In reviewing Jonathan Lethem‘s Dissident Gardens (“Leftists in Jeopardy“, New York Review of Books, April 2014), Michael Greenberg writes: Lethem’s impulse to display his knowingness, his “vernacular” expertise, as he calls it, his belief that “were’ surrounded by signs [and] our imperative is to ignore none of them engenders a narrative noise that drowns out theContinue reading “Cultural Associations Do Not Add Up”
Category Archives: Writing
Re-Reading Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’
I’m re-reading Cormac McCarthy‘s The Road in preparation for discussing it with my students next week. It has been an interesting experience. First, I am struck by how new the book seems on this second reading. I read it first a year ago, and yet, its prose seems just as pristine. There is some familiarityContinue reading “Re-Reading Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’”
Chronicle Of A Cryptic Reminder
Sometimes I scribble little notes to myself–mostly on pieces of paper, but increasingly, on a little electronic notepad on my smartphone. Sometimes they are prompted by observations while walking, sometimes by a passage read in a book, sometimes by a scene in a movie. Sometimes they make sense when I return to them a littleContinue reading “Chronicle Of A Cryptic Reminder”
Twitter’s Design And The Deadly Sin Of Task Modification
Over at Slate, David Auerbach has an excellent analysis of how the interface of a social networking tool–in this case, Twitter–can severely degrade the discourse it is supposed to to be facilitating: Twitter’s founders initially formulated it as a broadcast tool to publish announcements to your friends and to the world, and to that extentContinue reading “Twitter’s Design And The Deadly Sin Of Task Modification”
Jose Saramago’s Blindness, And Its Many Visions
Jose Saramago‘s Blindness is a very funny and a very sad book. It is a very sad book because it is about a cataclysmic event–an outbreak of blindness in an unspecified place and time–and the breakdown of social and moral order that follows; it is very funny because this apocalypse of sorts provides an opportunity for theContinue reading “Jose Saramago’s Blindness, And Its Many Visions”
Beyonce And The Singularity
A couple of decades ago, I strolled through Washington Square Park on a warm summer night, idly observing the usual hustle and bustle of students, tourists, drunks, buskers, hustlers, stand-up comedians, and sadly, folks selling oregano instead of good-to-honest weed. As I did so, I noticed a young man, holding up flyers and yelling, ‘LegalizeContinue reading “Beyonce And The Singularity”
At The Allrounder: Being A Mets And Yankees Fan
This past April, in noting the online debut of a new sports journal, The Allrounder, I noted its self-description: The Allrounder will be distinct from existing sports media sites in covering the whole world of sport. The site will feature writers from different countries, whose expertise ranges from basketball, cricket, and hockey to all codesContinue reading “At The Allrounder: Being A Mets And Yankees Fan”
Writing In The Cordon
As I note on my ‘About‘ and ‘Miscellaneous Writings‘ pages, I blog on cricket at ESPN-Cricinfo’s The Cordon. (My fellow Cordonistas are quite an illustrious bunch: they include Nicholas Hogg, Jonathan Wilson, Jon Hotten.) A link to all my posts there is available on my ‘Miscellaneous Writings‘ page. I have not thus far provided linksContinue reading “Writing In The Cordon”
An Epistolary Relationship For The Ages
Shortly after I finished high-school I bade goodbye to a good friend. He was headed to the United Kingdom, to join his father–he had taken up a job with a civil engineering firm. My friend would, so to speak, ‘repeat’ high school; he would take his A-levels and then seek university admission. I was sadContinue reading “An Epistolary Relationship For The Ages”
On A Minor Fast
I went on a little fast today. It lasted seven hours. But before you snicker at my pompous announcement of insignificant renunciation, do consider that I did not give up food or drink for that length of time. (Indeed, I made myself a four-egg omelette in that period and ate it with gusto.) Rather, IContinue reading “On A Minor Fast”
Samir Chopra 