One of the things on my list of 100 things to do before the Grim Reaper comes to claim me was seeing a play by Shakespeare. It’s addictive. While it’s no goal to see all plays, by now I have seen three: Richard III, A Midsummernight’s Dream—with a storm scene that is one of the… Read more »
Monthly Archives: August 2012
First Lines: Buried Fire
Trapped below a mountain, the dragon waits. Occasionally, one of his discarded thoughts creep up to the surface. And every once in awhile, somebody gets captured by one of those thoughts, and receives some of the dragon’s powers. Now, the ancient seal that keeps the dragon imprisoned is broken, and his disciples plan to awaken… Read more »
Feiten
Kees van der Staaij is een flapdrol. Een week geleden raakte de Amerikaanse senator Akin in opspraak na zijn uitspraak dat je van een verkrachting niet zwanger kan raken omdat vrouwen een mechanisme hebben om de boel dan uit te schakelen. Vandaag stoot Van der Staaij zich aan dezelfde steen: Het is een feit dat… Read more »
So I Got Myself an eReader
With my new apartment, the size of my bookcase has more than doubled. Which is a good thing, because the old setup was totally overcrowded. Still, if I keep on acquiring books like I do now, it is sure to overflow again. So, despite still having some fifteen books waiting to be read, I bought… Read more »
First Lines: Die Leiden des jungen Werther
In a 1975 review, Gerrit Komrij characterizes Goethe’s Die Leiden des jungen Werther as that novel about a lovestruck zealot that blows himself to bits because the object of his affection has been engaged elsewhere. And that sums it up pretty well: young Werther meets Lotte, and falls truly, madly, deeply in love with her…. Read more »