329. (Franz Kafka)

Kafka’s The Trial takes as its subject matter the disenchantment of turn-of-the-century bourgeois modernity; but it presents, in what it … More

325. (Yves Bonnefoy)

On first reading the collection, I found Yves Bonnefoy’s The Beginning and End of Snow to be one of the … More

324. (William Gaddis)

Near the end of The Recognitions we are told that Stanley dedicates his composition to the souls of three women. … More

323. (William Gaddis)

Giving a speech years after the novel was published, William Gaddis recalled feeling momentary surprise, followed by understanding, when a … More

322. (William Gaddis)

My initial reaction to The Recognitions, on my second reading of the novel, was captured in the post I wrote … More

321. (William Empson)

William Empson’s brilliance as a reader is more immediate than his brilliance as a critic. The line between the two … More

320. (William Gaddis)

Re-reading William Gaddis’ The Recognitions, I come closer to understanding what Empson meant when he bucked against the post-Eliot neo-Christian … More

317. (Derek Mahon)

Derek Mahon died on 1 October 2020. I’ve written about his poetry before—it’s Lucretian or Ovidian spirit—and going back to … More

315. (John Berryman)

The fifth section of John Berryman’s The Dream Songs, song 92, “Room 231: the fourth week”, opens with Henry in … More

314. (Yves Bonnefoy)

As a translator of Shakespeare into French, Yves Bonnefoy has reckoned with the chasm separating the French and English poetic … More