Welcome to this week’s 5BF: depression captured, the flawed
yet prevalent view of man’s infallibility, post-war story of righting one’s
wrongs, Louise Gluck’s pointing poems, and more…
1 – what I read
Darkness Visible by William Styron – Styron not only writes
about depression, a severe episode of the lifeless illness that he barely escaped
himself, but also captures it along with its atmospheric gloom and hallowing
darkness. Poignantly written with a clarity and sensation of what it’s like to
suffer from depression.
Zadig by Voltaire – a comic tale of misfortunate adventures that make up the fate of the ancient figure, Zadig, the Babylon philosopher who eventually becomes the King. Reminiscent of Voltaire’s masterpiece ‘Candide’ in its adventurous thrill, Zadig paints the comedy of fate and man’s helpless cry about it – or his gratitude once it completes its run.
2 – this week’s articles
Louise Gluck, the Nobel Prize Winner @guardian – a short introduction
to the 2020 Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Louise Gluck, with a few of her
poems that showcases the characteristics of her writing and perceptions towards the world and reality.
Mistaken @aeon – ‘to err is human’ said the poet Alexander Pope, but the present cultural view about human, in this sense, is totally the opposite. The notion of man’s infallibility, that he cannot be wrong, has become so prevalent that there’s now denial against our erroneous nature; the shame around being wrong is because of the two theories that developed in the 20th century: ‘cultural relativism’ and ‘revealed preference’. Know its history in this incredible article.
3 – this week’s movie recommendation
The Sense of an Ending (2017) – movie version of Julian
Barnes’s brilliant novel, where Tony, now a divorced man recalls his earlier
life and the consequences of his actions.
Beanpole (2019) – a post-war movie where a nurse accidently
kills her friend’s, now infertile, little kid and thus has to bear child for
her instead. Heartbreaking and stark.
Patema Inverted (Japan 2013) – a dystopian animated movie where
multiple gravity exists, and the humans on the outside the Earth deem the ones
on the inside their enemy. A metaphorically illustrative and visually stunning
movie.
4 – video recommendations on YouTube
The New Normal of Movie Distributions (Chris Stuckmann) – years
long movie reviewer and now director, Stuckmann in this video investigates how some
movie earn better than the other good movies that go under the radar. This theory
of ‘news being fed’ to us rings true on many levels regarding how passively
idle and uninquisitive we’ve become.
Cultures at the far edge of the World (Wade Davis, TED) – the National Geographic Explorer, Davis, talks about a culmination of unique, raw, and stunning indigenous tribes and cultures and invites the urban men to think and appreciate these remote and ‘closer to Earth’ ways of living, as well as do our share to keep them alive, and in turn, the diversity and ancient history.
5 – this week’s quote
there is no perfect ending.
Indeed, there are infinite endings.
Or perhaps, once one begins,
there are only endings.'