Marianna Torgovnick
@mariannator.bsky.social
Writer, teacher, lover of NC, NYC, and all things books, movies, and culture.
The Fulbright people asked to remember my short time in Japan, which has led to a lifelong love and admiration for Japan, its population, and its customs. FB let me say more. Just noting here some rich and potent memories: Nagano, Kyoto, the Philosopher's Path, Hiroshima and its stunning museum.
July 31, 2026 at 3:28 PM
The Fulbright people asked to remember my short time in Japan, which has led to a lifelong love and admiration for Japan, its population, and its customs. FB let me say more. Just noting here some rich and potent memories: Nagano, Kyoto, the Philosopher's Path, Hiroshima and its stunning museum.
Spectacular sunsets warm the soul
July 27, 2026 at 11:02 PM
Spectacular sunsets warm the soul
Reposted by Marianna Torgovnick
I’m a snob who took Latin for five years, read the Odyssey on my own at 13, enjoyed the movie, and thought EW was spot on.
A movie can be both fun and facile; she acknowledges its upshots. People who think she’s too harsh need to watch better movies (or at least one of the stronger Nolan ones).
A movie can be both fun and facile; she acknowledges its upshots. People who think she’s too harsh need to watch better movies (or at least one of the stronger Nolan ones).
Yes. I've seen complaints that Wilson is too mean, given that Nolan plugged her translation and clearly cares about the arts. But there's lots to be said for her critical ruthlessness.
Let people enjoy things. Also let people critique things. There's room for both.
Let people enjoy things. Also let people critique things. There's room for both.
I enjoyed the movie, because its good middlebrow entertainment and I am basically a middlebrow person. But I also massively enjoy the absolute indifference Wilson brings to being nice to Nolan's work, even after he plugged her translation.
July 27, 2026 at 6:01 PM
I’m a snob who took Latin for five years, read the Odyssey on my own at 13, enjoyed the movie, and thought EW was spot on.
A movie can be both fun and facile; she acknowledges its upshots. People who think she’s too harsh need to watch better movies (or at least one of the stronger Nolan ones).
A movie can be both fun and facile; she acknowledges its upshots. People who think she’s too harsh need to watch better movies (or at least one of the stronger Nolan ones).
Reposted by Marianna Torgovnick
One thing I think I might legit be in the minority on is that (and this is inspired by the Odyssey but has been on my mind for ages) I'm very much not precious about adaptations. An adaptation made by a director is that director's work, and it's better if it's that director's work.
July 27, 2026 at 6:29 PM
One thing I think I might legit be in the minority on is that (and this is inspired by the Odyssey but has been on my mind for ages) I'm very much not precious about adaptations. An adaptation made by a director is that director's work, and it's better if it's that director's work.
Reposted by Marianna Torgovnick
My contribution to the Odyssey discussion right now is that I loved the movie and I loved Emily Wilson's translation. And I recommend both. And especially her translation because it is really beautifully done and makes it SO EASY TO FOLLOW.
July 27, 2026 at 7:14 PM
My contribution to the Odyssey discussion right now is that I loved the movie and I loved Emily Wilson's translation. And I recommend both. And especially her translation because it is really beautifully done and makes it SO EASY TO FOLLOW.
Sunset time. A stunner in Kauai!!
July 26, 2026 at 11:36 PM
Sunset time. A stunner in Kauai!!
Bad skies over NYC
July 24, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Bad skies over NYC
Pastels over Paris
July 23, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Pastels over Paris
Peaceful summer skies
July 20, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Peaceful summer skies
Summer theme of sunsets. Recent, rural France.
July 18, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Summer theme of sunsets. Recent, rural France.
For now, this!!
April 12, 2026 at 9:44 PM
For now, this!!
Reposted by Marianna Torgovnick
This book was incredible!!! Riveting, brilliant, funny, moving, relatable, all of it. I have rarely read a non-fiction book so fast and happily. Cannot recommend it enough to my humanist friends
December 11, 2025 at 3:34 AM
This book was incredible!!! Riveting, brilliant, funny, moving, relatable, all of it. I have rarely read a non-fiction book so fast and happily. Cannot recommend it enough to my humanist friends
Excited about seeing two of these St Ann's plays in the Fall: ANNA CHRISTIE and FLAMING SEPTEMBER. Feels veryNew York to have bought tickets before I saw the article. Even if I am in Durham NC! #NewYork #theatre #St Ann's #Brooklyn
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/t...
