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Friday, February 13th, 2004
Don Quixote -- I am bogging down slightly on Chapter XXXIII, the story-within-a-story about Anselmo and Lotario. A footnote at the end of the previous chapter says Cervantes was criticized for including this story as it detracted from the flow and pacing of the story; I'm with the critics. This story reminds me a bit of the stories-within-a-story of the Decameron, which I found quite difficult to get through and not really that engaging. (Not to criticize Boccaccio -- people with far better taste than I have think he's the bee's knees -- I just had a hard time with it. Perhaps when I am older and more patient I will return to it and enjoy it.)
posted evening of February 13th, 2004: Respond
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I finished Nickeled and Dimed last night, what a wonderful book that is! It really opens up a world I don't see much of from day to day. The writing style is exceptionally up front and lucid; all Ehrenreich's cards are on the table. Bill said to me the other night that the book should be required reading in the run-up to the election. I agree completely.
posted afternoon of February 13th, 2004: Respond
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This weekend features: Friday the 13th; Valentine's Day; and President's Day! Seems like fertile ground...
posted morning of February 13th, 2004: Respond
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Tuesday, February 10th, 2004
A lovely evening tonight, I visited Gary and had a drink with him in Williamsburg, and then jetted on over to the Village where I met up with P-List friends Bill and Christine, plus Mark, whom I had never met before, and Sophia, who is in town from Lvov, doing Pynchon-related research. It was real pleasant talking with them -- I left with a smile and a spring in my step.
posted evening of February 10th, 2004: Respond
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Natasha of Pacific Views suggests, on this Electrolite thread, that Dean would make a good leader of the DNC if he does not win the nomination. I think this is an excellent idea. (Note -- I may have seen this idea before, probably at Daily Kos; but this is the first time it really registered with me, what a great idea it would be. Natasha does a nice job of explaining it.)
posted afternoon of February 10th, 2004: Respond
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Reading Nickeled and Dimed on the train this morning. I feel a lot of sympathy for Ms. Ehrenreich -- plus, she has a marvelous sense of humor. Some things it makes me think about: the summer I spent washing dishes (1987 or 88, I forget which); my own class consciousness and how it affects my relations with people around me; the relative ease of my current employment. I feel a bit guilty about having commandeered the book while Ellen is still reading it; but she is doing most of her reading at night, when I will be back home and it will be available for her.
posted morning of February 10th, 2004: Respond
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Monday, February 9th, 2004
I finished reading After the New Economy tonight -- I am glad to have read it and hope some salient points about finance (in particular) stay with me. I will give it to a friend tomorrow. And yes, I'm still reading Don Quixote, and enjoying it; I have just begun the fourth part, in which (I am guessing) the priest and the barber will return Señor Quexana to his home village and attempt to cure his mania.
posted evening of February 9th, 2004: Respond
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After the New Economy: This morning I started reading the chapter on Finance, which is so far equally engaging and thought-provoking, as the previous chapter. I am finding the second half of this book far stronger than the first half.
posted morning of February 9th, 2004: Respond
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Friday, February 6th, 2004
An idea I'm slowly working on vis-a-vis After the New Economy is along these lines: The arguments Henwood makes in favor of globalization seem quite similar to those made by conservative commentators at Crooked Timber, Semi-daily Journal, and Calpundit -- the three sites where I most consistently encounter conservative pro-globalization commentators. (This is a generalization and I need to go back and figure out what arguments I am talking about, and confirm that they are really employed by the commentators in question.) Why is it that they seem so much more trustworthy to me in this book? Part of it is obviously a question of authority -- Doug Henwood has more of it on this question than people I know only from the Blogosphere -- but the idea I'm working on is that when conservatives put forward rational arguments in favor of globalization, it has the sound to my ears of a siren's song. When Henwood praises globalization, he is simultaneously pointing up the many failings of our modern economy and presenting our current situation as a stage in evolution. My fear with conservatives is that the end point of their argument is "Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds" -- that change and progress toward equality are to be viewed with suspicion. This idea needs more development, it does not really hold water as presented here.
posted evening of February 6th, 2004: Respond
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Wednesday, February 4th, 2004
After the New Economy: I've gotten to the chapter on Globalization -- the information in this chapter is much more what I was expecting and hoping for from the book. He is not taking a position strongly in favor of or opposed to globalization, but instead is examining closely what the word actually means (or is used to mean) and how it ties in with historical capitalism, and how it plays out in the current economic scene. Plenty of stuff there to get me thinking!
posted evening of February 4th, 2004: Respond
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