In appreciation of their essays in last
Sunday’s New York Times Book Review ,
a link for David Albert and Philip Kitcher—
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Finnegans Kaleidoscope
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Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Frame Tale
From an academic's website:
For Josefine Lyche and Ignotus the Mage,
as well as Rose the Hat and other Zingari shoolerim —
Sabbatha hanti, lodsam hanti, cahanna risone hanti :
words that had been old when the True Knot moved
across Europe in wagons, selling peat turves and trinkets.
They had probably been old when Babylon was young.
The girl was powerful, but the True was all-powerful,
and Rose anticipated no real problem.
— King, Stephen (2013-09-24).
Doctor Sleep: A Novel
(pp. 278-279). Scribner. Kindle Edition.
From a post of November 10, 2008:
Twenty-four Variations on a Theme of Plato,
a version by Barry Sharples based on the earlier
kaleidoscope puzzle version of Steven H. Cullinane
"The king asked, in compensation for his toils
during this strangest of all the nights he had
ever known, that the twenty-four riddle tales
told him by the specter, together with the story
of the night itself, should be made known
over the whole earth and remain eternally
famous among men."
Frame Tale:
"The quad gospellers may own the targum
but any of the Zingari shoolerim may pick a peck
of kindlings yet from the sack of auld hensyne."
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Monday, November 10, 2008
Monday November 10, 2008
Frame Tales
From June 30 —
("Will this be on the test?")
Frame Tale One:
|
Summer Reading
Subtitle: |
Frame Tale Two:
Barry Sharples
on his version of the
Kaleidoscope Puzzle —
Background:
"A possible origin of this puzzle is found in a dialogue
between Socrates and Meno written by the Greek philosopher,
Plato, where a square is drawn inside a square such that
the blue square is twice the area of the yellow square.
Colouring the triangles produces a starting pattern
which is a one-diamond figure made up of four tiles
and there are 24 different possible arrangements."
"The king asked, in compensation for his toils during this strangest
of all the nights he had ever known, that the twenty-four riddle tales
told him by the specter, together with the story of the night itself,
should be made known over the whole earth
and remain eternally famous among men."
Frame Tale Three:
"The quad gospellers may own the targum
but any of the Zingari shoolerim may pick a peck
of kindlings yet from the sack of auld hensyne."
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Saturday, August 13, 2005
Saturday August 13, 2005
Kaleidoscope, continued:
In Derrida’s Defense
The previous entry quoted an attack on Jacques Derrida for ignoring the “kaleidoscope” metaphor of Claude Levi-Strauss. Here is a quote by Derrida himself:
“The time for reflection is also the chance for turning back on the very conditions of reflection, in all the senses of that word, as if with the help of an optical device one could finally see sight, could not only view the natural landscape, the city, the bridge and the abyss, but could view viewing. (1983:19)
— Derrida, J. (1983) ‘The Principle of Reason: The University in the Eyes of its Pupils’, Diacritics 13.3: 3-20.”
The above quotation comes from Simon Wortham, who thinks the “optical device” of Derrida is a mirror. The same quotation appears in Desiring Dualisms at thispublicaddress.com, where the “optical device” is interpreted as a kaleidoscope.
Derrida’s “optical device” may (for university pupils desperately seeking an essay topic) be compared with Joyce’s “collideorscape.” For a different connection with Derrida, see The ‘Collideorscape’ as Différance.
Saturday, December 13, 2003
Saturday December 13, 2003
We Are the Key:
The Shining of December 13
For James and Lucia Joyce
In the Orbit of Genius —
TIME, Dec. 1, 2003:
"Once, when her mother asked if Joyce should visit her in the sanatorium, Lucia said, 'Tell him I am a crossword puzzle, and if he does not mind seeing a crossword puzzle, he is to come out.' "
Compare and contrast
with Finnegans Wake
From Roger Zelazny's Eye of Cat:
"A massive, jaguarlike form with a single, gleaming eye landed on the vehicle's hood forward and to the front. It was visible for but an instant, and then it sprang away. The car tipped, its air cushion awry, and it was already turning onto its side before he left the trail. He fought with the wheel and the attitude control, already knowing that it was too late. There came a strong shock accompanied by a crunching noise, and he felt himself thrown forward.
DEADLY, DEADLY, DEADLY…
Kaleidoscope turning… Shifting pattern within unalterable structure… Was it a mistake? There is pain with the power… Time's friction at the edges… Center loosens, forms again elsewhere… Unalterable? But – Turn outward. Here songs of self erode the will till actions lie stillborn upon night's counterpane. But – Again the movement… Will it hold beyond a catch of moment? To fragment… Not kaleidoscope. No center. But again… To form it will. To will it form. Structure… Pain… Deadly, deadly… And lovely. Like a sleek, small dog… A plastic statue… The notes of an organ, the first slug of gin on an empty stomach… We settle again, farther than ever before… Center. The light!… It is difficult being a god. The pain. The beauty. The terror of selfless – Act! Yes. Center, center, center… Here? Deadly…
necess yet again from bridge of brainbow oyotecraven stare decesis on landaway necessity timeslast the arnings ent and tided turn yet beastfall nor mindstorms neither in their canceling sarved cut the line that binds ecessity towarn and findaway twill open pandorapack wishdearth amen amenusensis opend the mand of min apend the pain of durthwursht vernichtung desiree tolight and eadly dth cessity sesame
We are the key."
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