January 26 10
It’s time for my annual Borges quotation.
Now, the conjectural “primitive language” of Tlön has found its ways into the schools . . . in all memories, a fictitious past occupies the place of any other. We know nothing about it without any certainty, not even that it is false . . . A scattered dynasty [...]
December 30 08
Imagine that a massive fireball erupts from the harbour this morning, throwing your body half a mile away. Imagine yourself and your town trying to cope with that.
July 6 08
This past weekend, Globe Books did us all a favour by featuring Jorge Luis Borges‘ Ficciones in its 50 Greatest Books of all time series. The review/essay, written by the U of T’s Dennis Duffy, gives the briefest accounts on the nature of the text and its effects on western contemporary literature. Duffy [...]
May 12 08
There is a small part of the Holocaust I have been dwelling on since either April 30 or May of 2007, depending on which Event you wish to judge things by, as well as how you wish to define “dwell”. Either way, when not working on the thesis, my mind has been stuck in [...]
March 16 08
i’d like to formally welcome myself back to the internet, and to all of you.
as some of you might recall, long ago i gave up on the concept of the personal blog. there were many reasons to do so, but i left mostly because i was overwhelmed by the simulacra of all my friends [...]
June 4 07
W.G. Sebald is known for his unique narrative style, and his untimely death. The German emigré to the UK died in a car accident in December, 2001, not long after the publication of his last novel, Austerlitz. The academic-turned-writer wrote in his original German tongue, but found fame in several languages, largely on the [...]
June 3 07
A propos. [digg=http://digg.com/world_news/In_Defense_of_Daniel_Libeskind_s_ROM_Crystal]
This was supposed to be a digression on W.G. Sebald’s Austerlitz, a wondrous narrative which has been consuming my thoughts for over a month now. Sebald’s last novel before his untimely death is haunted by images and representations of the Holocaust’s dead. The disconnect and absence of understanding that fills its [...]