About stories of all kinds
It impressed me at times as a dark mirror to some of P.G. Wodehouse's writings, for its comedy and caricature, though Wodehouse tends to be more forgiving in outlook, whereas Waugh does not shy away from brutal consequences.
As much as I’m treating this as a title “trend,” having found a clustering of similarly titled works throughout the last couple decades or so, it is by no means an exclusively modern phenomenon. The titling of classic works frequently followed a similar formula—for instance, the full title of the Dickens novel commonly called Nicholas… Continue reading Titles on Trend: Another Seven or Eight (or Nine) Books of Lives and Deaths and Full Names
The House of Mirth is a multi-faceted, in-depth novelization of the difficulty of unmarried young women without a fortune who are nevertheless members of a certain upper-class social circle, and the lengths they must go to maintain their position...
Among the mélange of random diatribes [in Ulysses]... I came across this character of the student Lynch who reminded me... of a different Lynch...
After not completing the last spin on time, due to feeling a bit behind and swamped with books, I'm actually in a place where I'm feeling ready for the next one. (We're overlooking the fact that I'm still behind on reviews.) So here goes! I took all of the titles I have left (minus one… Continue reading Classics Club Spin #34
Recently, I recognized a pattern of thought and behaviour in myself: I am long past mentally finished with a position or situation in life by the time I actually change it. I'm currently in that mental space of being prepared to be somewhere else, while still showing up where I'm currently committed to. I can… Continue reading ‘Absent from everything most densely real’
A philosophic aside If something is not untrue, is that the same as saying it is true? Let me provide a parallel example: if someone is not wrong, does that mean they are right? I'm fairly confident anyone with the slightest degree of ability to grasp nuance of language would instinctively, if not confidently, say… Continue reading Taking the Temperature of a Society: Fahrenheit 451 Review
New TV shows are coming out and getting cancelled faster than anyone can watch them, it seems. Or, on the flip side, you hear of some show that you forgot existed ever since you heard about the plot twist ending of season two that fans were up in arms about however many years ago, now… Continue reading 6 More Shows: The Two-Hit Wonders
Blurb for Extraordinary Canadians: Glenn Gould by Mark Kingwell Glenn Gould, one of the twentieth century’s most renowned classical musicians, was also known as an eccentric genius—solitary, headstrong, a hypochondriac virtuoso. Abandoning stage performances in 1964, Gould concentrated instead on mastering various media: recordings, radio, television, and print. His sudden death at age fifty stunned… Continue reading Playing a Game of Twenty-One: Glenn Gould Biography Review
Lately, I have not been feeling A-OK. I have not even been feeling just "OK," nevermind the "A" part. "Fine" as a back-up term is usually fittingly nondescript and noncommital but even it has not been able to save me this week. Also, I ran out of coffee on Monday. Not saying I was suffering… Continue reading The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Blog (and Life) Update
Fictitiously Yours 