breath billows in the cold, evening air -- a child amused
Billowing Breath [Haiku]
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Monthly Archives: March 2022
BOOK REVIEW: A Bad Business by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Bad Business by Fyodor DostoevskyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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This collection gathers six pieces of Dostoevsky’s short fiction, each brilliant in its own way. The stories vary in length and genre, but share an interesting insight into humanity.
“A Bad Business” is about a high-ranking official who decides to wedding crash one of his underlings. Like the third story in this collection, it’s the psychology that makes this tale compelling. The lead character vacillates between feeling empowered by his host’s deferential behavior and feelings of embarrassment and regret over violating norms. While it might sound like an unrelatable story, the psychological foibles shine through recognizably.
“Conversations in a Graveyard (Bobok)” is largely as the title describes, and is one of the speculative fiction pieces.
Much like the first story, “A Meek Creature” deals in subject matter that may seem unrelatable to today’s reader, but one will recognize the state of mind that drives the story. It’s about a middle-aged man who marries a teenaged girl. The story revolves around the young wife’s death, and attempts to reconcile her demise, which leads him into a dismal territory of self-discovery.
“The Crocodile” is the one piece that doesn’t at all suffer from being dated. While the details may feel retro, this absurdist dark comedy story remains both hilarious and meaningful. The underlying theme is disappointment that economic considerations have come to rule the world, but the story doesn’t beat one over the head with the politics, but rather lets the absurd situation of a man being swallowed whole by a crocodile do the work.
“The Heavenly Christmas Tree” reminded me of the fairytale “The Little Match Girl,” and is a heartfelt Christmas tale.
“The Peasant Marey” is the story of a prisoner having a flashback of the kindness of a neighborhood peasant in his childhood. It’s written in an autobiographical style. I don’t know how much license was taken, but I do know that Dostoevsky did spend time in prison as does the story’s lead.
This collection is well worth reading by any lover of short fiction.
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Rote Learning [Common Meter]
Words memorized rote are a meal wholly undigested, That's why memorization is utterly detested. Rote learning is, somehow, bloating and yet never filling. One takes it all in by way of monotonous drilling, but while you're still filling your cup you're already spilling. You pass your test and purge it all. It's so unfulfilling. If I may, please let me suggest that here's what you should do: get the gist, play with it, and find out what it means to you.
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DAILY PHOTO: A Creek in the Forest
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BOOK REVIEW: Venom vs. Carnage by Peter Milligan
Venom vs. Carnage by Peter MilliganMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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This story revolves around the strange social dynamics of symbiote reproduction, which echoes the filial infanticide seen in many earth-bound species, whereby a family member tries to eliminate the competition while it can still be readily killed and eaten. There’s a shifting landscape of alliances as a new symbiote is birthed into existence.
Besides the titular characters, Venom and Carnage, the story’s other major characters are Toxin (the new symbiote on the block,) as well as Black Cat and Spiderman. It’s a simple, but action-packed, story.
I read the e-version of the book and the art was strange and rubbery. I think it’s meant to be hyper-realistic, but it tripped the uncanny valley for me. That said, it’s fairly easy to follow what’s happening. (And to the degree that it’s not, it’s not a problem with the artistic style, but rather with the chaotic stringiness of symbiote combative interactions.)
I enjoyed the story. It’s a quick read, and is thrilling entertainment fare. If you know nothing about the symbiotes of the Spider-verse, it’s not the best place to jump in because it assumes you know a bit about what’s what and who’s who.
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Orbweaver [Tanka]
in certain light, the spider floats on air; move slightly, and now it sits on a lustrous wall of web
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DAILY PHOTO: Chester House, Nairobi
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BOOK REVIEW: Introducing Wittgenstein: A Graphic Guide by John Heaton
Introducing Wittgenstein: A Graphic Guide by John HeatonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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This concise guide offers a sketch of the life of the early twentieth century philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, focusing on the evolution of his philosophical thought. As with other volumes in the series, it begins with biographical background of ancestry and youth before turning its focus to the ideas for which the subject gained fame, occasionally shifting back to more biographical focus to discuss impactful moments from his life. Wittgenstein served in World War I and had a somewhat strange academic career.
Wittgenstein had his hands in a lot of pots, studying the philosophy of logic, ethics, science, mathematics, language, and the mind. The book provides brief summaries of key ideas such as language games, family resemblances (as applied to groupings other than families,) philosophy as a form of therapy, the ubiquity of tautology in logic, the illusion of self, etc. In many cases, the ideas cut across neat boundaries as where questions of language, perception, and the nature of the self may overlap. I found I got the most out of Wittgenstein’s thinking on language and its limits. While some of the ideas were strange, others were illuminating.
This book provides a fine guide for the neophyte looking to be introduced to Wittgenstein’s work. Philosophers will likely find it lacking in depth, but few will find it too complicated or arcane. If you wish to learn more about the life and philosophy of Wittgenstein, it’s worth checking out.
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Grazing Buffalo [Haiku]
BOOK REVIEW: The Sunny Nihilist by Wendy Syfret
The Sunny Nihilist: A Declaration of the Pleasure of Pointlessness by Wendy SyfretMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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In this book length essay, Syfret proposes that the reader reconsider the much-maligned philosophy of Nietzsche, arguing not only that it needn’t lead one into a dreary morass of gloomy thinking, but that it might just help one live more in the now while escaping brutal cycles of self-punishment. She has her work cut out for her, but she doesn’t shy from the challenge. Much of what she discusses could just as easily be presented under the guise of the less melancholious brother school called Existentialism, but Syfret embraces the vilified term, at least it’s cheerier side, under the moniker “Sunny Nihilism.”
Nihilism proposes that there is no inherent “god-given” meaning to, or purpose of, life. There’s no god to create such meaning and purpose. This notion is accepted as a given by most scientifically-minded people today, but it still results in the occasional visceral dread. For cravers of meaning, the argument goes like this: at least some of life is suffering, why should I subject myself to suffering if there isn’t some grand purpose and plan.
The retort of many nihilists and existentialists goes, “You only feel that way because you’ve made mountains out of molehills through your obsession with meaning, purpose, and divine plans. The experience of being able to experience life is awesome, but you make the whole of life such a daunting prospect that anything that doesn’t turn out perfectly makes you angst-ridden. You worry far too much, and – what’s worse – you’re usually worried about the wrong things. You’re missing the freedom that comes from being able to choose for yourself what you value and to put your setbacks in perspective.”
The book also explores such related issues as: coping with the pandemic, millennial malaise, celebrity deification, and how technology and social media influence the light and the dark sides of nihilism.
I found the book to be thought-provoking, and I’d recommend it for anyone looking for a philosophy to help them live through the trials of our age.
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Tiger Riding for Beginners 