A long-lost post from August 2nd, 2012 In the early years of this blog, I would dash off new posts with ease. I wasn’t setting out to be a writer, only to express the simple sweetness of life as I felt it in the moment, with a little speculative reflection thrown in. I was embarrassed… Continue reading Live by the Pen, Die by the Pen
Category: Books
Luck & Angelic Messengers
Written July 10th, 2008. Worth republishing for the conversations among readers. See the Comments section, below It rained continually yesterday, didn’t stop but went through varying intensities. It reached the point that everyone ignored the light drizzle. Before the day was over I was taking no notice of the moderate rain either. I was fixing… Continue reading Luck & Angelic Messengers
On Fresh Air Alone
Previously published on January 5th, 2015, a favourite reminiscence from my days working for Notts.* County Council , as described in this post If you want to go somewhere and enjoy an undisturbed smoke I suggest the Nineteen-Fifties. If you were actually around at the time, it’s no problem—wings of memory will take you and… Continue reading On Fresh Air Alone
They that go down to the sea in ships
I wrote most of this on August 24th, 2019, but never published it here till today. So it gives the chance to look at what the Bible means, what it's for, if you like. Sadly, NIV, the New International Version of the Bible, seems to come with a loud agenda, as blazoned on its back… Continue reading They that go down to the sea in ships
Inner and Outer Landscape
A rambling essay written on October 19th, 2014, not published here before I decided to go for my usual loaf of bread by a circuitous route, over the Pastures; or rather, my feet took me that way while I readied myself to share what I had to say to Olympus, my companion of the road,… Continue reading Inner and Outer Landscape
The Story of Tools
I got this little volume of 44 pages from a book sale in West Wycombe Village Hall, many years ago. It's plain to see that it was specifically designed to help educate members of the Young Communist League appreciate the advantages of collectivism—as against the deadly enemy, Capitalism. Good for them, I say. This may… Continue reading The Story of Tools
To Paul, from Vincent
Remembering Paul Maurice Martin Paul writes: One time I think on another blog you jokingly referred to agreeing with me for a change. But I’m not convinced you disagree most of the time so much as that you have your own outlook on life. My sense is that you tend to respond less to the… Continue reading To Paul, from Vincent
The Spell of the Sensuous
I last wrote about this book exactly 14 years ago. I started reading it again recently, leaving a bookmark on page 38, where it speaks of the felt contrast between "subjective" and "objective". Objective reality, the realm of orthodox science "was, according to Husserl, a theoretical construction, an unwarranted idealization of intersubjective experience." The "real… Continue reading The Spell of the Sensuous
Van Loon’s Lives, and other stories
I got this from eBay with a very tattered cover. Not surprising as the book, first published in 1943, was printed in 1947. I've managed to restore the dust cover, using strips of 80gsm paper , water colours, black Sharpie and PVA adhesive, resulting in a reasonable job without spending more hours on it. You… Continue reading Van Loon’s Lives, and other stories
from an old notebook
from the first pages of a Pukka Pad bought in Jamaica, 2001. My copy of John Cowper Powys' Autobiography was given to me by Jacqueline Peltier John o'Saturn meets Women from earth (p206) Much of JCP’s Autobiography dances around the complex topic of his erotic preoccupations. If it were not complex, it would not occupy… Continue reading from an old notebook
catalogue of books continued…
These are some more of my favourite books, the kind you treasure and partially recall, without finding time to refresh your memory. But it's good to read other people's reviews, and recall the flavour of these very different volumes. ID shelf location author title pages description 1 MB3 desk left Sagittarius (Olga Miller) Quiver‘s Choice… Continue reading catalogue of books continued…
cataloguing books
Finally got back a good version of Excel, so it's possible to find my books and see what critics think of them. A mixed bag of favourites here: ID shelf location author title pages description (linked for reviews) 1 MB4 desk left Christopher Alexander A Pattern Language 1171 how to make a home to fit… Continue reading cataloguing books
