E.C. Walsh Blogsphere

On a Churchill quote and Brett Easton Ellis

“Never give in; never give in; never, never, never, never, never–in nothing great or small, large or petty–never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” –Winston Churchill. Endurance matters in life. Environments can be hostile, and sometimes you just have to keep going. Some people are also just evil, morally wrong, or horribly stupid, frankly.

A few more comments on Brett Easton Ellis’ memoir/essay collection called White, referenced in a blog last year. I know he is controversial for the graphic nature of his writing, but I think Less than Zero was very impressive as a novel from a 19-year-old. I have read some of his other fiction and thought it was good in a cutting-edge, cynical, and modern way. I also spoke to him briefly at a book signing in D.C. a few years back.

Speaking of his controversial novel American Psycho, he says the first chapter titled “April Fools,” “hints that what one is about to read isn’t exactly reliable narrative, that maybe it’s all a dream, the collective sensibility of consumerist yuppie culture seen through the eyes of a deranged sociopath with a tenuous grip on reality.” He considered the novel the outcome of a surreal time in his life in the late 1980s. Ellis said at the book reading I attended that he did not especially like the movie version of this novel. I disagree. I have read the novel, and think the movie also conveys the sense that it is unclear whether Patrick Bateman, the eponymous psycho narrating the book, is actually committing his violent atrocities or just dreaming them up. The ending of the movie is especially effective about this ambiguity, in my opinion, and Christian Bale was well-cast as the main character.

A few more thoughts on The Great Gatsby

I mentioned to a priest when younger that while I think The Bible is a great book, I prefer to analyze non-biblical literature.

I think Fitzgerald’s novel is about a sinner who has a tragic ending. We all have sins, so it is understandable.

“Gatsby bought that house so Daisy would be just across the bay.” “And he wants to know if you’ll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon let him come over?”

In a way, the novel is about stalking. Daisy seems to want to talk to Gatsby again, but she is married to another man. I had a student write in an essay that Romeo in Romeo and Juliet is a stalker, and she had a point because Juliet does resist Romeo at first. I had always thought of her unwillingness at first as normal romantic back-and-forth.

Some more thoughts on Frank Miller’s work and a stupid–but at least brief–poem

Reading a bit more of Miller’s Batman: Year One.  I think Miller has a good sense of the aesthetics of violence. I am not a film specialist, but I think film critics said Sam Peckinpah’s movies were similar.

There is a kind of eroticism to some violence. They taught us when I was young that good sex between a man and a woman needs a certain amount of friction. I think the basic tendency to other kinds of violence is similar. Jane’s Addiction has a song called “Sex is Violent.” There is a link between the two, even though we think of romantic love as only being gentle. Freud said the two driving factors in human life are eros and thanatos, the will to life and the desire for death; I think even wanting to fight is in a way a kind of eros.

Some lines from Miller’s graphic novel: “They did just enough to keep me out of the hospital… ‘Detective Flass?  He’s off duty, Lieutenant, probably at the poker party over Chute’s. With the guys.’ …can’t let Barbara see me like this…”

And another weird poem.

“Oh Man” by yours truly

Oh no! Mr. Man again.

He has a plan to invade Afghanistan again.

Well, he may. And, he can again.

Out of the fire, and into the pan… again.

 

“Pun Therapy (Keeps Going On)” by yours truly

“You again are here? Are you some kind of pun-strosity?!”

“A pun may be all I’ll be.”

“I want to pun-ch you in the face now.”

“That would be pun-ishing. You might be put in a pun cell for it. That could be pun-ful. Be careful.”

“You think you are pun-fully funny?”

“Pun is more fun than being a nun.”

“We, sir, are done. Run!”

“Oh no! Someone spiked the pun-ch. The door is locked again. Please, for the sake of pun, let me out!”

This is just the planned back-cover description of the book I want to publish this summer.

Nugae Venales means “jokes for sale” in Latin.  It was the title of a 17^th-century collection of jokes and paradoxes by Richard Head.  This book was inspired by that one but is not entirely humorous.  Many of the brief essays and poems are meant to be taken seriously.

There is a complex relationship between pain and humor.  Some say humor is merely a defense mechanism; I disagree.  Some also suspect comedians are just angry.  Some seem to be, but more often they are just very nervous and sensitive.

This book is designed in five chapters that recount daily musings of the author going mainly backward in time across most of slightly more than a year.  It is a sort of companion piece to The Book of Irish Bulls, a work of literary analysis I published last year.  There are reflections in this book on art, society, and a bit of politics in the brief essays.  The short original poems are sometimes silly and sometimes bitter.  There are signs of resentment about what authorities did in 2020 and 2021.  Respect should be earned, not simply expected.

More devilish definitions from Ambrose Bierce (note: I hope all my readers understand I am being ironic referring to the devil; it is just meant as the notion of things defined, sometimes humorously, as contrary to literalism, received wisdom, and sincerity):

“Optimist, n.  A proponent of the doctrine that black is white. A pessimist applied to God for relief. “Ah, you wish to restore your hope and cheerfulness,” said God. ‘No,’ replied the petitioner, ‘I wish you to create something that would justify them.’ ‘The world is all created,’ said God, ‘but you have overlooked something–the mortality of the optimist.'”

