Category Archives: Literature

The Bag Thief

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Lee

There’s a story in the Arabian Nights in which two men are being interrogated in the office of the police chief. One of the men had snatched the bag of the other but, when the victim called for help, the … 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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Orchid

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Lee

“The force that through the green fuse drives the flower / Drives my green age” writes Dylan Thomas. The same force that makes a plant grow flows within me and makes me alive. To be young is to feel close … 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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Notes on The Magic Mountain: “By the Ocean of Time”

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Lee

Not to deny reason, but to set limits to it. Beyond the limit of reason is life. If reason were allowed to dominate all, there would be no room for life, which after all needs room to experiment, and see … Continue reading →

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Notes on The Magic Mountain: “A Soldier, and Brave”

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Lee

“I am glad to see that despite your enthusiasm for freedom and progress, you have some feeling for serious things.” So says Naphta to Settembrini as they stand at the deathbed of the young man. What could be more serious … Continue reading →

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Notes on The Magic Mountain: “Snow”

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Lee

“What he had dreamed was already fading from his mind.” So vivid the dream, so full of meaning, and as he lay there in the snow he had vowed to live for love and virtue, and never to let death … Continue reading →

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Notes on The Magic Mountain: “Operationes Spirituales”

Posted on June 29, 2022 by Lee

There is no chance that Ludovico Settembrini and Leo Naphta, the intellectuals portrayed in The Magic Mountain, will ever agree with each other. If one of them says something, you can guarantee that the other will say the opposite. It … Continue reading →

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Notes on The Magic Mountain: “An Attack, and a Repulse”

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Lee

Hans Castorp knows something we don’t. You might wonder why a book like The Magic Mountain is so long: well, it treats of a subject impossible to put into so many words. So you need to sit with it a … Continue reading →

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