Category Archives: books

Godspeed

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Lee

“This day winding down now / At God speeded summer’s end” are the first two lines of Dylan Thomas’s “Prologue.” William York Tindall points out how the “now” and “end” stand at the ends of the lines, giving these words … Continue reading →

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Clinging On

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Lee

There’s an old man in a story by Nabokov, a terrible old man, whom the narrator makes quite sure you could have no love for – he’s lecherous, sour, selfish – but perhaps still you can feel sympathy because he … Continue reading →

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One Life

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Lee

“Always merry and bright!” is the ironic refrain throughout Henry Miller’s “The Tailor Shop.” Miller doesn’t hide the bad in those times, the dark and the grim; he doesn’t hide his own “bad heart” or the bad in the other … Continue reading →

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Paradox and Buffoonery

Posted on May 16, 2023 by Lee

“You gotta fight for peace.” And some in the audience must have agreed. If bad people will do bad things you’ve got to do something to stop them. But others just saw the paradox and laughed. One of those who … Continue reading →

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Monsters

Posted on March 16, 2023 by Lee

I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) quite regularly for five years or so now, and so I spend a lot of time thinking about monsters. But what is a monster? I’ve been looking through Medieval Monsters by Damien Kempf … Continue reading →

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Kalganov and Karamazov (Notes on Book 9)

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Lee

Mitya says: I am guilty of murder. Not because I have killed; I have not. But because I am capable of killing. And we are all capable of cruelty. While there is any crime in the world, each and every … Continue reading →

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Notes on Linda Yablonsky, The Story of Junk

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Lee

How can a person suffer this much and still want to go on living? He’s dying in a hospital bed, and even as he talks to her his eyes keep fluttering up to the TV screen. “He still wants to … Continue reading →

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Notes on Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy: Royal Assassin

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Lee

What is a life for? This is the question that Fitz is asking again and again, in one form or another, as he tries to find his place in the world and wonders whether it’s all worth it. It’s easy … Continue reading →

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Notes on Bleak House: “Bell Yard”

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Lee

Mr Skimpole reflects on “how things lazily adapted themselves to purposes.” There’s no other way things can adapt. Let nature take its course. Principle of non-resistance. This is how Mr Skimpole lives his own life, never working or worrying. Mr … Continue reading →

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Notes on the Magic Mountain: “Mynheer Peeperkorn”

Posted on July 8, 2022 by Lee

A more than usual appreciation of – linked to his need for – alcoholic drinks. He appears to chew the liquid before it goes down, he spends so long savouring it. His head must be blurry from all he drinks … Continue reading →

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