Winter's Back Breaks*: February 10-16

*at least, that's what the Almanac says about Feb. 16. I'm not sure I believe it...

Books
Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry (finished): I loved this so much I'm not sure I want to write about it. When something hits this close to home, I often make a move to intellectualize it, the better – I'm realizing – to keep some distance between me and the thing. But that runs so contrary to Berry's novel that I'm not really sure what to do. Did I check JSTOR to see if anyone had written about the allusions to Dante (and Milton) in this novel? Sure did. But I didn't actually scan the results! A small victory, to be sure, but one I hold closely nonetheless.

It's a quiet book about the biggest ideas: love and the earth and relationships – and it came perhaps when I needed it most. I find it a bit overwhelming to try to put it all into words, so instead I'll just share this passage:

People generally suppose that they don't understand one another very well, and that is true; they don't. But some things they communicate easily and fully. Anger and contempt and hatred leap from one heart to another like fire in dry grass. The revelations of love are never complete or clear, not in this world. Love is slow and accumulating, and no matter how large or high it grows, it falls short. Love comprehends the world, though we don't comprehend it. But hate comes off in slices, clear and whole – self-explanatory you might say. You can hate people completely and kill them in an instant. Cecilia knew how to deliver the killing look and the killing refusal to look. She could give the tiniest little snub that would cause your soul to fester with self-doubt and self-justification and anger. And these were things she could pass along to you because all of them were festering in her.

The Odyssey, Books 1-4, trans. Emily Wilson (started): The man of twists and turns is now "complicated" while Telemachus is still a whiny nightmare. The translation breezes along, and it's a pleasure to read. I'm trying to catch up for the latest APS Book Club led by Stephania Heim of Western Washington University.

Phish's A Live One, Walter Holland (started): Background reading for my book club's pivot to Phish's landmark album for our next meeting. I've just started it, but Holland's reading of "Harry Hood" is both microscopic and enormous at the same time.

Music
A Live One, Phish: My "reading" for the next couple of weeks. I'm going to live into it as best I can. As I've mentioned, I'm a fan more than a "Phan" but I'm ready to go deeper. Maybe not as deep as this guy:

SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert: This was really hit-or-miss for me, but pretty damn fun for most of it. Fugees and Nirvana "reunions", Cher in the see-through body suit (!), Devo, and David Byrne were awesome. Miley Cyrus, not so much.

Oscar Peterson Meets Roy Hargrove and Ralph Moore: Some Sunday morning breakfast music from my favorite piano player and my wife's favorite trumpet player. Fits like a glove.

Games
Civilization VII (PS5): This is my first time playing a 4X game, and I've really enjoyed it so far. I've spent a lot of time getting ready for it (mostly by watching livestream play-throughs) and I'm still overwhelmed almost immediately. Watching my scout or an infantry unit walk in circles while I change my mind repeatedly on where they should go is a case study in ineptitude.

Episodes and Articles
"The Game That Shows We're Thinking About History All Wrong", Spencer Kornhaber (The Atlantic): While Kornhaber doesn't do it here, I've been struck in reading reviews and reactions to Civ 7 by how people insist that works of art in most genres fit their preconceived notions of what that work should be. I have to continually relearn this lesson all the time – let the work be what it is and don't punish it for not being what I wanted it to be – so maybe I shouldn't be surprised that others are doing it too and all the more loudly for their access to social media and user reviews. Anyway, Kornhaber here tries for a deep take, but ultimately there's not much here that's truly insightful. It's a video game review dressed up for something bigger.

Ken Burns Raids the Criterion Closet: I watch all of these I come across. Burns has some surprising picks to my mind (and claims to be locked in the closet, which I took strange delight in). The story of his origin story as a filmmaker was wonderful (and darker than expected).