The Ironist
Differing Perspectives
The Reading Chair : On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith’s On Beauty is a novel about family, art, and class but mostly, it’s about the exquisite awkwardness of believing in ideas that no longer seem to work. “The greatest lie ever told about love is that it sets you free.” — On Beauty, Zadie Smith Have you ever...
Ramblings #7 : Passing the Torch
A warm, observant paean to the spirit of Port Elgin, capturing the rhythms of slow living and the Canadian summer – with touches of nostalgia and humour. This summer we had a family reunion at Port Elgin. Our daughter rented a cottage near the main beach, in an older...
Some Marginalia from Somerset Maugham II: The Double Life
Trying to uncover how Maugham wove himself into his fiction, be it through The Razor’s Edge, Of Human Bondage or The Moon and Sixpence “The writer is more concerned to know than to judge.” — W. Somerset Maugham The primary reason I admire Somerset Maugham is because I...
Some Marginalia from Somerset Maugham: What Counts as a Successful Life?
So many years have passed since I read The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham and yet his words seem more relevant today than ever. “He had a feeling that he was on the threshold of a discovery which he must make for himself.” - W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge My...
Jake Mallette
Peter Scotchmer’s fictional story of an administrator straying into matters she doesn’t understand may be too close to reality for those committed to following the latest fad of the day. Geoff Carter, a veteran teacher of thirty years’ standing, tried hard to win over...
Unique Places #3 – Canada’s Last Frontier Town
Jonathan Bennett makes an unplanned trip beyond the Arctic Circle to Iqaluit, a city on the margins—equal parts capital, construction site, and reluctant frontier outpost. There are few places left in the world that still feel like frontiers—real ones, not the type...
Ramblings #6 – Acknowledging the Inexplicable: The Plaque on the Wall
Nigel Scotchmer describes how two towns in Hesse, Germany, do not hide their times of trouble. They can be seen both as symbols of the horrifying depths of evil to which humankind can sink, and, at the same time, the resilience of the majority of people to try to be...
A Library of Delusions (and Grandeur)
A response to Jonathan Bennett’s back (book?) pain Jonathan, I’m glad you’re moving house, truly. Because I know what it means to move house. And city. And country. Trust me, it’s not a logistical decision, it’s an existential calling. While you’ve built what you call...
The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman : Why This is a Must-Read Novella on Isolation and Imagination
Novella Review by Peter A. Scotchmer, featuring themes like literary fiction, loneliness, poetic novels, Canadian literature, escapist characters, modern novellas A novella by the Quebecois writer Denis Theriault called Le Facteur Emotif in French was recently...