March 12

Has there ever been another novelist as punishing to his characters as George Orwell? The ambitions of his protagonists prove unrealizable; their actions, ineffectual. The novels they figure in are machines designed to humiliate them. In Burmese Days, the life of British colonial James Flory spirals downward in a way that is very distressing to read about, and ends horribly. Gordon Comstock in Keep the Aspidistra Flying has it pretty bad, too, and although Orwell does allow him an escape hatch, that way out is in itself a defeat for all his dreams. Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four? We know how things turn out for him. The animals in Animal Farm? Ditto, I'm afraid. I'll have to read Coming Up for Air and A Clergyman's Daughter to see if they conform to the pattern, but in general I'd have to say that although Orwell's fears of and engagement with the horrors of his time and the potential horrors of the future were perfectly genuine, they were profoundly bolstered by a masochistic streak a mile wide. Orwell appears to put versions of himself at the center of his books so he can proceed with the necessary flagellation. I think he hated himself; I can't think of an author who seems to have hated himself more.

Christian Chensvold at Ivy Style has made a spectacular discovery for a menswear maven such as myself -- a 1959 novel by and about a Brooks Brothers clerk, Try for Elegance:

http://www.ivy-style.com/bohemian-in-a-brooks-brothers-suit.html

Although Chensvold doesn't mention this, it cannot be any surprise that author David Loovis later wrote the 1974 tome Gay Spirit: A Guide to Becoming a Sensuous Homosexual. I just hope he hadn't abandoned his sack suits for jeans and flannel shirts by then, the Seventies being what it was.

What became of David Loovis? A cursory Google search does not clarify this, except to reveal that he did not publish any more books after 1978. We need to put Brooks Peters on the case, pronto! (A kind reader brought forward a 2008 obituary for Loovis; check the Comments section. It would still be interesting to know more about what he was up to for those intervening 30 years.)

Ascanio Tedeschi at Open Letters Monthly rediscovers the Italian romantic poet Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827), some of whose work is newly available in English translation from Oneworld Classics:

http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/his-homelands/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugo_Foscolo

Michael Orthofer of The Complete Review has given an informative interview to Omnivoracious:

http://www.omnivoracious.com/2010/03/the-complete-reviews-ma-orthofer-on-.html

J. Ryan Stradal at The Faster Times writes very well about his time to the Arctic (hat tip to Arts & Letters Daily):

You don’t need to break through the Arctic Ocean or get in a bar fight to die north of the Arctic Circle. Being outside will kill you just fine.

http://thefastertimes.com/slowtravel/2010/03/11/is-your-workplace-as-rough-as-the-arctic/

Since I recently finished Wilkie Collins's great melo-novel The Woman in White, I am naturally interested to learn of a British film adaptation starring the maniacal Tod Slaughter (and yes, that was his real surname):

http://princeplanetmovies.blogspot.com/2010/03/crimes-at-dark-house-1940.html

The blog Coffee Coffee and More Coffee reviews a very interesting collection of Japanese World War II films:

http://www.coffeecoffeeandmorecoffee.com/archives/2010/03/japan_at_war.html

Although the New York Times was not enthralled with Leon Botstein's last American Symphony Orchestra concert of obscure Soviet composers, I always admire Botstein's programming choices and wish I could be there at the concerts:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/arts/music/01symphony.html

Did you know that Robert De Niro's father was a significant painter?

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=36723

The Hotel-Musee Premieres Nations in Quebec pays spirited tribute to Native Canadians:

http://www.archdaily.com/51436/hotel-musee-premieres-nations-lemaymichaud-architecture-design/

Among notables born on this date are biographer John Aubrey, essayist Richard Steele, philosopher George Berkeley, novelist Jack Kerouac, crime novelist Carl Hiaasen, science fiction writer Harry Harrison, post-modernist Dave Eggers, poets Gabriele D'Annunzio (Italy) and Irving Layton (Canada), dramatist Edward Albee, film composer Georges Delerue, ballet dancer Vaclav Nijinsky, New Zealand painter Rita Angus, singer Al Jarreau, actor Aaron Eckhart, and actor/singers Gordon MacRae and Liza Minnelli. Rita Angus (1908-1970) is probably largely unfamiliar outside New Zealand, yet she is one of its pioneering modern artists:

http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/exhibitions/RitaAngus/

http://www.prints.co.nz/page/fine-art/CTGY/Artists_Angus_Rita

http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues21to30/angus.htm