Category Archives: Writing

“We are all living in Orwell’s world now”

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“We are all living in Orwell’s world now” – The New York Times, 29 March The Orwell Festival is returning to Bloomsbury, London, this month with an interesting line-up of events exploring some of the urgent themes and questions arising from … Continue reading →

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Heaven and Hell

Posted on April 30, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“Report on Heaven and Hell” by Silvina Ocampo translation by Edith Grossman Heaven and Hell, like the great auction galleries, have heaps of objects accumulated in their passageways, objects that will not surprise anyone because they are the same things … Continue reading →

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The Boat

Posted on April 29, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“The Boat” by Robert Walser translated by Tom Whalen I think I’ve written this scene before, but I’ll write it once again. In a boat, midway upon the lake, sit a man and woman. High above in the dark sky … Continue reading →

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We nearly missed it

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

April is National Poetry Month. Waka, or Japanese poetry, flourished in the court culture of the 6th to the 14th century in Japan. One of the well-known waka poets of this period was Ono no Komachi (小野 小町, c. 825 … Continue reading →

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Found in translation

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I am usually ambivalent about literary prizes, although like a good hypocrite I mine the lists for reading suggestions. Somehow I missed the announcement for this year’s International Booker Prize and was surprised to discover that I had read three … Continue reading →

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Tout le monde aime la Tour Eiffel

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I’m always chuffed to run across a copy book that I sold many years ago in a random blog post. in this case, the book in question is Les Tours Eiffel de Robert Delaunay : poèmes inédits / [Guillaume] Apollinaire. … Continue reading →

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Reading is a means of listening

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Reading is not as passive as hearing or viewing. It’s an act: you do it. You read at your pace, your own speed, not the ceaseless, incoherent, gabbling, shouting rush of the media. You take in what you can and … Continue reading →

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Franz Kafka once called his writing a form of prayer.

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“Not His Best” by Joy Williams from 99 Stories of God Franz Kafka once called his writing a form of prayer. He also reprimanded the long-suffering Felice Bauer in a letter: “I did not say that writing ought to make everything … Continue reading →

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Beyond Gravity’s Rainbow

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Last week, Penguin Random House announced a new novel from Thomas Pynchon. The novel, his first in a decade, is called Shadow Ticket and is set to publish on 7 Oct. 2025. PRH’s copy:   Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going … Continue reading →

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“Trimalchio in West Egg.”

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

It seems a bit incredible that F. Scott Fitzgerald originally titled the great American novel “Trimalchio in West Egg.”But in the end he called it “The Great Gatsby” and it remains one of the 20th century’s most read and beloved … Continue reading →

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