Hymn of the Cherubim
Written in November 2018, never before published on Wayfarer's Notes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZQzW_QfPew Natalie was asking readers if they could identify the old-master original of one of the drawings she found in her papers from years ago: I spent an hour or two on this quest without success. At some point, I stumbled upon the piece by… Continue reading Hymn of the Cherubim
What looks after us…
... Providence or Angels? This piece was written in November 2018 I’ve been wanting to write about the role of angels in my life. Like most words in any language, it’s loaded with baggage going back millennia. Let’s strip off that heavy weight of meanings, leave it in a heap and walk lightly away. I… Continue reading What looks after us…
The Nature of the I
Previously published on January 29th, 2016 The “I” is easily defined. It is what I mean when I say “I”. There is no confusion about it, no argument as to whether this “I” is real. René Descartes nailed it: cogito, ergo sum. Such simplicity has been wrecked by the introduction of “ego”, a weasel word… Continue reading The Nature of the I
Hannah Arendt on Action
Previously published on October 6th, 2015 My last post seemed to demand a follow-up, to set it in a wider context. It was a personal view as seen from this cottage in this valley. I said “I might be the only one to see it this way, or it may turn out to be universal.”… Continue reading Hannah Arendt on Action
A Feather on the Breath of God
I like opening extraordinary and special books at random, such as The Book of Disquiet (Pessoa), Centuries (Traherne) and Anam Ċara (O'Donohue). This is what came up when I did the same with our current book. It's the section titled CAUSES AND CURES, pp 108-11. The four elements That there are only four elements: There… Continue reading A Feather on the Breath of God
Cretinocracy
I found this on my computer as a Word document. Checking online, I discover it's from Museum without Walls, by Jonathan Meades We are surrounded by the greatest of free shows. Places. Most of them made by man, remade by man. Deserted streets, seething boulevards, teeming beaches, empty steppes, black reservoirs, fields of agricultural scrap,… Continue reading Cretinocracy
The Tree of Life
First published on Blogger, Saturday March 17th, 2012 “If I can prevent just one person from watching this, it’ll have been worth suffering through it.” Thus begins a review of The Tree of Life by Kevin A Ranson, alias Grim D Reaper; unfortunately one which I didn’t read in time. I can’t blame Paula, from… Continue reading The Tree of Life
When love conquers fear
originally published on 27 Feb 2016. It's the most moving of the pieces I've been privileged to write. Especially as I discovered Etty Hillesum "accidentally"; but like so many things in my life I can't but think it was meant to happen. Correction: probably everything. While writing in my last about “Secret Strength” I had… Continue reading When love conquers fear
Blessed Life
This was written on December 14th, 2014. Back then, such thoughts came that I find astonishing today*. Simply to be alive is such a blessing that we rarely find ourselves able to grasp it. To grasp something is to feel it in the moment, not just as a logical proposition but an experienced reality, that… Continue reading Blessed Life
Like an Artist’s Brush
Originally posted on Blogger, February 19th 2010 I really haven’t got time to write anything here. This makes it all the more important to do it anyway. I write in my blog for the same reason others do—to discover what I really think. Think? I’m not referring to “detached thought”, that attempt to be rational… Continue reading Like an Artist’s Brush
Unblocking
Rescued from oblivion today I’ve been glad of the chance to edit some of Ghetufool’s work lately. Writing is something I’m driven to by an impulse that won’t be denied. So what to do when writer’s block strikes? Turn to religion, I suppose, as people do when they feel vulnerable and melancholy. A fellow-blogger* distinguishes… Continue reading Unblocking
The Existence of God
I've thought about this question a few times recently in the night, and the answer would come promptly: what happens is what's meant to happen happens is supposed to happen, just for me. I cannot know what it's like for anyone else. That would be a matter of religious faith, which I'm not sure is… Continue reading The Existence of God
