tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00A Commonplace BlogD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger3463125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-48074516995485217862014-09-12T11:07:53.288-04:002014-09-12T11:07:53.288-04:00… "reduced to the necessity of 'enjoying ...… "reduced to the necessity of 'enjoying the ride' of your disease." Oh, how that took my breath away. I will never forget that. Thank you.lisa adamshttp://www.lisabadams.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-26391343930283867112014-08-17T16:05:03.421-04:002014-08-17T16:05:03.421-04:00This blog is a treasure, as is this entry. Thank y...This blog is a treasure, as is this entry. Thank you for continuing to write. <br /><br />I had many "professors," but only a handful of them were teachers. Thank you for teaching me and so many others. Courtneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-69590159291304938512014-08-11T21:51:54.836-04:002014-08-11T21:51:54.836-04:00For once I find that words escape me. It is hard t...For once I find that words escape me. It is hard to find the "right" things to say to someone who is dying. So, instead <br />I will tell you what you have given me. I consider myself truly fortunate to have been able to find myself in your classes at OSU. I will miss your classes, your energy, your spirited talks and your sense of humor. Not only did you inspire me to find the passion for literature I thought I lost, but helped me to find strength and determination through my own debilitating health issues. "I might be crippled but I'm not an invalid."<br />OSU will not be the same without you..not for me. As I read through your older blog posts, again and again, I find that I will not be the same either.<br /><br />Thank you, for all you have given.Emylee-Noel Gusslernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-82437987991784138172014-07-25T10:52:58.561-04:002014-07-25T10:52:58.561-04:00The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles tops my list of ...The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles tops my list of 1940s novelsrogernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-21927119442976642242014-07-25T10:39:59.909-04:002014-07-25T10:39:59.909-04:00This post is a great idea well executed. Let me ad...This post is a great idea well executed. Let me add:<br />Graham Greene: The Heart of the Matter<br />Alejo Carpentier: The Kingdom of this World<br />Naguib Mahfouz: Midaq Alley<br />Dino Buzzati: The Tartar Steppe<br />Erns Junger: Heliopolis<br />Hermann Broch: The Death of Virgil<br />Robert Musil: The Man without Qualities (the final part of the book was published posthumously in 1943 by Musil's widow)<br />Jean Genet: Our Lady of the Flowers<br />Boris Vian: Froth on the Daydream<br />Antoine de Saint-Exupery: The Little PrinceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-18018331267951575382014-07-25T05:19:35.932-04:002014-07-25T05:19:35.932-04:00Six out of ten by English-speaking authors. A bit ...Six out of ten by English-speaking authors. A bit too anglocentric. I'd add "The Invention of Morel".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-27842957498542604902014-07-24T23:28:07.218-04:002014-07-24T23:28:07.218-04:00"And after all, who knows but that you might ..."And after all, who knows but that you might be the one, by your kindness and faith, to give us the strength to choose life in the face of death?"<br /><br />I've never met you, never will. In the way you've written about your dying, I'm more alive and my life is richer. Thank-you. Judithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00515313368190919011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-54886422095078722662014-07-22T21:05:40.081-04:002014-07-22T21:05:40.081-04:00There has always been so much to learn from your p...There has always been so much to learn from your postings here and elsewhere. And in this latest piece, more than ever. I will remember this post, including the experience of reading it, for a very long time, and I'm sure it will guide me. Susan Messerhttp://www.susanmesser.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-8330320696055274262014-07-22T17:37:35.864-04:002014-07-22T17:37:35.864-04:00I've been reading your blog for several years....I've been reading your blog for several years. Last Summer I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and assumed that I had only months left. Through my journey, you have been a model to me of how to confront a fatal illness—with intelligence, honesty and faith (similar to the words of De Vries). As it has turned out, I have done surprising well, and have a good chance of living years more (maybe many years). You continue to be teach and inspire me.Robert Glazierhttp://www.caringbridge.org/visit/robertglazier/journalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-39888142485137331182014-07-22T14:34:34.252-04:002014-07-22T14:34:34.252-04:00You have always been a wonderful teacher, and your...You have always been a wonderful teacher, and your students can attest to that absolute fact. Now, however, you have transcended the classroom. You have taught all of us something that we would never discover in a classroom: life is everything. Thank you.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-27276427398285087962014-07-22T12:44:23.339-04:002014-07-22T12:44:23.339-04:00Reading this I am put in mind of Peter De Vries. I...Reading this I am put in mind of Peter De Vries. In <i>The Blood of the Lamb</i>, the protagonist’s dying daughter leaves a note for him, discovered posthumously, in which she quotes one of his own essays back to him (there’s some missing context here, of course, but bear with): “Man has only his own two feet to stand on, his own human trinity to see him through: Reason, Courage, and Grace. And the first plus the second equals the third.”Rand Careagahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04993454654652802173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-23996509488715955812014-07-21T10:56:31.986-04:002014-07-21T10:56:31.986-04:00"I think I can speak for all of us (excluding..."I think I can speak for all of us (excluding a few dozen university deans and administrators) when I say that my life is better because of him."<br /><br />Absolutely.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13911136178523216577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-85083420513383139472014-07-20T11:57:26.962-04:002014-07-20T11:57:26.962-04:00Thank you for this review of The Yeshiva. I love t...Thank you for this review of The Yeshiva. I love this book. Chaim Grade is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. That his books have long been out of print and he unknown outside of a few speaks to the barren state of literature in the United States. Moral struggle isn't a popular or politically correct subject for people who believe their sexual activities should be subsidized by taxpayers. I also believe anti-Semitism is part of it. Dead white European Jewish males who write about dead European Jewish religion and culture are not only politically incorrect, they are much too challenging for people who no longer know how to think for themselves and are too lazy to care. Anyway your blog makes me think and for that I am grateful.