Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life
Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life by Theodor W. Adorno My rating: 5 of 5 stars It helps to know that this 1951 book, an unclassifiable philosophical masterpiece consisting … Continue reading
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Hamlet by William Shakespeare My rating: 5 of 5 stars Why is this bizarre, disorderly, long, and poorly transmitted tragedy from the turn of the seventeenth century the central work … Continue reading
Bloomsday Notes: Jung on Joyce
The emergence of a literature which is predominantly concerned with the exploration of both a social reality and individual consciousness is a relatively recent phenomenon. Its first clear manifestations date … Continue reading
C. G. Jung, Answer to Job
Answer to Job by C.G. Jung My rating: 3 of 5 stars The back cover advertises Answer to Job as “one of Jung’s most controversial works.” He wrote it toward … Continue reading
D. M. Thomas, The White Hotel
The White Hotel by D.M. Thomas My rating: 5 of 5 stars But he would have us remember most of all To be enthusiastic over the night Not only for … Continue reading
Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski My rating: 3 of 5 stars “The good parts are good; he just keeps not having the good parts.” Such was the verdict … Continue reading
Fredric Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent
Seduction of the Innocent by Fredric Wertham My rating: 2 of 5 stars When I was younger—say in the late 1980s, early 1990s—the concept of free artistic expression was primarily … Continue reading
Élisabeth Roudinesco, Lacan: In Spite of Everything
Lacan: In Spite Of Everything by Elisabeth Roudinesco My rating: 4 of 5 stars First, what is “everything”? And second, how does le maître survive in spite of it? “Everything” … Continue reading
Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle
Beyond the Pleasure Principle by Sigmund Freud My rating: 4 of 5 stars In this famously transitional work of 1920, Freud sets out to explain the prevalence of psychic activity … Continue reading
The Golden Notebook: Notes
When I heard that Doris Lessing died, I immediately resolved to read one of her books, since I felt as if I’d been missing my rendezvous with her work for … Continue reading
