The Grand Inquisitor and Exodus

I've recently finished "The Brothers Karamazov", a book that's tough-to-chew, frustrating, blasphemous, hilarious, delirious and puzzling: in short, a great book. I want to start with just a few *brief* remarks about the Grand Inquisitor story, the parable that Ivan Karazamov composes and shares with his brother Alyosha. The parable is so well-known that I … Continue reading The Grand Inquisitor and Exodus

Clash of the Titans Movie Night

My son has been reading a lot of Greek mythology so I pulled up this 1981 flick for our family movie night.  The kids' favorite character was Bubo, the mechanical owl.  My son was disappointed with the depiction of Poseidon, and he said this movie made him hate Zeus.  He was also ready with small … Continue reading Clash of the Titans Movie Night

Favorite movie endings

During my convalescence this past winter I watched a lot of movies. I've gotten busy making YouTube playlists of my favorite music and movies. I started one playlist privately just to collect some of my favorite concluding scenes from movies, and I threw in a few scenes from old movies that marked the Intermission break. … Continue reading Favorite movie endings

Favorite reads of 2022

My ten most memorable reads of 2022, fiction and nonfiction, out of my 42 first-time reads: 1. The Book of Job -- Robert Alter's translation “Oh, let that night be barren, let it have no song of joy.Let the day-cursers hex it, those ready to rouse Leviathan.Let its twilight stars go dark.Let it hope for … Continue reading Favorite reads of 2022

Pinocchio and Moby Dickens

My 10-year-old daughter and I recently read Carlo Collodi's 1883 story, "The Adventures of Pinocchio." Now, it turns out that the story is fairly dark, much more than the famous Disney movie of 1940. Parents may wish to be careful with this one, and a full plot description of Collodi's story can be found on … Continue reading Pinocchio and Moby Dickens

Don Quixote – Les Misérables edition

Lionel Trilling famously stated, ''All prose fiction is a variation of the theme of 'Don Quixote'." Therefore I try, in the most literal way possible, to find our famous knight and squire in the pages of every novel I read. Well, I recently finished all 1,304 pages of "Les Misérables," and I couldn't find them. … Continue reading Don Quixote – Les Misérables edition

Charlie Brown Christmas

In honor of a sad sapling, and his Christmas tree. Hark! the herald angels sing,"Glory to the newborn King:peace on earth, and mercy mild,God and sinners reconciled!"Joyful, all ye nations, rise,join the triumph of the skies;with th'angelic hosts proclaim,"Christ is born in Bethlehem!" Refrain:Hark! the herald angels sing,"Glory to the newborn King" Christ, by highest … Continue reading Charlie Brown Christmas