In these decadent days of sound-grabs and puerile thought (thought is only as good as the prose that conveys it), is there any time left for prosaic deliberation? Is anybody interested in abandoning the shallow political hustings we ought to despise, to contemplate eloquence for its own sake-in the name of whatever prejudice predominates?
I remember several years ago being asked if I'd rather write an essay or a report. Without hesitation, and alone among a cohort of perhaps 30, I said "an essay!". Taken aback, the examiner asked me "wherefore" this deviant sensibility. My reply was that an essay at least afforded the opportunity of some artistry. The art of the essay then...
I'm a devotee of the form and would offer Orwell's "Politics and the English Language"; or Swift's "A Modest Proposal"; or Wilde's "The Soul of Man under Socialism", or his "The Decay of Lying", or his extra-prosaic prose (sublime) "De Profundis"; or Belloc's "On the Departure of a Guest"...; or anything by Montaigne, Hazlit or Emerson.
I do apologies for the want of female stylists and Offer Virginia Woolf's "A room of One's Own" in shrewd recompense.
I love great prose and would appreciate edifying tips from the OLO cognoscenti on the form.
Prey make it available online!

Good thread, Squeers,

I'm not as well read as I would like to be, coming from a distinctly non-bookish family. Nevertheless, I've done my best over the years to grab a few bites of literary merit and stuffed my bookshelves full of things that I might one day catch up with.
Just off the top of my head - I liked Robert Louis Stevenson's "An Apology for Idlers", Max Beerbohm's "The Golden Drugget" and Hilaire Belloc's "The Onion Eater". Another essay that I found quite moving was by an American science writer, Loren Eiseley. He is a very poetic writer and his essay is titled "The Last Neanderthal".
I'll probably pop back to the thread when more come to mind.

how long is an essay..does it become a novel..or a tombe or god forbid a series of syndicated-novelets..

anyhow i have a long list of favoured reads..many of the chapters could be called essays..but i long for..that ring of truth

so my favoured..'reads'..includes/such classics as..one flew over the cookoo's nest/or stranger in a strange land...even such works as wanderer in the strange-land/life herafter...

and the little read ..'a course in miralces'..
that comes closer to/..being..a collection of essays

i regard darwins letters/a good read...and his four/volume..evolution of species..[not genus]..then there are swedenbergs/essays/on the after life...and lest we forget/assimov's vairios essays...

i enjoy/the spiritual/writings best..having gradually evolved here via westerns/science-fiction...into the sciences...various of the how to...type books..biology..the physical sciences./...and the readers digest...then i found the web..so many chatrooms

anyhow..thats enough about me
gotta get back to some...re-reading

there is nothing like reading/again a classic

quote<<..Yet/it is impossible..not to use the content/of any situation..on behalf_of..what you really teach,..
and therefore..what you/really learn.

<<To this the verbal-content..of your teaching/is quite irrelevant.>>.!

<<It may coincide/..with it,..or it may not.

<<It is the teaching/underlying..what you say..that teaches you.

<<Teaching/but reinforces..
what you believe about yourself...>>and your reality..!

<<Its fundamental-purpose..is to diminish self-doubt.>>by doing/loving FEARLESSLY..we do the deeds..that in total=our life

<<This/does not..mean..that/the self you are..trying to protect..is real...
But it does mean/that the self..you think is real..is relective by/what you teach.>>>your works/done..=your..life

<<This is inevitable...There is no escape from it.

<<How could it be otherwise?


<<And/as they..teach*..[live lifes events
live life's lessons/of joy and hope,..
our learning finally becomes complete.

<<we are not perfect,..or we would not be here.
Yet it is our mission/to become perfect here,

and so we/teach perfection..over and over,
in many,/many ways,..until we have learned it.

<<And then/..we are seen no more,..>>>!in these/earthy/realm's

<<although our thought..words/works..
remain a source/..of strength/or weakness..and as our/truth here..forever.


The manual...that../attempts to answer the real/..questions.
so back/to..the course in miracles
http://stobblehouse.com/text/ACIM.pdf

You are kind and most giving OUG, and I for one, thank you for sharing your reading. Will read each evening of this week.

May the Holy Spirit bathe you in safety, love, light and happiness.

Thanks again OUG, I read a few chapters, yet in all due respect and honesty, it appears out of my depth given the way the author has written these. Am an avid reader of a variety of books and internet articles [light articles] pertaining to God and Spirituality, sadly, though, for myself, these publications are too complex or somehow repetitive.

Kindest wishes.

One of my favorite Essays is

"Repressive Tolerance" by Herbert Marcuse.(from 1965)

It's only a fave, because it EXPOSES the darkness and evil of the left wing socialst/neo marxist agenda....so incredibly clearly.

Let's take paragraph ONE for example.

THIS essay examines the idea of tolerance in our advanced industrial society. The conclusion reached is that the realization of the objective of tolerance would call for intolerance toward prevailing policies, attitudes, opinions, and the extension of tolerance to policies, attitudes, and opinions which are outlawed or suppressed. In other words, today tolerance appears again as what it was in its origins, at the beginning of the modern period--a partisan goal, a subversive liberating notion and practice. Conversely, what is proclaimed and practiced as tolerance today, is in many of its most effective manifestations serving the cause of oppression.

THE GREENS ARE NEO MARXISTS!

More from Marcuse.....

[[Where the mind has been made into a subject-object of politics and policies, intellectual autonomy, the realm of 'pure' thought has become a matter of political education (or rather: counter-education).

This means that previously neutral, value-free, formal aspects of learning and teaching now become, on their own grounds and in their own right, political: learning to know the facts, the whole truth, and to comprehend it is radical criticism throughout, intellectual subversion. In a world in which the human faculties and needs are arrested or perverted, autonomous thinking leads into a 'perverted world':]]

That last line bears repeating and emphasis:

"autonomous thinking" leads into.... a 'perverted world' !

Why of course we need BIG Brother to to our thinking FOR us...right?

Yeeee Gads.

Socialism delivers one thing.. repression, but calls it 'freedom'.....
as long as...you don't think for yourSELF.

Squeers

Wouldn't you know that AGIR's favourite essay is one which exposes the dark, dark, evil, evil marxist underbelly of anyone who so much as utters the dark, dark, evil, evil word 'cooperate'?

While I do read a lot - it is mostly escapist stuff; Science fiction, fantasy, crime and preferably a combination of all three.

However there are writers from whom I do take inspiration, and one in particular never fails to draw tears from my eyes when I read his short story: "The Happy Prince" - I enjoy Oscar Wilde so much that I recently discovered, in my collection, I have two complete sets of all his works, from different publishers. Can't have too much of a good thing I guess.

