May-June Romance
An age-appropriate round-up
This early summer, watching Ozu’s Early Summer - his Jane-Austeny film about the matrimonial (and Pride relevant?) travails of a young woman Noriko - I read his interview where he says words to the effect that he can make any style or kind of tofu but for other dishes try another cook. Is this Substack a meticulous tofu-specialist or can I cook you up anything? In any case, here’s a selection to help you decide for your latest Artless round-up.
This (couple of) month’s newsletters
How I solved the Library of Babel - What began as a ‘huh’ moment re-reading Borges years ago ended in this passion project: an essay on discovering a secret miracle in the short story and a perhaps unique literary trick in all literature
Lincoln Michel of and the beautiful fascinating tradition - Reframing in order to dissolve the debate about literary genres and interviewing a champion of any, all and none of them
Yeah Cheers for London Fields - How to write a funny novel and why you should read this one, beyond, you know, its author copping it last month
Why you hated Martin Amis - The author wot copped it, why everyone else my age seemed to hate him, and what it was like being a fan of someone who thought you had low rationality
Ones you might’ve missed
The art of talking during a film - A harsh spotlight on any persistent babbler, outside the circle of which they realise the cinema’s emptied, a cinema which will now play them the BadgerBadgerBadger video for all eternity—but what if there was a way to talk during a film that didn’t deserve this fate?
Essays from the archive
Cult Clash: on Midsommar, fascism and climate change - To celebrate this month’s summer solstice and new Ari Aster film, Beau is Afraid , here’s what someone wrote to describe as ‘shaking Midsommar till all the freaks fall out’.
Short story of the month
‘The Shame Fairy’ - Was reminded by this Galley Beggar story to dust off my one, about that time-when or the moment-where or god that incident that you, yes, you should never ever stop thinking about late at night in bed.