Greg Kindall
@gregkindall.bsky.social
non ridere, non lugere, neque detestari, sed intelligere
I read The Dream of Scipio, by Iain Pears (2002). Three layered stories of keeping civilizational ruin at bay, from Rome's 5th century collapse, the 14th century Black Plague, and France's surrender in WWII. Love, honor, beauty, and memory weigh heavily, but with compounding and fatal compromises.
September 17, 2026 at 6:52 PM
I read The Dream of Scipio, by Iain Pears (2002). Three layered stories of keeping civilizational ruin at bay, from Rome's 5th century collapse, the 14th century Black Plague, and France's surrender in WWII. Love, honor, beauty, and memory weigh heavily, but with compounding and fatal compromises.
I read the opening trilogy of The Book of Questions, by Edmond Jabès.
There is a story here, a Holocaust story, but as Jabès called it, a “récit éclaté” (exploded story): it's a mosaic of aphorisms, dialogues, poems, songs, journal fragments, letters, and commentaries.
There is a story here, a Holocaust story, but as Jabès called it, a “récit éclaté” (exploded story): it's a mosaic of aphorisms, dialogues, poems, songs, journal fragments, letters, and commentaries.
September 10, 2026 at 5:07 PM
I read the opening trilogy of The Book of Questions, by Edmond Jabès.
There is a story here, a Holocaust story, but as Jabès called it, a “récit éclaté” (exploded story): it's a mosaic of aphorisms, dialogues, poems, songs, journal fragments, letters, and commentaries.
There is a story here, a Holocaust story, but as Jabès called it, a “récit éclaté” (exploded story): it's a mosaic of aphorisms, dialogues, poems, songs, journal fragments, letters, and commentaries.
Chivers' Marmalade was on the breakfast table this morning, so somehow I ended up watching this 1930 documentary on Chivers and Sons, all 95 mins of it.
It's silent -- I put on Parry & Stanford's Nonets (Capricorn Ensemble, Hyperion, 1989), a perfect accompaniment.
eafa.org.uk/work/?id=1924
It's silent -- I put on Parry & Stanford's Nonets (Capricorn Ensemble, Hyperion, 1989), a perfect accompaniment.
eafa.org.uk/work/?id=1924
Work - East Anglian Film Archive
East Anglian Film Archive
eafa.org.uk
September 6, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Chivers' Marmalade was on the breakfast table this morning, so somehow I ended up watching this 1930 documentary on Chivers and Sons, all 95 mins of it.
It's silent -- I put on Parry & Stanford's Nonets (Capricorn Ensemble, Hyperion, 1989), a perfect accompaniment.
eafa.org.uk/work/?id=1924
It's silent -- I put on Parry & Stanford's Nonets (Capricorn Ensemble, Hyperion, 1989), a perfect accompaniment.
eafa.org.uk/work/?id=1924
I read Exultations, by Ezra Pound (1909). Got my fill of half-baked Swinburne, pale moonbeams and ruddy dawns, dew-misted rose petals and lutes a-plucking.
archive.org/details/exul...
archive.org/details/exul...
Exultations. [Poems]
Gallup
archive.org
September 4, 2026 at 7:15 PM
I read Exultations, by Ezra Pound (1909). Got my fill of half-baked Swinburne, pale moonbeams and ruddy dawns, dew-misted rose petals and lutes a-plucking.
archive.org/details/exul...
archive.org/details/exul...
if your thing is 'Terrors of Ice and Darkness' or 'tightly wound Danish Lutheran pastor sets off for remote Icelandic village to build a church and take photographs' this one's for you...
Godland / Vanskabte Land / Volaða land (2022)
trailer:
youtu.be/ABOyY8LzT3w
Godland / Vanskabte Land / Volaða land (2022)
trailer:
youtu.be/ABOyY8LzT3w
GODLAND - HD Trailer
YouTube video by JANUS
youtu.be
September 2, 2026 at 7:16 PM
if your thing is 'Terrors of Ice and Darkness' or 'tightly wound Danish Lutheran pastor sets off for remote Icelandic village to build a church and take photographs' this one's for you...
Godland / Vanskabte Land / Volaða land (2022)
trailer:
youtu.be/ABOyY8LzT3w
Godland / Vanskabte Land / Volaða land (2022)
trailer:
youtu.be/ABOyY8LzT3w
I read The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare (ca.1590-92).
