Author Archives: Lee

The Myth of Burroughs

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Lee

It’s no use trying to cut through the myth of William S. Burroughs to get to the truth of the man himself. The truth of Burroughs is found in the myth: “the idea of Burroughs has its own realities, its … Continue reading →

Posted in Beat Generation | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Silence of Ancient Egypt

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Lee

For two thousand years ancient Egypt was “dead but unburied.” It existed only as stone, as a lifeless monument to its living past. The pyramids have stood silent and blind for millennia, and to Toynbee they seemed to speak: “Before … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Herder’s First Principle

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Lee

The life of rational individuals is chaotic as a madhouse. Herder writes: “Whoever goes into a madhouse finds all the fools raving in a different way, each in his world; thus do we all rave, very rationally, each according to … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Charles Taylor: Herder and Hegel

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Lee

In the first chapter of Charles Taylor’s 1975 book Hegel, he sets the scene. He’s describing the kinds of ideas that were floating around in Hegel’s time, that defined the problems Hegel would come to tackle when he began his … Continue reading →

Posted in Hegel, Philosophy | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Neal Cassady Listens to the Talk

Posted on December 20, 2016 by Lee

The drinking men talk “Truth and Life”. Shallow generalities: there’s nothing of real life in talk of “Life”. The men sit outside in the sun and drink. Or sit inside Neal’s father’s kitchen, as the young boy runs in and … Continue reading →

Posted in Beat Generation | Tagged | 2 Comments

Beat Freedom

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Lee

Gregory Corso’s Variations on a Generation, exploring what it means to be “beat.” First it’s about how to write poetry: beat writers use “spontaneity ‘bop prosody’ surreal-real images jumps beats cool measures long rapidic vowels, long long lines, and, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Beat Generation | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Imagination and Evaluation in History: Spengler and Adorno

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Lee

Oswald Spengler: “Once again, therefore, there was an act like the act of Copernicus to be accomplished, an act of emancipation from the evident present in the name of infinity. This the Western soul achieved in the domain of Nature … Continue reading →

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

A Note on Spengler and Historical Perspective

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Lee

The Western historian writes from her own “standpoint.” But she knows she must be objective, which means opening her eyes to the infinite differences and infinite distances of history, freeing herself as far as she can from the limitations of … Continue reading →

Posted in Spengler | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Beat Attitude

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Lee

In Go, John Clellon Holmes sketches some of the leading figures of the Beat Generation. We get a picture of their different attitudes, in every sense of the word: the way they talk, the way they carry themselves, the way … Continue reading →

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

Angels Can Make Change Happen

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Lee

“I just started hustling, just knocking around, you know, scrounging, learning I guess.” This is Herbert Huncke: drug addict, criminal and writer. He moves in his own little group of junkies and criminals, otherwise he is cut off from people … Continue reading →

Posted in Beat Generation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments