Making Do
While I’ve read a lot of classical literature, it’s probably less than five percent of what exists. Still, I’m surprised whenever I encounter an author whose name is unfamiliar. Such is the case with Boethius (bow-ee-thee-us), a Roman who rose to prominence in the Germanic Ostrogothic Kingdom under Theodoric. In 523 AD he was implicated in a plot, the circumstances of which are in dispute. He was put to death the next year at 44. During his captivity he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy, the last and most influential of his many books. I’m embarrassed I’d not heard of it until recently. Although he was believed to be a Christian, he drew from the works of Plato and Aristotle. The piece in question is a fictional conversation with a female dubbed Philosophy. Much of it is too complicated for my pedestrian mind, especially at this stage of my life, but I plucked several nuggets from it. It seems a rallying cry in preparation for his execution, a desire to rise above those who’d condemned him. Here are the final few sentences, spoken by the muse: “Avoid vice, therefore cultivate virtue, lift up your mind to the right kind of hope, and put forth humble prayers on high. A great necessity is laid upon you, if you will be honest with yourself, a great necessity to be good, since you live in the sight of a judge who sees all things.” Yes, I believe it is vital to strive to be good, but I don’t believe God, if He exists, monitors our lives. Here are a couple of other comments with which I disagree: “And it is abundantly clear that the wicked are unhappy.” I don’t believe they are any more unhappy or happy than any human being. And: “…when someone is done an injury, the misery belongs not to the victim but to the perpetrator?” If only that were so. He devotes a lot of ink to luck. Here’s one gem: “Good fortune deceives, but bad fortune enlightens.” There are discussions on free will, on how it exists even though God knows the future. I had no luck grasping that part. The work is geared to readers who prefer heavy lifting, who can follow layered arguments. Fortunately, it’s only 137 pages, but it reads like a lot more, translated from Latin by Victor Watts. Although I failed to grasp most of it, I’m glad it came my way.
Rand Paul should have offered to compare death threats with Fauci.
Inflation is now 7%, highest since the Carter administration. It averaged 1.9% under Trump.
Last night Movies!, channel 5–2 on OTA in NYC, ran a western I’d not seen, Virginia City (1940), starring Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins and Randolph Scott. It’s standard fare distinguished by a great cast that includes one of the oddest bits of casting in Hollywood history — Humphrey Bogart as a half-breed bandito, accent at all. In those days most actors did what they were told. I wonder if Bogie was able to laugh at it in his final years. It is now a precious piece of Tinseltown lore. Also along for the ride: Frank McHugh, Alan Hale, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Douglass Dumbrille, Moroni Olsen and Charles Middleton, aka Ming the Merciless. Directed by Michael Curtiz of Casablanca (1942) fame, shot in black and white, it runs two hours. Its appeal is probably restricted to fans of the genre and the players. Here’s the screen legend in his final scene in the flick:
Another gem from the goombah:
The second proof of Curious Sicilian arrived. There will be five changes in the first 38 pages. If there’s nothing more, I may upload the corrections, approve the book and forgo another proof, hoping nothing happens on Amazon’s end to skew the finished copy.
It was great to be back out selling stuff curbside. My thanks to the woman who bought two books in Russian, and to the gentleman who purchased a Nora Roberts translation in that language; and to the woman who selected 101 American English Idioms by Harry Collis and Mario Risso; and to Alice, who chose Hannibal by Thomas Harris; and to the young man who took home The Art of Dialogue: Exploring Personality Differences for More Effective Communication by Carolyn Zeisset and Katharine Myers; Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain; and The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, Robert B. Strassler et al.. I bet he’d understand The Consolation of Philosophy.
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