Plague Time

It is finals week, when the hearts of young students turn to thoughts of... coffee. Just because you are stuck at home on lockdown does not mean you cannot have decent coffee.  For that matter, not even the fact that you are stuck in the United States means that you cannot have decent coffee.  If you know where to look. I am here to help. My secret supplier: EnjoyBetterCoffee . Excellent selection of European coffees, very good service.  I recommend the German brands Dallmayr or Jacobs .  It won't be quite like a Wiener Kaffeehaus, but it will be the next best thing. Don't ever say I never did anything for you.

After we all had to go home for the "coronavirus hiatus," I announced my Psalms Challenge: inviting any of my students to join me in reading through the Psalms, four per day, two each morning and two each evening. Despite a couple of stumbles, when I missed a day or lost track of where I was, I managed to keep on schedule, and yesterday morning I finished off the last two psalms.  Ironically, on the very last day of classes!  I wish I could say I had planned it that way.  I know of at least fifteen or so students who were reading along with me, and perhaps there were also others who joined in on their own. If anyone is interested, I started in on the book of Hebrews yesterday evening for a follow-up--one chapter last night, another this morning, and so on, one chapter every morning and evening.  Something from the New Testament this time, and exactly the right number of chapters to wrap up next Tuesday morning, when we finish final exams.

Did my early morning grocery run again today, bright and early, before a 9am final exam review session for my Humanities class. Public-spirited citizen that I am, I have taken to wearing a mask in public.  Hand-sewn for me by my beloved wife.  Quite the fashion statement. This was the scene as I departed the Fillmore Jubilee (these days known, incorrectly, by the dreadful, how-in-the-world-did-anyone-come-up-with-that name "Shop'n'Save"):

A couple of weeks ago I was flattered to learn from President Mullen that I was one of three faculty--along with my colleagues Sarah Derck and Doug Gaerte--being invited to share brief reflections at this year's baccalaureate ceremony.  It is an honor to be asked to address our graduating seniors in this year when our graduation ceremonies, like so much else, will have to occur online. So this morning I got to make a rare trip to campus, where I even saw a few other human beings.  In a nearly empty chapel--there were four other people in the building--I first read the names of my department's graduates and then recorded my short remarks.  It was a bit odd to be speaking in such a large building in front of only four people and two cameras. What did I say?  Well, each of us was asked to reflect on a Bible verse having to do with the theme of "blessing."  But if you want to know what verse I chose, or what I had to say about it... you will just have to tune in fo

In the Spring of 2015, I spent a semester on leave at Biola University, just outside of Los Angeles.  One of our favorite places to visit while we were there was the Huntington Library and Gardens . One doesn't think about these things right now in Houghton--where we had snow just a few days ago!--but in Southern California, the roses are evidently in full bloom.  At least that seems to be the case at the Huntington, as you can see by taking a look here . It is strange to think of those beautiful gardens in bloom with nobody there to enjoy them.  And it is difficult even to imagine how much money places like that must be losing.  I don't imagine I will get back to the Huntington any time soon, but I certainly hope others will be able to!

This morning we again confronted the question that rolls around every Sunday: where to go to church this week? I told my wife that I wanted something German this week, and she managed to find a livestream from the abbey in Neuzelle, east of Berlin and very near the border to Poland.  It was a good find, and we enjoyed the mass there. The abbey is a Cistercian monastery, founded in the 13th century and rebuilt in the Baroque style in the 16th.  In the early 19th century it was dissolved and taken over by the state, but recently a group of six monks again took up residence there and has restarted the abbey.  I was supposed to go to a conference in Poland this June, not so far from Neuzelle.  The conference is canceled, of course, but perhaps if it gets rescheduled I will have to modify my itinerary and take in Neuzelle as well!

It wasn't even on my list the other evening of books I am actively not reading , but this morning I finished off Bertolt Brecht's Die Dreigroschenoper , The Threepenny Opera , which arrived in the mail yesterday.  My colleague, Dr. Esh, assigned it in East Meets West, and since I had never read it, I figured now was the time. The extent of my previous acquaintance with the play was Bobby Darin's classic English version of "Mack the Knife." Actually, I had never read anything at all by Brecht before.  I admit that I generally prefer my social criticism to be of the non-Marxist variety.  But it was nevertheless an interesting play. Now that I have actively read this, I can get back to actively not reading all those other books.

