Crack open for a hard boiled think
At the start of July 2020 we have enjoyed one hundred days of lockdown in Britain. This has been ample time in which to fail to re-assess our priorities in life. Already we’re urged to get out and spend, spend in order to re-ignite the big engines of the economy. Economic development, population growth, material […]
The Usefulness of the Useless by Nuccio Ordine Read More »
02 June 2020. There has been a lot of crying recently. The pandemic of 2020 has released a flood of emotion. Many TV viewers also, during the lockdown in April and May, have admitted to weeping over the BBC Three drama ‘Normal People‘ (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p089g8rs/normal-people) The memory of having being young once, in love, and the
Weeping Britannia by Thomas Dixon Read More »
Turbulent times stimulate vivid imaginations. With two egotistical buffoons (Trump and Johnson) proving every minute that they are catastrophically unfit for high office, tensions in the Middle East rising, Russia rattling its sabre, the Chinese building up massive armed forces, Islamic terrorists at large, Jerusalem re-established as the Capital of Israel, the environment trashed by
Living at the End of the World by Marina Benjamin Read More »
What do jazz musician Dave Brubeck, Apple’s Steve Jobs, Mattel’s Ruth Handler, and architect Frank Gehry all have in common? They are credited with some of the most inventive accomplishments of the past half-century. The classic jazz album Time Out, the iPod, Barbie, and the spectacular Guggenheim Museum are their creations. Yet their creative leaps all
Smart World by Richard Ogle Read More »
The entire digital world in which we’re steeped, not to mention the power of technology and all modern convenience is all based on numbers. I Bernard Cohen’s (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._Bernard_Cohen) book here shows how this relation to our world only developed gradually. The author begins with the scientific revolution of the 17th century, which formulated the laws
The Triumph of Numbers by Bernard Cohen Read More »
In this collection 15 writers consider the impact of their bilingualism on the development of their craft. All agree that, in some sense, it was precisely the feeling of not quite fitting into their surroundings that made them writers at all. Amy Tan, Josef Skvorecký, Ariel Dorfman, Leonard Michaels, Luc Sante and others look back
The Genius of Language by Wendy Lesser Read More »
Many dedicated readers, who are devoted to the life of the mind, understand that deep thought can be represented in literature. Angus Fletcher (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=183131649) shows here how thought gets expressed in the language of history writing, poetic writing, philosophical writing, and fiction writing. Fletcher’s references are wide and rich. We are taken into the mind
Colors of the Mind by Angus Fletcher Read More »
Happiness studies have shown repeatedly that people with accumulated wealth are less fulfilled than those with little money. How, then, can we explain the glorification of profit and the insatiable quest for riches that pervades our culture? From Hippocrates, Plato, and Seneca to Montaigne and Cervantes, many first rate minds have viewed the love of
The Usefulness of the Useless by Nuccio Ordine Read More »
For my money, June is the finest month. The promise of summer flames out, like shining from shook foil (thank you Gerard Manley Hopkins, (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/44395) . Before 9.00 am, heat can stack up into a lazy stillness so that one can happily take morning coffee in the back garden. What mostly makes the month such a ravishing
Six Facets of Light by Ann Wroe Read More »
