writes: …If it weren’t so threatening to seem gay, there wouldn’t be a need to police the appearance of it so firmly. Culture has been giving us a choice since the latter half of the 20th Century: seem gay or be lonely. That so many chose “be lonely” shows only the depth of our collective gay panic. I’m not just speculating, as [Anthony] Esolen does. This is at heart an empirical question—in what conditions is platonic male affection common and... Read more
yowlin’: I’ve written before about how often gay or same-sex attracted people are treated as if the central spiritual and moral issues of our lives are all sexual. For some reason this story strikes me as the most poignant example. But we’re subjected to so many demands that we repeat, “I’m chaste! I’m celibate!” in order to earn an uncertain welcome in the church. more Read more
at the Hirshhorn: I got the idea for how to start this review when I was supposed to be praying. I try to “do” ten minutes a day of contemplative prayer, kneeling and opening my mind and heart to whatever God wants to say to me: shedding my own opinions and judgments, turning away from all screens and distractions. It turns out to be a great way to get ideas for my writing. Not such a great way to surrender... Read more
Just a quick note to say that I finished this collection of short stories, translated by Pevear & Volokhonsky, and it’s not solely for completists. I mean there is a lot of recognizably Dostoyevskyan howling, and some situations and images I hadn’t seen elsewhere in his work. If you like him you should move it up your queue a bit, is what I’m saying. P/V are controversial. I don’t know enough Russian to have an informed opinion, but my uninformed... Read more
for AmCon: …“It Follows” name-checks “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and The Idiot (which one character is reading on an adorable e-reader shaped like a makeup clamshell). But its grim little heart is simple. ”It Follows” wants to make you feel dread. This is an almost entirely successful chiller about the awful things we can’t escape. more–and be sure to click that “message movies” link for my favorite Val Lewton quote… Read more
This is a fantastic, hard-fought essay. I don’t know that every aspect of it works (see below) but it’s countercultural and deeply worth your time. Plus it includes an angle on Kristin Lavransdatter which I had not even considered: Generally speaking, there are two principal vocations in the life of the Catholic Church: marriage on the one hand, and celibate priesthood and religious life on the other. Both are expressions of conjugal love. In the normal calling of marriage, an... Read more
A few people have asked why I decided to participate in “Owning Our Faith,” and my thoughts on the trailer for the film. Here you go! 1. What’s been released is a trailer for a longer film. The filmmakers have told me that my views (and presumably those of the other participants) will be explored more fully in the film itself. 2. I pretty much try to always say “yes” when people ask me to appear or speak. It’s no... Read more
this is really me saying how glad I am that the First Things blog has started linking to poetry all the time: …Who knows, this might be the last good night of summer. My broken nose is forming an idea of what’s for supper. Hard to believe that death is just around the corner. What kind of idiot would think he even had a destiny? more Read more
(I am all about the sexy post titles today.) There’s this thing I do, where if I know or suspect that you have a let’s say intense and troubled relationship to drugs or alcohol, I will immediately think your art is better, your writing is more insightful, your skating is more sublime, you are cooler and funnier and more physically attractive. If I start to catch that scent from you I will start sniffing, and if my suspicions are confirmed... Read more
Does Christ’s command to love our enemies and bless those who curse us place especially heavy burdens on the marginalized and disadvantaged? On its face the answer is obviously “yes.” The more vulnerable you are to others’ abuse of power, the more they will hurt you and the more you will have to forgive. Women so often appear as icons of forgiveness in men’s stories (last point) because we are more vulnerable to them than they are to one another.... Read more
Eve Tushnet
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