Reading Journal

Notes, observations, both complete and errant thoughts on what I’ve read.

  • On Literature, Books

The Kremlin Ball, by Curzio Malaparte

"The Kremlin Ball" narrates time Malaparte spent in Moscow during the late 1920s and the intellectuals and Soviet elite he…

2 months ago
  • Idle Reflections

Reading Aloud: Ben Lerner’s “The Rescue”

Reading aloud a poem published in the New York Review of Books September 21, 2023 issue.

1 year ago
  • Idle Reflections

“An Ideal Craftsman”: Psychological Horror from Walter de la Mare

"An Ideal Craftsman" follows a young boy down to the larder, happening upon a crime scene.

1 year ago
  • Sub Specie 16-17th Century Aeternitates

Discovering Robert Southwell’s Metaphysical Poetry

A few reflections on the discovery of 16th-century poet Robert Southwell, apparently an exemplar of English Metaphysical Poetry.

2 years ago
  • On Literature, Books

Jane Eyre: Post-Colonial Christian Zealotry?

Reading "Jane Eyre" for the second time revealed a quite different— quite Christian and not postcolonial—one from what inhabited my…

2 years ago
  • On Literature, Books

Pleasures in Reading: Edgar Lee Master’s “Spoon River Anthology”

From the "Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters, excerpts and commentary on the experience of its reading

2 years ago
  • On Literature, Books

Tyrannical Imagination: Henry James’ “An International Episode”

A passage from Henry James' novel "An International Episode" displays the tyranny of the imagination

2 years ago
  • On Literature, Books

Reading Ulysses’ “Oxen of the Sun” (to oneself, aloud, and just in general)

On the experience, specifically pain, of reading as instanced with reference to the modernist masterpiece "Ulysses" by Irish writer James…

3 years ago
  • On Literature, Books

Fragrant Excerpt from Joyce’s “Ulysses”: 5, Lotus Eaters

One of several forthcoming asides on the book "Ulysses" by James Joyce. Lead us not into temptation.

3 years ago
  • On Literature, Books

“The Silence” by Don DeLillo: Electromagnetic Pulses and Voiceless Narration

Don DeLillo's "The Silence," is a strange novel featuring an electromagnetic pulse and empty narration

3 years ago