tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post4950812400387791645..comments2024-03-28T15:05:10.372-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/28/24: Saul Bellow calls up our courageNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-47744896994796436872020-11-20T10:25:06.129-06:002020-11-20T10:25:06.129-06:00Doh!Doh!heydavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15509102502417886790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-47057696478151583602020-11-19T16:48:06.634-06:002020-11-19T16:48:06.634-06:00Mentioning two of my favorites, Harris and Vonnegu...Mentioning two of my favorites, Harris and Vonnegut in the same column, excellent.<br />You may even remember that I told you you reminded me of Sydney a while ago. Your response, "High praise indeed!" Yes it is.<br />Not many like you guys.Leshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16679840606511726447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-36098782413057443332020-11-19T16:23:21.694-06:002020-11-19T16:23:21.694-06:00Your last two sentences were the best! Laughing o...Your last two sentences were the best! Laughing out loud, indeed...Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02265121591041114100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-86683807771722855282020-11-19T14:57:38.678-06:002020-11-19T14:57:38.678-06:00What was your car’s name?What was your car’s name?Coeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130250489695215525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-14408786380605346492020-11-19T13:07:15.643-06:002020-11-19T13:07:15.643-06:00I got it right away, thanks to finally having read...I got it right away, thanks to finally having read "Augie March" when I was around sixty or so. Loved it--for its urban grittiness. It's set in a tough town (Chicago) in tough times (the Depression). Tried other works by Bellow, but didn't finish them.<br /><br />Maybe you can try doing the style of James T. Farrell next, even though you're not an Irishman. He's probably my favorite Chicago author. I read some of Farrell's novels in my teens, after finding my parents' yellowing copies of the Studs Lonigan trilogy in the basement. <br /><br />At the age of fifty, I attempted to find and binge-read everything Farrell ever wrote. All 54 of his works. Didn't even come close to achieving my goal. Too much urban misery and pain. All that Hibernian binge-drinking and carousing and self-destruction and mental anguish. Too many sodden (rather than sudden) deaths. Too many sad rides home on the streetcar, from too many Irish wakes. Maybe that's why he's almost forgotten these days.<br /><br />Cleveland's vast library system owns most of Farrell's books, and I tracked down still others in other systems, including the ones from his radical leftist days in New York, and the obscure novels he published in his geezerhood. I finally gave up my quest as a sorry task, maybe hlfway through it. Not the most uplifting sort of pastime, especially during Ohio's long gray winters, which are already depressing enough. <br /><br />Still, for anyone who wants to learn more about the often-woeful racial and ethnic history of Chicago, and especially about the working-class South Side Irish community, his novels are must-reads. If you can handle all that cheerless snowy-day-in-February despair.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-17123719614995150632020-11-19T12:53:30.119-06:002020-11-19T12:53:30.119-06:00A delightful post. Never made it to, nor heard of...A delightful post. Never made it to, nor heard of The Weinkeller, but I'd have liked to. I enjoy many, many kinds of beer, but don't like Belgian very well, alas.<br /><br />My wife, a much more perceptive critic than I, was impressed by Augie March. I managed to slog my way through it, but it didn't encourage me to delve much further into Bellow's oeuvre. "It's good." That covers it succinctly and accurately enough for me. <br /><br />As for being averse to the hard truth, "a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." Having been written over 50 years ago, that line describes the current conundrum of America about as well as any.<br /><br />Unlike usually, I don't quite get what the Jackson Pollack painting is doing atop the blog today, but it calls to mind this recent cartoon:<br /><br />https://www.newyorker.com/cartoon/a23959 Jakashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-67651655293995804852020-11-19T11:58:18.556-06:002020-11-19T11:58:18.556-06:00IndeedIndeedFMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06829632906445535928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-76454606717133193942020-11-19T11:17:20.484-06:002020-11-19T11:17:20.484-06:00No worries. Even noble Homer dozed.No worries. Even noble Homer dozed.Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-68106710981696993172020-11-19T11:16:55.534-06:002020-11-19T11:16:55.534-06:00Some more than others, FME.Some more than others, FME.Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-74129513231685955032020-11-19T10:52:12.247-06:002020-11-19T10:52:12.247-06:00oops.oops.heydavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15509102502417886790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-91518108965568495862020-11-19T10:21:17.263-06:002020-11-19T10:21:17.263-06:00Bellow was a jerk averse to the hard truth about h...Bellow was a jerk averse to the hard truth about himself, at least when presented by somebody else.<br /><br />Aren't we allFMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06829632906445535928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-62406498666230565622020-11-19T09:09:52.900-06:002020-11-19T09:09:52.900-06:00C'mon guys, I sometimes wonder why I bother. R...C'mon guys, I sometimes wonder why I bother. Read the opening again, for comprehension. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-3678566747467809812020-11-19T08:12:13.688-06:002020-11-19T08:12:13.688-06:00Not to quibble, but aren't you from Ohio?Not to quibble, but aren't you from Ohio?heydavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15509102502417886790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-50492581869206904602020-11-19T06:38:17.682-06:002020-11-19T06:38:17.682-06:00"John Cheever w/a circumcision." Brillia..."John Cheever w/a circumcision." Brilliant! I enjoyed Augie March, tried Humboldt twice, never reached the end. Discursive in a way I didn't relish. Thank you for mentioning Vonnegut in a positive light. He's turning out to be one of those writers one is supposed to "get over," like Salinger, once you "mature." Critics rarely credit comedy. Which is lame. I say "Jailbird" is THEE Great American Novel oc C. 20.J.J. Tindallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13381555158949851490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-36201747460081512342020-11-19T05:51:35.711-06:002020-11-19T05:51:35.711-06:00That sounds right. Long tables, every single type ...That sounds right. Long tables, every single type of beer. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-54734932698296923922020-11-19T05:34:49.593-06:002020-11-19T05:34:49.593-06:00An interesting read, thanks. The Roosevelt Road be...An interesting read, thanks. The Roosevelt Road beer hall sounds like The Weinkeller in Berwyn, now long gone, sad to say. kganderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11005895232135682751noreply@blogger.com