On writing, books, tech, and faith
Cal Newport has a thing for writers. That's partly because he is one, and partly because writers are fitting examples of professionals who need solitude and focus, two subjects in which Newport is something of a world-class expert. Most forms of writing, such as creative and academic writing, are lonesome jobs best served by shutting … Continue reading The Tragic Stories of Two Impossibly Successful Writers
George Packer in 'The Atlantic': "When artists turn to activism or introduce politics into a work of art, it’s usually taken as something virtuous, an act of conscience on behalf of justice. But artistic and political values are not the same; in some ways they’re opposed, and mixing them can corrupt both. Politics is almost … Continue reading The Unsavory Melange of Activist Art
Micha Mattix commenting on a recent essay in Wired magazine about AI-generated stories: "ChatGPT can’t replicate what real readers enjoy in a carefully constructed story. In fact, I don’t think it will produce much worth reading alongside the novel. On demand stories keyed to yesterday’s news, for example, may briefly capture the public’s imagination because … Continue reading Can ChatGPT Replicate What Readers Enjoy?
From 'The Narnian' by Alan Jacobs: "And here I would like to suggest something that is the keynote of this book: my belief that Lewis’s mind was above all characterized by a willingness to be enchanted and that it was this openness to enchantment that held together the various strands of his life—his delight in … Continue reading C.S. Lewis’ Openness to Enchantment
Happy Holy Week - hands down my favorite week of the year, culminating in Easter Sunday. Today, of course, is Maundy Thursday. I've been focusing my reading on the gospel of John and two spectacular little books of art: The Art of Lent and The Art of Holy Week and Easter, both by Sister Wendy … Continue reading A Voice You Love
Another week, another dollar. What I'm reading: I finished Dante's Paradiso---at last. The poet ascends the spheres of heaven with his guide Beatrice, meeting figures such as Adam, Thomas Aquinas, St. Peter, Mary, and St. John along the way. I have many thoughts and feelings about it, but one surprising moment was in canto 27, … Continue reading On Dante’s ‘Paradiso’ and How Tolkien Improved His Story
The other day I saw some paintings of ancient baths which got my imagination going. The scale of the architecture has almost a mythical quality. There are traces here of the capricci style, which has a special place in my heart. Hubert Robert, “Ruins of a Roman Bath with Washerwomen”. Source: Hyperallergic.com. Hubert Robert, "Ancient … Continue reading Writing Inspiration: Ancient Bath Ruins and Why Roman Baths Disappeared
In Image Journal, James K.A. Smith writes about the tension between the ethical life (e.g., engaging in social justice) and the aesthetic life (e.g., writing novels and poetry), arguing that a life of genuine faith may actually be closer to the aesthetic life than you might guess. He draws most prominently from the novel Either/Or, … Continue reading Novels Against Moralism
I came across the following image in a book review of the recently-published English Garden Eccentrics. Source: The Critic.co.uk With the open cloudy sky and the grassy pasture jutting up against a wide plane of glacier-like rock formations and distant mountains, it strikes me as something out of a fantasy novel. I don't know exactly … Continue reading Writing Inspiration: Weird Gardenscapes
From The Narnian, by Alan Jacobs: "[C.S. Lewis] did not know what difference being a Christian was supposed to make, or could make, in his life as a literary writer. He needed clarification—he needed a better grasp of the intellectual landscape through which he was moving. In August 1932, when he was taking an Irish … Continue reading How C.S. Lewis Wrote Books
Richard Rabil, Jr. 