Well, you have reached a sort of pinnacle with that piece. I am fairly agog that anyone can write from within the stream of consciousness with fluency Ike that. There’s no one quite like you—from the mixture of affective loyalties perhaps?
I wondered why someone who lives close to Belleville and its markets would shop at Franprix, but all was revealed in due course.
When I was in Lyon for a year Franprix was also my grocery store of choice. I remember the orange colour being quite distinctive. Sadly, however, I don’t recall Radio Franprix. In any case, Casino, Leader Price, Carrefour etc. just couldn’t compare.
Thanks, Faf, in fact I had wanted to mention both Picard and Despentes in the essay. Interestingly, she is also an inhabitant of the 19th, which is the part of Paris where you are most likely to find someone with such a sensibility. I'll have to write more extensively about her at another time. I'm not a great fan of her work, though I've only read Vernon Subutex. Like her, however, I am also a fan of Picard les Surgelés.
Thank you for this. More, thank you for the links to your other recent work.
Just listened to your conversation with Marcus and Wieseltier (nice to find Leon as sharp as ever):
I’ve been trying to “opt-out” since Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid”. Since then, I’ve witnessed the opt-out option diminish year by year, where today I MUST have an app to leave and re-enter my country (Canada).
I wonder if the opt-out option to digital life is even possible anymore. Throw in the inevitable CBDC, with or without the UBI carrot, and we are there.
So, how are Wieseltier’s beloved ‘humanities’ to survive as something other than nostalgic kitsch? No matter the arguments for, there is no way to digitalize the *experience* of reading Huizinga’s Homo Ludens, say, or Mother Goose’s nursery rhymes. I fear the future conclusion that that experience is superfluous and best forgotten.
Rambling, forgive me. Thank you. Queuing up “Mercy Mercy, Me.”
Well, you have reached a sort of pinnacle with that piece. I am fairly agog that anyone can write from within the stream of consciousness with fluency Ike that. There’s no one quite like you—from the mixture of affective loyalties perhaps?
I wondered why someone who lives close to Belleville and its markets would shop at Franprix, but all was revealed in due course.
— Your Canadian neighbour in the 7th
Hey thanks, Harry, I appreciate it.
When I was in Lyon for a year Franprix was also my grocery store of choice. I remember the orange colour being quite distinctive. Sadly, however, I don’t recall Radio Franprix. In any case, Casino, Leader Price, Carrefour etc. just couldn’t compare.
This was great! I read some Picard appreciation in the latest Despentes' novel
Thanks, Faf, in fact I had wanted to mention both Picard and Despentes in the essay. Interestingly, she is also an inhabitant of the 19th, which is the part of Paris where you are most likely to find someone with such a sensibility. I'll have to write more extensively about her at another time. I'm not a great fan of her work, though I've only read Vernon Subutex. Like her, however, I am also a fan of Picard les Surgelés.
I would love to read that ! As a recent inhabitant of the 20th, I'm still not ready to make such observations...
Thank you for this. More, thank you for the links to your other recent work.
Just listened to your conversation with Marcus and Wieseltier (nice to find Leon as sharp as ever):
I’ve been trying to “opt-out” since Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid”. Since then, I’ve witnessed the opt-out option diminish year by year, where today I MUST have an app to leave and re-enter my country (Canada).
I wonder if the opt-out option to digital life is even possible anymore. Throw in the inevitable CBDC, with or without the UBI carrot, and we are there.
So, how are Wieseltier’s beloved ‘humanities’ to survive as something other than nostalgic kitsch? No matter the arguments for, there is no way to digitalize the *experience* of reading Huizinga’s Homo Ludens, say, or Mother Goose’s nursery rhymes. I fear the future conclusion that that experience is superfluous and best forgotten.
Rambling, forgive me. Thank you. Queuing up “Mercy Mercy, Me.”
Beautifully done.
“ It often feels like I’m in a music video myself.” Only “often”?!