Offenbach : The Tales of Hoffmann

“Time flies by, and carries away Our tender caresses for ever. Time flies far from this happy oasis And does not return.” Offenbach, Les Contes d’Hoffmann The Tales of Hoffmann is an opéra fantastique by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final [...]

Warren Ward | Lovers of Philosophy

"Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his blood." Nietzsche I am currently reading Lovers of Philosophy by Warren Ward and I am completely enjoying it. I am fascinated by relationships of notable people and how it affects their work; painters, poets, musicians and yes, philosophers, hence I [...]

Milan Kundera | Immortality

“Just imagine living in a world without mirrors. You'd dream about your face and imagine it as an outer reflection of what is inside you. And then, when you reached forty, someone put a mirror before you for the first time in your life. Imagine your fright! You'd see the face of a stranger. And [...]

Letters of Note | Love

As a continuity with last week's post about the book Letters of Note, here is a much smaller book, without images this one, Letters of Note : Love, a collection of love letters compiled by Shaun Usher. "First published in 2020, Letters of Note: Love is a compulsive collection of the world's most entertaining, inspiring and powerful letters with [...]

Andrei Tarkovsky | Solaris

"When we love someone, who do we love? That person, or our idea of that person?" Roger Ebert Solaris is a 1972 Soviet science fiction art film based on Stanisław Lem's 1961 novel of the same name. The film was co-written and directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, and stars Donatas Banionis and Natalya Bondarchuk. The electronic music score was performed by Eduard Artemyev and features J.S. Bach chorale prelude for organ Ich [...]

Jean Cocteau | Orpheus

“Mirrors are the doors through which Death comes; look long enough in a mirror and you will see Death at work.” Orpheus a 1950 French film directed by Jean Cocteau and starring Jean Marais. It is the central part of Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy, which consists of The Blood of a Poet (1930), Orpheus (1950), and Testament of Orpheus (1960). Over the course of thirty years, [...]

War and peace | Tolstoy

I am currently reading, among other things, Tolstoy's "War and peace". I am halfway through book two (of four). It is the first time I read Tolstoy (never read Anna Karenine!) and I am enjoying it a lot. The novel takes place during the Napoelonic wars in Russia and is a window showing how life [...]