Spinozablue: An Eclectic Journal of the Arts

Posted on: May 15, 2012

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Carlos Fuentes passed away on May 15th, 2012, at the age of 83. He will be remem­bered by this avid reader for his nov­els The Old Gringo and The Death of Artemio Cruz, along with his won­der­ful short sto­ries, espe­cially those in Burnt Water. His non-​​​​fiction is also very strong (This I Believe & Myself With Others), and pair­ing it with Milan Kundera’s height­ened the effect of both for me. Both men being advo­cates of the demo­c­ra­tic voice in lit­er­a­ture, with many of the same lit­er­ary “precursors.”

Fuentes was one of the chief con­trib­u­tors and pro­mot­ers of the Latin American “Boom,” along with José Donoso, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez and Juan Rulfo, his fel­low Mexican novelist.…

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Posted on: May 8, 2012

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Gypsy

 

The sad­ness of the dance
Between two opposites

The sad­ness of the work
Involved

No metaphors needed
Male and Female

Strong and weak
Yin and Yang

No metaphors needed
Because this is all

Delusion
    And comfort food

            Combined

Though the com­bi­na­tion
Is a hope­ful thing
A blessed thing

A dove sent

A plant thrust­ing upward
To the sun
From within desert sand
From within

Once bar­ren minds

        The act of com­bi­na­tion
                An act of liberation

Or may be
If we cross over

 

 

 …

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Posted on: May 1, 2012

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 Spinozablue has new poetry, fic­tion and phở­tog­ra­phy on tap for May. Valentina Cano, Emily Ramser, Christina Murphy and Ben Nardolilli grace this site with their poetry; Penelope Mermall with her fic­tion; and Eleanor Bennett with phở­tog­ra­phy. Emily and Eleanor have some­thing in com­mon. They are both in their teens. Their work, how­ever, along with those already men­tioned on this fine May Day, com­bines future promise and present achievement.

 

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So, I’m read­ing The Three Pillars of Zen, by Philip Kapleau, and it’s kick-​​​​started all kinds of thought-​​​​trails. The book is quite good, though it lags at times when it shifts to inter­views with adepts. Lags for me, because too many of the sto­ries are similar.…

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