TOTALITARIANISM, PERFECTION, AND OPPRESSION
Milan Kundera:
Totalitarianism is not only hell, but also the dream of paradise — the age-old dream of a world where everybody would live in harmony, united by a single common will and faith, without secrets from one another.
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
There are many examples of cruel injustices, often inflicted by people intent on personal gain, at the expense of others’ pain.
Read moreWHY WRITE AND WHY BLOG?
Why am I writing? And, if I’m writing, why post my writings on the web? These are questions I’ve pondered over the last year or so as I resisted the urge to try yet again to write a blog.
Read moreREADING (AND TRANSLATING) ONE’S PAST WRITINGS
Jhumpa Lahiri:
We write books in a fixed moment in time, in a specific phase of our consciousness and development.
SHARING A MICROBIOME
There’s a lot of talk about microbiome in the news these days. Fecal transplant, anyone? But it seems that one doesn’t have to go to that extreme to share one’s microbiome with another.
Read moreREADING IS ITS OWN REWARD
Virginia Woolf:
Yet who reads to bring about an end however desirable? Are there not some pursuits that we practise because they are good in themselves, and some pleasures that are final?