Twitter Feed Running

 In my ongoing endeavor to have a more and more rewarding conversation with myself, I have begun a Twitter feed. You can see the icon on the column to the right. So far I am Tweeting memorable passages (not to exceed 280 characters) from the wonderful books that I have read.

Luke

Read more »

"The Canon" by Natalie Angier

Subtitled: “A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science.”

I read Natalie Angier’s The Canon because I wanted to bone up on areas of science where my knowledge and understanding lag behind. I’m a motivated layman when it comes to astronomy, but the other chapters here: 1. Thinking Scientifically; 2. Probabilities; 3. Calibration; 4. Physics; 5. Chemistry; 6. Evolutionary Biology; 7. Molecular Biology; and 8. Geology (Astronomy is the 9th and last chapter) promised a wealth of material to fulfill my desire. They held a lot more than that.

Angier is a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist covering science. She’s also quite a card. She presents her material not only with a strict, sensible logic, but she leavens it throughout with breezy throw-away lines, like: “power lines … fastened onto high-tension towers that loom phantasmically over the highway, like a procession of giant Michelin Men with arms of aluminum lace,” or in reference to the snout of the star-nosed mole: “Ringing its snout are twenty-two fleshy, pinkish-red, highly sensitive tentacles that … look like a pinwheel of earthworms, or children’s fingers poking up from below in a cheap but surprisingly effective horror movie.”

It’s easy to see why - and highly appreciated - that Angier included multiple throw-away phrases on nearly every page: she set herself a gigantic task, which would feature untold facts and theories, and she needed a way to engage general readers. As often as she quips throughout her book, it never descends into anything seriously jokey, or ironic. Her science, as you would expect, is quite up to snuff, her passion is real, and her hope for scientific literacy is fervent. These attributes add up to a very worthwhile book. If your interest extends to modern science, here is an excellent way to fill in any sketchy areas you feel you have. Take it up!

 

Read more »

"Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy

What is Anna Karenina? It is considered by its author to be his first novel, an interesting claim, since it was published ten years after War and Peace (1867 vs. 1877). For Tolstoy the novel had a more limited definition than a “fictitious prose narrative of considerable length” (quoting the very helpful introduction by Richard Pevear, one of the translators, along with Larissa Volokhonsky). Pevear goes on to cite Tolstoy’s framing of Anna Karenina: he would portray a small group of main characters (seven, all of whom are related by birth or marriage), set in the present and dealing with personal lives of upper-class family and society.

What else is Anna Karenina? It is:
- a marvel of energetic, unflagging story, paced beautifully over 700-800 pages
- a supremely realistic treatment of the mental and emotional states of its characters
- an especially brilliant exposition of the internal dialogues of its co-main characters, Anna     Arkadyevna Krenina and Konstantin Dmitrich Levin
- a report of the current affairs of the time: cultural, geopolitical, artistic, social, and literary
- an unblinking look at society’s subjugation of women in Czarist Russia at that time

The heart of Tolstoy’s enduring genius: he triumphs by setting forth the recognizable and relatable urges and decisions of human characters. And he follows these trails faithfully to their logical ends. No decision, no statement, no concern, no aspiration ascribed to any character deviates from obvious and understandable motives, with the possible exception of Anna toward novel’s end. (Although even those fractured and desperate calculations ring tragically true.) Of course this is not unique among novels, but Tolstoy manages it through so many events, major and minor, draws out the evolution of each character’s progress through so many thresholds and experiences - it’s awe-inspiring.

He also honors his characters; he’s generous but he doesn’t let his indulgence bleed into the maudlin or sentimental. He forgives no one. He sets his characters in motion and they play their roles to perfection, leading to not one, but two, perfect denouements. This novel deserves every accolade it has received.

 

Read more »

New In-Depth Page Published

 Please look to the Pages sidebar to the right for a link to the new in-depth piece on three novels, by John Burnside, Anne Enright, and Lydia Millet - Thanks!!

Read more »