The flames crackled high and mighty, scalping the leaves from the oak trees, embracing bark and beetles in their maw of carbonized glimmer. The remains of what had been…

I re-read Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”, wondering if it presented parallels for our age of mute communication enabled by the Internet. The Metamorphosis deals with themes of social alienation (often self-imposed) and existential anxiety. It’s…

I started reading Coetzee and then decided to re-read Conrad simultaneously because it explores similar themes. Both books deal with the wretchedness of empire, the depravities of colonialism, the dying gasps of hollow imperialists struggling to hold on to their prized possessions.

The central character in Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” says at one point, “Whatever exists in creation without my knowledge exists without my consent”. The book that details his journey surely seems like it could not have existed without his knowledge and consent.

So much ink has been spilt over that Google memo and the fate of its author that I don’t wish to reiterate points that many others have made well. Here are two well meaning and well…