Category Archives: politics
Nabokov’s ‘Speak, Memory,’ ver. 2.0
Olga Khotiashova responded to my review of Vladimir Nabokov’s memoir Speak, Memory by posting as a comment a lovely essay, which I have also featured as a guest post, below; it unites her personal history with her reading of the … Continue reading
Filed under memoir, politics, REVIEW, spirituality, vocabulary
Noted: A dark view of memoir
In a withering New Yorker review this week (November 29’s issue) of George W. Bush’s Decision Points, billed as a memoir, George Packer says, “Very few of its four hundred and ninety-three pages are not self-serving.” But then “every memoir … Continue reading
Almost Christmas at the coffee shop
Middle-aged men, two to four in the group, one talking loudly at a time: “You need to read more books!” “How are we going to solve the health care problem if . . .” “What gets me is these Republicans … Continue reading
Filed under creative nonfiction, dialogue, essay-narrative, evolutionary psychology, MY LIFE, politics, scene
When prose becomes political
In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia.—George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” “Vote,” Kathy commanded … Continue reading
Filed under audience, emotion, evolutionary psychology, honesty, MY LIFE, politics, sentimentality, spirituality
When narratives collide
Change.org, a social-action network, sponsors an annual blog day on October 15, and today all participants are writing on global warming. A friend challenged me to participate with an angle related to writing. So, Jean, here it is! A winning … Continue reading
Filed under emotion, evolutionary psychology, narrative, politics, subjectivity
Why narrative is necessary
“We humans are the beast who records and shares the present, remembers the past, and predicts the future in narrative. We are storytellers, using the narrative’s beginning, middle, and end to order the river flood of confusion and contradiction in … Continue reading
Filed under audience, emotion, evolutionary psychology, narrative, NOTED, politics, revision, scene, spirituality