There are moments when those books I would like to be reading but am not begin to pile up.  Now is one of them.  These may be books I began but had to stop reading; or ones I wish I were reading; or ones I am reading, but so slowly that it barely counts.  I think of all of these as books that I am actively not reading.  Here are some of mine at present: Peter Handke, Die morawische Nacht Paul Althaus, The Ethics of Martin Luther Czesław Miłosz, The Captive Mind Friedrich Glauser, Wachtmeister Studer Mark Mazower, The Balkans: A Short History Pericles Lewis (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to European Modernism Roger Eatwell and Matthew Goodwin, National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy Anton Tantner, Von Strassenlaternen und Wanderdünen: Miniaturen aus dem abseitigen Wien Albert Camus, L'Étranger John Witte, Jr., Law and Protestantism: The Legal Teachings of the Lutheran Reformation Eric Langenbacher and David Conradt, The German Polity , 11th ed. Flann

A few weeks back I posted about Archipelago Books , a wonderful independent press specializing in foreign literature in translation.  I just finished one of their recent releases, Serge Pey, The Treasure of the Spanish Civil War .  I started it initially out of sheer laziness: it isn't very long, and the stories are mostly quite short, few of them longer than ten pages.  This is always appealing, because even when you're busy, you feel as though you can make some progress. The first few stories were a little odd, but then the book grew on me.  About halfway through, I decided I liked it.  Well, "liked" isn't exactly the right word, because a few of the stories, which describe the experiences of refugees from the Spanish Civil War as seen through the eyes of a boy, are rough.  In particular, "The Piece of Wood" is a disturbing reminder of the inexplicably awful things that some humans will do to others. But the stories are well told, and some of th

I am very excited to announce that the college has hired a new history professor!  Dr. Francesca Silano will be joining our department next fall. Dr. Silano , who has her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, specializes in Imperial and Soviet Russia.  She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Miami of Ohio.  She will strengthen our ability to offer coursework in European and non-Western history. Next fall, in addition to teaching in the general education Humanities sequence, she will offer courses on Russian history and on modern Europe.  We are looking forward to welcoming her to the department.

We are all sitting at home right now looking for ways to fill all our spare time, right?  Well, I have got one for you. One of my favorite museums in London is the Sir John Soane's Museum .  Soane was an important and influential architect, and he left his home to the country as a museum.  It includes tons of visual surprises and fascinating details, and is also home to a remarkable sculpture collection, an important series of Hogarth paintings, and other odds and ends.  Very, very neat. The house has been restored to its original condition, and you can watch the first of three videos about the process.  The other two will follow in the coming weeks.  This is a great treat.  Watch it.

I have a confession to make: I really don't mind being on lockdown all that much. I'm sure for some people it is maddening.  For an introvert like me, however, no big deal.  Sure, it would be nice not to worry about how many trips I make per week to the grocery store.  Or not to wear a mask, as I have now taken to doing. But let's face it, I more or less like reading books.  When there is no pandemic, I spend my time reading and working.  When there is a pandemic... I spend my time reading and working.  I don't require a lot of social interaction, and although I like my neighbors, colleagues, fellow parishioners, etc, etc, I would be lying if I said that I deeply miss all that human contact. But I feel a little guilty about feeling so complacent.  For one thing, I'm not sure that this doesn't simply reveal a character defect of mine!  But quite apart from that, I know that my ability to feel complacent rests in many ways upon my own good fortune.  For i

This is just a quick reminder of the "Plague Time" essay contest being sponsored by the Department of History and Political Science.  It is open to students with a major or minor in History, Political Science, Augmented History, Humanities, or German Studies.  Submissions due by midnight on April 30.  See the link above for details.

I have been pretty quiet this week, because I devoted most of the last few days to reading The Radetzky March , by Joseph Roth (pictured above).  I assigned it for East Meets West and, since I have wanted to read the novel for a long time, I decided I wanted to do it in German.  It's almost 400 pages in my German edition, so it was quite an undertaking. But it was an excellent novel (and a perfect fit for East Meets West), and I'm glad I made myself do it.  The book tells the story of the last decades of the declining Habsburg Empire by focusing on a few generations of one family, the Trottas.  Early in the reign of Franz Joseph, a young Trotta saves the Kaiser's life at the Battle of Solferino by taking a bullet meant for his emperor.  In return, the Kaiser enobles him, and he becomes known as the "Hero of Solferino."  We see the rise and fall of his family in the persons of his son and grandson, whose lives overlap with Franz Joseph's reign, with the bo

