‘Work’ is a four-letter word, variously used to describe an activity for which a bewildering array of pejorative adjectives have been deployed over the years. Slogans abound, on bumper sticker and office cubicle alike: we’re working for the weekend; thank God it’s Friday; a bad day fishing is better than a good day working; andContinue reading “Work Ain’t Working For Us (And Hasn’t Been)”
Tag Archives: repetition compulsion
Naguib Mahfouz On Forgetting And Habit
In Naguib Mahfouz‘s Autumn Quail, Isa, the corrupt bureaucrat whose long, slow, and painful decline after a purge following the 1952 revolution in Egypt the novel tracks, brings back Riri, a woman of the night, to his home. The next day, He woke up about noon and looked with curiosity at the naked girl sleepingContinue reading “Naguib Mahfouz On Forgetting And Habit”
Why You Hate Work (And Will Continue To)
Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath tell us why we hate work. (“Why You Hate Work“, New York Times, May 30, 2014; the “You” in their title article is less inclusive than it appears, for the primary focus of their study is white-collar workers. Still, perhaps there are lessons here to be learned by all.) TheirContinue reading “Why You Hate Work (And Will Continue To)”
The Coven’s Vision of Hell and ‘Repetition Compulsion’
American Horror Story‘s third season, The Coven, ended last night. The show as a whole did not quite meet my expectations–a critique echoed here and here; but still, for various reasons, I quite enjoyed the season’s finale. Among them was it’s take on hell: each of us has our own private one. Misty, the “swamp-dwelling,Continue reading “The Coven’s Vision of Hell and ‘Repetition Compulsion’”
Samir Chopra 