Roy Lotz's Blog, page 9
June 23, 2023
I’ve been Interviewed!
June 21, 2023
Edinburgh: Wind and Whisky
When you live in Europe, you notice that certain destinations come up in conversation with surprising frequency. Porto, Budapest, and Normandy are among those which are highly-praised among the well-traveled. Edinburg is another. So although I had no special reason to go—I had not even found an especially cheap flight—I decided that I would use my February vacation to take a little trip up north and see what all the fuss was about.
The plane broke through the gray clouds and touched down in S...
June 19, 2023
Review: The Return of the Native
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
One of my vices is the reading of advice columns. The problems of the correspondents are often so bizarre as to be beyond the imagination of even the most lurid novelists. My favorite agony aunt (as the British say) is Carolyn Hax, who writes for the Washington Post. And her advice very often boils down to one simple precept: mind your own business.
This book is one long illustration of the wisdom of this maxim, as the entire tragedy ...
June 8, 2023
Reflections on Reading the Quran
The Qur’an: Saheeh International Translation by Anonymous
Some years ago, on a trip to Istanbul, I visited the Süleymaniye Mosque with a friend. It was a memorable experience. As we waited outside, a few men washed themselves in the fountains outside the building, purifying themselves before prayer. We went in through another entrance, and found ourselves in an expansive space—light flooding in from the high windows, the geometric designs and arabesques creating an imposing symphony of color. In ...
May 31, 2023
Jaca: A Slightly Unsuccessful Journey
In the September of 2020, Rebe and I attempted to visit the Pyrenees. I have already written a post about what a disaster it turned out to be, so I will not repeat the story here. But suffice to say, we did not make it to our destination.
It was now December 2021. Over a year had passed, and we decided to make a second attempt. Our plan was to explore the Pyrenees region by car. For our home base, we chose the city of Jaca, which is close to the major sites while still large enough to be a go...
May 24, 2023
Review: What We Owe to Each Other
What We Owe to Each Other by T.M. Scanlon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Like many readers of this book, I was led here by the show The Good Place—though my path was indirect. A friend of mine spent months trying to convince me to watch it, arguing that it was “made for me.” But I very rarely watch TV and I never felt compelled to make an exception for the show, however brilliant it may have been.
About a year after my friend moved away, however, I received this book in the mail. Apparently, this relative...
May 23, 2023
In the Heat: Elche & Murcia
During my trip to Alicante, I decided to visit a part of Spain which I had never been to before: Murcia.
Now, aside from the two cities still under Spanish control in northern Africa (Ceuta and Melilla), Murcia is probably the least popular province in the country—for domestic and international tourism, both. Indeed, I would say that the place has a rather unfortunate reputation. Students of mine used to joke that “nadie vive en Murcia” (“nobody lives in Murcia”). Every time I expressed an in...
May 18, 2023
Alicante & the Island of Tabarca
Though I have, by now, spent years exploring Spain—having seen most of the major sights, done most of the deeds, eaten most of the comestibles, and drunk most of the potables—there still remain some corners of the country that have escaped my notice. In the summer of 2021, one of these was Alicante, the second largest city in the province of Valencia. With a bit of spare time on my hands, I set about to remedy this.
The fast train from Madrid deposited me in Alicante early in the ...
May 9, 2023
Review: Les Misérables
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I was in the sixth grade I was placed into the “challenge” class. This was a special program for academically “gifted” children, meant (as its name would suggest) to give us more stimulating schoolwork. If memory serves, most of our classes were given over to logic and math problems. But our major project was to read Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.
We were, of course, assigned a student version of the novel, though even this abridgement seeme...
May 8, 2023
Review: The Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Egyptian Book of the Dead by Anonymous
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Of all the great classic books, The Book of the Dead has been on my list for the longest time. My interest in the book was first ignited by the 1999 cinematic masterpiece, The Mummy, which was released at just the moment to leave a permanent imprint on my growing brain. Unfortunately, I have discovered that The Book of the Dead does not really allow you to summon an army of ninja mummies or to revive my long-lost love, Anck-su-namu...
