fifty-second (2022-10-26)
"there are souls whose umbilicus has never been cut. they never got weaned from the universe. they do not understand death as an enemy; they look forward to rotting and turning into humus" - le guin
photo of me and my handsome son by steph byce
shorts (click here for my full list of shorts on the docket for 2022)
Alan Sillitoe, “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” (1959)
So there I am, standing in the doorway in shimmy and shorts, not even a dry crust in my guts, looking out at frosty flowers on the ground. I suppose you think this is enough to make me cry? Not likely. Just because I feel like the first bloke in the world wouldn't make me bawl. It makes me feel fifty times better than when I'm cooped up in that dormitory with three hundred others.
i started this story five times before committing - the midcentury britishisms made for dense and disorienting reading - but once i pushed on i found this to be lovely and moving. centering on a young man with a penchant for petty theft who has found solace in long-distance running while incarcerated in a borstal (youth detention center), the narrator is empathetic and frustrating in his weaving of themes of resistance, autonomy, and grief.
book
the dispossessed by ursula k le guin, 1974
the more i think about this book the more i think it is one of the greatest books i’ve ever read. there are obvious themes of utopia and dystopias and the permeable roles of society, the state, and individuals, but the writing is multilayered, obsessively detailed, symbolic, and intensely probing (alien pun intended). i am especially fascinated by the portrayal of a property-less pseudo-utopia without private kitchens - all meals were communal and no restaurants or dinner parties existed. imagine!
podcast
world corrupt, from crooked media, 2022
i don’t particularly like this podcast - i am largely bored by men’s soccer and the lack of ethics in the institution seems to be a feature, not a bug. however, this podcast’s strength is in making the argument i have made (poorly) for years now - that sports are not a lesser art form and people who dismiss them outright are ignoring their vast cultural and political implications. i was reminded of this bias in myself while at the blackhawks vs. red wings game last week - the blackhawks fans yelled “detroit sucks” the entire game which i found boorish and distasteful (and then i participated with my own unhinged yelling in the atrium post-game). but the decorum i craved is not a requirement for appreciating the interplay of sports in our cultural milieu and i’m grateful to this podcast for articulating that.
special note - thanks for one year!
i’ve been writing these sensory highlights for a year now. a few things i’ve learned:
keep plot summaries brief. everyone has wikipedia
never say “i enjoyed” (a lorrie moore suggestion)
when in doubt, write about how the thing made you feel, what resonated, what sparked. the best criticism is written by a real live person
creativity needs containers - constraints like my list of short stories make this weekly writeup feel possible on days when i’m uninspired
thanks for reading - more to come -
bria