Author post… Musings on Proust, Part 10 9 Sep 202110 Sep 2021 I finally finished Proust's Sodome et Gomorrhe last night. I read it slowly in bits and pieces, because "M," Proust's narrator, becomes truly insufferable in this volume. Whether Proust meant…
book review Musings on Proust, Part 9 12 Feb 2021 Proust Goes for a Laugh Proust had a bit of fun at his own expense in a comic bit that he put in is own words for a change, in…
Author post… Musings on Proust, Part 8 27 Dec 202027 Dec 2020 If only Proust were not so parsimonious with his comic writing! Just laughed through a short section in the salon scene of "Le coté de Guermantes," book II, with Mme.…
Author post… Musings on Proust, Part 4 15 Apr 202016 Apr 2020 Having finished not with A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs as I had at first vainly imagined, but only Part 1 of Tome 2, I prepare to plunge into…
Author post Musings on Proust, Part 2 31 Mar 202031 Mar 2020 Finished Du coté de chez Swann last night.... Okay, I'm beginning to wonder whether I feel about Proust (so far, having read one volume out of seven, each of which…
Author post Musings on Proust, Part 1 27 Mar 202027 Mar 2020 I have at last begun reading Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu. While the coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying restrictions have given me more time to read, I actually…
Author post When Clichés Come to Life 20 Mar 202020 Mar 2020 Clichés are much derided in writing circles, and rightly so: they are a lazy way to express the character of a situation, and usually they have been heard so often…
Author post… Recursions, Part 11: “Ulysses,” by James Joyce 10 Sep 201828 Sep 2018 This is the eleventh in a series of short critical looks at books of literary criticism. Yes, a writer writing about writers who write about writers! I composed these for…
Announcement More Advice on Writing, Reprinted 2 Feb 20187 Feb 2018 Advice on writing by...er...me! Reprinted in "A Writer's Path," a literary community, originally printed here as "Clause and Effect": "How to Avoid Being Too Wordy in Your Writing" This is…
Author post Clause and Effect 11 Dec 201711 Dec 2017 Do you love subordinate clauses? I know I do. And how about assonance and alliteration, rhythm and rhyme? Let's face it: they can be as tasty as chocolate. But would…