As always, a lot of fun, if the War of the Sexes doesn't put you out of countenance.
As always, a lot of fun, if the War of the Sexes doesn't put you out of countenance.
August 31, 2026 at 7:30 PM
I read The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare (ca.1590-92).
As always, a lot of fun, if the War of the Sexes doesn't put you out of countenance.
As always, a lot of fun, if the War of the Sexes doesn't put you out of countenance.
I read The Sufferings of Young Werther, by J. W. von Goethe (1774).
In its time it caused a mania for blue frock coats with yellow waistcoats & knee-breeches, and triggered a rash of suicides.
The German Library reprints Bayard Quincy Morgan's 1957 translation, with a Thomas Mann introduction.
In its time it caused a mania for blue frock coats with yellow waistcoats & knee-breeches, and triggered a rash of suicides.
The German Library reprints Bayard Quincy Morgan's 1957 translation, with a Thomas Mann introduction.
August 29, 2026 at 6:37 PM
I read The Sufferings of Young Werther, by J. W. von Goethe (1774).
In its time it caused a mania for blue frock coats with yellow waistcoats & knee-breeches, and triggered a rash of suicides.
The German Library reprints Bayard Quincy Morgan's 1957 translation, with a Thomas Mann introduction.
In its time it caused a mania for blue frock coats with yellow waistcoats & knee-breeches, and triggered a rash of suicides.
The German Library reprints Bayard Quincy Morgan's 1957 translation, with a Thomas Mann introduction.
I read Light While There is Light: An American History, by Keith Waldrop (1993), a memoir of the family in which he grew up, a family that could never be quite conventional.
I could not put the book down.
Recently reprinted by NYRB Classics.
I could not put the book down.
Recently reprinted by NYRB Classics.
August 25, 2026 at 6:27 PM
I read Light While There is Light: An American History, by Keith Waldrop (1993), a memoir of the family in which he grew up, a family that could never be quite conventional.
I could not put the book down.
Recently reprinted by NYRB Classics.
I could not put the book down.
Recently reprinted by NYRB Classics.
I read Range, by Dorthe Nors (in Graywolf's newly released translation by Caroline Waight).
The protagonist is an astrophysicist delving into the beginnings and scope of the universe. A proper sense of scale and measure in her own life is sometimes just beyond her grasp.
The protagonist is an astrophysicist delving into the beginnings and scope of the universe. A proper sense of scale and measure in her own life is sometimes just beyond her grasp.
August 24, 2026 at 4:57 PM
I read Range, by Dorthe Nors (in Graywolf's newly released translation by Caroline Waight).
The protagonist is an astrophysicist delving into the beginnings and scope of the universe. A proper sense of scale and measure in her own life is sometimes just beyond her grasp.
The protagonist is an astrophysicist delving into the beginnings and scope of the universe. A proper sense of scale and measure in her own life is sometimes just beyond her grasp.
I read Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans, by Louis Armstrong (1954), his account of his early years up to his move (age 22) from the Big Easy to the Chicago to join King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. The rough life amidst which he grew up was less than edifying, but his love of music led him up and away.
August 21, 2026 at 6:21 PM
I read Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans, by Louis Armstrong (1954), his account of his early years up to his move (age 22) from the Big Easy to the Chicago to join King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. The rough life amidst which he grew up was less than edifying, but his love of music led him up and away.
I read The Compleat Angler, by Izaak Walton (1653). Perfect for reading on the bank of a burbling stream, but I read it in my garden.
The last line is 'Study to be quiet.'
The last line is 'Study to be quiet.'
August 19, 2026 at 4:57 PM
I read The Compleat Angler, by Izaak Walton (1653). Perfect for reading on the bank of a burbling stream, but I read it in my garden.
The last line is 'Study to be quiet.'
The last line is 'Study to be quiet.'
I read Adolphe, by Benjamin Constant (1816). The young man falls in and out of love, but it's complicated.
A Melville House 2010 reprint of Carl Wildman's 1948 translation for its Art of the Novella series.
A Melville House 2010 reprint of Carl Wildman's 1948 translation for its Art of the Novella series.
August 17, 2026 at 6:05 PM
I read Adolphe, by Benjamin Constant (1816). The young man falls in and out of love, but it's complicated.
