Ataraxia

  Bel Ami, or, The History of a Scoundrel by Guy de Maupassant is ranked 570 th on The Greatest books of All Time, and we could say that this narrative is the manual to use in the age of The Orange Scoundrel, Bel Ami offered some lessons – you have thousands of reviews on magnum opera from the GOAT and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-you-have-any-suggestions-how-to-make.html   8 out of 10   We live in the age of Orange Bel Ami https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/confidence-man-making-of-donald-trump.html except this ghoul who represents the quintessence of vileness is not charming, like the antihero of Guy Maupassant, though MAGA types are crazy (about him) and I better watch out.   In the past, I have had trouble, even on my blog, with partisans of the present-day Bel Ami, who attacked me for my opinions, a little bit of mea culpa should admit that I do feel very strongly about the calamity, and use strong ...

I like Jewish literature, link to Horse Walks, The Netanyahus, Bellow, Malamud Splendid book, style, humor everything Such hutzpah battle of wives really this is why the title especially He did not preach down on them but talked of the land of israel so connection to now and other writers up there The masses are asses says rebbetzin, she is fierce Rabbi Moshe Mordecai Eisenstadt used to be the fiancé, now some called him the Jewish Pope Clash between the Mizrahi and Agudah, the latter accuse the Graipewo Rev, Reb Uri Zvi then a visit to the Horedna Rav aka the Jewish Pope and rebbetzin wants her spouse to be a judge on the Court and there is acrimony Sarah Rivkah is the rebbetzin, wife of Horadna Rav and tries to interfer for peace After the clash, the raabi is supposed to say that the Torah reveals or talks about the settling of Israel, and he thinks he caanot say such a thing, only to hear Serele that he can and he will, israel is on every page of the Torah, so now ...

  The Columbo Collection created by William Link used to be a favorite entertainment, actually, one of the few shows we could see in the communist days, and then they all disappeared tom make room for The Great Leader: Ceausescu…you find thousands of notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-you-have-any-suggestions-how-to-make.html   8 out of 10   Murder mysteries https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/05/malice-aforethought-by-anthony-berkeley.html can be ebullient, take Malice Aforethought: ‘It was not until several weeks after he had decided to murder his wife that Dr Bickleigh took any active steps in the matter.’ This is the first line in the marvelous novel   In a way, we have a similar introduction for the Columbo TV series, you see the killer committing the atrocious act in the beginning, just like with Malice Aforethought you get what Dr. Bickl...

  The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald is number two on Modern Library’s Best 100 Novels, it is one of The All TIME 100 Novels, also part of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, it is third on The Greatest Books of All Time site, summing up, you find this chef d’oeuvre not just on any important list, but at the top of it – you find thousands of reviews on magnum opera from the aforementioned and other compilations on my blog   https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-you-have-any-suggestions-how-to-make.html   10 out of 10   We could say that this is the Best Accessible Novel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/05/great-gatsby-by-scott-f-fitzgerald.html seeing that it is at number one or two on most important sites, and then the ‘competitors’ are difficult to read, think of Ulysses, one masterpiece that I started a few times, but may be never able to finish   Last night, they had on a film channel the adaptation of the chef d’oeuvre, th...

  The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker A sensational, overwhelming classic Steven Pinker is one of those authors who have become classics while they are still alive and I think he is still rather young. To my surprise, I found his name in a masterpiece on history- War, What Is It Good For- and then in interviews with The Economist, where he was also mentioned last week by a reader who wrote to the newspaper. The Blank Slate is outstanding for various reasons, one of which is that it has an extraordinary range of quotes, themes and issues taken from Dostoyevsky, George Orwell- 1984, Mark Twain – Huckleberry Finn and much more. The author has a brave stance in many problems and is right when he argues that we have become so mild and like in a trance on so many issues, we tolerate outrageous behavior in the name of acceptance of cultural diversity. People shy away even from condemning Nazism or mutilation- in a poignant and repelling example the authors refers to the practice of holding a...

  "She Stoops To Conquer"" is a play written by Oliver Goldsmith and first performed in 1773; it is ranked 3838 th on The Greatest Books of All Time…you find thousands of reviews of magnum opera from The GOAT and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-you-have-any-suggestions-how-to-make.html   7 out of 10   This made me think of https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/10/le-nozze-di-figaro-by-pierre-de.html Le Nozze di Figaro by Pierre de Beaumarchais, though I am not sure why, perhaps the same idea of a comedy that is not so satisfying, except in the case of Figaro, it is all made exuberant, dazzling by the music of Mozart   Mozart is the well-known prodigy – although given the awful results in PISA and other tests, we can see that the new generations are not bothered, and mostly have not heard of the name, never mind know about him – that is part of the classic by Malcolm Gladwell, who had studied his case and that of ...