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Why Reading Arthur C. Clarke is like Going to Church
Thursday April 3, 2008
I think Reihan Salam is correct in dubbing the novels of the late Arthur C. Clarke “devotionals,” and his characters are indeed “wooden,” though that doesn’t take anything away from Clarke’s beguiling and seemingly unbounded imagination. This past summer, on whim, I picked up Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and thought it an impressive feat....
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Further Thoughts on Paul Scofield
Wednesday April 2, 2008
In the recent flurry of notable deaths – including film director Anthony Minghella, Chiara Lubich, who founded the lay ecclesial movement, Focolare, and novelist Jon Hassler—I, like Greg Wolfe, took special note of the passing of actor Paul Scofield. Years ago, I did time on the stage, first in school and then in an amateur acting company. I knew a little of Scofield’s reputation in the theater....
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Truth and Memory
Tuesday April 1, 2008
Recently, there has been some interesting and important discussion in this blog about the latest creative nonfiction debacle concerning “Margaret B. Jones,” aka Margaret Seltzer, who wrote about an imagined LA gang life. She was in fact, a rather young, nondescript suburbanite. I had read about Jones/Seltzer in the New York Times “House and Home” section a couple of days before the scandal broke; I remember thinking there was something off about her.
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Waiting for Godot in New Orleans
Monday March 31, 2008
When a production of a classic play gets reported by Yahoo News, NPR, The New York Times, and the Seattle Times (off the AP wire), you know something powerful is going on. And so it was with the Classical Theater of Harlem’s performance of Waiting for Godot in New Orleans last November.
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An Actor for All Seasons
Friday March 28, 2008
Other bloggers here at Good Letters seem to be establishing various narrative arcs—about music, fiction, etc. Well, it seems that I’m specializing in obituaries, this being my third in a row. Perhaps it’s my age, but in recent weeks I’ve felt the loss of several greats. Today I celebrate the great British actor, Paul Scofield, who passed away at age 86 a few days ago....
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Issue 57
The sculpture of Richard Serra, Franz Wright on the Gospels, interview with Ron Hansen, fiction by Pinckney Benedict
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