A Melville House 2010 reprint of Carl Wildman's 1948 translation for its Art of the Novella series.
A Melville House 2010 reprint of Carl Wildman's 1948 translation for its Art of the Novella series.
I read Imre, an early (first?) gay novella by Edward Prime-Stevenson (1906), just out in Oxford World's Classics.
Gay lit isn't in my usual orbit, but I gave it a shot as Stevenson is a cousin: his great-grandmother was a Raynor and so was mine, both from a family out of Southampton on Long Island.
Gay lit isn't in my usual orbit, but I gave it a shot as Stevenson is a cousin: his great-grandmother was a Raynor and so was mine, both from a family out of Southampton on Long Island.
August 13, 2026 at 6:11 PM
I read Imre, an early (first?) gay novella by Edward Prime-Stevenson (1906), just out in Oxford World's Classics.
Gay lit isn't in my usual orbit, but I gave it a shot as Stevenson is a cousin: his great-grandmother was a Raynor and so was mine, both from a family out of Southampton on Long Island.
Gay lit isn't in my usual orbit, but I gave it a shot as Stevenson is a cousin: his great-grandmother was a Raynor and so was mine, both from a family out of Southampton on Long Island.
I read Gaspard de la Nuit: Fantasies in the Manner of Rembrandt and Callot (1842), by Aloysius Bertrand (1807-1841). Wonderful prose poems; shouldn't there be a Penguin or Oxford World's Classic edition, given the influence on Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and their reincarnation in Ravel's piano suite?
August 12, 2026 at 6:16 PM
I read Gaspard de la Nuit: Fantasies in the Manner of Rembrandt and Callot (1842), by Aloysius Bertrand (1807-1841). Wonderful prose poems; shouldn't there be a Penguin or Oxford World's Classic edition, given the influence on Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and their reincarnation in Ravel's piano suite?
I read Götz von Berlichingen, by JW von Goethe (1773). Goethe's salvo against French classicism and his first blockbuster.
Found this serviceable 1965 translation by Charles E. Passage at the library.
Found this serviceable 1965 translation by Charles E. Passage at the library.
August 11, 2026 at 5:28 PM
I read Götz von Berlichingen, by JW von Goethe (1773). Goethe's salvo against French classicism and his first blockbuster.
Found this serviceable 1965 translation by Charles E. Passage at the library.
Found this serviceable 1965 translation by Charles E. Passage at the library.
I read Ten Colloquies, a selection of representative works from Erasmus's Colloquia (there are 61 of these in the Collected Works). What began as exercises for schoolboys developed by the 1530s into something akin to the dialogues of Lucian of Samosata.
August 10, 2026 at 6:17 PM
I read Ten Colloquies, a selection of representative works from Erasmus's Colloquia (there are 61 of these in the Collected Works). What began as exercises for schoolboys developed by the 1530s into something akin to the dialogues of Lucian of Samosata.
Happy birthday to Izaak Walton (botd in 1593). Almost 50 years since I last read this, and I think it's just the thing for the dog days.
Portrait:
James Inskipp (1790-1868), Izaak Walton, author of 'The Compleat Angler' (1831). Oil on canvas, 77cm x 63.5cm. Government Art Collection (London) #3209.
Portrait:
James Inskipp (1790-1868), Izaak Walton, author of 'The Compleat Angler' (1831). Oil on canvas, 77cm x 63.5cm. Government Art Collection (London) #3209.
August 9, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Happy birthday to Izaak Walton (botd in 1593). Almost 50 years since I last read this, and I think it's just the thing for the dog days.
Portrait:
James Inskipp (1790-1868), Izaak Walton, author of 'The Compleat Angler' (1831). Oil on canvas, 77cm x 63.5cm. Government Art Collection (London) #3209.
Portrait:
James Inskipp (1790-1868), Izaak Walton, author of 'The Compleat Angler' (1831). Oil on canvas, 77cm x 63.5cm. Government Art Collection (London) #3209.
I read Cicero's On Old Age, On Friendship, & On Divination [De Senectute, De Amicitia, De Divinatione], in William Armistead Falconer's 1923 translation for Loeb Classical Library. Divination was a bit tedious, but the other two were charming, at times even moving.