Michelle Williams to Star in O’Neill Play on Brooklyn Waterfront
www.nytimes.com
June 18, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Excited about seeing two of these St Ann's plays in the Fall: ANNA CHRISTIE and FLAMING SEPTEMBER. Feels veryNew York to have bought tickets before I saw the article. Even if I am in Durham NC! #NewYork #theatre #St Ann's #Brooklyn
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/t...
I have never seen the charm of baseball until I saw Shohei Ohtani hit two homers at Dodger Stadium last year. A thing
of beauty! This week I was thrilled to see (in pictures this time) Ohtani pitch. I even checked ESPN to see move. #Ohtani #ESPN www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...
of beauty! This week I was thrilled to see (in pictures this time) Ohtani pitch. I even checked ESPN to see move. #Ohtani #ESPN www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...
Ohtani hits 100 mph in brief Dodgers pitching debut
Shohei Ohtani made his Dodgers pitching debut at home Monday, giving up a run in his lone inning of work, then struck out in his first plate appearance as Los Angeles' DH, marking the first time he ha...
www.espn.com
June 18, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I have never seen the charm of baseball until I saw Shohei Ohtani hit two homers at Dodger Stadium last year. A thing
of beauty! This week I was thrilled to see (in pictures this time) Ohtani pitch. I even checked ESPN to see move. #Ohtani #ESPN www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...
of beauty! This week I was thrilled to see (in pictures this time) Ohtani pitch. I even checked ESPN to see move. #Ohtani #ESPN www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...
Reposted by Marianna Torgovnick
"Joseph Donahue is a poet for whom poetry is the principal way of tuning a life to the deeper orders of the world, where even death’s irreparable rift is a complement to life’s wild loveliness." Dan Beachy-Quick reviews "Terra Lucida XIII–XXI." lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
The Land that Secretes Light | Los Angeles Review of Books
Dan Beachy-Quick reviews Joseph Donahue’s “Terra Lucida XIII–XXI.”
lareviewofbooks.org
January 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
"Joseph Donahue is a poet for whom poetry is the principal way of tuning a life to the deeper orders of the world, where even death’s irreparable rift is a complement to life’s wild loveliness." Dan Beachy-Quick reviews "Terra Lucida XIII–XXI." lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
Forsythia doing its thing!
Tough, not least to spell!
Tough, not least to spell!
February 19, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Forsythia doing its thing!
Tough, not least to spell!
Tough, not least to spell!
Raced to see THE BRUTALIST and admired the cinematography and high level of visual allusions, which I always love. I also admire a good ending but agree with Richard Brody that this ending is made to do entirely too much of what the film leaves undone. #RichardBrody #TheNewYorker #TheBrutalist
The Empty Ambition of “The Brutalist”
Brady Corbet’s epic takes on weighty themes, but fails to infuse its characters with the stuff of life.
www.newyorker.com
January 4, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Raced to see THE BRUTALIST and admired the cinematography and high level of visual allusions, which I always love. I also admire a good ending but agree with Richard Brody that this ending is made to do entirely too much of what the film leaves undone. #RichardBrody #TheNewYorker #TheBrutalist
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN unknown: how many have been listening to Dylan all week? #Dylan #ACompleteUnknown #AppleMusic
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/02/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/02/a...
What Bob Dylan Experts Think of “A Complete Unknown”
The writer Lucy Sante and the podcast host Ian Grant, both Bob Dylan experts, dissect the director James Mangold’s biopic starring Timothée Chalamet.
www.nytimes.com
January 2, 2025 at 7:13 PM
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN unknown: how many have been listening to Dylan all week? #Dylan #ACompleteUnknown #AppleMusic
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/02/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/02/a...
A very nice feeling to have seen Cromer's Our Town, WITH bacon, at the Barrow Street Theater, a much lamented loss for the off Broadway scene. Also warm memories of the LCT South Pacific being celebrated this week. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/d... #NewYork #theater #LincolnCenter
In ‘Our Town,’ the Characters Are Fictional. The Smells Are Real.
Backstage at the Broadway play, they’re frying up the aroma of breakfast — part of a long tradition of adding scents to plays and movies.
www.nytimes.com
December 13, 2024 at 2:53 AM
A very nice feeling to have seen Cromer's Our Town, WITH bacon, at the Barrow Street Theater, a much lamented loss for the off Broadway scene. Also warm memories of the LCT South Pacific being celebrated this week. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/d... #NewYork #theater #LincolnCenter
Hockey games are fun, even when your team loses. But more fun when they win.
December 7, 2024 at 9:27 PM
Hockey games are fun, even when your team loses. But more fun when they win.
A sign of the times. With shadow play.
December 6, 2024 at 12:19 AM
A sign of the times. With shadow play.