tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post3485494513312495109..comments2024-03-18T16:55:31.971+00:00Comments on This Space: 700th post, on Coetzee and the question of philosophy and fictionStephen Mitchelmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-21700360180911848102008-12-31T21:12:00.000+00:002008-12-31T21:12:00.000+00:00I think the concept of Diary of a Bad Year is wond...I think the concept of Diary of a Bad Year is wonderful -- but is that concept best executed with so many essays for so little narrative? I'm not sure. I think part of the fun of writing this for Coetzee was the chance to jump on a soap box and let rip. If his goals were only literary, some of the op-ed columns could have been cut.<BR/><BR/>And is this theme of the vulnerability of the writer (or, more generally, the ethical thinker) really developed beyond the wonderful exploration it gets in Elizabeth Costello? To some extent, Diary of a Bad Year is retreading old ground.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-56808040018438488262008-12-30T14:49:00.000+00:002008-12-30T14:49:00.000+00:00Thanks for the comment. Cora Diamond's work is add...Thanks for the comment. Cora Diamond's work is addressed in the extract from the book so it seems to follow the same themes but extends to literature. <BR/><BR/>On Diary of a Bad Year: the op-ed nature of the essays is, as I said in my review linked to in the blog, necessary to the narrative; it includes the vulnerability of which you speak. The commanding spirit of the writer - his mastery over the world in the form of a book - is thereby put in question.Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-68626441963799571172008-12-30T14:34:00.000+00:002008-12-30T14:34:00.000+00:00I was a little underwhelmed by Diary of a Bad Year...I was a little underwhelmed by Diary of a Bad Year, but I thought Elizabeth Costello was wonderful. The difference is that much of the "philosophy" in Diary of a Bad Year adopts the simple conventions of newspaper op-ed columns. Elizabeth Costello is more effective for being more oblique.<BR/><BR/>Related to your post, I recently read a book called "Philosophy and Animal Life" by Cora Diamond, Ian Hacking et al., which seems to address the same themes as the Mulhall book. It specifically concerns this "difficulty of reality" in relation to animals. <BR/><BR/>In short, the thought is that the transformation of conscious beings into packaged meat is something we cannot easily conceptualize. There is some horrific gap where an organized being has to be reconceptualized as an inert commodity, and we cannot fully grasp how this transformation is possible in reality -- in the same way that we cannot really grasp what it will be like to die. Realizing this limit on our understanding lets us see something we and animals have in common -- vulnerability.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-12978419106364280992008-12-26T15:35:00.000+00:002008-12-26T15:35:00.000+00:00Thanks John, Jacob, Richard and Edmond. Much appre...Thanks John, Jacob, Richard and Edmond. Much appreciated here.<BR/><BR/>Jacob, try The Book Depository next year. Princeton's site says February is the date for publication.Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-41669892160072321402008-12-24T23:32:00.000+00:002008-12-24T23:32:00.000+00:00Thanks for 700 wonderful posts, Steve, and the gen...Thanks for 700 wonderful posts, Steve, and the generosity of spirit and readerly intelligence behind them.Edmond Caldwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02651618912907453630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-68384513400140348722008-12-24T03:29:00.000+00:002008-12-24T03:29:00.000+00:00I loved this post, Steve. And congratulations on #...I loved this post, Steve. And congratulations on #700!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-36493905368077716052008-12-23T17:34:00.000+00:002008-12-23T17:34:00.000+00:00That last quote near chocked me up to tears, and i...That last quote near chocked me up to tears, and it's morning and I haven't had a damn thing to drink but coffee and OJ. That touched a nerve that is endlessly starved for touch.<BR/><BR/>Now if I can find Mulhall's book someplace besides Amazon...Jacob Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07090220157886320148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-92121139769556809662008-12-23T12:54:00.000+00:002008-12-23T12:54:00.000+00:00Congratulations on your septua- er, 700th post, St...Congratulations on your septua- er, 700th post, Steve, and hope you have a peaceful Christmas.John Selfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05761816149593541133noreply@blogger.com