Tag Archives: literature

Magic and Reason on the Mountain

Posted on August 14, 2024 by Lee

Here on the magic mountain, the seasons get all mixed up. Hans can’t believe that on the third day of his visit, after days of hot sun, suddenly there is cold and snow. Joachim explains to him: yes the seasons … Continue reading →

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A Cigar is Just a Cigar

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Lee

On the “magic mountain,” what once seemed serious to you will become trivial. Death, for example: Joachim thinks that illness and death might “just be a sort of loafing about” and nothing really to worry about. We’re born, we live … Continue reading →

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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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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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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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Home

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Lee

I finished reading Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich this morning. The Earth is our home, and the future home will be the Earth to come. In the story, the planet is changing fast and the future … Continue reading →

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Doors

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Lee

To make a short story by Kafka even shorter: A man approaches a door and is told by the doorkeeper that he cannot enter. The door is wide open and the man thinks about just strolling through and the doorkeeper … Continue reading →

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