The Ironist
Differing Perspectives
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...
Upon Father’s Day
This Father’s Day, the dad is not on a pedestal. He’s mid-step, caught in the motion of leaving, watching his son become a man. A dad speaks- hesitant, unfinished, proud. There are five kinds of love here, and none of them are easy. This poem is not to celebrate a...
A Library of Aspirations (and Back Pain)
Wherein Jonathan Bennett avoids packing by reflecting on the weight—literal and spiritual—of unread books and overgrown libraries. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of too many books must, at some point, try to move house. That moment...
Reborn
What does it mean to be reborn when the world thinks you're fading? For those unfamiliar, Benares is one of India’s holiest cities—a place where the spiritual and temporal intermingle... I At nigh on three score and ten, My gloaming lingers, Standing here upon...