Vincent van Gogh in Auvers
AUVERS 1890 ""He could not be persuaded to say when he would go. Not until May 16 did he wrench himself away, and then only after the sun had fallen and night had hidden the colours. In Paris, Theo, waiting anxiously day by day, suddenly received a telegram; Vincent was on the night train.… Continue reading Vincent van Gogh in Auvers
A Cowardly Idle Fool
This post was rescued from perpetual-lab.blogspot.com as made available on the Internet Archive, 13 years after it was written What is this life, if full of care, We have no time to stand and stare? (W. H Davies, “Leisure”.) Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise. (Proverbs 6:6) I’ve gone… Continue reading A Cowardly Idle Fool
Recycling via the Salvation Army
Lately I've been donating dozens of books to the Sally Army. I brought a few more yesterday and on the way out noticed they have started giving away books, presumably deeming them unsaleable. The other day I found a book I’d recently donated in the pile—Against the Current, by Isaiah Berlin. When I pointed this out,… Continue reading Recycling via the Salvation Army
Why we do what we do
I was quite startled by a programme on the radio, especially the following transcribed excerpt. It’s a tiny fraction of a heavy book—literally*. I picked it up in the bookshop: not bedtime reading without strong arms.† Yet in a few words it covers pleasure, happiness, the meaning of life—and how to make the most of… Continue reading Why we do what we do
2nd Letter from Ward 1
dialect in an old Caribbean country The other side
Touched by the Printed Word
First published on Feb. 25th, 2009 I learned to read at my grandmother’s knee, at four years old. We used a Victorian primer, Reading without Tears: it proved itself worthy of the name and I worked through it in a few days, mostly on my own. I remember being frustrated with the word “parlour” near… Continue reading Touched by the Printed Word
Helpful advice to men—from the 16th Century
from On the power of the imagination, an essay by Michel Montaigne, translated by J M Cohen: "I have personal knowledge of the case of a man for whom I can answer as for myself, and who could not fall under the least suspicion impotence or being under a spell. He had heard a comrade… Continue reading Helpful advice to men—from the 16th Century
The Origins of Speech, according to Wittgenstein
THE BROWN BOOKI Augustine, in describing his learning of language, says that he was taught to speak by learning the names of things. It is clear that who-ever says this has in mind the way in which a child learns such words as "man", "sugar", "table", etc. He does not primarily think of such words… Continue reading The Origins of Speech, according to Wittgenstein
Night Thoughts
I’m stuck. I don’t just mean stuck in some detailed area of life, as if performing some tricky or critical task and suddenly realizing I need three hands. That would be exciting enough. I mean globally stuck: my “I” suddenly immobilized whilst grappling with the entire universe. It’s one of those situations where we say… Continue reading Night Thoughts
George Santayana
I came across his name when I was 17, but since then I've never seen it again till now: in the same book I borrowed, back in 1959. Despite extensive reading in the spheres of philosophy and religion since then, I've never come the name since, except in the book I borrowed then. I was… Continue reading George Santayana
Housewifery
HOUSEWIFERY is the efficient running of a house, and embraces problems of widely different natures. It includes the problem of running the house economically, seeing that the money available is spent to the best purpose. It includes keeping the house clean, for cleanliness and hygiene are the basis of healthy living. It includes a knowledge… Continue reading Housewifery
Simone Weil on Evil
The text below is a bold rendering in idiomatic English of Simone Weil's La Pesanteur et laGrâce, chapter 15 "Le mal". Much could be said to introduce the author and her writings, not to mention the approach I've taken, which some may condemn as a paraphrase. My view is that the language of French intellectuals… Continue reading Simone Weil on Evil
Simone Weil on Politics & Justice
to Phil Ebersole, demonstrating Simone Weil's deep commitment as a thinker and activist; as well as, I suggest, her particular relevance to a world which has lost its once-revered guiding principles. See our exchange of comments in my last. ************* This is the last section of her essay on Human Personality: the Just and the… Continue reading Simone Weil on Politics & Justice
Gravity and Grace, by Simone Weil
See this article: The Famous Book she Never Wrote Excerpts: Every natural impulse of the soul is governed by laws analogous to physical gravity: except only grace. We must always expect things to turn out as if pulled downwards by their own weight, unless the supernatural comes into play. There are just two forces in… Continue reading Gravity and Grace, by Simone Weil
Guided Randomness
I’ve often asked myself “Do you believe in God?” but never got an answer, only that it’s an unanswerable question. A better one would be “What do you believe in?” One has to search within oneself, but not for some borrowed ideas and expressions, some flag of convenience to sail under and dodge the challenge. One… Continue reading Guided Randomness
Akin
Gerald Bullett, anthologist of The Testament of Light, writes this of the above excerpt:
Humble
Dostoevsky, from Father Zossima’s discourse in The Brothers Karamazov
Generous
from Miguel de Unamuno, The Life of Don Quixote and Sancho, tr. Homer P. Earle
Blissful
Wordsworth, from Intimations of Immortality
Animal
Logan Pearsall Smith, ‘Desires’ from his book Trivia
Love Affairs
Farzaneh has an imagination, which directs his hero towards a variety of young women encountered during a year in downtown Vancouver, where “all types of girls can be found on the street”. At the end of the novel, in conversation with a waitress, he confesses “I like insecure, moody, promiscuous ice princesses who like to… Continue reading Love Affairs
The Free Soul
I've written several times about spiritual writings from the thirteenth century: Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe. Each risked being fingered by the Inquisition as a heretic, and took steps to demonstrate orthodox obedience to the powerful Catholic Church. Marguerite Porete stands out from the others and is the most interesting by far. Almost… Continue reading The Free Soul
The Book of Margery Kempe
Margery Kempe was a bloody-minded woman, living in a time when England was still Catholic. Bishops, priests and friars held worldly and spiritual power. bloody-minded: Chiefly Brit. Perverse, contrary; cantankerous; stubbornly intransigent or obstructive. Cf. bloody adj. OED She came from the provinces, had no education and bore 14 children to a husband socially beneath… Continue reading The Book of Margery Kempe
Kant’s Trick . . .
. . . or all the philosophy you don't need to know, in 711 crisp words, by Bryan White. “How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four.” “Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You… Continue reading Kant’s Trick . . .
Girl with a Pearl Earring
From Bryan White I just finished reading Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. A few posts back, when Vincent said that he was "inspired" by books that he was waiting to get in the mail, I was in a similar situation at the time with this book. It was sitting on my bookshelf,… Continue reading Girl with a Pearl Earring
Wittgenstein on imagination
And if that thing itself ends up being disappointing? All the more reason to try to return to the thing as you were imaging it beforehand. Obviously a space exists for it, the space that the thing you wanted to find defaulted on occupying. From Philosophical Investigations: If I say I did not dream last… Continue reading Wittgenstein on imagination
An Outsider’s Perspective
Alone in the house the other morning, I used this retreat to think aloud, as a place where some echoes might be heard, or simply absorbed by the walls for later, Not the house walls, this place. For it is a sounding-board. Images and ideas can get amplified, the harmonics of other minds can pitch… Continue reading An Outsider’s Perspective
The late V S Naipaul
The other day I briefly published a piece on the late V S Naipaul. It was a synopsis of a lecture he gave in 1990, which he called “Our Universal Civilization”(1). After 24 hours, with vague misgivings, I took it down again.(2) It was fun to revive an old skill, the one they used to… Continue reading The late V S Naipaul
About the Magdalene
Click for Wikipedia article Obtainable from Amazon etc. but beware: the alleged Kindle version is a different translation that might not contain the above chapter.
The Moment, and the Rainbow
(post first drafted on 5th Feb) These days, I find little impulse to write. The process of dusting off more than a decade of posts for reissue, especially classifying them by topic, keeps reminding me that I don’t have anything new to say: only the same in different ways. A single set of themes can… Continue reading The Moment, and the Rainbow
When the Past Haunts the Night
Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night ... I find myself surprised to discover that the boarding school* I was so glad to leave in 1954 is actually still open for business, run by the same headmaster and his… Continue reading When the Past Haunts the Night
Loving What Is
I came to know about Byron Katie through her husband Stephen Mitchell whom I encountered through his translations of Gilgamesh and the Tao Te Ching. Her work, as expressed in books, videos, website and notably workshops staged in many countries, fits easily into the “self-help” genre, especially that aspect which focuses on human relationships and… Continue reading Loving What Is
English literature’s first terrorist
From the Introduction to John Carey's new book: Honour and empire, with revenge enlarged, By conquering this new world, compels me now To do what else though damned I should abhor. (Paradise Lost, Book 4: 390-92) “This is a terrorist’s logic, and the Satan of Paradise Lost is English literature’s first terrorist. Terrorism—the destruction of… Continue reading English literature’s first terrorist
Julian of Norwich
. . . all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well. The Web is riddled with orphaned "quotes": mangled versions of what someone—the author or one of his characters—may or may not have said. We use them for our own purposes, with no regard for the… Continue reading Julian of Norwich
“There is No Other Doer but He”
As journals, blogs are like life: open-ended. You finish one piece, you've no idea what the next will say, or whether there'll be a next one. After ending my last with a quote from Julian of Norwich, to round the thing off as I thought, I never expected to encounter her again so soon. A… Continue reading “There is No Other Doer but He”
Watching the English
Like Paul on the road to Damascus, I know exactly when my eyes were opened. It was Monday April 3rd, on a trip to town for two significant appointments. One was to see my specialist nurse, to arrange details for my stay at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. It didn't happen then. The other was to collect… Continue reading Watching the English
Owen Glendower
Written in 2002 for La Lettre Powysienne, a periodical edited by Jacqueline Peltier I don’t know of any novel to compare it with, unless you feel able to imagine that Sir Walter Scott, whom Powys admired, had like Coleridge experimented with drugs and rewritten his Quentin Durward under the influence of peyote or LSD, and… Continue reading Owen Glendower
How everything fits together
Things fit together, said I. That’s what they are supposed to do, said Karleen. If only we have faith, said I—in the right things, of course. We were having our morning tea in bed while doing the cryptic crossword, where things always fit together, if you puzzle over them enough. The clues fit the answers… Continue reading How everything fits together
John o’Saturn meets women from Earth
Written in 2002 for La Lettre Powysienne, a periodical edited by Jacqueline Peltier How many autobiographies have been written in which the author fails to mention his own mother? One at least: and in this instance he goes further and omits from his narrative any reference to his five sisters and two wives. If I… Continue reading John o’Saturn meets women from Earth
The Towers of Cybele
Here's another essay written for Jacqueline Peltier's Lettre Powysienne, a little magazine in two languages for a list of subscribers. On her website you can only find her French translation, but I've fortunately kept the English original, written in 2005. When I mentioned "Amazon" in my first paragraph, she asked me to explain what it… Continue reading The Towers of Cybele
Peg, a minor character
In the last couple of days I've been horrified to discover myself becoming a hapless patient, lacking the means or strength to act in the world and thus demonstrate personhood, that prerequisite for the continued will to live. It was like being a ghost. It did not even occur to me to pray or give… Continue reading Peg, a minor character
Kindness (audio podcast)
click to to access the podcast transcript … I don’t know why, but the pain and the weariness started first thing Sunday morning, February 5th and here it is today, on the 23rd. I don’t even know what. At first, when I was told it was diverticulitis, I took the antibiotic and thought it was… Continue reading Kindness (audio podcast)
“All actual life is encounter”
We went to the Island for a long weekend with a couple of friends, staying at Mimosa Lodge, where I took a photo at dawn across the Solent from our bedroom window. Outside it was chilly and neither of us got to take photos, especially as we were acting as guides to our friends, to… Continue reading “All actual life is encounter”
The gift of literacy
When she was ten days old, Karleen was placed in the care of her grandparents, leaving her mother free to come to England, get properly settled, then call for her daughter to join her. But when she began to talk, her great-grandmother took her and brought her home to the country parish of Westmoreland, where… Continue reading The gift of literacy
Escaping One’s Enemy
From a still-slight acquaintance, I learn that Martin Buber was activated by people more than ideas. My last post, which got chewed up by an impatient mistake, had a long quote from his book I and Thou, ending with the words, "All actual life is encounter". For that is the meaning of his I-You. Where… Continue reading Escaping One’s Enemy
Eternal Echoes
From John o’Donohue: A house can become a little self-enclosed world. Sheltered there, we learn to forget the wild, magnificent universe in which we live. When we domesticate our minds and hearts, we reduce our lives. We disinherit ourselves as children of the universe. Almost without knowing it, we slip inside ready-made roles and routines… Continue reading Eternal Echoes
The girl who rocked the Government
We met on a summer afternoon in ’59, two 17-year-olds, Pisces born within days of each other. We discovered we had much in common. Both from fatherless backgrounds, lacking any proper home. Each had been granted a single talent, you might say, in compensation for the lack. As her father-figure Stephen Ward said, she had… Continue reading The girl who rocked the Government
From the gone past
By definition the past is lost. We can’t live there any more; only in memory, imagination and books. To my simple mind, a progressive is one who’s excited by plans for the future, whereas a conservative takes inspiration from aspects of the past. In my own case, I concur with Robbie Burns that the best-laid… Continue reading From the gone past
University dreams
Continued from "How I came to inhabit this body". I’d been accepted for some Civil Service or academic post, it wasn’t clear which or what. A colleague from a different department invited me for a chat, a sort of all-day induction. He was such good company that I felt guilty to be getting paid for… Continue reading University dreams
The Sellout
The last time I read a Booker Prize-winning novel was when Midnight’s Children came out in paperback. It wasn’t the best reading fun—or the most edifying, come to that. This time it’s happened by accident, when I heard the author interviewed on Radio 4. If this is the man, I thought, I may like his… Continue reading The Sellout
Theology of the Body
It’s a month since I wrote Living in a Body. I’ve been wrestling with a sequel ever since. One was briefly published, and Bryan added some cogent comments, but it was no good, for myriad reasons. Let this post dispose of the matter, the better to move on. As for Not-Doing, whereby, according to Lao-Tzu,… Continue reading Theology of the Body
Passion and Society
>The present train of thought started 54 years ago with a red book. Technically it was shoplifting but I thought of it as using the campus bookshop as a lending library. In mitigation of the offence, I returned it stealthily to the original shelf ten days later. That was the hard part, very scary. I’ve… Continue reading Passion and Society
Black Books
In reality I don’t have a front garden, just a concreted area big enough to hold four bins, for the separated recyclables, and a few plant pots. It also serves to provide a seven-foot gap between our front door and the sidewalk. There’s no separation from our neighbours’ concreted front area, and their front door… Continue reading Black Books
Manhattan Odyssey
[Written on July 16th, 2016. See also the version published on Amazon.com, which includes a review of an earlier version published here on September 6th, 2013.] A reader of this blog has published a novel. I promised to submit a review for Amazon and then spent weeks agonizing about how to do it justice, instead… Continue reading Manhattan Odyssey
The Cycle of Imperfection
For months I’ve been working—which means mainly procrastinating—on a new book. Instead of me boring you with an essay on its structure, you can download a sample. Initially I titled it A Cycle of Days, reflecting the way that it reflects the changing months and seasons across the years. It’s been quite a slog. I… Continue reading The Cycle of Imperfection
While I Can…Because I Can
It’s the second day of March, with a bit of blue sky but a biting damp wind. I walk along Desborough Road to the bus station, destination and agenda undecided. Why? Because I can. Whatever I can now do, one day I won’t be able to. No one knows the day, or the hour. Thanks,… Continue reading While I Can…Because I Can
Secret Strength
When we are alert to its promptings, the unconscious mind can reach us through various means. Blake had his waking visions; many of us have dreams. They may clothe themselves in a jumble of recent experiences, yet contain latent messages ready for decoding, which may open our eyes to things our well-controlled consciousness has kept… Continue reading Secret Strength
Life and Art
Writing is not easy. The trouble is, I’m too full of ideas. They come in bunches and I don’t know quite what to do with them. My monkey-mind thinks they should be cut into neat shapes and sewn into a quilt for posterity, so I spend hours trying to fit them together like a jigsaw… Continue reading Life and Art
England Have My Bones
I suppose we all have an idea of what constitutes real living. It’s not all those compromises we endure while we bridge the gap between yesterday and tomorrow. Real living is when we can say “this is it!” asking nothing from tomorrow at all. By this criterion, my real life has lately begun. The evening… Continue reading England Have My Bones
Tsundoku
I’m writing this for Rob, to celebrate the fact that we have known one another 42 years, and that he rang me the other evening, and it was good. When we have been in touch he has been generous, but we have also fallen out a few times. When I was in need he was… Continue reading Tsundoku
a wayfarer’s notes 