Looking for things to read while you are on lockdown at home?  Here are some options you might want to consider.  One of my daughters came across this article and sent me the link.  Turns out there is quite a bit of literature about plagues, including some rather famous examples. Everyone will think of the Decameron , of course.  And in fact I ordered a copy of Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year  shortly after we all got sent home, thinking now would be the time to read it.  But something appears to have gone wrong with the order, because it has never arrived. I'm embarrassed to say I had entirely forgotten about The Plague , by Camus, which would seem to be a pretty obvious choice.  And I am not familiar with some of the more recent novels described in the article. Lots of choices--first, though, back to Joseph Roth's Radetzkymarsch , which I am reading for East Meets West, all 400 pages of it, which I decided to do in German.  We'll see if I can get through

After Duolingo graciously reminded me earlier this evening that I had not yet practiced French today, I decided I had better take care of that before calling it a night, lest I break my streak of consecutive days of language practice. So I just took care of that, and in the process I discovered that I hit a milestone of sorts: my Duolingo streak has now reached 400 days!  "Chapeau!," if I may congratulate myself.

Nineteen Houghton students were supposed to celebrate Easter with me this morning in the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany (the church spire is in the background of this postcard view of Wittenberg, with Luther's statue in the town square in the foreground), where Luther is said to have launched the Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the church door. That trip unfortunately did not take place, one of many things to fall victim to the coronavirus pandemic.  I hoped that perhaps the church might put its worship services online, but that appears not to be the case.  However, I did find a short clip of some Bible readings, followed by the organist playing Widor, and ending with some prayers.  (The readings and prayers are in German, of course.)  So if any of you students are reading, you can get at least a small glimpse of the church, and can hear the organ.

He is risen indeed.  Happy Easter to all of you. Two days ago I linked to the greatest of all Lenten hymns, O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden .  So today I ought to give you the greatest of all Easter hymns, Luther's Christ lag in Todesbanden  ("Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands").  Here are two versions of Bach's great cantata on the hymn, both from YouTube.  I like the first better, because the second is a bit too slow, and this needs to be a little more upbeat.  But the second version has English subtitles.  If you listen to nothing else, get through the first six minutes, so that you hear not only the orchestral introduction but--especially--the choral version of the first verse.  It ends with a rousing, and lengthy, chorus of alleluias. And the second: Now that is music for Easter.

I happened across this short article on what we do and don't know about the historical Pontius Pilate.  Good reading for Holy Saturday evening. The author notes at the end that authors and artists have always been fascinated by Pilate.  One he doesn't mention--a favorite of mine--is the Swiss author and playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt, who wrote a short early play entitled Pilatus .  Dürrenmatt, who initially hoped to become a painter before turning to writing, also painted the image of Pilate above.  I don't believe there is an English version of the play, however. The author also mentions various legends about what happened to Pilate, but not my own preferred favorite.  According to one story his corpse eventually found its last resting place in Lake Lucerne, at the base of Mount Pilatus , in Switzerland.  Several years ago, in 2013, my family spent a few weeks in Switzerland during the summer, and we wanted to take a special outing before we left, and also give

I have been promising for a while to post about the Austrian author  Gert Jonke , whom I have mentioned previously.  Today I finished a book of  his, Schule der Geläufigkeit .  Literally that means "The School of Velocity," although there is an English translation with the title Homage to Czerny: Studies in Virtuoso Technique . I have read the English version before, but not the German.  It is a delightfully quirky little book.  It consists of two parts.  In the first, a brother and sister plan a garden party with an unusual twist: it is to be an exact replica, down to the last detail, of a party they had thrown on the same day one year earlier.  The plan apparently comes off, though when it does, they are unaware of it, because their memory of the day's party blends together with their memory of the earlier party... and of who knows how many similar parties before that.  Only the narrator, a composer who has more or less stopped composing, seems aware of what is hap

Yesterday was Good Friday.  Tomorrow is Easter.  Today... we wait.  Most years, I think Holy Saturday feels a little awkward.  You aren't quite sure what to do with yourself.  It's hard to be as solemn as Good Friday.  But you can't celebrate either, not yet.  So you wait. But this year, Holy Saturday seems to have an added layer of meaning.  Because that is exactly what we are all doing: just waiting.  Waiting to get out of the house again and go someplace, to see friends and family, to return to work.  Hoping that the current moment,  the awkward in-between moment of waiting, will end. Yesterday evening I hit the halfway point in my reading through the Psalms, which some of you are doing along with me in the Psalms Challenge .  This morning I started with Psalm 77, which turned out to be a very meaningful psalm for Holy Saturday.  The psalmist begins with a cry to God for help:           I cry aloud to God,           aloud to God, that he may hear me.          