Thanks all for responses--a bit of a lame thread I'm inclined to think now as not always easy to find essays free online.

Poirot,
"The Last Neanderthal" sounds good; maybe AGIR could relate to it, even if he failed to understand it.
AGIR,
Herbert Marcus is also a favourite of mine, though you signally fail to grasp his meaning (I wouldn't dream of accusing you of misrepresentation). The gist of his position is that under capitalism none of us enjoy autonomous thought, but live within an ideological delusion. It's possible to see beyond ideology, but the really worrying thing for any prospect of human emancipation is there are many people, like you (..like "Cypher" in the "Matrix"), who prefer delusion to reality, even when they "know" they're deluded (which I'm sure you do not)! The central premise of all Leftist thought is that capitalism alienates us from our true humanity. Such thought is, ironically, benign compared to the vicious and reactionary "non-thinking" you stand for. Read Edmund Burke; an ultra conservative who warned "against" democracy!

OUG,
I've read a bit of Swedenborg and other mysticism; the trouble is, there's no way of validating it?

Severin,
I also love Oscar Wilde; a (dead) living, breathing contradiction: a decadent aesthete and socialist rolled into one! I also have more than one collection of his works, and lots of stuff on Wilde as I was once going to make him my thesis.

Thanks everyone; I recommend Emerson's "Self-Reliance": http://www.americanliterature.com/EM/EMINDX.HTML

Dear Squeers,

Thanks for this thread, and I apologise
for coming on board so late.

A favourite essay would have to be
Fyodor Dostoevsky's, "The Grand Inquisitor,"
which I feel is the most insightful ten pages
ever written on totalitarianism, as part of
"The Brothers Karamazov."

Closer to home, I enjoyed many of the writers
featured in, "The Monthly," and "Meanjin."

Writers that write on Australian politics,
Society and Culture, like Robert Manne,
David Marr, and of course Robert Dessaix.

Then of course there's "Lituanus,"
The Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences,
published in Chicago. It's a multi-disciplinary
academic journal presenting and examining various aspects
of Lithuanian culture and history.

Al Zolynas, is a
favourite contributor that I enjoy reading.

"I come from a tribe of nature worshippers, pantheists,
believers in faeires, forest sprites, and wood nymphs.
Who heard devils in their windmills, met them in the
woods, cloven-hoofed and dapper gentlemen of the night.
Who named the god of thunder, who praised and glorified
bread, dark rye waving waist-high out of the earth, and
held it sacred, wasting not a crumb.

Who spent afternoons mushrooming in forests of pine, fir,
and birch. Who transferred Jesus from his wooden cross,
transformed him into a wood-carved, worrying peasant,
raised him on a wooden pole above the crossroads where he
sat with infinite patience in rain and snow, wooden legs
apart, wooden elbows on wooden knees, wooden chin in
wooden hand, worrying and sorrowing for the world...

These people who named their sons and daughters after amber,
rue, fir tree, dawn, storm, are the only people I know who
have a diminutive form for God Himself, "Dievulis," -
"God-my-little-buddy."

Any wonder I catch myself speaking to trees, flowers, bushes
- these eucalyptus so far from Norther Europe. Or that I bend
down to the earth, gather pebbles, acorns, leaves, boles,
bring them home, enshrine them on mantelpieces or above
porcelain fixtures in corners, any wonder I grow nervous in
rooms and must step outside and touch a tree, or sink my
toes in the dirt, or watch the birds fly by."

Thanks, Foxy, for that evocative excerpt, which conjures rusticated Wordsworth and contrived Coleridge in one; and perhaps Thoreau and Whitman..
My favourite Dostoevsky was "The Idiot", followed by "Crime and Punishment", with "The Brothers Karamazov" a distant third (the most moving part of which, for me, was the little girl's unanswered prayers.
May I affirm resolutely that I too am against any form of totalitarianism.
Of course Dostoevsky was railing against nihilism, but can I ask you too elaborate on his anti-totalitarianism? I shall reread that passage myself this evening (it's been many years). I do think humanity can tackle nihilism without resort to divinity.
I would have thought too though that theism is a kind of totalitarianism? And so too is popular capitalist democracy at the level of spirit.
I also like the Aussie contemporaries you name, and would add Phillip Adams to the list (though he's a bit hackneyed these days); also his inverse namesake, Adam Phillips--a brilliant psychoanalytic essayist with a difficult but original style. I have a few of his books, including "Going Sane". This of course brings Lacan to mind, an abstruse Joycean, if not mandarin stylist who is better understood via secondary sources, for mine.
Thanks again, Foxy; lame as the thread may be, your contribution lends it kudos :-)

Urgent addendum:
I don't mean the thread is lame due to any contributors, merely that it's difficult to deal with prosaic literature in this forum; so was referring to "my" lame idea :-)

Dear Squeers,

The following website may be of interest:

http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/philosophy/existentialism/dostoevsky/grand-analysis.html

The totalitarian exaggerates the wickedness and weaknesses of
man, in order to provide self-justification.

By the way have you read, Solzhenitsyn's,
"One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich?"

Squeers

This topic is far from lame.

Had a look at some others that were approved for General Discussion lately? I'm not going name them.

I am not schooled in literature at all and maybe others feel that their contributions may not be worthy, to which I say everything is worthy, just look at some of the bullsh..... Maybe some people are just shy.

Reading continues to be a source of inspiration, discovery and learning; primarily, it remains my escape from stress. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs any more, if I can't pick up a John Connolly, Iain Banks or dare I confess my latest fad, Charlaine Harris (True Blood) series, I would be in the deepest throes of anxiety.

Now that said, I am bookmarking yours and Foxy's links and probably I'm not the only one, in which case your thread is a huge success. Which is more than can be said for "proving gods existence" - ooops I didn't mean to say that. But ya know what I mean?

its ok we are unique
its not that easy to read/without visualisation
but later in the massive pdf..there are specific articles

there is also a keyword search function..so search for key words
thats how i found the writings on empathy..

text chapter 16
keyword
true empathy..thats a lot easier to read
we musnt forget/that the teachers intro...was written last
so assumes more comprehention,..

like teacher/student..are the same thing
jesus gives common characteristics..of teachers[section 4]
despite saying all teachers are not alike..

this seems confusing at first glance...[like his statement]

their specialness,is of course.only temporary;
set in time..as a means of leading out of time

