The Weekly Wrap: November 9-15
Reading and the Senses
Yesterday I saw an ear, nose, and throat doctor. Since the summer, I’ve had a feeling of my left ear being blocked and noticed changes in my hearing. The visit included a hearing test, which confirmed that my hearing in the left ear is diminished, especially in the low ranges. That explains things sounding “tinny” in that ear. It’s caused by fluid collected in the inner ear, a condition called cochlear hydrops. My doctor has prescribed treatment. Thankfully, both ear drums are healthy.
I also learned that my hearing ability in the upper ranges is diminished, almost universal in older adults. I suspected that. When I Iisten to music, as I am while writing this, it sounds more warm than bright. All this brings up one of my fears as one who loves to read and listen to music. What happens should the senses on which visual reading or listening fail?
I watched my mom struggle with this. I probably got my love of reading from her. In her seventies, she experienced the onset of macular degeneration in both eyes. I see an eye doc regularly, try to live healthy, and watch for any signs of vision changes. Until recently, however, I hadn’t thought of hearing problems. I kind of figured that if the eyes went, there were still audiobooks.
I’m aware that there are both treatments and assistive technologies to address these losses. For now, I’m grateful that apart from reading glasses, I don’t require them. But my most recent doctor visit reminds me that I do well to prepare for changes.
Meanwhile, I’m grateful for gifts of sight and hearing that permit me to savor the Hadyn string quartets I’m listening to and a Terry Pratchett novel. After yesterday, even more grateful than ever.
Five Articles Worth Reading
The recent passing of James Watson reminds us of the extraordinary scientific breakthrough of their discovery of DNA and the double helix. Janice P. Nimura reviews a new biography of his partner, Francis Crick, in “The Building Blocks of Life Were Just the Beginning.”
This week, Meta offered me instant AI translations of the “reels” of my Bob on Poetry series. Ross Benjamin confirms my suspicions of the problems with this offer in “The Costs of Instant Translation.”
One of my “go to” online sources is The Paris Review. Poetry, book excerpts, and great author interviews, it’s all there. Peter Matthiessen was one of its founders. More recently, it has come out that the magazine made a great “cover” for his work with the CIA. Fittingly, The Paris Review has just offered an account of their founder in “What Really Happened with the CIA and The Paris Review?: A Conversation with Lance Richardson.”
We always try to make sense of the senseless tragedy of suicide. Nowhere is this more true than in the suicide death of Sylvia Plath. At the time of her death, she was at the peak of her writing powers and a mother to two children. In “Making Sense of Sylvia Plath’s Final Act,” Carl Rollyson offers his own researched account of what might have been in Plath’s mind as she ended her life.
Finally, it seems no one found more ways to kill of his characters than William Shakespeare. “74 Ways Characters Die in Shakespeare’s Plays Shown in a Handy Infographic: From Snakebites to Lack of Sleep” shows all the ways Shakespeare found for his characters “not to be.”
Quote of the Week
And while we are on the topic, here was the take of Astrid Lindgren, author of the Pippi Longstocking stories. She was born November 14, 1907.
“I don’t mind dying, I’ll gladly do that, but not right now, I need to clean the house first.”
Miscellaneous Musings
Everyone seems to be racing to get their best book awards out. I guess it doesn’t pay to publish in November or December. I suspect it all anticipates the holiday buying season.
I’ve been reading Rick Atkinson’s great series on Revolutionary War history. Fate of the Day underscores the British folly in persisting in the war, which succeeded in turning it into a global war for them. So, I wonder if Ken Burns will reach a similar conclusion in his new PBS series that starts Sunday evening.
Finally, I like to find Indie authors I can support. I can’t do it for everyone but those from Ohio have a leg up for me, A while back Michael S. Moore, from the Columbus area, reached out to me about his first book, Crumpled Paper. I gave it a chance and loved it. He just sent me his newest, Jazz Trash. If you always wanted to play in a band but didn’t play guitar, how would you respond to an ad that said “Wanted. Guitarist who does not play guitar”? It’s got me curious!
Next Week’s Reviews
Monday: Liam de los Reyes, The Earth is the Lord’s
Tuesday: Wendell Berry, Marce Catlett
Wednesday: Sy Garte, Beyond Evolution
Thursday: Michael A. Evans, David L. McFadden, and Michael O, Emerson, Kingdom Racial Change
Friday: Harry S. Stout, The Divine Dramatist
So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for November 9-15.
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