Tag Archives: literature

Henry Miller and Doing More Work

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Lee

If you want to create – to paint, to write, to make music – you need to do so in the face of the pressures and demands of modern life. It’s about maintaining an inner equilibrium, carving out a space … Continue reading →

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Review: The Moon and Sixpence

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Lee

I picked up The Moon and Sixpence, having heard it was “inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin,” expecting to read a novelised biography of the artist, with an appropriate level of artistic licence. What you get with this book, … Continue reading →

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Notes on The Soft Machine Chapter 10: “Last Hints”

Posted on November 13, 2017 by Lee

This chapter is about Carl continuing his travels through space and time by finding a new body. He’s back in the city of catwalks and ladders and cable-cars in the middle of a jungle. Presumably he’s already changed bodies at … Continue reading →

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Notes on The Soft Machine Chapter 8: “I Sekuin”

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Lee

“… the old hop smoking world I created …” Who created it? “I Sekuin …” Who are you? “I Sekuin Perfected These Arts Along The Streets Of Minraud.” Sekuin has perfected the art of image-control. Word dust blows through the … Continue reading →

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William Burroughs, Truth, and Storytelling

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Lee

The young Burroughs liked to read adventure stories. The older Burroughs did too. Stories are about characters. What’s infuriating and gripping about a good character is that she’ll have blind spots, things the reader can see that she cannot. It … Continue reading →

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Nowhere Under the Sun

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Lee

“This is the sun of the high plateau that bakes the land dry and leaves one nowhere to hide.” Ma Jian’s Red Dust is a book about escape, and discovering that there is no escape. A flight from something is … Continue reading →

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Lessons from Los Alamos

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Lee

Albert James Connell ran the Los Alamos Ranch school, which William S. Burroughs attended when he was a boy. “Many of Connell’s ideas were taken on board by Burroughs, such as that there was no such thing as an accident: … Continue reading →

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Inhuman Indifference

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Lee

When Kenneth Rexroth heard Dylan Thomas had died, he wrote a poem. He wrote about who he blamed for the poet’s death: and he finds fault with us, with society. He uses “You” in the poem, addressing all of us. … Continue reading →

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Impressions of Barnaby Rudge

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Lee

Barnaby Rudge stamps and shouts and waves the candle above his head. Gabriel tries to keep him quiet: “Softly – gently” he says, and backs away a step from the whirling flame. Barnaby is raving about his dreams, though he … Continue reading →

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Where Cows Are More Real Than Policemen

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Lee

Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote a poem about a dog. This dog is a “real realist,” which means he looks up and down and smells with his nose and asks questions and doesn’t have any smart answers. “Dog” is a poem about … Continue reading →

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