Skip to content

Monthly Archives: January 2011

400 years of swearing on King James’ ‘gloriouse’ text.

The “gloriousely writen” text doesn’t seem to be the bailiwick of linguists. If there’s an offense that unites scientists and post-structuralists against a common foe, it’s belle-lettrism.

Kenneth Minogue: More democracy than the people want?

The problem for Minogue is in the mind and in what he calls the “politico-moral,” which is a politics directed by a new morality rather than a politics directing morality.

Athens’ tragic freedom.

The Athenians demonstrated incredible audacity in affirming that human freedom must be understood without the gods, who are held not to be implicated in human affairs—no longer at the helm, so to speak. That affirmation is the source of philosophy…

Scoring for Lloyd Alexander: Westmark 3, MercatorNet 0.

Each of these characters is a perfectly-drawn vignette, each one a singular cameo as memorable as the similar passages in Malcolm Muggeridge’s Winter in Moscow, and used to as great an effect. Alexander has long displayed the ability to create a character in a single sentence; he uses this throughout Westmark (which is also the name of the first book) and its sequels — to heartbreaking and thoughtful effect.

Fanny Trollope, seriously.

When I was reading English at university 30 years ago, Trollope was simply not considered serious. This did not necessarily count against him.

Contest: Short stories! Really short. With room for a stamp.

Welcome to the Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest, the writ­ing con­test whose name is almost as long as the entries!

Denis Dutton: mining the web for haikus.

Denis had a great talent for producing those teasers. It’s much harder than you might think: years ago he asked me to write a few: “25 words or fewer,” he instructed, “and make it pointed.” He rewrote my clumsy efforts and made them shine.