In Stendhal‘s The Charterhouse of Parma, the Conte says to ‘our hero’ Fabrizio: A half brainless individual, but one who keeps his eyes open and day in day out acts with prudence, will often enjoy the pleasure of triumphing over men of imagination. It was by a foolish error of imagination that Napoleon was led toContinue reading “Do Sancho Panzas Trump Don Quixotes?”
Tag Archives: creativity
David Mitchell on Cloud Atlas’ Provenance: Good Writers are Good Magpies
David Mitchell‘s bestselling 2004 novel Cloud Atlas sold millions of copies, and garnered ample critical praise (I have mixed feelings about it). What I found most interesting about the novel was Mitchell’s recounting of its genesis: The germ of the opening (and closing) Adam Ewing narrative, about a notary crossing the Pacific in the 1850s, comesContinue reading “David Mitchell on Cloud Atlas’ Provenance: Good Writers are Good Magpies”
Goethe and Nietzsche on the Freedom Program
A couple of days ago, while whiling away my time on Twitter, distracted from writing, and possibly other, more “productive” activities, I noticed Corey Robin tweet: “What would Nietzsche say about the fact that I need the Freedom program to write about Nietzsche?” My glib reply: “I think he’d love the irony of it! YouContinue reading “Goethe and Nietzsche on the Freedom Program”
Samir Chopra 