[what it means...out/of time=is the eternity,..
,not just here/now..ie not just time]

section 4 is an interesting read..
it dosnt say so..but it gives the qualities
we all shall in time-[lessness]..attain

i find taking notes helps
from my notes re..charactor of good/teacher[student]
trust/knowing..recognising of value/like the value of good-works

honesty..consists of giving good value..[grace/mercy/love]

tolerance;..not judging..feaerlessness..joy..patience

gentleness;..awarness/holding peace..trusting/allowances/tollerance

joy..sharing with equal's..joy of discovery/learning

other qualities included...;defensiflessness/generosity/patience/faithfullness/openmindedness/living in gods moment.now..not yesterday...not tomorrow,..,content to enjoy each moment/in communion with the oneness[teaching by learning]

he then explains the path to trust...a period of undoing/
the true lack of value of material things is recognised

period/of sorting-out;..chosing..between the value[good]..and the valueless[not good]..[the real..[good]..the not-real...[evil]

period of relinquishment;..giving-up/letting go of that that holds no value for you

period of/settlement;..giving-away..that you dont want/keeping that you do

period of/respite;..resting till ready/to move-on..with nmore true values

period of/unsettling..;learning to/set-aside judgments..on the things that have no value/arnt real..[ie not good][not true]

period of/achievment;passing beyond shadiows..[ie values/judgments]past fear...past/hate.past spite..past/ego//beyond the self..past defending/past offending..past is now..future is now..now is now

anyhow sorry/you didnt enjoy it

im reading it very slow..each word is a vision..

this could-well/take me..years to..fully read...its timeless/cant simply be read/with the eyes..must be read with the heart/love

Foxy: <The totalitarian exaggerates the wickedness and weaknesses of
man, in order to provide self-justification.>
I don't think he exaggerates, he only exaggerates his own superiority.

Dear Foxy,
I'm not sure if you're implying anything about the "inevitability" of leftist thought..?
I read the link you provided with interest; the central problem of the tens of thousands and the thousands of thousands has been reiterated again and again. For Arnold the mass of "philistines" were opposed by those Leavis later called the "clerisy", and for Lenin avant gardism had to precede communism, rather than await Marx's dialectic (Lenin meant well, I think, and we tend to forget that the Tzarist aristocracy was tyrannous). Historically, all self-elected elites seem to fall into tyranny. One wants to condemn the very premise the grand inquisitor sets up; that a few are capable of transcendence but the majority are not; it encourages a dubious elitism (and aestheticism); and yet the vast majority do seem untroubled by their glaringly unconscionable lives (theist and atheist alike).
There is no doubt in my mind that wise and ethical government is achievable, and would be conducive to more fulfilling lives for everyone (as nurture is a sizeable part of human iniquity); the problem of course is how to prevent corruption cum tyranny creeping in.
What stuns me is that defenders of the faith (of capitalist democracy) don't indulge in "immanent critique" and see their own corrupt system for what it is. But this is the Grand Inquisitor's whole point, isn't it? What's good for me "must" be good per se!
The wonderful thing about the Buddha's example is that he didn't see his freedom as "superior", nor did he want to impose it willy-nilly on others. He led by example. ..But he was defeatist qua worldliness. For the Buddha that's the final hurdle, accepting the unsatisfactoriness of life.
I would advocate more appreciation of "this" life, tempered by existential compassion.
No essays spring to mind..

Dear Squeers

you say :

//What stuns me is that defenders of the faith (of capitalist democracy) don't indulge in "immanent critique" and see their own corrupt system for what it is.//

I had to look up "Immanent" to be sure of my reply....

[[Immanent critique is the philosophical or sociological strategy that analyzes cultural forms by locating contradictions in the rules and systems necessary to the production of those forms.]]

Err Squerzy.. r u suggesting that your main mantra is without contradictions ? and that 'Democratic Capitalism' alone has them ?

Let me give you a beaudy... for Socialism.

I read an artible by Joel E Rogers.. regarding how the advances of 'workers rights' and conditions can only work in a closed system where the impact of competitive outside economic forces are withheld from that closed system.

I thought I'd write to the dude, because after all..HE is the man who's thinking predominates in the white house now... never in my wildest dreams did I think he would respond to lil old mangy me...but he did... the same day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b84fGcs-byQ It's the Joel Rogers that Van Jones is bragging about in that Vid.

Well.. I posed a question in a most polite way because I was genuinely curious about his answer given what he said in the article.

His response:

"This is, I think, a really good question, but I'm not sure I've got it right. Is the worry that all industries will eventually go the way of commodity production, with labor costs a critical competitive differential, and that given free flows of labor and capital there's no way a national movement can get ahead of that?

I followed that up with anothe..and again.. he responded.
Basically he pointed to the problem of 'Politics/culture' and said there is no real right or wrong... and this is an old debate between liberals and conservatives.

This enquiry came out of an essay he wrote :)

Dear Squeers,

To me the main feature of "The Grand Inquisitor,"
is totalitarianism because he considers himself and
the church as a form of government/state which aims
in absolute and centralized control over the society.
His intentions are good, utilitarian in principles
but the actions in achieving "universal happiness"
are not sound. "Only the church will bring peace of
mind to all men..." "Only the church has saved all
mankind..." "Freedom puts a torment on men's souls,"
and so on.

I loved your previous post and your take on things.
You write so beautifully.

You may be interested in the following website:

http://www.buddhistethics.org/1/white1.html

It's an essay by James Whitehill on
"Buddhist Ethics in Western Context: The Virtues approach."

Dear OUG, I actually learned and enjoyed more from your words than the intro chapters in the document [genuinely]; a reminder on aspects for self. As you suggested I may have done; read the heavier parts prior to reading the other chapters. Will give it another go tomorrow evening. Logged on here too late tonight. Thank you most kindly once again.

Dear Severin,
quite right, I'll knock off the deprecatory remarks.
The link between "great literature" and intelligence or morality is very dubious indeed. I acknowledge to myself that a large part of my motive in acquiring it came down to Bourdieu's concept of "cultural capital": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_capital We're all ultimately motivated by the will to power, whatever the currency.
It makes for more sense and civility to merely read for pleasure and not for culture; as one of the TMNT once said, "Hey! If I want culture I'll eat a yoghurt!" :-)

Dear AGIR,
intriguing.. You're being very cagey about the personage and the exchange. More information please..? I agree there is no right and wrong, or truth, except what we choose to observe. "Freedom puts a torment on men's souls,"

Dear Foxy,
I agree with the GI that we need a doctrine, or a "church" (in the broadest sense) but we need something "plausible and benevolent", to suit our current predicament; traditional religion has ever failed us in those departments. Even Buddhism is nihilistic, indeed Lacanian in its meditation on the real and the promise of "jouassance".

To all, Freud's last lecture "A Philosophy of Life", is a wonderfully humbling read, and very accessible: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/at/freud.htm

Isn't the internet great!!

Dear Squeers,

The internet is great, I agree, and
it's Thanks to posters like yourself,
that adds that extra spice to this
Forum.

