Author Archives: Lee

Return to the Magic Mountain

Posted on July 30, 2024 by Lee

I’m reading Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain again (the translation by H.T. Lowe-Porter). It’s over 700 pages long and I’ll blog about it as I progress slowly through it. Thomas Mann justifies the length of his work by saying: “When … Continue reading →

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Good Intentions

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Lee

Like when I say to myself: “I’ll post to my blog at least once a month.” Today I started reading The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. It’s a collection of 100 short stories, woven into a tale about a group of … Continue reading →

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A Modern Hero

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Lee

In Arthur Machen’s The Hill of Dreams, Lucian writes a book, submits it to a publisher and, after an agonising wait, receives a rejection. Some time later his book is published – under the name of another author. Lucian’s work … Continue reading →

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On Poe and Writing with Purpose

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Lee

H.P. Lovecraft said the genius of Edgar Allan Poe was that he expressed human sensations the way they really are. The sensations he was interested in describing were those of pain, decay, and terror. Poe was carrying out a scientific … Continue reading →

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The Admonishing Stars

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Lee

Imagine if the stars came out only once every thousand years, says Ralph Waldo Emerson. How people would gather to see them, and preserve the memory of them, passing down the story of the stars from generation to generation. (Imagine … Continue reading →

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Friday, 21st February 1997

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Lee

Besides getting his toilet fixed by a man called “Dirty Dave,” William Burroughs spent the day reading Asylum by Patrick McGrath. It’s been a long time since I read that book. I remember I enjoyed it but little more. What … Continue reading →

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Fact and Fiction

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Lee

I’m making notes for my Substack and I came across this passage from Hume, quoted by Barry Stroud in his 1977 book on the philosopher: “If one person sits down to read a book as a romance, and another as … Continue reading →

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Friends and Readers

Posted on January 11, 2024 by Lee

I’ve been reading Jack Kerouac’s Vanity of Duluoz, towards the end of which he describes the way William Burroughs showed support for him in the early years, motivating him to write more as he experimented and found his voice and … Continue reading →

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On David Hume and Perception

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Lee

I’m putting together some notes for a long-term project I’m planning to share on my Substack (which you can go and look at and even subscribe to if you like! It’s a bit bare for now but I will begin … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Fire and Tears

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Lee

According to the Mahabharata, there was a time when there was no death. Creation was the big thing, and a fiery god created and created things until the universe was packed. Until even he had to admit he’d overdone it. … Continue reading →

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