Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

Still Life

Posted on March 20, 2021 by JMN

(c) 2021 JMN

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Story Power

Posted on March 17, 2021 by JMN

There is one form of power that has fascinated me ever since I was a girl… the power of storytelling. In this May, 2019 essay, novelist Elena Ferrante writes that the “Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) made a great impression … Continue reading →

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The Humble Art

Posted on March 13, 2021 by JMN

I support the premise, aspirationally, that translation “involves being a writer,” to quote this article. The premise piggybacks on something I took on board long ago — that the first asset of a capable translator is to write well in … Continue reading →

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‘Ethics of Translation’ (?)

Posted on March 12, 2021 by JMN

As a presumptive translator I’m nagged by a sense of straying where I don’t belong. Where is my writ to translate into a non-native language, for example? I didn’t suck Spanish from mother’s teat. How can I possibly match what … Continue reading →

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‘Bad Boy’ Harpsichordist

Posted on March 10, 2021 by JMN

Scott Ross moved to France when he was 12 years old. He studied harpsichord and organ at the Paris and Nice Conservatories, and in 1971 won the Bruges International Competition, in Belgium. Five years before dying of AIDS in 1982 … Continue reading →

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‘The Painting Just Falls Off the Brush’

Posted on March 5, 2021 by JMN

… Ms. Shinoda worked primarily in sumi ink, a solid form of ink, made from soot pressed into sticks… “It is… necessary to finish one’s work very quickly. So the composition must be determined in my mind before I pick … Continue reading →

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A Whiff of Wittgenstein

Posted on February 25, 2021 by JMN

“For a healthy politics to flourish it needs reference points outside itself — reference points of truth and a conception of the common good… When everything becomes political, that is the end of politics.” Making everything politics “totally distorts your … Continue reading →

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Au Revoir, Dr. Ferlinghetti

Posted on February 24, 2021 by JMN

“In some ways what I really did was mind the store,” he told The Guardian in 2006. “When I arrived in San Francisco in 1951 I was wearing a beret. If anything I was the last of the bohemians rather … Continue reading →

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Cambiando la perspectiva.

Posted on February 23, 2021 by JMN

Imaginando. Cambiando la perspectiva. A mi colega que estudia español en Gran Bretaña: te va a gustar esta foto de iglesia con su ángulo dinámico.

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Fossilism Flatulence

Posted on February 22, 2021 by JMN

The Great Texas Freeze (February 14-20, 2021) triggered a noisome toxic fart from the crippled state’s fossil gut. The five largest refiners emitted nearly 337,000lb of pollutants, including benzene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, according to preliminary data … Continue reading →

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