Log24

A discussion of the work of Ralph Ellison:

"… why do you think he did not finish these novels? He wrote on them for many, many years– 40 years, I think."

"Yes, he worked for 40 years."

See Ellison's novel Juneteenth (New York Times review, 1999)

810:

August 10 (8/10), 2004 —

"But all things then were oracle and secret.
Remember the night when,
    lost, returning, we turned back
Confused, and our headlights
    singled out the fox?
Our thoughts went with it then,
    turning and turning back
   With the same terror,
                into the deep thicket
   Beside the highway,
                at home in the dark thicket.

I say the wood within is the dark wood…."

— Donald Justice, "Sadness"

John Baez, Diary, entry of June 22, 2007:

"On Tuesday the 19th….

I hiked down the completely dark but perfectly familiar gravel road with my suitcase in hand, listening to the forest creatures. But then, I couldn't find my parents' driveway! It was embarrassing: I could see their house perfectly well, off in the distance, but it was so darn dark I couldn't spot the driveway. It felt like a dream: after a long flight with many delays, one winds up walking to ones parents house, lost in a spooky forest….

… I sort of enjoy this kind of thing, as long as there's no real danger. It's also sort of scary. The well-lit grid of civilization slowly falls away, and you're out there alone in the night…

Anyway: I considered hiking straight through the woods to my parents' house, but I decided things were already interesting enough, so instead I called my mom and ask her to drive down the driveway a bit, just so I could see where it was. And so she did, and then it was obvious.

So, I got home shortly before midnight. A long and strange day. My dad was already in bed, but I said hi to him anyway."

Related material:

Juneteenth through
Midsummer Night