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Author Archives: Doug
SCENES FROM PARIS
SCENES FROM PARIS (June 10-14, 2016) In the Musee D’Orsay, home of the world’s greatest collection of impressionistic art, hundreds of people cluster close to the famous paintings by Monet, Manet, Degas, Van Gogh, etc. Rather than actually looking at the paintings, a surprising number of them pause only long enough to take a photo on their phone or ipad before moving on to the next one. The desire, it seems, is not to actually experience the painting but to … Continue reading
Doug’s “Coming Out” Letter
Here is the text of a letter that appeared in April 21, 2016 edition of the North Coast Journal in which I proclaim (admit?) that I do not accept the present scientific view of reality. Editor: In an interesting riff on the insanity defense, my friend Douglas George (mailbox April 14) comes down on one side of a presently unanswerable question. I am here to present the other side. Douglas argues that what we call “consciousness” is the accidental byproduct … Continue reading
MASHUP at the Vancouver Art Gallery
On Sunday, March 13, 2016, Nina and I spent much of the afternoon touring a new exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Titled Mashup: the Birth of Modern Culture, it is the largest single exhibition ever presented at the Gallery filling the display spaces on all four floors. The production presents 371 works of art by 156 artists from Pablo Picasso to Quentin Tarantino, from John Cage to DJ Spooky, from Andy Warhol to Jeff Koons. “Mashup,” as I learned … Continue reading
DISCUSSION POINTS FOR SQUARE
1. Tim and his Environment. When Tim Holter returns home for lunch at the end of chapter Eleven we learn that the house on Spruce Street that his parents rent from Mr. Elliott is the only home he has ever known. We have no knowledge that he has ever traveled far from this house but as Thoreau famously said about his own journeys-that he had traveled a “good deal in Concord”-we can say as well that Tim has traveled “a … Continue reading
SQUARE
In this coming of age novel thirteen year-old Tim Holter tells you about his day. In his small Midwestern town a bartender has killed himself. A boy’s new bicycle has been trashed and the boy’s big brother intends to find out who did it. Before noon Mrs. Plummer will stand stark naked in Matsen’s Bakery and Tim will meet a pretty classmate under less than ideal circumstances. After lunch Mr. Schwartzentraub will introduce Tim and his friends to a mysterious … Continue reading
State of Wonder, a review
As a novelist I am very impressed with the challenges Ann Patchett shouldered when she set out to write STATE OF WONDER. Granted, my knowledge of Ms. Patchett is limited to information found on the dust jacket and the enjoyment I took several years ago when I read BEL CANTO. But nothing from either of those sources suggests how she could so realistically create a protagonist who has an Indian father, is a skilled gynecological surgeon and an experienced pharmacological … Continue reading
