Ken’s review of Angel Down > Likes and Comments
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If it makes you feel any better, Ken, I've been celebrating this yuletide by reading Paul Celan's Todesfuge, with its black milk of melancholy and Margarete's golden hair forever gone. Nothing but good cheer.
Ulysse wrote: "If it makes you feel any better, Ken, I've been celebrating this yuletide by reading Paul Celan's Todesfuge, with its black milk of melancholy and Margarete's golden hair forever gone. Nothing but ..."
What is WRONG with us? But I suppose it's better than reading some treacly fare that is so senti- it drives you -mental.
Thanks Ken. I know what I won't be reading this season.
The one drawback in having good taste in literature is that we've swapped comfort for terrible beauty.
Cherisa wrote: "Thanks Ken. I know what I won't be reading this season."
Maybe next season, Cherisa? Or maybe not at all, I'm gathering.
Ulysse wrote: "The one drawback in having good taste in literature is that we've swapped comfort for terrible beauty."
Well, I'd rather read about it than experience it.
Ken wrote: "Well, I'd rather read about it than experience it."
As would I!
I too noticed this in the NYT best list. It looked interesting, but the one sentence novel structure concerned me. Thanks for your review - it will either move it back in the queue for me or keep it out of the queue. The Remembered Soldier (yes, another WWI soldier) on the WSJ’s best list will be higher on my list to read!
Ken wrote: "I too noticed this in the NYT best list. It looked interesting, but the one sentence novel structure concerned me. Thanks for your review - it will either move it back in the queue for me or keep i..."
I actually thought the one-sentence gimmick would annoy me but I quickly found myself forgetting about it and supplying my own periods. The reader-writer compact is 50/50, after all!
Interesting, Ken. I recently read an essay by Naomi Klein. Her work at the moment looks for ways out of our troubled times. In this essay she looks at Surrealism and art more broadly as a form of resistance and revolt against the worse in the world. Last year she attended a big Surrealist exhibition in Paris. Many of the Surrealists came out of the trenches having seen the carnage and the number of ways the body can be dismembered and butchered by mechanised warfare. They saw surrealism as a release and a protest against the forces that brought about war. I found it uplifting, though I still think Dali was a turncoat and a fraud. Many were anti-colonialists and anti imperialists and also looked for ways to heal through art or simply to protest the message.
Nick wrote: "Interesting, Ken. I recently read an essay by Naomi Klein. Her work at the moment looks for ways out of our troubled times. In this essay she looks at Surrealism and art more broadly as a form of r..."
With that in mind, you should seek this book out. It is definitely an anti-war book and Sir Real is knighted left and right.
Ken wrote: "Nick wrote: "Interesting, Ken. I recently read an essay by Naomi Klein. Her work at the moment looks for ways out of our troubled times. In this essay she looks at Surrealism and art more broadly a..."
I'm very much feeling like I'm in the trenches, only it's not my body getting dismembered. I don't think Klein looked into that idea. But many of the surrealists were interested in a therapeutic process to heal, too.
I like dark lit so I'm going to check it out. Thanks!
Nick wrote: "Ken wrote: "Nick wrote: "Interesting, Ken. I recently read an essay by Naomi Klein. Her work at the moment looks for ways out of our troubled times. In this essay she looks at Surrealism and art mo..."
Sorry. It's a rough time of year for mental dismemberment!
Debbie wrote: "I like dark lit so I'm going to check it out. Thanks!"
Let us know how it goes, Debbie!
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Ulysse
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Dec 23, 2025 04:36AM
If it makes you feel any better, Ken, I've been celebrating this yuletide by reading Paul Celan's Todesfuge, with its black milk of melancholy and Margarete's golden hair forever gone. Nothing but good cheer.
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Ulysse wrote: "If it makes you feel any better, Ken, I've been celebrating this yuletide by reading Paul Celan's Todesfuge, with its black milk of melancholy and Margarete's golden hair forever gone. Nothing but ..."What is WRONG with us? But I suppose it's better than reading some treacly fare that is so senti- it drives you -mental.
Thanks Ken. I know what I won't be reading this season.
The one drawback in having good taste in literature is that we've swapped comfort for terrible beauty.
Cherisa wrote: "Thanks Ken. I know what I won't be reading this season."Maybe next season, Cherisa? Or maybe not at all, I'm gathering.
Ulysse wrote: "The one drawback in having good taste in literature is that we've swapped comfort for terrible beauty."Well, I'd rather read about it than experience it.
Ken wrote: "Well, I'd rather read about it than experience it."As would I!
I too noticed this in the NYT best list. It looked interesting, but the one sentence novel structure concerned me. Thanks for your review - it will either move it back in the queue for me or keep it out of the queue. The Remembered Soldier (yes, another WWI soldier) on the WSJ’s best list will be higher on my list to read!
Ken wrote: "I too noticed this in the NYT best list. It looked interesting, but the one sentence novel structure concerned me. Thanks for your review - it will either move it back in the queue for me or keep i..."I actually thought the one-sentence gimmick would annoy me but I quickly found myself forgetting about it and supplying my own periods. The reader-writer compact is 50/50, after all!
Interesting, Ken. I recently read an essay by Naomi Klein. Her work at the moment looks for ways out of our troubled times. In this essay she looks at Surrealism and art more broadly as a form of resistance and revolt against the worse in the world. Last year she attended a big Surrealist exhibition in Paris. Many of the Surrealists came out of the trenches having seen the carnage and the number of ways the body can be dismembered and butchered by mechanised warfare. They saw surrealism as a release and a protest against the forces that brought about war. I found it uplifting, though I still think Dali was a turncoat and a fraud. Many were anti-colonialists and anti imperialists and also looked for ways to heal through art or simply to protest the message.
Nick wrote: "Interesting, Ken. I recently read an essay by Naomi Klein. Her work at the moment looks for ways out of our troubled times. In this essay she looks at Surrealism and art more broadly as a form of r..."With that in mind, you should seek this book out. It is definitely an anti-war book and Sir Real is knighted left and right.
Ken wrote: "Nick wrote: "Interesting, Ken. I recently read an essay by Naomi Klein. Her work at the moment looks for ways out of our troubled times. In this essay she looks at Surrealism and art more broadly a..."I'm very much feeling like I'm in the trenches, only it's not my body getting dismembered. I don't think Klein looked into that idea. But many of the surrealists were interested in a therapeutic process to heal, too.
I like dark lit so I'm going to check it out. Thanks!
Nick wrote: "Ken wrote: "Nick wrote: "Interesting, Ken. I recently read an essay by Naomi Klein. Her work at the moment looks for ways out of our troubled times. In this essay she looks at Surrealism and art mo..."Sorry. It's a rough time of year for mental dismemberment!
Debbie wrote: "I like dark lit so I'm going to check it out. Thanks!"Let us know how it goes, Debbie!
