johnson, and a Few Thoughts
Literature
When H.P. Lovecraft Met Samuel Johnson
Well, this is a find: it isn't often you encounter two of your favorite writers meeting face to face, especially when the one (supposedly) was born over a century after the other died. A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson is one of Mr. Lovecraft's earlier works (published in 1917, the same year as Dagon), in … Continue reading When H.P. Lovecraft Met Samuel Johnson
Thoughts on ‘Flatland’
You have almost certainly never read a novel like Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott (under the name ‘A. Square’). It depicts a two-dimensional world, and the narrator’s experience of being granted visions of other dimensions. About two-thirds of the book consists in simply describing the nature and some of the … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Flatland’
Thoughts on ‘The Monster Men’
"Let those who will say that I have no soul, for I am satisfied with the soul I have found...And if the savage men who came tonight to kill have souls, then I am glad that my soul is after my own choosing—I would not care for one like theirs." I had started to read … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘The Monster Men’
Actions Make Words Speak Louder
One mistake that a lot of writers make is to over-explain things (hey, that's me!); to put everything you want the audience to understand into dialogue so as to ensure that they ‘get it’. To be fair, this isn’t (usually) a huge deal; just clumsy and amateurish. But it’s more elegant and often much more … Continue reading Actions Make Words Speak Louder
Friday Flotsam: Disney, Kafka, and Lovecraft
1. The Wisdom of Walt Disney re-release went off with very few hitches. There was a close call where I thought none of the updates (including the discount) would be available by the release date, since, at least as far as I can tell, Amazon doesn’t provide the ability to precisely control when the book … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Disney, Kafka, and Lovecraft
Thought of the Day
Among its many other marks, one sign that the American education system is a complete fraud is the fact that English classes never present H.P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler, R.E. Howard, Walter B. Gibson, or the like as examples of American Literature for students to read.
Christopher Lee Reads ‘The Raven’
With accompanying illustrations by Gustave Dore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=MyxsPHWSxlY
Brief Thoughts on Pickwick
Recently I listened to The Pickwick Papers on my way to and from work/class. For those who don't know, this was Charles Dickens's first novel, which (if I recall correctly) he was assigned to after the original author backed out, and which was intended to accompany the illustrations of a then-famous satirist, who died almost immediately … Continue reading Brief Thoughts on Pickwick
Thoughts on ‘The Wind in the Willows’
Recently I had the great joy of reading The Wind in the Willows, if not quite for the first time (I had read it at least once before when I was much younger) then for the first time since I became able to fully appreciate it. You all probably know the story, such as it is, … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘The Wind in the Willows’
Serpent's Den 