Thoughts: this entry deals with hope, futility, and mortality. My Mom told me when I was having a difficult time as a late-adolescent: “life is a gift.” Yes, every day is a blessing.

“Oratory, n.  A conspiracy between speech and action to the understanding. A tyranny tempered by stenography.”

Thoughts: this entry deals with hollow and deceptive rhetoric many associate with public officials. Reporters of what is being said can moderate, regulate, and question official pronouncements. See George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language.”

“Ordinary, n.  Common; customary. In the Southwestern States of the Union this word is pronounced ornery and means ugly–a striking testimony to the prevalence of the disagreeable.”

Thought: as mentioned in a past blog, Bierce was a military hero who had a tragic family life. So his cynicism is understandable.

“Orthodox, n.  An ox wearing the popular religious yoke.”

Thoughts: I am a non-devout Catholic who has had experience with devout and conservative ones, so I sympathize with this definition. It is ironic that some of the most homicidal people in history have identified as deeply religious: the 9/11 terrorists, John Lennon’s murderer, abortion-doctor murderers. In some ways Karl Marx was right that religion can be “the opiate of the masses.”

On tedium

I am organizing some of my writing into a book manuscript now. It can be very tedious deleting unnecessary words from copy-and-paste, and it can be a bit embarrassing to see some of the things you have written that you would never want anyone to see again.

I am only trying to publish things that are not embarrassing to me, but a lot of it has to do with jokes. And they can often be embarrassing. At some point, if you are trying to be funny, you have to stop caring about embarrassing yourself a bit.

I have also posted some angry things on social media over the past year and am trying to leave them out. I am also trying to leave out political comments from the book. But some of it will contain brief, serious essays and serious, brief poems. I hope someone else will read it and maybe enjoy it. It will likely be out this summer.

Thoughts on a quote and police brutality

“Chaos Theory’s ‘butterfly effect’ states that a butterfly flapping its wings in Asia may cause a hurricane halfway around the world.” I had heard this before but previously thought it rather fey and trite. But it does seem to describe the impact of the Covid-19 virus. The repercussions of the virus that originated in China have been huge around the world. I think most of the damage has been from the human error of government officials and out-of-control doctors.

On another issue, a few comments on the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed George Floyd. His defense attorney says Floyd had a heart problem and illegal drugs that led to his death. I disagree. The video makes it rather clear that Chauvin brutalized Floyd. I don’t think Chauvin was trying to kill him, but he did.

Police should not even touch suspects unless there is clear and present threat of physical violence from them or they have been violent already. Even putting handcuffs on a person can be a form of physical torture. I have respect for most police, but some of them are Sadists and liars. Police academies need to do better screening recruits for psychological problems.

A few more comments on The Great Gatsby

Some people think this the best U.S. novel. I mentioned to someone recently that “best” is always a matter of opinion. But I think the novel is an excellent exploration of what motivates people, especially ambitious men. The language is also fine. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel was actually more popular during his life. I think it is interesting that so many great people like Fitzgerald, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerburg never actually graduated from college. I suppose if you trust your own intelligence enough, you don’t need a university degree.

The narrator says of Gatsby that he was “a person of some undefined consequence [who] had gradually faded and he became the proprietor of an elaborate roadhouse next door… ‘Look here, old sport. What’s your opinion of me, anyhow?’ (Gatsby asks) A little overwhelmed. I began the general evasions which that question deserves… ” Gatsby goes on to recount his escapades overseas, where he unsuccessfully tried to get killed in World War I and elsewhere because he had lost his youthful romance. The narrator remarks, “My incredulity was submerged in fascination now; it was like skimming through a dozen magazines.”

I heard it said once that the narrator of the novel is homosexually attracted to Gatsby. I don’t know about that. I think he is enchanted by the romance and tragedy of Gatsby’s life. The recent Baz Lurhmann film adaptation of the novel expresses this. In the latest movie version, the main plot is framed by the narrator being in an insane asylum and recounting what happened to a doctor. That is not in the novel.

 

More on Stephen King’s The Institute

Some thoughts on part of King’s recent novel. Here are some quotes from it.

“It was ludicrous, but Luke supposed it also made a crazy kind of sense. He thought of the Roman satirist, Juvenal, who had said that if you gave the people bread and circuses, they’d be happy and not cause any trouble. He guessed the same might be true of booze and cigarettes, especially if you offered them to scared and unhappy kids who were locked up.”

This is from the Wikipedia entry for the above-referenced Juvenal:

He “was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century AD. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the Satires… Juvenal wrote at least 16 poems in the verse form dactylic hexameter… The Satires are a vital source for the study of ancient Rome from a number of perspectives, although their comic mode of expression makes it problematic to accept the content as strictly factual. At first glance the Satires could be read as a critique of pagan Rome.”

Well, satire can be an effective way of fighting against authority, and of course the Roman Empire did eventually collapse. How much satire had to do with it is an open question. I think the point of the excerpt from the recent King novel is that institutions trying to improve the behavior of the individuals they forcibly incarcerate can actually cause trauma, anxiety, and addiction instead. I think it is true.