A popular freebie
Today I received this notice from Academia.edu: “Your most popular paper for the week was Liberty and People: Ideological Analysis of the Political Writings of Simón Bolívar, which had 8 views.” Almost every week, someone — in some weeks, a dozen or more — consults this essay that I wrote in 1982 for the “PRIMERA … read more »
Five-year plan
Today I celebrated my 75th birthday with friends in a restaurant (also run by friends) here in our village, and shared with them this reflection in Spanish, Un mayor de la tribu. I posted a similar, but more developed, statement in English 5 years ago, Becoming an elder. In a nutshell, I’m saying that I … read more »
Virtual reality
Halleluyah! You know how meticulous I am in reproducing the time and place of my novel: Paris, 1870-71. I’m constructing it with the same mind-set as Daguerre when he designed the dioramas that made him rich, before his factory burned down and he decided to invent photography. Those dioramas were sound-and-light shows that so confused … read more »
A sardonic view of a bitter struggle
La vie parisienne pendant le Siège et sous la Commune by Henri D’Almeras My rating: 3 of 5 stars Hostile to the Paris Commune of 1871, which he considers “une tyrannie aussi stupide qu’odieuse”, Alméras is nevertheless respectful and even admiring of those few communards who not only remained sober (the alcoholism of some of … read more »
A Perfect Day
We just saw this movie at home last night, and were blown away. The picture of those dogged aid workers in the midst of the civil massacres in Bosnia, covering their revulsion at horrible atrocities and their deep anger and fear and their desperate need for solidarity with one another by joking and repression awoke … read more »