Sunday Reading
The weather is cold, the sky is cloudy, but at least the apartment is now warm, especially after the $2.50 tube of caulk that I bought. So what is there to read this Sunday? Click here to find out.Last week, Geitner at Regions of Mind, in the midst of the excitement of Brokeback Mountaint, looks at the phenonenon of "bunkies" as a form of intimacy between cowboys in Cowboys, Gays and Cultural Envelopes.
Brian Ladd, reviewing Richard Evans new book on Nazi German, hits the nail on the head: ordinary Germans are boring.
"The story of the German people - Evans's real subject - does not lend itself to drama as easily as the story of Hitler and his henchmen ... Evans avoids the weakness of too many histories of the Third Reich, which become virtual biographies of Hitler, with ordinary Germans appearing either as victims of Himmler's terror or as mindless vessels of Goebbels's propaganda. Instead, he presents a story with few heroes and too many colorless villains - a fuller and truer picture of the Third Reich, but a less gripping one than Shirer's."Evans also seems to share my distaste for Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, the most overused and misunderstood piece of concert music. Also Ralph Giordano review of Hannes Heer's Hitler war's (It was Hitler), an examination of collective innocence, the history of the lie of the war generation that they were not involved in the Third Reich's crimes.
In Back on the Slippery Slope, The Valve's John McGowan examines the problem of slippery slope arguments: they exclude any possibility of moderation ... and harmless collaboration.
I can't believe I missed this, but Natalie Bennet of Philobiblion has taken to blogging the 19th century diaries of Francis William Wynn on Diaries of a Lady of Quality. Of course, I love this post about the queen of Würtemberg, who was obliged to receive Napoleon. I wonder, when she says, "the least failure on my part might have been a sufficient pretence for depriving my husband and children of this kingdom," the queen was referring to recognition of kingship or to simple possession of the crown.
Another article in the NY Times looks into access for non-Europeans in France's top universities.
[ETA]Check out the Books of the Year 2005 Symposium at ReadySteadyBook. [HT: Matt Christie, who is also a participant]
posted by Nathanael @ 10:54 AM
1 Comments:
Nice site. I enjoy reading the posts you place - you sound fine and literate. I'm going to continue to read. You know, as a fact, that I've always mixed up the Rhine and the Rhone River. Can you help me with that? The differences I should know to make the distinction.
Please check out my spot.
http://garyjin.blogspot.com
I have lots of things there to read and see; and I'd like your comments. I like to correspond - hoping we can exchange ideas, attitudes, opinions and experiences. I work hard at it.
email njabate@aol.com
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