Among The Jumbled Heap

Why Ideas Matter

Three Philosophical Works by Simon Van Booy One of the dirty truths of fiction writers is that we have ideas. Although it is in vogue to suggest otherwise, to pretend that what matters is the art and the art alone, that we aren't trying to pawn an ideology on anyone, the truth is that good fiction is supported by ideas, what we used to call philosophy, before that term came to mean eccentric white guys thinking eccentric white guy thoughts. Yet, philosophy is, at its core, the exploration o...

Orhan Pamuk and Politics

Every Tuesday I work late.  This means my commute to and from work takes place during an NPR dead time.  To compensate I listen to this podcast: http://www.cbc.ca/writersandcompany/ .  I like Eleanor Wachtel's accent as well as her Nancy Reagan hair.  I also like the writers she interviews.  There's a great one with Coetzee where he only agrees to the interview when Eleanor consents not to ask him about his personal life, his novels, or South African politics.  Even with these restrictions, it's...

Moby Dick: the Boring Parts

What follows is a rambling missive that I wrote over a year ago for the blog but never finished. I am now throwing it out into the world for no good reason. Last night, or rather, early this morning, I finished reading Moby Dick for the second time. Often, I had wanted to read Moby Dick again but was prevented from doing so by that same perception of the book that keeps many from reading for the first time, viz. The Boring Parts. Moby Dick begins with the classic line "Call me Ishmael," ...

Martini Lips

In the 20th century, it was fashionable for awhile for men to sell plot short in relation to character. Character-driven literature was seen as superior to plot-driven narrative. That may have been because the male literary elite attempted nothing more strenuous than lifting martinis to their lips and jumping their friend's wives. (I think, particularly, of John Updike) From Carolyn See Making a Literary Life

Daily Tao

In the Tao, the two forces of being and not-being grapple with one another, an eternal struggle that brings about creation and un-creation. Winter is a void but Spring comes from this void. Forces interact to bring about a balance of being and not-being; order and chaos; beauty and ugliness. What emerges is not so much a battle but a natural cycle. Today I live in a stasis with a tiny dot of restlessness. Yesterday, I lived with the opposite. They cycle continues. Today, I have a Confucia...

Bill Murray Again

Bill Murray grants a rare interview with GQ, in which he responds to the rumors of Ghostbusters III, maligns Ron Howard (sort of), and ponders a return to comedic films. Read it immediately. Bill Murray is Ready to See You Now Here's a quote of Bill responding to the question of what he watches on TV and turning it in to a commentary on Obama's election: I watch sports, I watch movies, Current TV on the satellite—I kind of like that. Honestly, I'm just easily bored. C-SPAN can be reall...

Cat Power

Cat Power, whom I love, (and really who doesn't love Cat Power?) turned up in this odd picture on the Department of Education website: That's her holding a copy of the Giving Tree, and looking very much like One of These Things is Not Like the Others. There are, in fact, so many odd things in this picture that I could stare at it all day and still feel like I had not seen it. Like that guy with the yellow cowboy boots. Or the way the fella on the other side of Cat is kind of leching on her...

Jose Saramago 1922-2010

This seems to be a big year for the literary dead. Jose Saramago, Nobel prize-winning author, died last Friday June 18th. Check out the NYTimes obit. I immersed myself in Saramago a few years back whilst living in Chicago. I read his novels riding the El to and from work and in the few spare minutes at the end of my work day. Our apartment had a deck built between the two crumbling edifices that our landlord generously called carriage houses. One of those was ours. I remember vividly ...

Paul Yoon — Once the Shore

Once the Shore is Yoon's first book, and it brings together many of the short stories that have made him a writer of note. All the stories in Once the Shore take place on a small island belonging to South Korea. Each story captures a different moment in the island's history, from World War II and the Japanese occupation to the present day when the island is overrun with tourism. Yoon has a subtle touch in depicting his characters. He can speak volumes in a few words or gestures. He invests ...

Why I love Bill Murray

Bill Murray reading poetry to construction workers.