Other Inquisitions 1937-1952 by Jorge Louis Borges, read and reviewed by N.H.V.V.

It's a series of essays on writers like de Quincy, Chesterton, Stevenson, Oscar Wild and others. At age 24 Borges went blind, as his father had, and he said: "After that, all the world was in my head, and I could see better because I could see all my dreams clearly." His other great book is called Labyrinths, in which there's a story called Funes Memorius and also a story about a man who invents Servantes's great novel Don Quixote word for word, never having read it. And also there's one called The Garden of Forked Paths and then one called The Draghtman's Contract, and that was made into a movie by Peter Greenway; it was one of the most modernistic movies ever made by anybody! Borges is right up there with Joyce and Beckett as far as experimental, innovative literature, written in our time: A must read! Borges worked at the National Library in Buenes Aires, and when Peron took power in Argentina, Borges lost his job. He came to Harvard in the 60's to give the Eliot Norton Lectures, a great honor to Harvard. Copyright 2011 by Nicholas Van Vactor

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The Socratic Dialoges, written by Plato, read and reviewed by N.H.V.V.

Alright so Apology is full of Socrates's refutation of false accusations against him based on hearsay and a lot of other false evidence against him. He is acting as his own lawyer without council. He obviously is not successful in his own self-defense, because the verdict delivered against him is as guilty, and he is sentenced to be executed and then drinks hemlock to commit suicide; to teach Athenians a lesson: that they allowed an egregious injustice to take place and it's a bad mark on the history of Athenian justice, which persist to this day... The reason that he doesn't flee with his friend to Thesaly is that he feels he has an obligation to obey the laws of the city state and why obligation? He fears against foreign aggressors. In other words, he feels that one would destroy the city state if one refused to obey their laws and refuse to go by the verdict of the courts, because Athens has not only educated him as a child but also provided and continues to maintain a military to protect him and all other Athenian citizens against foreign aggression. There has been an irrational tendency to see a parallel between the unjust condemnation of Sorates and the prosecution of Jesus by Pilot. Copyright 2011, by Nicholas Van Vactor

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The Socratic Dialoges, written by Plato, read and reviewed by N.H.V.V.

This one called Crito, the friend of Socrates has come to the prison to try to talk Socrates into fleeing with him to Thesaly where he says his friends there will make sure he's safe, and that he's sure the authorities who have ordered him to be executed will be glad that he is gone from Athens. The dialogue that follows is the argument that Socrates gives, making the case against fleeing with Crito who has apparently bribed the guards; the dialogue that follows Crito is called Apology. And I will report on that some other day. Copyright 2011, by Nicholas Van Vactor

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DISGRACE, a novel by J.M. Coetzee, read and reviewed by N.H.V.V.

It's a story about a divorced professor of romantic poetry at a South African university who at first frequents whores. When his favorite prostitute is no longer available, he has a little love affair with one of his students. She's not doing very well in his class, and he gives her a 70, which she really doesn't deserve. She's thinking of dropping out of school. She tells her former boyfriend and parents about the love affair. The administration of the university threatens to fire him unless he makes a sincere apology for what he has done. The story goes to prove that it's morally better to pay a prostitute for sex than to get it from a pupil. This book is a well written novel by a Nobel Prize winner, which makes one wonder, why he wanted to write it. I might say that, maybe the author thought that he'd make enough money because of his reputation as a novelist to pay for his mediocre sex habits. Not wanting to be snide, I can say, I was grateful to have a novel to read today as entertaining and well-written as this one. Copyright 2011, by Nicholas Van Vactor

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TWO LIVES by William Trevor, read and reviewed by N.H.V.V.

It's hard to read. It has to do with mundane events: Working in a dry goods store that specializes in various kinds of fabric. The woman, whose name is Marry Louise, is married to the owner of the store, but he's taken to drink, and on their wedding night, he goes to sleep; and the marriage is never consummated. His spinster sisters torment her, and you see her disintegrate over the course of the novel. The only touching moment is when Marry Louise goes to see her cousin whom she'd always fancied. He's a cripple whose only pleasure in life is setting up historical battles with toy soldiers and reading Turgeniev. She declares her love for him, but he soon dies. When she returns home, she ends up spending most of her time in the attic, and she refuses to say what she does up there when asked. We can guess that she's looking at photos of her cousin whom she loves. The book is sensitively written and received reviews full of praise which do not correspond to my experience of the book, which I found depressing and lacking in event. I was disappointed because I had read stories by this author which I thought were brilliant. There are some things that never should be published. Copyright 2011, by Nicholas Van Vactor.

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A LIFE OF PICASSO The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932, by John Richardson; read and reviewed by N.H.V.V.

It's mostly about his relationship to a Russian ballerina named Olga who he married, and who was sick a lot; and from whom he gradually moved away from, as he got involved with other women. Very well written. It gives a great picture of one of Picasso's most productive periods while he was commissioned to do a huge body of work for the Russian ballet. Mainly it made me jealous because he was having such a good time, and that he was such a successful artist. Copyright 2011, by Nicholas H. Van Vactor.

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