I've just remembered, there was a whole
gamut of writers that I enjoyed while
living in Los Angeles that might be
worth a mention. Writers like - Noam
Chomsky were always interesting,
Gore Vidal, Pulitzer Prize
winning journalist - David Halberstam
("The Best and the Brightest"), his famous
analysis of America's Asian commitment,
"The Making of a Quagmire," and his dispatches
from Vietnam gave an accurate picture of what
was really happening.

Closer to home, Robert Manne's "Biff Goes Bang,"
(Oct. 2005) in "The Monthly,"
the last word on Latham, would be interesting to
re-read today. As well as, "Murdoch's War,"
July 2005, on the Iraq invasion.

I'll keep adding as I think of some more...

Dear Foxy,

I'm a fan of Noam Chomsky too. Also Arandhati Roy, E.F Schumacher and Ivan Illich.

Dear Squeers,

Have you ever read Virginia Woolf"s "A Letter to a Young Poet"? Her advice to this young person developing his craft was offered in the best tradition of the Bloomsbury group that surrounded her. The group provided a forum for literary thinking and she generously passed on this ethos and encouraged this young poet to look outside himself and write about the world around him.

Dear Poirot,

I love Virginia Woolf!

The following website may be of some interest:

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91d/chapter1.html

"The Death of the Moth, and other essays."

It includes, "A letter to a young poet."

dear/we-are-unique...i have been/spending..some time..trying to comprehend..the section on-how/healing..is accomplished..and will try to give/some..clues as to/how..it could be made/more comprehensable..lol

i have previously..tried it/at..the/celisteen-prophecy/site

http://www.celestinevision.com/celestine/forum/viewforum.php?f=29&topicdays=0&start=500

where it/was being done..the ways/it was intended
[ie as a daily-thought]...that over/time..began to make sense

i tried editing/it/to make it..more comprehensable

http://www.celestinevision.com/celestine/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1171

but now/see...its/not intended..like most want/to use it..for instant gratification..

it truelly/is a daily-meditation..meant to/be discussed...point by point...[even jesus needed..12..that believed/in him..to do/it]

i go/to..manuel/teachers..section/5..to explain..it looks/in the standard-format..but really..is a group/of sub-headings..

the how/healing..is accomplished/..is intersperced/
..by the spiritual-reason/for sickness..

that begins..with the words,,<<when this/occurs>>..then/it..goes-on/to describe..the demonic-reasoning/..behind/why sickness...is...

noting/the reasoning..sounds-insane..because its how/'they'..think...
as/is pointed out..at/the..beginning of the..3rd paragraph..

<<And what/in..this insane-conviction..does healing/stand for..>>..etc

really..the 2de/half/..of the..2 de paragraph..and the 3rd paragraph..should/be..at the end..as they/are confusing..where they currently/are...

why they are/there..is possably..because/of a karmic/law...[see spirit..cannot but/be fair/..jesus must allow/demons..their share-equally]..[this allows the reader-freewill]..which is the/..biggest law..there is

see/that jesus revealed...that..'even a beast/in the stable..would know his masters voice'..those reading/these words..*must/decide..for them selves..

what is OF/jesus...and what/is not..
the clue..being jesus=love
[if its not of love..its not/of..the christ]

im sorry/if..i gave impression/it was easy..or..
all the work of jesus..[it was channeled/by one..who did it unwillingly..

lets face it...there are many..who..'claim to hear/jesus'...and the only.way..we can know..is/if..the fruit/..is good..love

[ie.by..knowing its/..from his love][by knowing/our masters voice]

some addendums/..from my notes..to end...

<<sickness is a method>>..whereby demons hope/to subvert gods glory...<<concieved in madness>>..

we know madness is not the truth/..thus/it isnt.*value/..isnt real...

it's/thus..an illusion/in-fluenced..by the negative/agencies..
who reason thus..

that sickness...is..<<..for placing gods/son..on/the..throne of the father>>>throne=our/heart

noting/job..when the sons-of god...met..we may assume..'the son'...attempting..to usurp..'gods throne'..isnt our good/christ

further...the two paragraphs..revealing

the..'insane/conviction'..reveal/..the spiritual reasoning/behind sickness...

im sorry/if,its too deep..
[we do have eternity..to figure it all out..lol

for a clue..rev 21;5..the throne/god sits on/
is our heart..[sustaining us/all..to live]..
emaunel/=god-within..[with-in-us..all]

anyhow take heart/

<<healing is accomplished>>...as soon as..<<the instant/the sufferer no longer sees..any *value...in it>>..

<<healing..must occur..in egsact proportion/..to which..the value*lessness..of sickness is recognised>>..

its all karma/..and free-will/as hard/as..that is to believe

Dear Foxy,

Thanks so much for the link - I read "The Death of the Moth", and have bookmarked the site - great stuff.
It's sheer enjoyment to read a little study of life by such an artist with words. A short essay of that kind is so satisfying. I'm a huge fans of short stories as well - we'll have to start a thread on those down the track.

Dear Poirot,

I knew you'd enjoy the link.

Reading V. Woolf's prose makes me
realise that joy is contagious.

I love threads like this one.
And by all means let's have more of them.

I'd also love to read more of your work,
as you write so beautifully.

Dear Foxy,

I'm the laziest writer in the history of writers. Most of my stuff dissolves into dreams before I get it down.
I draw as well - but there again, I'm not very productive. It seems as if I have to feel quite passionate about a subject in order to produce something. I like to draw English and European architecture - cathedrals and such like...bit difficult from south Western Australia.
(I think I might have just broken Houellie's rule about "grandiose delusions" lol)

Dear Foxy, I read Solzhenitsyn about 20 years ago during my 'Russian lit' phase. Although it was bleakish I enjoyed it immensely.

Dear Squeers,

I enjoy too many essays to be able to choose just one.

Although I am a dedicated lover of post-modern literature (eg: JP Donleavy style), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Donleavy, I often return to read the works of Charles Lamb (Essays of Elia).
MODERN GALLANTRY is one of my favourites.

http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~jer6616/
http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~jer6616/elia%281823%29.htm

It's not that I agree with much Lamb that Lamb writes about various subjects (as in IMPERFECT SYMPATHIES), but knowing of his tragic life and dutiful nature, I can't help but appreciate him as a product of his times. Speaking of which, he puts out his views without apparent malice - a kind of innocence which was well supported by prevailing views of the day - and in which he meant to be kind I think. Strangely, his views are not the least unusual today; may even be prevalent still - and it reminds me that for all of our (generalized) current arrogance that we have reached the pinnacle of human thought and endeavour - we really haven't moved very far in the past couple of centuries. (In one essay somewhere he actually talks about the great heights of civilization that society has reached - which caused me to chuckle). His essays contain are often hilarious, as when he writes about children that he likes and doesn't like, or about his married friends (he was a lifelong bachelor).

