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Tales of Hoffmann - E.T.A. Hoffmann
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 213
A selection of grotesque and supernaturally inspired stories by E.T.A. Hoffman, perfect for Christmas.
Lots of notes made and googling to be done afterwards, his stories, both comical, thrilling (after the fashion of Shelley), Ghost Stories filled with sleepwalkers, psychics, odd characters that seem to exist between worlds, the Wandering Jew, for example, capturing in turns the implacable remembrance of love, those moments one knows will never be repeated, of true-love generally thwarted, of fashions and news of his day, for example he spins the tale of a miner who was found perfectly preserved in Copper Sulfate, only to be identified by his widow of 50 years, a true tale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fet-Mats), then embellishes upon it to create a story of a sailor drawn to the Mine at Falun by a supernatural agent, not that the events at Falun were by the fashion of the day not fantastic enough, expositions that rely upon unknown circumstance and incredible coincidence, both fantastic and yet relatable, The character, for example of Chancellery Private Secretary Tusmann, whose taste in books somewhat reflects mine own, for example: 1720 "Cicero Presented as a Great Windbag and Pettifogger in Ten Orations" and from whose varied list of recommendations of books long out of fashion I'm led on to:
Wiegleb's - Natural Magic (a practical book on conjuring, or Magic as practiced by Penn & Teller, written in the late 1700's)
Nudow's "Theory of Sleep",
Frankfurt Dream book
Artemidorus - on dreams & Excerpts Here
Anyways, a light but suitable holiday read. Now off to do some work...
Civil War
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 187
And saw this trailer - "Civil War" - link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDyQxtg0V2w.
And I can't help but think we're all being groomed - Another election, less than a year away, and Trump is leading the Polls and the Democrats can't see their way to find a more charismatic leader and Biden doesn't seem to recognize or acknowledge that he's imperiling democracy by not stepping down and providing a more suitable, younger and charismatic replacement.
Anyways, that's the tack we're on and - while I find nothing particularly offensive in Biden, I find his hopes for another term devastating - as will the Democrats.
As will the Entire US of A, but a good lot of them will have voted for it, so there's no tears to be shed for them.
Dream Scenario
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 192
Had been looking for this for a while, trailer, reviews looked good, great even. About a mild mannered and boring professor who ends up inadvertently appearing in random people's dreams.
It had a great deal of potential, a curious premise, but it devolved down every predictable pathway into a commentary on Celebrity and Cancel Culture.
So, a "Meh" and give it a miss. There are surely better films coming.
Blaise Cendrars - Moravagine
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 204
This was a discovery. French Modernist, he writes, well, brilliantly, genius even. Rhythm, style, cadence, pacing, the plot, characters, situations, the balance of narrative, philosophizing, an author I'd seen referred to by Henry Miller (and you can see his influence), as well as influencing Modigliani, (Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Blaise_Cendrars), Picasso, Chagall and others. Discovering him is a little like discovering Celine - and - fortunately for me, he has quite a number of other books in translation.
Unfortunately they're pretty rare and often very expensive.
I'll get to them.
The cover art - a Penguin Paperback with Thomas Hafner's "Lucifer" (an AI Hallucination before AI, actually conceived and painted by the artist) - this is the original "Fight Club", "Apocalypse Now", I could go on.
And his writing - trying to discern what is factual - within his experience, vs fiction - what he's making up - is in points night on impossible, he paints perfect, vivid strokes, in the general and then perfectly again in the specific, make it impossible to differentiate...
An absolutely brilliant author but poorly represented in English Translation.
5/5 Stars.
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