During his reign as the preeminent king of American crime lit, the late Elmore Leonard was often described as “the most cinematic novelist in the English language.” It was a designation he seemed to encourage, once remarking “I’ve always seen my books as movies.” To be fair, the cinematic track record of Leonard adaptations is [...]
Tag: Life
COVID-19 Environment – Are Pandemics Good for the Environment?
COVID-19 environment - An anthropologist looks at past disease outbreaks to consider how the COVID-19 crisis may—or may not—benefit the environment. — Read on http://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/covid-19-environment/
Shakespeare’s Globe theater faces closure due to Covid-19 lockdown | CNN Travel
William Shakespeare's Globe theater, the famous London playhouse where the playwright's shows were performed, faces permanent closure as a result of coronavirus lockdown measures, the theater and UK politicians have warned. Lawmakers on Monday warned the UK government that the historic theater -- which has been closed since March due to coronavirus restrictions -- was [...]
Why Yo-Yo Ma Would Invite Socrates to Dinner – The New York Times
When my son was in sixth grade, his teacher gave him an assignment on “Kalila wa Dimna,” fables that originated in India and moved to Persia, shared as a way to educate future rulers. But it turns out that they are beloved stories that children know all over the world, stories that we recognize in [...]
Roberto Calasso – Wikipedia
Roberto Calasso (born 30 May 1941 in Florence) is an Italian writer and publisher. Apart from his mother tongue, Calasso is fluent in French, English, Spanish, German, Latin and ancient Greek. He has also studied Sanskrit. He has been called "a literary institution of one". The fundamental thematic concept of his oeuvre is the relationship [...]
A Writer Pursues His Subjects as a Hunter Stalks His Prey – The New York Times
Calasso is especially good at describing the characters of myth and legend with a novelist’s omniscient authority — and the occasional zinger. “For 16 generations Zeus had intercourse with women from earth,” he writes, and “had always been attracted to the women of the house of Argus.” (Even the king of the gods, it seems, [...]
Looking at War Across 2,500 Years – The New York Times
I think the United States was right to invade Afghanistan after 9/11 (yet wrong to stay any longer than six months). But even as I differed with his words, I was glad to read them. Edstrom is asking hard questions that both the American people and their leaders have sidestepped for years. For example, he [...]
Covid-19 driving a digital health care revolution – Asia Times
Back in October, former Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang first cautioned that the world is now undergoing a Fourth Industrial Revolution, — Read on asiatimes.com/2020/05/covid-19-driving-a-digital-health-care-revolution/
Iris Murdoch: The Art of Fiction No. 117 – Paris Review
Murdoch and her husband live in a house in academic north Oxford. In its comfortably untidy rooms books overflow the shelves and are piled high on the floor. Even the bathroom is filled with volumes on language, including Dutch and Esperanto grammar books. Her paper-strewn second-floor study is decorated with oriental rugs and with paintings [...]
What is herd immunity and how many people need to be vaccinated to protect a community?
The term herd immunity comes from the observation of how a herd of buffalo forms a circle, with the strong on the outside protecting the weaker and more vulnerable on the inside. This is similar to how herd immunity works in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Those who are strong enough to get vaccinated [...]