It snowed last night and today.  Not exactly what I'm looking for in mid-April, but I suppose it contributes to the mood of Good Friday.  My children took advantage of the opportunity to build one last (I hope!) snowman of the winter. We watched the live Good Friday service from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at Catholic University in Washington, DC.  I have been there once before, with my son, when he was visiting colleges several years ago.  It was strange, but also rather solemn, to see such an enormous church empty except for about a dozen people. Afterwards I watched a performance of Bach's St. John Passion by the Berlin Philharmonic.  Last month I took advantage of their offer of a month's free access to their archives, which is where I found it.  This was a fairly modern production staged by Peter Sellars, about whom I know nothing, which is apparently a sign of my ignorance, since a Google search immediately reveals him to b

Today we were looking for a way to attend church for Holy Thursday, and we found a livestream from the Benedictine  abbey at Einsiedeln , in Switzerland.  They have a YouTube channel here . I have never been to Einsiedeln, though perhaps I ought to get there!  I know of it only from Swiss history.  The abbey goes back to the 10th century.  The Swiss attacked it in 1314 as part of a dispute with its protectors, the Habsburgs, who at that time ruled parts of eastern Switzerland.  The Habsburgs invaded in retaliation, but in 1315 the Swiss routed them at the Battle of Morgarten , a great victory that helped establish the original Swiss confederation.

On the very first day we were all sent home on lockdown, wouldn't you know it, our oven stopped working.  Definitely not convenient with seven of us here and grocery shopping complicated.  The estimate for fixing it was almost as expensive as a new stove. So today, finally, our new stove, which we ordered online, was delivered and installed, courtesy of Home Depot.  No, it doesn't look quite like the large Kachelofen  in the painting.  In fact, it doesn't look anything like it.  But unlike the old one, it works.  And it's just in time for Easter, which is a good thing.

Not my musings, however.  Musings from my father.  He recently published this short essay in the journal First Things , reflecting upon the place of nationalism in our contemporary world.  (And no, that portrait is not of my father, but rather of St. Augustine, whom he invokes in the essay.  If Wikipedia is to be trusted, it is the earliest known portrait of Augustine.) I think it's an excellent essay.  So, as an act of filial piety, I encourage you to read it!

It is hard to find time to read books just for fun, and not because I've assigned them to my long-suffering students.  So I was excited yesterday to take a bit of time and finish off a pair that I have mentioned in previous posts. One was Jeremy Adler's recent study of Goethe , which was a nice piece of intellectual history, placing Goethe in the context of his age and showing his immense cultural influence in a range of areas.  On at least two previous occasions, I have begun a different book on Goethe and then gotten bogged down in other work, so that I never managed to finish the book.  I was determined not to let that happen a third time! The second was a very enjoyable book about bilingualism and biculturalism by François Grosjean, A Journey in Languages and Cultures .  It is a combination of memoir--the author turns out to have a very interesting family background, including a father who was a double-agent in World War II--and summary of linguistic studies of bi

I have been promising to jot down a few thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic and globalization.  A few days ago I read an essay by John Gray, arguing that the pandemic marks a turning  point, one that will prompt a move away from liberalism, free trade, and globalization.  Gray is a thoughtful and interesting writer, and you can find his essay here -- although I don't think it is particularly compelling. Gray's analysis fits into a broader political narrative that has already been gaining traction over the past few years: that we are seeing a retreat from liberal politics and from the globalized world order as countries move increasingly in nationalist, populist, and even authoritarian directions. National populism (which can but need not be authoritarian) is a real phenomenon, in the USA, across the West, and to some extent even globally.  We see it in the election of Donald Trump, in Brexit, and in the rise of various national populist parties in the democracies of Eu

This morning, to celebrate Palm Sunday, we decided to head to Boston and visit the Cathedral of the Holy Cross .  It was very strange, however, to have no palms, and no procession.  Celebrating Holy Week at home is going to be a quite unusual experience. In the afternoon I took a little walk with my daughter Flora.  We ran into Dr. Oakerson and his wife.  Keeping our appropriate 6-plus feet of social distancing separation, we chatted briefly, and they told us they were returning from a walk in the woods.  They had been looking for birds, with little success; but, they said, they had seen the first skunk cabbage poking out of the ground.  So, following their directions, Flora and I set off across a field and into the woods, where we located the skunk cabbage--a reliable harbinger of spring. Here is a Bach cantata for Palm Sunday, "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen" (BWV 182).  Enjoy.

