To Read & To Write

“Incidents” by Roland Barthes is a book containing excerpts of deeply personal journal entries written by the French philosopher in Morocco and France during the 1960s and 1970s. They were published posthumously, and provide unique insight into the uninhibited mind of this thinker. His work is mostly academic, but “Incidents” reminds us that he was not only a theorist, but he was human, too. Barthes - *you creep* - ran through my head many times as I read this – for all his looking he doesn’t seem to feel shame at watching others either, particularly others who may not have as sharp faculties as he had. That being said, I never once felt awkward or uncomfortable reading “Incidents”. Perhaps he did feel, if not shame, than a frustration at his addiction to watching, to yes, I would even say judging, people by their actions as well as appearances – this one dirty, this one handsome, this one knew what he was talking about, this one lying… keep in mind that Barthes was “studyi

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau As it turns out, Henry David Thoreau, considered by many to be a quintessential American writer, is not as quaint as I may have originally believed. My initial impression of Thoreau was just that – an initial impression - which did not keep me from reading one of his most famous works, “Walden”, even when I came across his more personally disagreeable ideals. The best places to go are places where one does not have to purchase any new clothes, he writes, or the idea that one should maximize (if you will) the concept of minimalism itself. I love clothes as a form of expression as do I love objects (particularly related to artistry), so his ideas seemed *quaint* to me. However, as I started to really contemplate Thoreau’s “Walden”, it became clear that Thoreau actually set a great example in that he came at the world, and the peop