Yesterday’s post was about death, and how it surrounds us, while being invisible. Today’s is about how life surrounds us too, all the while visible, and yet, somehow, for all that, all too easily ignored. Once, on a hike in the Indian Garhwal with my brother, I headed back downhill to our camp after badContinue reading “The Visible but Ignored Life Around Us”
Tag Archives: death
The Hidden Death Around Us
Approximately 150 people die every day in New York City; the three most common causes are heart disease, cancer, and influenza/pneumonia. I’ve lived in New York City for almost twenty years now, so a rough calculation tells me that in the time I’ve lived here, more than a million New Yorkers have passed away. I’ve seenContinue reading “The Hidden Death Around Us”
Social Media From Beyond the Grave
Charles Simic describes an ingenious and profitable aspiration for immortality: [The] poet Mark Strand…told me excitedly one day that he had invented a new kind of gravestone that….would include…a slot where a coin could be inserted, that would activate a tape machine built into it, and play the deceased’s favorite songs, jokes…whatever else they findContinue reading “Social Media From Beyond the Grave”
Walter White’s Rage Against The Dying Light
Ross Douthat ponders the question of what makes Walter White the target of such sympathy–and perhaps even affection– even as it became clear that his criminality and amorality had run amuck: The allure for Team Walt is not ultimately the pull of nihilism, or the harmless thrill of rooting for a supervillain. It’s the pullContinue reading “Walter White’s Rage Against The Dying Light”
The Masterpiece Too Horrible To Recommend: Francine Prose on Haneke’s Amour
Francine Prose–(what an excellent last name!)–titles her review of Michael Haneke‘s Amour ‘A Masterpiece You Might Not Want to See’, (New York Review of Books Blog, 7 January 2013) and begins with the following: Michael Haneke’s Amour is the ultimate horror film. With its portrayal of the shocks, the cruelties and indignities to which old age and disease subjectContinue reading “The Masterpiece Too Horrible To Recommend: Francine Prose on Haneke’s Amour”
Man as Matter: On Seeing A Headless Corpse
Some thirty or so years ago, I saw a human body without a head. I was then on summer vacation, visiting family in Central India, and one day, plans were announced to attend a wedding taking place in a neighboring small town. My aunt and cousins would leave by the morning local train; my uncle, myContinue reading “Man as Matter: On Seeing A Headless Corpse”
Samir Chopra 