I haven’t had much time for browsing this week, so only a couple of articles…

The upcoming translation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis by Susan Bernofsky has been well publicized. Here is an excerpt.
And Creative Review has an article on the book’s covers.

I missed this when originally published, but I completely agree with the title of William Giraldi’s essay: Why does almost everything written about Primo Levi revolve around his suicide?. He presumes Levi’s death was undoubtedly a suicide, though, which I don’t believe is a given. Even so, the title question stands, as does a look at why Levi’s novels aren’t as strong as his memoirs or his memoir-related books.

Miguel at the St. Orberose blog had a list of his to-be-read pile. Giambattista Vico’s “The New Science” caught my eye since I have been wanting to read it. In my usual overblown fashion, I’ll plan a month of posts about Vico and his work, probably August. I’ll post more on this later as I get started on the project, but wanted to alert anyone interested in the book as to my plans.

When I remember them, I have the weirdest dreams. One of last night’s dreams had a literary angle. I was asked to attend a brainstorming session on a possible play about a 20th poet/playwright’s slide into depression and dementia. Weirdness set in during the session as ideas about using a band of drag queens devolved into stranger takes about the writer’s life. My suggestion was roundly sniffed at: perform a take-off on The Firesign Theatre’s Don’t Crush that Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers. Have the writer sitting on a couch, flipping the dial on the radio and listening to program after cheesy program based on his works. Hearing the debasement of his life’s work causes him to slowly sink into madness and despair. Liven up the programs by having J R-like commercials: “It’s green!”
I’m almost afraid to know where all of this came from.