One of my other special essays to which I often return is:
The Power of Kindness: Real clout comes from being empathetic, cooperative, and communicative
May-June 2008
by Dacher Keltner, from Greater Good

- it became known to me when it was circulated at work a year or two ago.

http://www.utne.com/2008-05-01/Politics/The-Power-of-Kindness-and-Emotional-Intelligence.aspx

References are often made to Machiavelli’s The Prince (which I loved reading. It's brilliant and Machiavelli seems to me to have been greatly misunderstood.)

Apologies for the typos in the previous post - I'm tired, working and rushing out of guilt at procrastinating.

Dear Foxy,
I haven't read Solzhenitsyn, but must. I find it hard to read real-life accounts that are too moving. Reading Primo Levi's "If this is a Man" reduces me to tears, especially when I consider he suicided, not so long ago, after surviving Auschwitz.
I'd add to your list of great modern essayists (often published in NYRB and LRB) Edward Said (RIP), Terry Eagleton and our own Clive James. I too will make use of the Woolf link.

Dear Poirot,
I haven't read that Woolf essay but have appreciated her feminist "Three Guineas" to go with "A Room of One's Own". "Orlando" is my favourite of her (castrato-historical) fiction. I also love cathedrals (though can't draw). I have an interesting book called "How to Read a Church". My uncle was the bishop of Nottingham in the late 60's and I remember the cathedral's famous "pepperpots", and having the run of the bishop's manor. Ah nostalgia--great substance for essays!

DearPynchme,
I agree with your comments on Lamb--I disagree with many of my favourite authors, but am seduced by great prose! I'm going to read "The Power of Kindness".

Thanks, all, for the great reading tips! I highly recommend Robertson Davies's collection of essays, "A Voice from the Attic" (and his wonderful novels), and my current obsession (an acquired taste) is Slavoj Zizek.
And look at this treasure trove I just stumbled upon! :-)
http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/TableBest.htm

Poirot

Thanks for the link, Squeers - a treasure trove.

Lucky you, getting to ramble around the bishop's manor - that appeals to me. 'istoric houses and manors are quite inspiring. I don't know when my proclivity turned to church and cathedral architecture...all I know is that the sight of a flying buttress does something for me, lol.

I like Clive James too - his essays - and one of the funniest books I've read is his "Falling Towards England", the follow up to "Unreliable Memoirs" (which was good also).

Dear Pynch,

Thanks for the links.
I will read, "The Power of Kindness,"
by Dacher Keltner. It sounds wonderful.

I also enjoyed Charles Lamb. He had such
a wide range of interests and even subjects
that seemed ordinary came to life through
his sympathetic point of view. "Sun, and
sky, and breeze, and solitary walks, and summer
holidays, and the greeness of fields and the
delicious juices of meats and fishes, and society,
and the cheerful glass, and candelight, and
fireside conversations."

Dear Squeers,

Thanks for your link.
I'm going to bookmark it.
As Poirot said - a treasure trove!
And you've certainly led an interesting life.
"Oh, to be in England..."

The "New Yorker," described Clive James as
"A brilliant bunch of guys." Few could argue
with that apt description. He made me laugh
with his, "Unreliable Memoirs," including
the follow-up, "May Week Was in June." He
doesn't miss a trick.

As for Primo Levi, I love his poem,

"The Girl-Child of Pompei."

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-survivor/

Dear Poirot,

How lucky you are to be able to draw as well as write.
My husband's thesis was on St. Patrick's Cathedral,
(when he completed his degree in architecture at
Melbourne Uni). He's always been interested in old
churches and historical buildings. We have a huge
collection of photographs taken of various buildings
and sites from around the world. Keep meaning to share
them with the family, but somehow haven't got around
to doing it yet. But I will, and soon.

Dear Foxy,

Buildings are fascinating - I came across an old French cookbook with exquisite black and white photographs from long ago, which I intend to try and draw (someday).
Do try and get hold of a copy of "Falling Towards England". It's the book between "Unreliable Memoirs" and "May Week was in June". It was his first time away in England and it is hilarious.

On the essay front, I have a book of them by Anita Brookner on French artists such as Ingres, Delacroix and Géricault - she is a marvellous writer and wrote the Booker winning Hotel du Lac.
Also love Thomas Mann's Death in Venice.

Dear Poirot,

Thanks for sharing books that you've
enjoyed.

I will read, Clive James's -
"Falling Towards England," as well
as Brookner's, "Hotel du Lac."
I'm sure that I'll love them both.

I have read, "Death in Venice," and I
enjoyed the film as well.

My husband was given a set of DVD's on
world architecture which I've lent to
a friend. I can't remember the title
of the set, but I'll let you know once the set is
returned. I think it might appeal to you.
It could possibly go on a Birthday/and or
Christmas - "wish-list."

Talking about interesting items... I went
through a phase of being totally enamoured
by illuminated manuscripts. Especially by
the masterpiece of medieval art, "The Book
of Kells."

http://www.snake.net/people/paul/kells/image/kell1bmp

Dear Foxy,

Speaking of architecture - have you heard of John Ruskin's "The Seven Lamps of Architecture"? I haven't read it, but intend to one day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Lamps_of_Architecture

And - going off course again slightly - have you read the short stories of Katherine Mansfield and Daphne Du Maurier?

Illuminated Manuscripts are very beautiful - the craftsmanship is astounding.

Dear Poirot,

Thank you so much for the link.
I'm not familiar with John Ruskin
and "The Seven Lamps of Architecture."
But it sounds interesting and I shall
try to get hold of a copy.

The only work of Katherine Mansfield's
that I've read was, "The Garden Party,"
which I loved. As for Daphne du Maurier,
I've read, "Rebecca," "My Cousin Rachel,"
and "The House on the Strand." Enjoyed
them all, especially - "Rebecca."

Have you read any of Somerset Maugham's
short stories? Especially, "Rain."
And there's another "golden oldie," -
Pearl Buck's - "The Good Earth."

So many classics - from the past.
And, here I am currently trying to
finish Blanche D'Alpuget's - "Hawke:
The Prime Minister." (talk about bias).
I keep putting it down and picking up
"Parky" instead, (Michael Parkinson's
autobiography). Much more interesting
and entertaining.

