Author Archives: Lee

Take Heart (Notes on Henry Miller’s Nexus, Chapter 11)

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Lee

Henry Miller falls asleep and has a dream, and that dream becomes a vision. He awakes to see the world with new eyes. It begins with one of those lucid dreams where anything is possible: “Nothing I wished to do … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Literature | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Notes on Dante’s Paradise, Canto 3

Posted on May 3, 2019 by Lee

“… think carefully what love is and you’ll see …” This line hands you the key to the poem, if you haven’t picked it up already. The universe of Dante is a hierarchy, where every individual’s place in the order … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review of Slavoj Žižek’s Like a Thief in Broad Daylight (Part 1: “Introduction”)

Posted on May 1, 2019 by Lee

Slavoj Žižek begins his book Like a Thief in Broad Daylight by discussing the purpose of philosophy. Its purpose, he says, is to “prod” people – meaning to “corrupt the youth” the way Socrates did, by challenging established norms. I … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Philosophy, Reviews of 2018 Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Get Out of My Garden

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Lee

Henry Miller’s Nexus is, above all, the story of Miller’s own development as a writer. He says he is learning to read between the lines. It is difficult for him to explain what he means by this: “How could anyone, … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Literature, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Lanny by Max Porter

Posted on April 26, 2019 by Lee

A lot of the very best books have a very simple story, made interesting by the new perspective that the author has brought to it. Perhaps it’s a story we have heard a hundred times before, but now it’s full … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Literature, Reviews of 2019 Books | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Kathy Acker and Postmodernism

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Lee

Though Kathy Acker doubts her ability to write essays, she nevertheless tackles the classical questions like any other essayist. In her short essay on postmodernism, she gives an answer to the question “What is art?” Her answer is that art … Continue reading →

Posted in Beat Generation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Telling It

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Lee

“I see the boys of summer in their ruin “Lay the gold tithings barren, “Setting no store by harvest, freeze the soils …” Great store is set today by grit: telling it like it is, calling it as you see … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Vision and Judgement

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Lee

“I don’t know, let’s see.” – Alfred Korzybski Gilles Deleuze has a problem with judgement. The problem is that judgement has too prominent a place in the way human beings interpret and evaluate the world. We use judgement to make … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Fantasy and Reality in Andy Warhol

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Lee

Your “aura” is something you have before you open your mouth, says Andy Warhol. People see you and make an impression of you in their minds. If it’s very favourable or very unfavourable, then perhaps you seem to have an … Continue reading →

Posted in books | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Henry Miller’s Christmas

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Lee

Unexpected Cheer Henry Miller always said that he couldn’t write stories: his books are huge spiral-formed stream-of-consciousness works that can’t really be called novels. And he tends to depict the grim and obscene realities of life rather than giving a … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Literature | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment