Steinbeck is your man for this. After Grapes of Wrath and EoE (both masterpieces) you should do In Dubious Battle (set during a strike) and The Moon is Down (set in a European town during a foreign occupation). Both will be up your alley I think.
Nice reflection, Grant. Re: JPII: my wife and I were visiting an elderly priest friend in the hospital the day JPII died. I looked at my watch when we had to leave. Before we said goodbye, we prayed the Litany of Loreto. A happy memory: we were praying the Litany the moment the Holy Father died. Of course, we didn’t know it at the time, but made the connection later.
I have decided to start collecting dvd’s of good film, hard copies of books, and probably should consider collecting music again. I went full digital. I want to ween myself off the streaming services. I need a list a good list of the must haves in the arts to gather. I need to add the Steinbeck novels you mentioned. Thanks!
Yes, we are weaning from digital as well. We have a screen and a projector that we pull out for movie night. VHS and DVDs. The more I learn about Spotify, the less I like it.
Yes, I hate the Algorithms, just have to be cognizant of it, but it’s tiring fighting the echo chamber. AI and bots too, and wondering what’s authentic.
Excellent article thank you. At the age of 44, with a nice secure job, I 'quietly quit' academia in the year 2000 (how often do you get the added oomph of a millennial year as a catalyst?). I haven't regretted it, and I turned my endeavours to creating things with my hands and "adding beauty" in an increasingly uglified world. It was my response to the vexed question of how do we respond to 'The Machine' dehumanising every aspect of spiritual, psychological and physical life.
Loved this, Grant!! Reminds me of this letter from Nick Cave's "The Red Hand Files":
"Cynicism is not a neutral position — and although it asks almost nothing of us, it is highly infectious and unbelievably destructive. In my view, it is the most common and easy of evils.
I know this because much of my early life was spent holding the world and the people in it in contempt. It was a position both seductive and indulgent. The truth is, I was young and had no idea what was coming down the line. I lacked the knowledge, the foresight, the self-awareness. I just didn’t know. It took a devastation to teach me the preciousness of life and the essential goodness of people. It took a devastation to reveal the precariousness of the world, of its very soul, to understand that it was crying out for help. It took a devastation to understand the idea of mortal value, and it took a devastation to find hope.
Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act, as small as you like, Valerio, such as reading to your little boy, or showing him a thing you love, or singing him a song, or putting on his shoes, keeps the devil down in the hole. It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find that it is so."
This post affirms my commitment to the positive aspects of culture-making as the antidote to America's current societal disintegration. It feels right, necessary, and advantageous.
Steinbeck is your man for this. After Grapes of Wrath and EoE (both masterpieces) you should do In Dubious Battle (set during a strike) and The Moon is Down (set in a European town during a foreign occupation). Both will be up your alley I think.
AA- Thanks so much for these leads. I was not aware of these titles. Steinbeck was so much more prolific than I had realized.
Nice reflection, Grant. Re: JPII: my wife and I were visiting an elderly priest friend in the hospital the day JPII died. I looked at my watch when we had to leave. Before we said goodbye, we prayed the Litany of Loreto. A happy memory: we were praying the Litany the moment the Holy Father died. Of course, we didn’t know it at the time, but made the connection later.
That's a great story. Thanks so much for sharing that.
East of Eden may be my favorite novel. I really like what you have to say here. Thank you.
It's next on the list. Reading Winter of Discontent right now. My approach is a bit scattered.
I have decided to start collecting dvd’s of good film, hard copies of books, and probably should consider collecting music again. I went full digital. I want to ween myself off the streaming services. I need a list a good list of the must haves in the arts to gather. I need to add the Steinbeck novels you mentioned. Thanks!
Yes, we are weaning from digital as well. We have a screen and a projector that we pull out for movie night. VHS and DVDs. The more I learn about Spotify, the less I like it.
Yes, I hate the Algorithms, just have to be cognizant of it, but it’s tiring fighting the echo chamber. AI and bots too, and wondering what’s authentic.
Excellent article thank you. At the age of 44, with a nice secure job, I 'quietly quit' academia in the year 2000 (how often do you get the added oomph of a millennial year as a catalyst?). I haven't regretted it, and I turned my endeavours to creating things with my hands and "adding beauty" in an increasingly uglified world. It was my response to the vexed question of how do we respond to 'The Machine' dehumanising every aspect of spiritual, psychological and physical life.
Joshua- I'd love to hear more of that story. I have the golden handcuffs of money and status that I don't know if I have the strength to break!
You can read my story here on Substack via an interview with Unbekoming: It is here: https://unbekoming.substack.com/p/the-journey
Loved this, Grant!! Reminds me of this letter from Nick Cave's "The Red Hand Files":
"Cynicism is not a neutral position — and although it asks almost nothing of us, it is highly infectious and unbelievably destructive. In my view, it is the most common and easy of evils.
I know this because much of my early life was spent holding the world and the people in it in contempt. It was a position both seductive and indulgent. The truth is, I was young and had no idea what was coming down the line. I lacked the knowledge, the foresight, the self-awareness. I just didn’t know. It took a devastation to teach me the preciousness of life and the essential goodness of people. It took a devastation to reveal the precariousness of the world, of its very soul, to understand that it was crying out for help. It took a devastation to understand the idea of mortal value, and it took a devastation to find hope.
Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act, as small as you like, Valerio, such as reading to your little boy, or showing him a thing you love, or singing him a song, or putting on his shoes, keeps the devil down in the hole. It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find that it is so."
Alan- Really love Nick Cave. This is a great note from him.
This post affirms my commitment to the positive aspects of culture-making as the antidote to America's current societal disintegration. It feels right, necessary, and advantageous.
Agree.