Tag Archives: books

Notes on Nabokov’s “The Seaport”

Posted on January 13, 2020 by leewatkins

The whole scene is bright, with sunshine everywhere. Colours: the blue of the sea, the green of the woman’s dress. These things stand out. The sunshine gives colour to everything. Each thing seems to have its own distinct colour: no … Continue reading →

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Spengler’s Logic of History

Posted on November 4, 2019 by leewatkins

Oswald Spengler tells us that he’s trying something new, a kind of historical study that he calls “predetermining history”: he’s going to use an historian’s methods in order to tell us something of what is going to happen. History is … Continue reading →

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Fantasy and Escapism

Posted on September 2, 2019 by leewatkins

Fantasy books, TV shows, and films all provide entertainment and escapism. I enjoy fantasy but I’m troubled by this notion of escape – of using art to “wind down” and “switch off.” It seems to me that this is potentially … Continue reading →

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Above and Below

Posted on August 12, 2019 by leewatkins

If Henry Miller’s Nexus begins in a slough of despair, in its final chapters the rays of hope begin to emerge. The day he’ll leave for Europe is approaching, and knowing he will be leaving soon makes his remaining days … Continue reading →

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Arthur Machen’s “Meditations of a Tavern”

Posted on July 29, 2019 by leewatkins

In Arthur Machen’s The Hill of Dreams, Lucian Taylor is a struggling writer prone to daydreaming. He deliberately seeks out obscure books, to learn the most useless knowledge he can find. He is sick of modern society and its day-to-day … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Significant Other by Isabel Galleymore

Posted on July 22, 2019 by leewatkins

Isabel Galleymore’s Significant Other is about the modern human being and her relationship to nature. When the poet is “walking with the ocean below” she is walking with the ocean. She asks the ocean questions, to which “the ocean blinked” … Continue reading →

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Truth and Literature

Posted on July 15, 2019 by leewatkins

Henry Miller is obsessed with truth. And yet he wants to write literature! Literature is something other than truth. “Then to hell with literature!” Writing his novel, Henry is all the while obsessed with the idea of the real book … Continue reading →

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Broken Life (Notes on Henry Miller’s Nexus)

Posted on July 8, 2019 by leewatkins

Henry Miller is especially enjoying this conversation with Mona, who has just returned from Europe. It’s not just because he’s missed her so much; what he likes is that they are having his favourite kind of conversation: the “broken” and … Continue reading →

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The Gospel of Work

Posted on July 1, 2019 by leewatkins

When Henry Miller writes that “the gospel of work” is “the doctrine of inertia” he really speaks to me. I often think about what politicians are trying to convince us of when they talk about “work” and “jobs.” It’s spoken … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett

Posted on June 24, 2019 by leewatkins

Sometimes you encounter a book and you don’t know quite what to make of it. Sometimes you feel this right from the first page, and from there you plough on with a weird and wonderful feeling that things are slowly … Continue reading →

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