We forget about the next line, occāsiō praeceps—"you only get one shot, do not miss yr chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo," as Eminem renders it
Oooh, exciting—especially the return of more conversations with interesting people. Incidentally, I started reading The Wind in the Willows because of your enthusiasm for it, but I'm sorry to say I haven't made it very far, since my two-year-old son is, at present, not very appreciative of stories that don't feature Elmo, Bluey, or Pikachu as their protagonist. I'm sure he'll come around to it eventually. Merry Christmas!
The illustration you used above made me laugh, since I'm reading The Wind in the Willows for the first time right now and had just been reading "Toad's Adventures" yesterday before you posted this. I don't know if this is a genuine synchronicity, given how often that book is mentioned on this Substack (and that the last mention is what prompted me to start reading it), but in any case, thanks for introducing it to me, I'm enjoying it a lot, and merry Christmas!
I’m curious if you or Mr. McCarraher will be interviewing Francis Spufford. His book, The Child That Books Built, shares your love of good British children’s literature.
Have a merry Christmas Dr. Hart! I am eager to hear anything and everything you have to say about The Wind in the Willows. As it happens, I am at work on the draft of a book that is provisionally entitled Into the Wide World, which will be a series of essays on The Wind in the Willows. In my introduction, I have quoted these immortal words from one of your essays: "What a barbarous lot we are, I thought, to be so callously indifferent not only to such exquisite artistry, but to that new epoch of the spirit inaugurated by the advent of Mr. Toad, and revealed in its truest depths when Mole and Rat sank to their knees before the piper at the gates of dawn. A people no longer awestruck by such things, I concluded, is probably only a few generations away from devouring its own young.”
I would gladly pay the ‘Piper’ to eliminate the current ‘Palamite’ infestation in Eastern Orthodoxy. The sectarian blindness is astounding. The mice need a proper vector control! Hopefully, this issue will be addressed forthrightly!
The life so short, the craft so long to learn, as Chaucer renders it
We forget about the next line, occāsiō praeceps—"you only get one shot, do not miss yr chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo," as Eminem renders it
Mom's spaghetti
Do have a wonderful Christmas Dr. Hart.
Many thanks. You too.
Oooh, exciting—especially the return of more conversations with interesting people. Incidentally, I started reading The Wind in the Willows because of your enthusiasm for it, but I'm sorry to say I haven't made it very far, since my two-year-old son is, at present, not very appreciative of stories that don't feature Elmo, Bluey, or Pikachu as their protagonist. I'm sure he'll come around to it eventually. Merry Christmas!
Would you be willing to hint at what you’re working on with Dr. McGilchrist?
He hinted recently at a collaborative project—and I eagerly await it!
Omertà forbids me.
Understandable. Nobody wants to sleep with the fishes.
I don’t mind so long as the fishes are quiet and let me get my sleep.
When can you expect your long awaited work on mind to be released
Either the spring or fall Yale catalogue, depending on when the typesetting is ready.
Make sure they get George Guidall to do the audiobook. He’s 85, we don’t have much time.
An audiobook might be difficult, for reasons of format.
Looking forward to the talks
The illustration you used above made me laugh, since I'm reading The Wind in the Willows for the first time right now and had just been reading "Toad's Adventures" yesterday before you posted this. I don't know if this is a genuine synchronicity, given how often that book is mentioned on this Substack (and that the last mention is what prompted me to start reading it), but in any case, thanks for introducing it to me, I'm enjoying it a lot, and merry Christmas!
I’m curious if you or Mr. McCarraher will be interviewing Francis Spufford. His book, The Child That Books Built, shares your love of good British children’s literature.
Mayhaps.
Have a merry Christmas Dr. Hart! I am eager to hear anything and everything you have to say about The Wind in the Willows. As it happens, I am at work on the draft of a book that is provisionally entitled Into the Wide World, which will be a series of essays on The Wind in the Willows. In my introduction, I have quoted these immortal words from one of your essays: "What a barbarous lot we are, I thought, to be so callously indifferent not only to such exquisite artistry, but to that new epoch of the spirit inaugurated by the advent of Mr. Toad, and revealed in its truest depths when Mole and Rat sank to their knees before the piper at the gates of dawn. A people no longer awestruck by such things, I concluded, is probably only a few generations away from devouring its own young.”
A worthy project.
I would gladly pay the ‘Piper’ to eliminate the current ‘Palamite’ infestation in Eastern Orthodoxy. The sectarian blindness is astounding. The mice need a proper vector control! Hopefully, this issue will be addressed forthrightly!
Different kind of piper altogether, but I share your sentiments.