Dear foxy,

Somerset Maugham is an old favourite of mine. I have a couple of volumes of his short stories, and also his book called "The Summing Up" and "A Writers Notebook". I have found a lot of these type of things in secondhand bookshops - untold treasures to be had there.
If you can, try and catch up with some more short stories of Mansfield and Du Maurier as they are masters of that particular craft.
Also Maupassant, Roald Dahl and Penelope Lively are great exponents of the short fiction.(I also own up to loving Wodehouse - good for a laugh).
Do you think we should start up a literature thread where anything goes - novels, short stories, poetry, etc, or just plod along here for a while? (being mindful of keeping threads on track)

Dear Poirot,

Now you're bringing tears to my eyes
and stirring so many memories.
(The times and enjoyment spent with so
many of the classics you mentioned).

Start a literature thread by all means.
I'm sure you'd have many jumping in and
sharing. It certainly would beat the heck
out of what's currently on offer.

Dear Poirot and Foxy,
I've been following your contributions with interest.
I wrote a poem once called "A Spire"--a reverie on Southwell Cathedral as I remembered it as a child with its ancient ruins behind and its mouldy graveyard and, of course, its congregations. Can't share though as unfortuinately can't find it:-(

I've read some of the stuff you both mention (including Mansfield's wonderful short stories) and had an absolute mania for Wodehouse. I've read nearly all his books. Belloc once said that Wodehouse was the greatest living exponent of the English language--true. His simple romantic plots disguised not only a master of language, but of literature too.

And don't worry, I won't press the delete button because you drifted into fiction :-)

Hi Squeers,

In that case, we might just as well carry on with this thread...it's really quite difficult to stay with one form of literature in a discussion as one tends to drift about remembering things connected with other works.

Wodehouse is wonderful - I know what you mean. I once wrote a short story, which I still have somewhere around here, in Wodehousian style. I so enjoyed writing it..There was a dodgy vicar involved, a romantic novelist, a manor house, an inheritance and a cow named Meadow. Great fun!

I've started reading a book called "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver, which is fiction about the family of a Baptist missionary and his family in Africa - very well written.

Hi Poirot,
what, no pigs!

My uncle the bishop was actually sent packing by the church amid an enormous scandal over his extra-marital affairs, and I was later privy to lots of family gossip, as our family was deeply involved (shall say no more).
Anyway it gave me the idea for a novel, which I completed some ten years ago and called "Cut From Holy Cloth". My own imaginings of course, but based nominally on the scandal, with lots of other intrigue and a little philosophy thrown in. Not written in the Wodehouse style, and not particularly good I now think. It got some positive feedback from one or two agents that read a chapter and synopsis, but no offers of publication. I'm glad as it turns out as I'm not happy with it. But hope to do a re-write one day.
On the Wodehouse style and its influence, I read a memoir by Malachy McCourt (brother of the famous McCourt) called "A Monk Swimming", which was quite humorous (tragi-comic), but I was scandalised at the way he mimicked (more like aped) the Wodehouse style without properly acknowledging his inspiration.

..But back to work :-)

Dear Squeers,

What a delicious scandal - a bishop, no less!

I hope you get round to reworking the book - that sort of material is a gift, even if only for the inspiration.
My Wodehouse style short story worked out well, I think (even without a pig, lol),however, at one stage I decided to lengthen it into novel form and sent a synopsis and three chapters to an agent in England - got good feedback too, but no publication...I think the story probably is best left in the short form as it turns out.

Shame you can't find the poem...It's probably around there somewhere.

Alas, Poirot....I think the poem's lost in the dark recesses of a dead computer (..hmm, that might make a good poem..?). But poetry's not my strong suit; judging by the sample poem we've read of yours, your much more gifted.
The story does sound interesting...and developing promisingly. I'd love to read it, as I'm sure would others here, so you'd better keep working and get it published:-)

Good Morning Squeers and Poirot,

I just jumped in to check what was happening
on this site - and oh joy!

I can't stay for long as I've got
a busy morning ahead of me - however, I
think the following websites may appeal:

http://www.pgwodehousebooks.com/

And

http://www.pgwodehousebooks.com/articles.htm

"Articles - Newspaper Extracts."

There's Stephen Fry's - Times article and
Hugh Laurie's - "Wodehouse Saved My Life."
that are worth looking at.

Anyway, I'll be back with more, later on...

Dear Foxy,
thanks for the great links. Have you read Fry's novel, "The Stars' Tennis Balls"? Definitely a rip-off of "The Count of Monte Cristo" but a terrific read. I've always imagined Fry as playing my Bishop when, naturally, my novel was turned into a film :-)

Dear Poirot,
I think it's amazing that we're both writing about clerical life (mine's a tragi-comedy) and I wonder if we can contrive to show each other a couple of our chapters for feedback; compare notes?

Dear Foxy,

Thanks for the links - excellent!

Dear Squeers,

My cleric is a bit of a rotter - and it's mainly set in a manor and it's surrounds. It's all rather silly really, but I was trying to write true to Wodehouse form as I liked his light-hearted treatment of human foibles. But I am interested in reading those sort of clerical themed works.
How would we go about showing our stuff to each other - any ideas?

Just have to mention that I love John Mortimer's Rumpole stories - Rumpole is another hero of mine.

Poirot: <My cleric is a bit of a rotter - and it's mainly set in a manor and it's surrounds. It's all rather silly really, but I was trying to write true to Wodehouse form as I liked his light-hearted treatment of human foibles. But I am interested in reading those sort of clerical themed works.
How would we go about showing our stuff to each other - any ideas?>

Dear Poirot,
my cleric is an arsehole!
I dunno, maybe Foxy or one of the other OLO savants knows how we can do the trade yet preserve anonymity? Though I wouldn't mind getting to know you.

Dear Squeers,
"I dunno, maybe Foxy or one of the other OLO savants knows how we can do the trade yet preserve anonymity.
Though I wouldn't mind getting to know you."
Same here.

Amazingly I've managed to locate my story without too much trouble. It's typewritten so I'll have to retype it up onto a document.

Dear Poirot,
here's a few of the late chapters that I'm not altogether ashamed of. Google Docs, should work; hopefully the format translates ok:
https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1vcAkk5TPm5oVhF6yx75uW4dxjT3dDtLcVKlUQXtIUkA&hl=en#

Dear Squeers,

I haven't read Fry's, "The Stars' Tennis Balls,"
but I shall add it to my to do list.
Fry would make an excellent bishop.
He was great as Oscar Wilde.

As for how you and Poirot can exchange documents,
why not both of you initiate new emails (under
new pseudos) at "yahoo.com"
Just a thought.

Or alternatively do either of you have a PO Box?

That's the best I can come up with at present, I'm
so tired and can't think properly - I'll possibly
come up with better ideas tomorrow.

