miniZibaldone

The interests of a writer and the interests of his readers are never the same and if, on occasion, they happen to coincide, this is a lucky accident. In relation to a writer, most readers believe in the Double Standard: they may be unfaithful to him as often as they like, but he must never, never be unfaithful to them. To read is to translate, for no two persons’ experiences are the same. A bad reader is like a bad translator: he interprets literally when he ought to paraphrase and paraphrases when he ought to interpret literally. In learning to read well, scholarship, valuable as it is, is less important than instinct; some great scholars have been poor translators. —W. H. Auden

Reading is the first way to listen, and thus to learn. Invitation to read From  “ The Day After Redemption” “Where in your time, in your body has Jesus redeemed you? Show me where because I don’t see the place. If there was a place where Jesus had redeemed you, that would be the place for you to be, but which of you can find it?” At the beginning of Flannery O’Connor’s  Wise Blood , the would-be anti-Christ Hazel Motes says to Mrs.  Wally B. Hitchcock, a passenger seated in front of him on a train: “I reckon you think you have been redeemed.” Mrs. Hitchcock, clearly taken aback by the question, “snatched at her collar,” not knowing how to answer the question. “I reckon you think you have been redeemed,” Hazel insisted. “She blushed. After a second she said, yes life was an inspiration, and then she said she was hungry and asked if he didn’t want to go into the diner.” Thus begins Hazel Mote’s relentless efforts to expose Christian hypocrisy by founding ...

Reading is the first way to listen, and thus to learn. Invitation to read From the interview  “The Wound of Beauty ” “This book will break your heart, and will show you why your heart needed to be broken.” Thus a reviewer of one of the stories by Michael O’Brien, the Canadian painter and writer (author of  Father Elijah: The Apocalypse , among other works). His stories tell of men and women, often humiliated and injured, apparently of little importance, but whose “little” choices, whose journey toward love and truth, prove decisive for the destiny of the world, capable of leading others to love and freedom. O’Brien has been compared to writers like Flannery O’Connor, Graham Greene, and C. S. Lewis. During the last Spiritual Exercises, Fr. Carrón continually reminded us of our original dependence on the Mystery of God. He told us that every man is a “direct, exclusive relationship with God, and the reverberation of this is our being poor beggars.” You, o...

The Italian author Umberto Eco belonged to a rare breed—a medievalist of encyclopedic erudition, a creative philosopher and a talented novelist. Prompted by his recent death, Eco’s first novel, The Name of the Rose , has resurfaced in bookstands everywhere.  The virtue Aquinas opposes to curiositas is not humility , but studiousness , that is, knowledge pursued well.  The parallel between the monastery with the vast library and a globalized world with Internet access should now be clear. Aquinas thought of curiositas as largely caused by acedia —i.e. spiritual laziness or aimlessness. Who among us has not wasted hours on Wikipedia rather than completing the task at hand?   [Full text]

Spiritual Passages by Benedict Groeschel A Practical Guide to Spiritual Reading by Susan Muto  Healing the Unaffirmed by Conrad Baars  The Courage to Be Chaste by Benedict Groeschel  The Power of Appreciation by Adrian van Kaam 

  There is a great deal of difference between the eager man who wants to read a book, and the tired man who wants a book to read. There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person. Nothing is more keenly required than a defence of bores.  

Inquirer   on post- APEC There is no doubt that the Aquino administration did everything in its power to ensure that the Philippines’ hosting of the 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit would be glitch-free.  But outside of the high-profile gathering, social media seethed over the cancelled work and classes as well as domestic and international flights, and the closure of certain roads and rerouting around the Apec venues. Accounts of commuters stranded or walking for hours to reach their destinations, of airline passengers missing their travel commitments, and of ordinary citizens trapped in gridlock are now the stuff of legend. [...]  It was truly unfortunate that Filipinos, especially those in Metro Manila, had to endure such troubles. But there is another side of the Apec event to consider—the stories of those who did the country proud and those who benefited from the conduct of the meetings. [...] B ut apart from the logistical trauma, there was a positi...

Do You Make These Mistakes in English? by Edwin L. Battistella On the Rez by Ian Frazier A Shopkeeper's Millenium by Paul Johnson Look Homeward, America by Bill Kauffman When I Was a Child, I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson   Habits of the High-Tech Heart by Quentin Schultze