I was looking for an image that had to do with "forgetfulness," and I stumbled accidentally upon this painting, by the German romantic or symbolist painter Eugen Bracht , about whom I know absolutely nothing.  Its title is Gestade der Vergessenheit , or The Shore of Oblivion  (info only in German, sorry).  It's impressive enough, so I figured I may as well use it! Forgetfulness is my theme, because here it is, definitely time to call it a night, and I just realized I forgot to post anything today.  I have been thinking about writing up some ideas on coronavirus and globalization, prompted by an essay I read that struck me as misguided.  But that will have to wait for (maybe?) tomorrow. The day was filled with housekeeping for my courses and some grading.  The first big wave of grading in the new online regime is about to sweep over me (like the waves in the painting): papers in EMW awaiting my critical eye, exams today in my Luther seminar, more exams on Monday in

London's National Gallery currently has an exhibition of Titian's work -- one that unfortunately cannot be seen right now due to the coronavirus shutdown. But on Saturday, the BBC will air a one-hour documentary about the exhibition -- a chance to "see" it in spite of the plague.  According to the webpage, it should be available shortly after its broadcast. Update (4/4): Rats--it looks as though you can only see it in the UK.  Very disappointing.

Two unfortunate deaths in the last several days from figures who produced high art in a popular art context: Tomie dePaola, author and illustrator of children's books; and Ellis Marsalis, New Orleans jazz pianist and father of a jazz dynasty. We have read many of dePaola 's books to our children over the years.  He is best known for Strega Nona , which I suspect many of you know.  Or you might remember Big Anthony .  Or perhaps Pancakes for Breakfast .  But he also wrote and illustrated many religious stories, including tales from the Bible or lives of the saints, such as Francis or Benedict and Scholastica.  I especially like The Clown of God , which my own parents used to read to us during Advent when we were children. And also Marsalis , whose skills as a pianist and teacher of jazz came to the notice of a wide audience in part through the music of his sons: Delfeayo, a trombonist; Jason, a drummer; and especially saxophonist Branford  (whom I used to listen to dur

One of the side effects of being married to a Catholic is that you learn of various saints you might never otherwise have heard of.  And it turns out, lo and behold, that there is a St. Corona .  And, what is more, she is the patron saint of treasure hunters and... epidemic victims. Well, there is apparently some debate about the latter.  You can find quite a bit about it online.  Here is one piece, more interesting and less polemical than many, about her relics, which are being restored and will go on display in a cathedral in Aachen, Germany. And you can even order holy cards of St. Corona .  I have some, in fact.  Protestant readers may not know what I am referring to, but Catholics have a kind of mania for holy cards , which typically have a picture of Christ, a saint, or some other holy person on one side and a short prayer on the reverse.  You can almost always find random examples near the entrance of a Catholic church.  They range from the quite attractive and tasteful

I am trying to minimize my trips out of the house, but once a week I go pick up my mail from campus, during the one hour per day that the post office there is open each morning.  Today was the day.  Ignoring the junk mail, I returned with the following items: the newest issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education the newest issue of TLS , or the Times Literary Supplement the newest issue of The Walrus , a Canadian magazine that appears (as best I can tell) to be their equivalent of the Atlantic Monthly , albeit perhaps a bit farther to the left the newest issue of The New Criterion  (America's finest magazine), this one their annual poetry issue a copy of Boccaccio's The Decameron , a book I admit I have never read, though now would certainly be the time and, last but not least, a copy of Erwachen zum großen Schlafkrieg , a novel by the wonderfully eccentric Austrian novelist Gert Jonke (1946-2009), to whom I shall return in some later post A good day.  For that m

"Behold: a man!"  Thus is Napoleon said to have greeted Goethe when the two met at Erfurt in 1808.  Napoleon read Die Leiden des jungen Werthers , which I am currently teaching in Humanities, multiple times. Goethe is of course the  giant of German literature, and one of the towering figures of European culture.  To help prepare for class, I was poking around in Jeremy Adler's new life of Goethe , and he quotes the great English critic Matthew Arnold on Goethe: "Goethe is the greatest poet of modern times, not because he is one of the half-dozen human beings who in the history of our race have shown the most signal gift for poetry, but because, having a very considerable gift for poetry, he was at the same time, in the width, depth, and richness of his criticism of life, by far our greatest modern man." That's pretty high praise.  The scope of Goethe's interests and influence was remarkable, as Daniel Johnson nicely lays out in the early part of