Inhabit the Poem: Last Essays

Inhabit the Poem: Last Essays by Helen Vendler

Poetry has a much greater "density" and requires more time and focus to read. The author of this book has taken it to an even greater extreme.  Each chapter typically starts with a poem. Then she starts to analyze the poem. Then the analysis goes off on tangents, bringing in other poems or the life of the poet or cultural events that may have a slight relationship to the poem. I got quite lost with some. My favorite one was Epitaph on a Hare by Cowper. The poem is a bit bizarre, but the analysis actually sheds light on the poem and the importance the poet had on the animal. Other poems are just as likely to talk about the poet as other poets that have referenced the poem. The author provided a simple definition of important poems: "poems that future poets continue to reference". That might be the most useful insight in the book.

An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment

An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment by Immanuel Kant

In this very short essay, Kant defines enlightenment. To him it is the freedom and the willingness to challenge one's thoughts. It is the emergence from one's immaturity and the willing to think for oneself as opposed to having others tell you what should be thought. 

I listened to the version from librivox which was from a translated source. However, I cannot seem to find who the original translator was.

The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe

The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe

There is a biography at the start. (Poe lived an interesting life with a morbid death.) There are also essays and dramas included. Poe was not a fan of long poems. He was a great, imaginative writer.

Annabel Lee (1849) - a somewhat morbid love poem, unfortunately read with a robotic voice

The Bells (1848) - the repetition of bells makes this one good

The Raven (1845) - Poe's famous poem. Captures his style well

To Helen (1831) - a poem of beauty with Helen of troy and others

A Dream (1827) - a dream, short and sweet

Alone (1829) - a loner in childhood

Fiaryland (1829) - imagery of a land of fairies

The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings

The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, some translated by H. J. Stenning and Samuel Moore

Translations appear to have come from KARL MARX: SELECTED ESSAYS

"Communist Manifesto" (1888 translation by Samuel Moore )

"A Criticism of the Hegelian Philosophy of Right" -1843, intro published in 1844

"On the King of Prussia and Social Reform" 1844

"Moralizing Criticism and Critical Morality: A Polemic Against Karl Heinzen" 1847

"Proudhon" (from Holy Family, 1844)

"French Materialism" (from Holy Family, 1844)

"The English Revolution" (1850)

This collection has the real Communist Manifesto and some additional essays by Marx. The topics do not quite seem so revolutionary today. Neither do they sound hugely Marxist in the modern view. The communism of these writings expects a more gradual change that will be inevitable. Classes of people have found themselves as mere cogs and want to assert general rights. What is the best way to go about doing it?

The Book of Delights: Essays

The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay

During a year, the author records his many "delights". These include many brief experiences as well as seeds for essays. Sometimes the "delight" is a contrary experience that then serves as the basis for the ways that things happen at other times. The anecdotes can get vulgar and at times deal with racism and other types of differing experiences.

Speak Memory: An Autobiography Revisited

Speak Memory: An Autobiography Revisited by Vladimir Nabokov

Nabokov's desired view of himself comes through in this autobiography. Instead of a strict narrative, it is a collection of essays, usually focussing on different activities or places in his life. He came from a well-to-do Russian family. He was not fond of the Czar and had some sympathy for the revolution. However, that faded as the Lenin/Stalin dictatorship came to be. He likes to point out that his nostalgia is not for the lost wealth, but for the missed homeland. The essays cover some of his childhood actions and friends as well as hobbies. It ends up being a fairly well done autobiography.

Think, Write, Speak

Think, Write, Speak: Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the Editor by Vladimir Nabokov

The strength of this collection of miscellaneous writings is the purely chronological arrangement. This provides an "unfiltered" biography of Nabokov. During his lifetime, he published another collection (Strong Opinions). This work is the "leftovers" that he chose not to include in that one. Some of the writings are pretty much junk, but there are some gems in there. I found myself rapidly skimming through much of the early writings. In the middle I became engage, and then the interest started waning towards the end.

The book starts with works by an obscure Russian writer who had fled the Bolshevik revolution. Many of the "works" are reviews of obscure Russian works or obituaries for now unknown Russians. It is very difficult to stay interested in the work. There are hints of strong opinions and stubbornness. He has no love for Freud or the Russian Communists. He likes "good writing", but hasn't really come into style of his own.

In the middle, he has left Europe for America. You can see how pedantic he is in some of the letters to the editor requiring minor corrections. Some gems of essays appear here, such as one on learning the Russian language. Then Lolita becomes popular. He loves his work, but tries to appear surprised at the popularity. Some of his "Crotchety Old Man" views start to come out. He doesn't like hippies. He sees men as stronger than women. He doesn't care much for what others think. He also loves butterflies (and has a few "butterfly" interviews included.

