Writing about writing and reading
this weekend i saw the norwegian author and future nobel prize winner karl ove knausgaard give a talk at the town hall here in seattle. there were perhaps several hundred people in attendance. compare this to the last author i saw give a talk, hanne orstavik (also norwegian, by some coincidence) where there were perhaps …
Continue reading "i saw karl knausgaard in seattle. he signed my winedark book"
Have you ever been in a Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, or other such store where the walls are lined with mass-produced ‘art’ designed by committee and spat out of a factory, and have you ever been to a real art gallery full of unique works made by individual minds, and which do you prefer? Human …
The opening paragraph of this novel is one of the best I've read, and is so humorous and sets the tone so well that I had to read the book. The narrator, a young medical intern, is given an unusual assignment to stay with, and observe his superior's brother, a reclusive painter named Strauch, and …
In this beautiful and dark novel, we read about a young man's obsession with the famous Golden Temple in Kyoto, Japan. Mizoguchi, who is unpopular and ostracized for his stuttering, is introduced to the temple by his father, and eventually becomes an acolyte there. After seeing the temple every day, he becomes more and more …
Continue reading "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, by Yukio Mishima"
I've been reading The Idiot, and the same as with Crime and Punishment, I am now seeing its influences on everything. I will share just one example, early in the novel. Prince Myshkin, the protagonist and titular 'idiot,' is a very open and guileless person, which leads many people who encounter him to doubt his …
Jonas David 