From footnote 17 to Lovecraft's The Horror at Red Hook (Penguin Classics), excerpted from Lovecraft's correspondence. He's describing one of his neighbors, from when he lived here.
[O]nce a Syrian had the room next to mine and played eldritch and whining monotones on a strange bagpipe which made me dream ghoulish and incredible things of crypts ( Read more... )

... and commentary written about them. (In the spirit of wynand.) See also books I read in JanuarySaussure, Course in General Linguistics. A classic of the field, I'm glad to have read it, and can easily recommend it (despite its age) to anyone with an interest in either linguistics or semiotics. It's frustrating how he seems to be on the right ( Read more... )

1. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I finished it a few days ago. It left me heartbroken. The atheism of the series will most likely be bowdlerized in the forthcoming film, which is a shame. These are three of the most spiritual books I've ever read.

2. Mathematics Elsewhere by Marcia Ascher. Ascher only makes a half-assed attempt ( Read more... )