To Read & To Write

For a philosophical text translated from French to English, reading Lyotard's Libidinal Economy (1970) wasn't too difficult, albeit requiring, of course, ample time and concentration. And for the book having been published a little over fifty years ago, the text remains significant today as a commentary on those forces that drive us, either towards death or into life, passionately, lovingly, flailingly, pathetically, skillfully, terribly, hatefully, so on and so forth... enmeshing us within Lyotard 's concept of the libidinal band - that kind of mobius strip exemplifying the only kind of economy we'd want to be a part of - one that knows no difference between the revealing physical exteriors and the inner, innate, structures that define what lies within. Much of the fascinating aspects of this text ride on the socio-cultural manifestations concerning how the libidinal economy flourishes (as opposed to an economy purely political or purely religious). Sexuality, Marxis...

The Castle of Otranto tends towards an absolutely ridiculous riot of personal calamities within a Sicilian house owned by the family Otranto. Yet the catastrophes within the relationships within the castle's household is so obvious, cliche even (at times resembling a soap opera, or some other television drama), a complex narrative of differing perspectives not withstanding, that Walpole's take on a medieval Italian tale is completely serious in resonance (though sometimes allowing for the occasional knowing smile, if not laughter).  The catastrophe, having to do with romances forbidden (between a prince and his daughter in law, for example), ownership of property (the heir to the castle being a peasant, for ex.), and indiscretion within the family (the bond between two maidens so strong that even their love for the same man could not break it), on and on... makes the story's revelation - perhaps an apocalyptic one - about what the subjective  idea of transgressions might d...

There is a possibility that  Daughter from the Dark  by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (2020) lost some of its stylistic panach because of its translation into English from Russian. If so, it's a big loss for the novel because its structure is so well conceived as a warpy fairy-tale and contemporary fantasy about a young girl-child from another world and the male stranger who, upon once saving her life, acts  in loco parentis.  The child herself, Alyona, cannot fully explain who she is, where she is from, and why she has no where else to go. Grimalsky, a.k.a. DJ Aspirin, her caretaker (though he treats her with less care than he probably should), teeters between awe, respect, and selfless love on one hand, and on the other, hatred, absolute annoyance, and obligation: not a good sign when the person who is supposed to be your father has no idea how to act except passive-aggressively. This mix of the two brings up a very strange Beauty and the Beast tale, where two...

A picture of my lady cat (but always my baby cat), Grigio, and my library copy of "The Guest Cat" "The Guest Cat" (published 2001), is a book about a cat named Chibi. At first a stray wandering around in Japan, she is taken in by a little boy and his mother who live next to a sweet middle aged couple. Takashi Hiraide, the author, explains this very particular corner of Japan with wondrous detail. The couple has named this corner of town "Lightning Alley" for the way the streets curve and turn sharply and for the elements of uphill and downhill. For these geographical reasons in their quiet district, the two neighbors cannot see or even interact with one another on a regular basis. But, the cat Chibi wanders and strolls back and forth between their two houses, spending an equal amount of time in each home.  The couple, with no child of their own (the reasons remain somewhat ambiguous), develop a deep affection for Chibi. Without even picking her ...

“Undine”, written in German by Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte Fouque in 1811, is considered one of the finest stories from the fairy-tales and folklore canon. Although the author was influenced by previous stories (specifically a French tale as well as the work of a Swiss writer), “Undine” is exceptional because of the language and writing within its pages. George Macdonald, a Scottish author, has famously said: “Were I asked, what is a fairytale? I should reply, Read Undine, that is a fairytale…” The story begins with a complete and concise statement of the overall plot. What would usually be considered a “spoiler” is not so in “Undine”. And rightfully so, because the elements of the characters and setting are described so mysteriously that the story becomes completely engrossing, and the one reading it will forget all about the introduction. The story is rich with subplots as well, and thus brings the reader into many different worlds; a quaint rural cottage, an island gar...

“Ignorance is a treasure of infinite price that most men squander, when they should cherish its least fragments; some ruin it by educating themselves, others, unable so much as to conceive of making use of it, let it waste away. Quite on the contrary, we should search for it assiduously in what we think we know best. Leaf through a dictionary or try to make one, and you will find that every word covers and masks a well so bottomless that the questions you toss into it arouse no more than an echo.” Paul Valery’s essay, “Sea Shells”, which, in its Beacon Press Edition, is put beautifully within a red covered and gold titled illustrated book, is, quite simply, a masterpiece of thought. It makes sense that this book would not be classified under philosophical works, but rather a form of (literary) criticism and theory. In it, Valery thinks about seashells. His goal is to write down his thoughts and observations of and about seashells without using any pure framework. Even so, this...

The best thing about Katarina Bivald’s “The Readers Of The Broken Wheel Recommend” (2015) is that it is a book about two book lovers who don’t even realize that they love the world and their community even more than they love the books themselves. Amy, a woman from rural Iowa, more specifically, a run-down impoverished town in middle America, and Sara, a sweet and shy girl from Sweden, actually never get to meet. Instead, they are pen pals, and when Sara finally reaches Broken Wheel, Iowa to meet her, Amy is dead.  But back to the previous point: what is it about books that makes them so special? It doesn’t matter what you read. Isn’t the answer that books provide a view into a world different than our own? Where we learn about people or persons that reflect us and our inner yearnings or else teach us why and how each individual inhabits this life in completely new and unexpected ways? “Readers Of The Broken Wheel Recommend” shows us how books somehow always had to begin wi...

Franz Kafka wrote The Metamorphosis, considered by many, scholars and plebian alike, a masterpiece of 20th Century Literature. The Metamorphosis was originally written in German, the language of Kafka’s homeland, and was published in 1915. This novella is an "absurdist” fable with many symbolic meanings and interpretations, some leaning toward the divide between religion and secularism. The text can also perhaps be read as a commentary on the alienated modern man who must separate from his immediate family (see Explanatory Notes On The Text by the translator of the Bantam publication, Stanley Corngold), or, perhaps a commentary on paranoia and mental illness. Kafka writes simply, with just enough detail for the reader to understand the story as well as just enough room for thoughtful interpretative speculation. The basic plot is as follows: The central character is a hard-working man named Gregor Samsa. Gregor is a travelling salesman, and hasn’t missed a day of work in five y...