In the end, he seems to just get tired of it all. There are a number of interviews where he says almost nothing. Many of the same questions are asked in multiple interviews. His acerbic manner finally starts to tone down shortly before his death. The questions about what language he thinks in are telling. At first his response is that "nobody thinks in words, it is all images". Eventually, he comes to say that he thinks in images. (Though he still criticizes those who mouth words as they read.) I'd almost be ready to diagnose him with mild Aspergers. He states numerous times that he expects to get back to America, but he never seemed to make it. 

The Ecological Design and Planning Reader

The Ecological Design and Planning Reader by Forster O. Ndubisi

This is a collection of essays on "Ecological Design." The general idea is sound. We should pay attention to the ecology and consider our development as just one part of the ecosystem. The implementation is where issues come. In one essay, it is mentioned that no place has fully implemented "smart growth". Instead, interested parties have just picked the pieces that interest them. Similar issues can be seen in other ecological developments. The Woodlands Texas is given as an example. Natural storm systems are in place with a large park area. This is an environmental win in one area. However, it also involved cutting down forest for large lot suburban development. Large roads criss cross the area, with many cul-de-sacs preventing alternate travel. Freeway travel is the primary way to and from the area. A large amount of land is used and will be difficult to return to natural conditions.

Problems occur in other areas of attempted ecological development. A golf course may maintain part of the original ecosystem. But it also requires a large amount of built up space. A subdivision may follow the contours of the land, but be car centric with huge lots. Is something ecological if it is just a playground for the rich? Once land is allocated for urban or suburban uses, it is almost impossible to get it back to a state of nature. Even "smart" development could be negative if it is not done in a scalable way. Our current political boundaries were set in the "foot and horse" travel era, and don't work well for the car era. It is too easy to jump to a different city or county to sidestep any building requirement.

Cars in America

Cars in America edited by Andrea C. Nakaya

The essay collection is available at the library in "Gale in Context", which has one of the most horrible UIs for reading. That is probably for the best, because the content is fairly worthless. The essays I read felt like they were written by middle-schoolers. There were discussions of cars making you fat, fuel cells, teen drinking and various other topics. Nothing I read was very enlightening or well done, so I just skimmed over the other titles.

What Is a Hate Crime?

What Is a Hate Crime? by Roman Espejo

This book has a series of essays on hate crimes, mostly structured in pairs of opposing views. A lot has changed in the two decades since this was written. The concept of hate crimes has become much more widely accepted. However, the underlying concerns still exist. It is almost as if we have got the worst of both of worlds. "Hate" has become an arbitrary option to apply to crimes that continues to be il-defined. After all, just about every major crime has involved some hate. The concept of "hate speech" has become even more convoluted and arbitrary. Can we regulate speech, yet still have free speech?

Raised in Captivity: Fictional Nonfiction

Raised in Captivity: Fictional Nonfiction by Chuck Klosterman

These are random stories that almost appear true, but are not quite. There is a puma in a first class bathroom. There is a coach that has no experience in football, yet takes over a team. They have one play they run on offense. They get totally beat down in their first game. Things get a little better with each following game until they are totally beating other teams. The players go on to greatness. Somebody struggles when their significant other is diagnosed as "fake woke". Somebody tries to hire a hitman to take out their spouse. The hitman proposes a 4 year plan that would drive him to suicide. There are a number of other stories with a bit of a macabre twist or a "wait is this real?" plausibility? 

Chuck Klosterman X: The Audio Companion to a Highly Specific and Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century

Chuck Klosterman X: The Audio Companion to a Highly Specific and Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century by Chuck Klosterman

Columnist Chuck Klosterman summarizes some of his writings from the early 21st century. This work really is his recap and analysis of things that he thought were important. There are discussions of various rock star interviews as well as other works. He goes in depth talking about the band Kiss. It is better to have a few people love and hate you than to have people just think you are ok. He includes an anecdote about a satire he wrote for a Beatles box set review that ended up getting taken seriously. He also mentions that he has not read Harry Potter and may be missing out on pop culture references. The audiobook is a good quick reference to the mind of a pop columnist.

Essays Two: On Proust, Translation, Foreign Languages, and the City of Arles

Essays Two: On Proust, Translation, Foreign Languages, and the City of Arles by Lydia Davis

Lydia Davis got bit by the language bug when she lived in Germany as a young child. Since then, she has gone on to learn other languages and translated many works into English as well as written her own works in English. The essays in the book cover a number of different types of translation. A traditional example is translation of a French work into English. Other forms of translation include translating English into more modern English and translating for herself as she reads Norwegian.

