Doublespeak
David Cameron has appointed a “special representative” to coordinate the Pope’s September visit to the U.K. This representative, Chris Patten, is extremely concerned. Not concerned about the sexual abuse of children and its institutionally-sanctioned cover-up or about the obscene amount of money that the British government is spending on this “state visit,” though. No: he’s [...]
W.H. Auden reading his “As I Walked Out One Evening”
A recommendation: close your eyes and listen to Auden read his “As I Walked Out One Evening”. It’s a hauntingly lovely poem and Auden’s carefully measured cadence and precise diction make its melancholic beauty all the more pronounced and moving: As I walked out one evening, Walking down Bristol Street, The crowds upon the pavement [...]
Hurrah, he’s human!
A wonderful little excerpt from a 1972 interview with John Berryman (published in
Martin on Kingsley
Oh goodness, I love this. From Martin Amis‘s Experience: I am a novelist trained to use experience for other ends. Why should I tell the story of my life? I do it because my father is dead now, and I always knew I would have to commemorate him. He was a writer, and I am [...]
Bill Donohue, quite the feminist!
“Feminism” is defined and used in all sorts of ways, and the debate over who is or is not a feminist is a contentious and often counter-productive one. However, I imagine that we can all agree on at least one thing: Bill Donohue is not a feminist. It sounds laughable, right? I mean, who would [...]
Amis and Auden on form and style
Yay! The Paris Review‘s site now has a complete interviews archive. Over the past few days, I’ve become quite addicted to downloading/reading interviews from the archive and thought that I’d share thematically-related and spot-on bits from two of my favorites, “The Art of Fiction: Kingsley Amis” and “The Art of Poetry: W.H. Auden”: INTERVIEWER: What [...]
Stop using “rape” unless you’re talking about actual rape
Oh look! Yet another crazy letter from the local paper: Obama plan defies words When a woman says, “No”, but a man pays no heed to her wishes, it’s called rape. What is it called, when most U.S. citizens vociferously protest, “No!” and are ignored by President Obama and much of the Democratic Congress — [...]
Virtuous Smelliness? Or: bring it on, Andrew Brown
Oh, Andrew Brown, how you befuddle. Brown, the editor of The Guardian’s Comment is free- Belief section, is well-known for his confusing, rambling, and incoherently limp defenses of Christianity. Last week, Jerry Coyne hit the nail on the head in his excellent post, “Andrew Brown, The Guardian‘s resident moron” (also, be sure to check out [...]
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