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04976455817174894542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-10217576207359395592014-07-18T11:11:53.193-04:002014-07-18T11:11:53.193-04:00I would like to suggest "Doctor Faustus"...I would like to suggest "Doctor Faustus" by Thomas Mann. A dazzling tour de force if I may use a cliche. I have to admit, though, that the sections on music theory are a pretty tough haul. Frank Gibbonsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-35197919445701597532014-07-15T13:05:19.372-04:002014-07-15T13:05:19.372-04:00I loved The Bridge on the Drina. Elected to read i...I loved The Bridge on the Drina. Elected to read it during a college course on World Literature where we were allowed to read a ton of books from a region of our choice. I was 22 when I read it and was struck by how much "truth" I found in this book. It seemed really concerned with truth, which seemed new to me at the time. Beautiful, and I still think about it now and then.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-68963074946171735772014-07-15T01:59:35.266-04:002014-07-15T01:59:35.266-04:00Excellent choices, reflecting more consideration t...Excellent choices, reflecting more consideration that one usually sees in "best novel of ..." lists. Although I'd probably bump "All the King's Men" in favor of "Guard of Honor." Warren's prose didn't age well when I reread the book--the lyricism goes overboard and distracts from the politics. "Guard of Honor," on the other hand, gets better with age. I've yet to find another novel its equal at portraying the dramas that get created in the somewhat artificial environment of a workplace.editorhttp://www.neglectedbooks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-62664343402392593792014-07-14T20:00:15.417-04:002014-07-14T20:00:15.417-04:00Also Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata, 1948.Also <i>Snow Country</i> by Yasunari Kawabata, 1948.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-75711575347406430952014-07-14T19:56:00.526-04:002014-07-14T19:56:00.526-04:00The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, 1940.<i>The Heart is a Lonely Hunter</i>, 1940.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-88437050826534468882014-07-14T18:55:55.313-04:002014-07-14T18:55:55.313-04:00Your listicle includes a couple of foreign languag...Your listicle includes a couple of foreign language titles I hadn't heard of before - thanks. One 1940 book that certainly deserves a place in your list is The Master and Margarita, completed in 1940. It is an imaginative escape from a very dark place. The 40's had this distraction placed right at the beginning that kept people from dwelling on literary matters for several years. (Wasn't it Joyce who resented all the attention that the war got?) I wonder how different things would have been for literature if we'd just been allowed to drift on through the 40's in economic depression? It's probable nothing good would have come of it.BMCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-19115543812571651702014-07-14T17:44:36.368-04:002014-07-14T17:44:36.368-04:00I am surprised to find that I have read seven of t...I am surprised to find that I have read seven of the ten. Normally I find myself staring at such lists in dismay, wondering what I have wasted my time at instead of reading the the X best of X. I've even read two the honorable mentions. Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-85161052653274511782014-07-14T17:05:54.852-04:002014-07-14T17:05:54.852-04:00Having read almost no novels from the 1940s - abou...Having read almost no novels from the 1940s - about 20, including just five of the above - I will nevertheless suggest putting <i>Delta Wedding</i>, <i>Loving</i>, and <i>Titus Groan</i> in there somewhere.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-23649816206148839002014-07-14T15:00:34.580-04:002014-07-14T15:00:34.580-04:00Postscript: And your postings of lists seem to com...Postscript: And your postings of lists seem to come when I am "stuck between books" (which is a phrase you once used), so now I had my "syllabus" for my upcoming reading. Thank you, good sir.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-84546779263815452732014-07-14T14:58:16.326-04:002014-07-14T14:58:16.326-04:00I wonder if anyone has taken a look at novels writ...I wonder if anyone has taken a look at novels written during years of war versus those written during years of peace. Do thematic and stylistic singularities dominate certain years? In any case, as always when you offer such lists, I enjoy reading your comments.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-64196489924683265072014-07-06T14:19:23.611-04:002014-07-06T14:19:23.611-04:00I too condemn the murders of the innocent teenager...I too condemn the murders of the innocent teenagers. And I wonder if the Arab-Israeli conflicts will ever end. What are the solutions to the political and religious disagreements? I read much about the problems and the violence, but I cannot remember reading about solutions. R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-86921831320222527892014-06-30T23:18:34.229-04:002014-06-30T23:18:34.229-04:00The Mercy of Sickness before Death was so poignant...The Mercy of Sickness before Death was so poignant. I hope to one day get my hands on the finished book that perfectly written essay will wind up in, as I long to hold on to every last word. I never believed in luck until I was diagnosed with cancer at age twenty six. Luck, I believe Cicero said, is when preparation meets opportunity (although I hear people credit Oprah with the quote these days). I wasn't prepared for cancer, but I most certainly welcomed the opportunity to live fully. My eyes are open so wide, these days I find myself frightful of sleeping; for every extra hour spent in slumber is an hour I am disconnected to all that lives and breathes. Clearly this lack of sleep does not jive with my cognitive impairments or physical well being, but I have convinced my friends that I've taught myself to sleep effectively; that the chemo and mono-clonal antibodies and anesthesia from ten procedures left me bionic. Instead of challenging me or telling me otherwise, they stopped calling me Beth and started calling me Bethonic (it seems I've found plenty of the friends of whom you speak). Of the 64 friends I have buried to this beautifully tragic disease, I am reminded with each and every passing that life is for the living. So I press on in my travels through cancer land. Some days it rains here. But then, of course, I get to see rainbows.BPSilvermannoreply@blogger.com