There is some long discussion on Proust. The work has already been translated and updated before. This gives many opportunities to look at the original and the various translations. There are a variety of tradeoffs in the translation. Sometimes there may not be a single word that matches what was in the other languages. Trying to get the flow from language to another can be challenging. Looking at previous translations also provides insight.

She finds translating a good way to "wake up" or break out of a rut. I see it as a creative endeavor that has some tight bounds. This provides a joy of understanding multiple languages and the comparison. She enjoyed reading a non-traditional Norwegian novel by Dag Solstad as a way of familiarizing herself with Norwegian.

Essays One

Essays One by Lydia Davis

Kafka had an influence on Lydia Davis' writing style. That says enough. She had a career translating books (primarily from the French) as well as writing (especially short stories.) The essays here bounce around various styles, with a lot of free association and stream of conscious writing. Sometimes a piece of SPAM email can inspire a short story. Other times short story may end up looking more like a poem. It is all good. She said she has another book devoted to translation, but it still gets ample mention here. Both translation and writing involve a significant amount of editing and rewriting. It is an art to distill the meaning in the appropriate format.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill

This is one of the key essays on the concept of utilitarianism. Mill does not claim to invent it. However, he does aim to defend many of the misconceptions. There are many struggles in connecting "general happiness" with "individual happiness". 

Armageddon in Retrospect

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut

This is a collection of short writings by Vonnegut. There are speeches he gave, short essays and a few works of fiction. There are bits about Germany, including activities done by the soldiers there. In one story, there is a soldier that always seems to get more than others. He goes and tries to take the dog tags of the narrator to not be charged as a collaborator. Eventually, it becomes clear that he is likely to shoot the narrator. Next thing you know it, he ends up dead. And then we learn that he was likely a spy after all. There titular story is the longest. The entire world gets caught up in an exercise to capture the devil. Then some countries start blaming others, leading to the dissolution of the effort. The scientist behind it is the one "caught" in an area separated from the devil. All the writings show his characteristic wit and are easily accessible and well narrated.

Inciting Joy: Essays

There are a number of different essays that cover the interests of a black academic. In one, he looks at the advantage of just hanging around. Do we really need to always be doing something? Can we just hang out and socialize? Sometimes that recharging can be beneficial. 

There is also an interesting take on grading and classes. What if everybody knows they will get an A when going into the class? How will this help? Will those not interested just not show up, leaving those truly interested in learning to be able to focus on learning? This can get things out of the "is it on the test?" mentality? What good is it to make A's if you don't learn?

Breakfast on Mars and 37 Other Delectable Essays: Your Favorite Authors Take A Stab at the Dreaded Essay Assignment

In school, students regularly have assignments to write essays, but rarely spend time reading quality essays. Breakfast on Mars seeks to remedy this. It is a collection of essays written by authors that are known for writing in other genres. Many of these are children and young adult authors that would be known to the target audience.

The essays cover a wide variety of topics. Each essay has a "prompt", and essay as well as a brief biographical sketch of the author. All are fairly short (just a few pages in the book.) There are some common prompts, such as persuasive and historical essays as well as less common ones (like graphical essays.)

Small Wonder

After September 11, 2001, Barbara Kingsolver worked on essays as a form of catharsis. Some of the essays are presented here as well as some older essays. Some are extremely personal (one is nearly an autobiography.) She admired the unity in the response to 9/11, but was also troubled by the hatred that arose.

I found the essay discussing evolution and genetic engineering very well written. She called out those criticizing the health effects of genetic engineering as illogical. Instead, the problem is with the resilience of crops. Evolution has led to a great diversity even in a single species. As we engineer crops to have a few desired traits, we can end up with a strong monoculture. These leaves our crops subject to unknown diseases. 

Future genetic engineering can try to fight this. But we are stuck with a continual fight. With natural evolution, there are many redundant traits that are present, but not needed. Once the stress comes to the system, these may begin to dominate. This serves as an "insurance policy". (For instance, in Arizona, there are "desert annuals" that will wait to germinate later. This allows for resilience in case there is a lack of water.) Another issue is that many plants are genetically engineered to include natural pesticides. This ends up spreading and killing off beneficial pollinators. Because the crops are widespread, the damage is also. 

These issues are with genetic engineering in the "best case". There are also further problems with the implementation. Some seeds are made intentionally to require purchasing new seeds every year. They also end up requiring more purchases of fertilizer and pesticides. This can cause big issues.

The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

This is an interesting take on humanity. The "Anthropocene" is our current day. The author gives ratings to everything from the Indianapolis 500 to the Internet. And those are just the eyes. General concepts (like very embarrassing events) are also given ratings. Each rating is a short essay describing the item and the impact on his life. There is no general reason for anything to specifically appear other than that it had some relation to his life. It is a fun read as well as a pseudo-memoir.