Dear Poirot,

At present I'm finishing up a very heart-rendering
collection of events by Vivienne Ulman called,
"Alzheimer's: A love Story." It's an Australian
tale about the progress of her mother's Alzheimer's.
It's about illness, grief, and hardship,
but it's also about love, determination and joy.
It's a beautiful and moving tale, if you can get hold
of a copy - I think you'd find it interesting.

(By the way, I also love the Rumpole stories).

Dear Squeers,

The link doesn't work - can you re-do it, please.

Thought of some other great short story writers - Graham Greene and L.P. Hartley - he's the one that penned the line, "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." (The Go-Between)

Dear Foxy,

Thanks for the ideas.

Alzheimers is a very emotive subject. Did you ever see the movie "Iris" about the novelist Iris Murdoch's battle with the disease. It's one of the best movies I've seen and starred Judy Dench (can't remember the name of the male lead, but he was brilliant). Apparently it was adapted from her husbands memoir.

Sorry, Poirot, this should work:
https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1vcAkk5TPm5oVhF6yx75uW4dxjT3dDtLcVKlUQXtIUkA&hl=en

Good night all.

I've been pouring over my, "Norton Anthology
of English Literature," (2 vols) and re-living
my uni days. So many writers to choose from ...
And, even though I love the writers of bygone
days (Romantic period, The Victorian Age) I keep
drifiting back to the Twentieth Century. To writers
like - Thomas Hardy, Dylan Thomas, Joseph Conrad, James
Joyce, George Orwell,Samuel Beckett. Tom Stoppard's
parody of Agatha Christie, "The Real Inspector
Hound," Virginia Woolf's, "Moments of Being," which
illuminates both her novels and her writings.

It is amazing what effect threads like these can have.
I'm thoroughly enjoying myself and probably wouldn't have
picked up these volumes off my book shelf had it not
been for this thread.

Dear Foxy,
I only wish I had time to read for pleasure.
Poirot appears to have bolted. Have you read Nancy Mitford's "In Pursuit of Love"? One of the characters is known to the family as "The Bolter". She doesn't seem to realise that marriage is a state of bliss. She ought to have had someone like Allan Carlson to advise her. I can't be bothered with the fool, though I tried a few times to respond to his garbage. I bet he's never had an original thought in his life (not of course prompting you to comment). I wonder if Poirot's been suspended? ..These are dark times...

Dear Squeers,

I wouldn't bolt.The truth is that when the link didn't appear like it usually does, I didn't know how to get to your document. (I've only been using a computer for about eighteen months - I used to write everything by hand) So, being a Luddite, when my daughter came for lunch I asked for assistance and she hit key, cut and pasted and voila! there was your story, which I might add I'm enjoying very much (haven't finished it yet, but it's just the sort of thing I like to read. give me a bit longer and I'll get back to you (busy day and young master has a bit of a tummy bug).

Dear Foxy,

I read quite a bit of Thomas Hardy years ago and short stories of James Joyce - I have Ulysses but haven't really read it properly.

Dear Squeers,

Nancy Mitford's , "Love in a Cold Climate,"
is a favourite.
Don't feel bad about not having the time
to read for pleasure. She claimed that
she only read one book in her life, "White Fang,"
and it was so good, she didn't read any other.

As for Mr Carlson - he's on the same
level as Dr Phil - only religious.
Anyone who's for "natural marriage,"
is a bit of a worry.

I agree these are problematic times we seem to be
going through currently on the Forum. I trust that
they'll soon be over though.

Dear Poirot,

Ulysses is rather heavy going. I was forced to read
it as part of my studies. The same as T.S. Eliot's
"Wasteland," and Milton's, "Paradise Lost."

Today, I'd much rather curl up with something that makes me
laugh out loud, like - David Niven's, "The Moon's A Balloon."

Dear Squeers,

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the few chapters that you provided. Your usual style and eloquence was in evidence. I thought you handled the emotional gravity of your character's situation with insight - the whole thing was very realistically portrayed and very "human" in its translation to the reader. I empathized with the lead character and his predicament. The other characters were well formed and the story flowed well from one scene to another.
It seems to me that your writing and storyline were of high-quality - wish I had your rhythm, not to mention your eloquence. Keep working at it - it deserves publication.

Dear Foxy,

"The Moon is a Balloon" is superb. I read it about twenty years ago - David Niven was born writer and it was so informative and funny.
Another actor who had an innate talent for writing was Dirk Bogarde. He wrote six volumes of autobiography. Have you read any - especially about his life in Provence?
Also, have you read any books by Paul Theroux?
And Bill Bryson is a special talent.

Dear Poirot,

I've read Theroux, Bryson, and Bogarde as well.
Loved them all.

If you like Bryson, you'd like David Smiedt's,
"From Russia With Lunch," which Adam Hills described
as "A cross between Bill Bryson and Robin Williams,
but in a good way!"

I highly recommend the book, (if you haven't read it).

Dear Foxy,
sorry I've been a while getting back to you. I've also read "Love in a Clod Climate", in fact I couldn't quite remember whether "the Bolter" was in it or "The pursuit of Love". Of course the Mitfords were rather eccentric, not to mention dubious politically. And what about poor old "Plum" (Wodehouse, I'm sure you know); didn't he get into an awful mess manning the radio for the Germans? Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I think we should think twice before we condemn anyone for where their allegiances lie in the volatile present. Though I believe Plum's defence, that he was the cat's paw. Reading his novels it's hard to see him as anything but an innocent. I imagine we've all seen "Gosford Park" (the last film my first wife saw, when she knew the end was nigh)? Splendid film, spoiled a little by Stephen Fry, whose comic cameo was at odds with the more sober, facetious and ironic tragicomedy that dominated. The Master of the house (I forget his name) was also an innocent victim of the ideology he fell prey to. Hopkins's character of course was preserved from the right or the left with his preoccupation with the eminence of his comparatively humble station. There's nothing so humble that human's won't seek to monopolise it.
But back to great reads. Has anyone read "Life: A User's Manuel", by someone Perec, I think? A compilation of splendid vignettes. My favourite, since I'm on an upper-class theme, is the one about the rich Lord who decides to spend his idle life painting watercolours of the world's great ports. He sends them back to a master jigsaw carver, who mounts them and goes to work carving them into impossibly intricate pieces. The Lord then spends the second half of his life trying to piece them together again. Perec is another Borges.

Thanks, Poirot, for your very generous comments. I now look upon it (the would-be novel) as an attempt, my apprenticeship if you like, and am relieved it was never published. Though it has great bones I think and I look forward to getting back to it in the not too distant.
Have you or Foxy read Niven's second memoir, "Bring on the Empty Horses"? Or his novel? I've read the memoirs but not the novel(s)--don't know if he wrote more than one. I've now closed access to those bits of mine, though am happy to reopen if anyone wants a look. All criticism welcome. Training to be an academic, one has to learn to take it on the chin.

