Author Archives: Houyhnhnm

Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne)

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

A long and involved French thriller, intriguing and violent. All about what-really-happened-that-night-all-those-years-ago. Spoilt by the ending, where one of the characters [SPOILER AVOIDANCE, SORT OF] gives one version – shown, with his commentary as a voiceover – replaced shortly after … Continue reading →

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Plato’s “Protagoras”

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Less cruel to Protagoras than I remember, but very funny in places nevertheless. Interesting prelude to utilitarianism at 356B, where Socrates, arguing (as usual) that people act badly through ignorance, suggests a calculus whereby actions can be considered good or … Continue reading →

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Tellus Issue 3

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

The third issue of Ailsa Hunt’s journal of poetry inspired by the classical world. Brian Walter’s “Metrodorus of Skepsis” introduces (to me) this scholar who famously used 360 regions of the zodiacal sky as mnemonic locations for ‘everything he’d ever … Continue reading →

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“No Exit” (“Huis Clos”) by Jean-Paul Sartre

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

[play text] Three characters shown to the same room by a valet. It’s Hell, and the whips, fires and electrodes are replaced by three characters in the same room. It’s the source of the well-known “Hell is other people”, a … Continue reading →

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The Hunger Games

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

A great example of mythic cinema: a story which echoes, bounces round, firing grappling hooks to draw things together. The Imperial world is that of the Sun King, of Rome, of Brazil; the game arena is the world of Truman, … Continue reading →

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“The Soul Of Man Under Socialism” by Oscar Wilde

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

A series of cut’n’pastes from Wilde’s essay. Lots here. His sympathies lie with the poor, whose condition he clearly recognises (“[criminals] are merely what ordinary, respectable, commonplace people would be if they had not got enough to eat”). And his … Continue reading →

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“Blake’s London: the Topographic Sublime” by Iain Sinclair

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

The text of a lecture given at Swedenborg House in Bloomsbury, beautifully published by the Swedenborg Archive. Sinclair ranges across territory familiar to those who’ve met his writing before: a historical sense of London very much rooted in place, in … Continue reading →

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The success of Jesus and Socrates

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Jesus and Socrates are standard examples of being counter-cultural, of teaching the unpalatable, of advocating unacceptable behaviour, of giving explanations which oppose those of their societies: “The Sabbath was made man, not man for the Sabbath”, “pray for those who … Continue reading →

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I Believe in Father Christmas

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

The story goes that some Japanese businessmen wanted to decorate their shopping centre for the Christmas season, so they sent researchers to the UK to get some ideas. Some time later the shopping centre opened with great razzmatazz, and the … Continue reading →

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The Shawshank Redemption

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Why is this a bad film? Because it’s not true to life. The goodies are unrelentingly good, so it’s sentimental, and the baddies all bad, so it’s brutalised. Typical moronic box-office desperation: crank up the violence to make ’em feel … Continue reading →

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