Avoiding The Tryanny of Fact

It would be polite to extend my apologies to the memory and mind of Matthew Arnold for my subject. That said, we persevere, much as Celts. I worked but a half day today due to the snow. I have returned home to marvel at Antal Szerb and his wonderful novel Journey By Moonlight.

Yesterday was one of rolling leisure, including a walk to the library. Towards evening I finished Cousin Bette and I find it my favorite Balzac novel. Despite some narrative leaps and a reversal of fortune for several of the characters, I truly loved this novel. It was a perfect, snowy weekend for such. The pacing, except for the end, was sublime and supported with equal measures of vitriol and detail. There is much to say about a family in decline, if not peril. I rank Cousin Bette with Buddenbrooks and The Sound and the Fury.

I gave my wife pause later in the night when I told her that I didn't regard Sartre as a fine novelist.
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