Dear cherished readers, welcome to this blog. For novices in blogging, here is a little discussion of "how to read a blog." Blogs typically are semi-diaristic collages, very much "feuilletons," like Dostoevsky's "Writer's Diary." Konstantin Mochulsky called this kind of writing a "a literary work not presented in its finished form; the writer (is not) partitioned off by the walls of his study; we penetrate the very laboratory of . . . creative activity" (Morson, "Boundaries," 59). Typically, blogs are written sequentially, from the "bottom up." A blog is usually composed of random observations taken from life (in this case, a reading life), together with snippets of various "canned materials," if you will. Therefore, unlike a narrative, the very first entry is usually the last, so be sure to go all the way, sometime, to the first/last entry, which is on "page two," accessed by clicking on "Older Posts" at the bottom of this or any page. The posts are listed, from the very last post written, theoretically, (this one, "No. 10 Cans") to the very first ("Time and Meaning," dated July 3) in the Archive at the right. There are posts in July and August, the lists can be expanded or contracted as you wish. You can dip in here and there and sample any entry, or read sequentially. You may chose to follow the links provided therein, or not. Some links are more interesting than others. Delicious string beans in one, pasty, watery garbanzo beans in another. Dostoevsky himself hoped such random "linkages" would erode the reader's tendency to favor neat beginnings and endings, but rather to foster open-ended inquiry, allusions, ironic contextualism, etc.If you do get bored and want to run away, there is also a straightforward list of links to Dostoevsky materials of note to the right, which will take you all over the internet to interesting or provocative sites. The bibliography for this blog is the top link, "Bibliography." I made a little web page for it, clumsily.
Guided by Gary Saul Morson (and others), I noted my ideas in no particular order, as they arrived, hopping over the fence willy-nilly into the garden. A blog is essentially asynchronous, so I worked on multiple entries at a time, going back and revising many times as my reading expanded, and deepened. I had several readers along the way, since it is a public site, and they noted my tendency to "disappear" whole sections, and to bring them back again, transformed. A miracle! I hope this does not happen to you, as it is maddening. "I could have sworn there was a photograph of an old boot and a commentary on Smerdykov's fashion sense . . ." Not. Anymore. Maybe. Later. Or, before. To be. Finally, I hope you all enjoy wandering around in this writing without a beginning or an ending, but with many, many thresholds. And, a little movie.
Photo credit: Lovely No. 10 can from WellsCan's U.S. Dollar website, where one may buy many kinds of beautiful cans by the case.
