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Tag Archives: creativity
Meaningless to Whom, Exactly?
An artist is someone who sees something that others don’t. And then makes that thing visible, in their work, for others to see. What the artist sees is something that did not exist before it was observed by the artist. … Continue reading
Posted in Beat Generation, books, Literature
Tagged creativity, Dreams, Paranormal, William Burroughs
4 Comments
The Golden Age
The ideal is always something inhuman: “These men were the so-called golden race, subjects of Cronus, who lived without cares or labour, eating only acorns, wild fruit, and honey that dripped from the trees, drinking the milk of sheep and … Continue reading
The Enjoyment in Writing
Past, present, and future are bound together when Henry Miller is writing. “The past is the springboard, the present the melting pot, and the future the delectation.” The past is the springboard because it is from the memories of his … Continue reading
Posted in books, Literature, Writing
Tagged books, creativity, Henry Miller, literature, writing
4 Comments
Building
“We have no need for genius – genius is dead. We have need for strong hands …” How to start writing? Take a building block and set it down. It is Paris, 1930 perhaps, and a day in the life … Continue reading
Posted in books, Literature, Writing
Tagged Art, books, creativity, Henry Miller, literature, Tropic of Cancer, work, writing
1 Comment
The Perfect Critic
In an essay by T.S. Eliot called “The Perfect Critic” we learn, above all, that art criticism is difficult. For one thing, many art critics don’t make art themselves, and so the criticism they write is shaped by their own … Continue reading
Know Thyself
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Know Thyself” seems to offer up two possible interpretations, and I wonder whether Coleridge believed self-knowledge was possible or not. The poet asks “Say, canst thou make thyself?” and urges his reader to “Learn first that … Continue reading
Posted in Literature, Philosophy
Tagged Coleridge, creativity, literature, philosophy, Plato, Poetry
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Notes on Susan Sontag’s “On Style”
There’s always a distance between the work of art itself and the reality it represents. This distance is “inhuman,” says Susan Sontag: it’s artificial, belonging to the representation and not coming directly from lived reality. But Sontag wants us to … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Writing
Tagged Art, creativity, philosophy, Susan Sontag, writing
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Arthur Machen’s “Meditations of a Tavern”
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
Posted in Literature, Writing
Tagged Arthur Machen, books, creativity, Henry Miller, Kathy Acker, literature, reading, The Hill of Dreams, Wales, writing
2 Comments
Truth and Literature
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
Posted in books, Literature
Tagged Arthur Machen, books, creativity, Henry Miller, literature, Nexus, reading, writing
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Broken Life (Notes on Henry Miller’s Nexus)
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
Posted in books, Literature, Writing
Tagged books, creativity, Henry Miller, literature, Nexus, writing
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