August 5, 2026 at 4:27 PM
I read Cicero's On Old Age, On Friendship, & On Divination [De Senectute, De Amicitia, De Divinatione], in William Armistead Falconer's 1923 translation for Loeb Classical Library. Divination was a bit tedious, but the other two were charming, at times even moving.
did not finish - just posting in case it saves someone the heartburn. Besides being print-on-demand, this gives every indication of being machine-translated, with no effort towards formatting or typesetting. The supplementary materials might well have been AI-generated.
August 4, 2026 at 4:06 PM
did not finish - just posting in case it saves someone the heartburn. Besides being print-on-demand, this gives every indication of being machine-translated, with no effort towards formatting or typesetting. The supplementary materials might well have been AI-generated.
I read Bad Nature, or With Elvis in Mexico, by Javier Marías (1996). Elvis famously filmed Fun in Acapulco without ever setting foot on location. Marías's counterfactual has a translator/language consultant get into serious trouble while hanging out with the star in Mexico.
July 31, 2026 at 5:36 PM
I read Bad Nature, or With Elvis in Mexico, by Javier Marías (1996). Elvis famously filmed Fun in Acapulco without ever setting foot on location. Marías's counterfactual has a translator/language consultant get into serious trouble while hanging out with the star in Mexico.
I read The Famous Magician, by César Aira (2013; 2022 translation by Chris Andrews for New Directions, in their silly 'Storybook' series).
Another fanciful daydream from the prolific Aira. I rarely rate his books more than 3/5 stars but keep coming back for more. Inexplicable.
Another fanciful daydream from the prolific Aira. I rarely rate his books more than 3/5 stars but keep coming back for more. Inexplicable.
July 30, 2026 at 6:11 PM
I read The Famous Magician, by César Aira (2013; 2022 translation by Chris Andrews for New Directions, in their silly 'Storybook' series).
Another fanciful daydream from the prolific Aira. I rarely rate his books more than 3/5 stars but keep coming back for more. Inexplicable.
Another fanciful daydream from the prolific Aira. I rarely rate his books more than 3/5 stars but keep coming back for more. Inexplicable.
I read Poetry as Enchantment, by Dana Gioia (2016), a plea for recovering the primacy of the joy and experience of poetry, and recalling that analysis and criticism are mere ancillary activities.
July 29, 2026 at 7:33 PM
I read Poetry as Enchantment, by Dana Gioia (2016), a plea for recovering the primacy of the joy and experience of poetry, and recalling that analysis and criticism are mere ancillary activities.
I read A Weakness for Almost Everything, by dilettante (architecture, filmmaking, publishing) and bon vivant Aldo Buzzi. "Notes on Life, Gastronomy, and Travel." An amuse-bouche for the pause between weightier tomes.
1999 translation by Ann Goldstein.
1999 translation by Ann Goldstein.
July 28, 2026 at 6:14 PM
I read A Weakness for Almost Everything, by dilettante (architecture, filmmaking, publishing) and bon vivant Aldo Buzzi. "Notes on Life, Gastronomy, and Travel." An amuse-bouche for the pause between weightier tomes.
1999 translation by Ann Goldstein.
1999 translation by Ann Goldstein.
I read 'O Pioneers!,' by Willa Cather (1913). Indomitable Swedish immigrant Alexandra Bergson tames the wild Nebraska prairie, but those she loves are not so easily mastered.
July 27, 2026 at 6:06 PM
I read 'O Pioneers!,' by Willa Cather (1913). Indomitable Swedish immigrant Alexandra Bergson tames the wild Nebraska prairie, but those she loves are not so easily mastered.
I read The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem. Interestingly, it runs in reverse chronology, from Golan Haji's 'The End of Days' (2017), to Aloysius Bertrand's 'Haarlem' (1842).
A prose poem is inherently an ambiguous thing, but each of these 200 diverse pieces could be an epitome of the genre.
A prose poem is inherently an ambiguous thing, but each of these 200 diverse pieces could be an epitome of the genre.
July 24, 2026 at 5:13 PM
I read The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem. Interestingly, it runs in reverse chronology, from Golan Haji's 'The End of Days' (2017), to Aloysius Bertrand's 'Haarlem' (1842).
A prose poem is inherently an ambiguous thing, but each of these 200 diverse pieces could be an epitome of the genre.
A prose poem is inherently an ambiguous thing, but each of these 200 diverse pieces could be an epitome of the genre.