What is it in sleep that I don’t want to find? What’s in this dark room that I can’t leave behind? Let the rain, oh the rain, let the rain fall down; the breathing of sleepers is a sorrowful sound . . . From 'Charm against sleeplessness' The full poem is in Comments.

If you have two minutes, Leif Ove Andsnes would like to introduce you to an overlooked gem in the world's piano repertory: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2HU...

A VIENNESE COFFEE HOUSE "is a democratic club to which admission costs the small price of a cup of coffee. (...) every guest can sit for hours on end, discuss, write, play cards, receive his mail, and, above all, can go through an unlimited number of newspapers and magazines." Stefan Zweig 💛

Any thoughts on Raul Ruiz's 1999 film, based on 'Time Regained', the seventh and final volume of Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time'? (Yes, that's Emmanuelle Béart as Gilberte.) For those who don't know it, here's the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7SD...

Bloody Hell Watch this. 🧪If @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social is called a "radical leftist" then all of us in science are. She was put on leave b/c she criticized the Trump administration. She sees the chaos, destruction & waste on the inside of the NIH. Speaking up is risky, yet necessary. Via IG.

'Your turning down a story doesn't make it any worse, any more than your taking it makes it better; so the effort, to please and challenge myself, remains the same.' John Updike, in a letter to his New Yorker editor, Roger Angel More on Updike's selected letters in Comments.

These must be two of the most widely quoted lines on the internet: 'Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror./Only keep going: no feeling is final.' I wonder how many people who type those words or read them know the whole poem the lines come from. Here it is:

Starbucks’ CEO makes 6,666x what the average @sbworkersunited.org barista does. It would take less than one day of sales to finalize a fair contract. Baristas at Starbucks corporate stores nationwide are on strike to fight this corporate greed and get the fair contract they deserve.

Nocturne, Night Lights In Suburbia: acrylic on canvas

AOC: "It is unconscionable that what we are debating right now is legislation that will give 8 senators over $1 million a piece & we're robbing people of their food assistance & healthcare to pay for it. How can we vote to enrich ourselves by stealing from the American people?"

Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time' is a novel that unfolds over seven volumes. But, if you wanted to sample one or two of them, where should you start? This writer has an idea:

Federal Plaza, 2:30 PM. See you there.

Autumn of misty skies and troubled horizons, with your pale dawns and your hasty sunsets, I watch go by, like a rush of water, your days filled with melancholy. Armand Silvestre (my translation)

This is a test. Of yr attention span. (I've never seen such long self-revealing questions--it's quite moving--an open book on @ezraklein.bsky.social 's fears as a parent). Also *totally* essential reading. ‘Our Kids Are the Least Flourishing Generation We Know Of’ www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/o...

These must be two of the most widely quoted lines on the internet: 'Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror./Only keep going: no feeling is final.' I wonder how many people who type those words or read them know the whole poem the lines come from. Here it is:

Mamdani at the Crossroads www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/no...

The days of thanking veterans today and forgetting them tomorrow has to come to an end.

A real president does this. Thank you to every veteran who’s worn the uniform and carried the weight for the rest of us — just respect 🇺🇸

Nowhere in the hysterical pile-on against the BBC in the British press has anyone mentioned that BBC News now has 77 million viewers & listeners in the US and has established itself as the second most trusted news source there.

How much self-loathing does it take to need this?

Portrait of Madame Maillol,' (1895) was painted in the second part of Aristide Malliol's career. His painting style altered after viewing Paul Gauguin's work at an exhibition in the Café Volpini in 1889; after Gauguin left for Tahiti, Maillol turned to sculpture.

Autumn of misty skies and troubled horizons, with your pale dawns and your hasty sunsets, I watch go by, like a rush of water, your days filled with melancholy. Armand Silvestre (my translation)

Emil Rosenstand (1859-1932) Danish painter who lived in Germany. "Summer Afternoon" 1895 Watercolor - 26.8 x 20.3 cm Private collection #art #painting #painters #BlueSkyArt

One of my favorite passages from Charlotte Mandel's new translation of volume two of Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time' (p. 387.) Details about the book in Comments.

'Your turning down a story doesn't make it any worse, any more than your taking it makes it better; so the effort, to please and challenge myself, remains the same.' John Updike, in a letter to his New Yorker editor, Roger Angel More on Updike's selected letters in Comments.

JD Vance was raised on government assistance. Perfect snapshot of who he really is…

Felix Vallotton's noir sensibility shows in his Hopper-like portrait (1896) of Felix Fenéon the editor of the literary and arts magazine La Revue Blanche working at night by a window, the dark panes framing piles of blank white paper.

One of my favorite passages from Charlotte Mandel's new translation of volume two of Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time' (p. 387.) Details about the book in Comments.

In a new monograph from Classiques Garnier, Arthur Morisseau looks at the fictional and real composers connected with the character Vinteuil in Proust's 'In search of lost time'. Morisseau will discuss writers and their composers in Paris on November 15. More at the link in Comments.

'Instead of succumbing to nostalgic glorification, Richard Linklater [in 'Novelle Vague'] dissects the myths with subtle irony, cinephile tenderness, and his typical curiosity about the creative process.' Mia Pflüger for Kino-Zeit in Germany; my translation. I'll post the trailer in Comments.

Poet Anne Carson calls this meditation of hers on one of Proust's most memorable characters "The Albetine Workout". (Catherine Tillette played her in the 2011 French miniseries based on 'In search of lost time.') www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...

In a new monograph from Classiques Garnier, Arthur Morisseau looks at the fictional and real composers connected with the character Vinteuil in Proust's 'In search of lost time'. Morisseau will discuss writers and their composers in Paris on November 15. More at the link in Comments.

Sometimes, watching a sunset, we can feel as though we've seen those clouds many, many years ago. Sometimes they are most than passing vapors; they seem like old friends.

Paul Celan translated many of his poems from German into French for his wife Gisèle Lestrange. Two new books give us English versions of those translations, opening new perspectives on his work. I reviewed both of them for American Book Review, available from Project Muse.

Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were. — Marcel Proust

For details, see p. 5 of the latest Notting Hill Editions catalogue: www.nottinghilleditions.com/wp-content/u...

How do you know that you (really) love someone? A litmus test from philosopher Martha Nussbaum with a side of Proust www.themarginalian.org/2017/01/16/m...

Karlsruhe is a lovely city, and the city is rightly proud of its public transport system. (The Becks came from nearby Lingenfeld.)

Sometimes, watching a sunset, we can feel as though we've seen those clouds many, many years ago. Sometimes they are most than passing vapors; they seem like old friends.

Thank you, New York City. Together we made history. Now let’s get to work. transition2025.com

The throughline of Mamdani’s campaign was a willingness to meet people where they were, in physical and ideological ways.

Mayor-elect Mamdani has announced the five members of his transition team. He'll be ready to govern on Day One.

Mira Nair’s son is going to be mayor. The acclaimed filmmaker celebrated Zohran Mamdani’s historic win alongside stars like Hasan Piker, Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Morgan Spector.

Thought for the day, November 5, 2025:

Paul Celan translated many of his poems from German into French for his wife Gisèle Lestrange. Two new books give us English versions of those translations, opening new perspectives on his work. I reviewed both of them for American Book Review, available from Project Muse.

This person took this when they called the race

Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."

AP calls Mamdani.