Chin chin.

Dear Squeers,

"The Bolter," was not in "Love in a Cold Climate,"
as far as I can recall. And talking about the
controversial Mitford family - you may be interested
in "The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family,"
by Mary S. Lovell.

I have read Niven's "Bring on the Empty Horses," and
I enjoyed his anecdotes on Hollywood. However, I must
confess that his original, "The Moon's A Balloon,"
is the one that to me was the favourite. Although,
Niven writes
with wit, charm and warmth in both - so you can't go
wrong with either read.

I haven't read, "Life A User's Manual," by Georges Perec.
David Bellos wrote the book,
"Georges Perec: A Life in Words." Bellos translated -
"Life A User's Manual," he's Prof. of French and
Comparative Literature at Princeton and was awarded the
Prix Concourt de la Biographie for "Georges Perec: A
Life in Words."

Talking about biographies have you read the biography
of, "The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II,"
by Edvard Radzinsky, or "Mary Queen of Scots," by
Antonia Fraser, or "Edward VIII," by Frances Donaldson.
Hindsight could be applicable to all of their lives,
though I wonder if it would have changed anything all
that much. Sometimes, circumstances are beyond anyone's
control.

Another interesting read is, "10 Years After Ivan Denisovitch,"
by Zhores A. Medvedev. It's a great authoritative book on
Solzhenitsyn. Particularly valuable is the light shed on
the unsavoury black market in "samizdat" in the West -
where publication by emigre presses brought discredit
on Solzhenitsyn. And the detailed account of the extraordinary
behaviour of the Swedish Embassy in Moscow when it came to
awarding him the Nobel Prize there is an eye-opener.

So much to read so little time...

I would love to read your work, but possibly later on, if
the offer is still open. Too much on my plate at present.

cont'd ...

I forgot to add the following website:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/17/society1

Miranda Seymour has written a review of
the book, "The Bolter," by Frances Osborne,
called, "Now we see her, Now We Don't."
It may be of interest as it covers who
the character of Nancy Mitford's "the Bolter,"
is supposedly based on, and in which book she
appears.

Dear Foxy and Squeers,

Just remembered a couple of humorous novels from the late nineteenth century,
"Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome and "Diary of a Nobody" by George and Weedon Grossmith, both quietly hilarious.

Also, short stories by Henry James (although he's a little long winded) and French writer Colette - an evocative writer.

Dear Foxy,
I also enjoyed "The Moon's a Balloon", but Niven's second Memoir also because have always been interested in the great stars of yesteryear. I also recommend Harpo Marx's bio; just called "Harpo", I think.
Thanks for the lowdown on Life a User's Manuel. I read the book when it was first published in English in OZ, but it is one of numerous I've loaned out to friends and never seen again.
I think hindsight is applicable to all "our" lives; I'm sure we'd all like another go at it.
Thanks for the interest in my "little bit of ivory", was only a couple of short chapters; the whole thing needs a lot of work--one day.

Dear Poirot,
a few famous old classics there. I like Henry James very much, especially "The Figure in the Carpet", "The Europeans" and "Portrait of a Lady".

Thanks all for the contributions. How do we make time for real life!

I haven't read much of what has been offered thus far, being more into what I used to think 'contemporary' but I wonder if I am now in the old fogey category.

For example works by Elmore Leonard, our own Tim Winton, Peter Carey.

And for some contemplation, Bret Easton Ellis. I read his "American Psycho" when in my early 20's, it scared me more than anything I have ever read, because it was so plausable, I believed that character and thought writer Easton Ellis seriously fvcked.

However I was reading a review by Fay Wheldon who had the following to say:

We can look back at all this and not take it so seriously—and taking it too seriously might’ve been the problem in the first place. As Jordinson points out, the satire that was off-putting back then has only gained potency over time:

"As well as being a repulsive nightmare, Patrick Bateman is a comic creation of the highest order. His snobbery, his bad taste, his obsession with Les Mis and ability to take Huey Lewis and the News seriously, his terror when someone has a better business card than him, his constant worry that he has “to return some videos” all add up to one of the funniest comic creations since Bertie Wooster. True, he isn’t quite such pleasant company as Bertie, but what did you expect? He’s a psycho."

http://americanfiction.wordpress.com/category/bret-easton-ellis/

I don't think I'll be rereading American Pyscho again, however as a character, I have met some Patrick Batemans in my life - OK maybe they weren't serial killers, but the snobbery, the obsessions with body image and material possession exemplified the excesses of the 80's that have continued to the climax of the GFC. And still we haven't learned.

In focusing on "the classics" we fail to note the pertinent observations being made about our own contemporary world. I agree we can learn from the past, but on rethinking "American Psycho" I have become hyper-vigilant to the issues that effect us now.

The new 'indifference' - the callousness towards refugees, unemployed, disabled, elderly, indigenous peoples.

Thanks

Dear Squeers,

I have a few Henry James novels but I haven't got around to reading them (yet). One of his short stories that I have came out in a little Penguin 60th anniversary edition - it's called "The Lesson of the Master" and the blurb on the back tells that one of James's abiding themes is the debate concerning the genius of an artist and whether it is hampered by a life of settled domesticity - it's the study of a young writer drawn into the power of his literary mentor - have you read it? Just noticed "The figure in the Carpet" is in the same small volume.

Another novel I enjoyed was "The French Lieutenant's Woman". John
Fowles demonstrated extraordinary skill in writing. Haven't read it for years but I remember being conscious of being carried about on his whims - he even gave the story alternate endings.

Dear Johnny Rotten,

I haven't read "American Psycho"- sounds like the author personified well the callous excesses of our times.

We have a huge choice of our own
writers these days that we can
enjoy from Tim Winton, Peter Carey,
Robert Dessaix, Henry Reynolds,
Helen Garner, Carmel Bird to name
just a few. Then there's people like
Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner), that
shows us how the other side lives.

I read, "American Psycho," years ago.
It scared the bejesus out of me.
And would you believe our library
administrator at the time banned it
from the library. A bit ironic I thought,
I had to write an essay on "censorship"
at uni.

cont'd ...

Dear Poirot,

I recently bought the book, "Sex and Stravinsky,"
by Barbara Trapido, for a friend, when I was
invited to her dinner party (hubbie bought the wine).
Anyway, Jennifer Byrne recommended the book highly
to her bookclub last month. There's a review of it in
"The Age," Saturday, August 14, 2010. It sounds like
a good read, and I thought you might enjoy it.

Dear Foxy,

Thanks for that - sounds interesting.