At Brain Pickings, Maria Popova meditates on attention and the works of Simone Weil, among them Gravity and Grace. Popova writes that Weil “wrote beautifully of attention as contemplative practice through which we reap the deepest rewards of our humanity.”
Rewarding Attention
“Let a hundred languages contend and a hundred flowers will bloom.”
Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s moving speech at The Sunday Times Literary Awards in which he speaks about the resilience of literature and the necessity of keeping less-popular languages alive is now available online. (Here’s our handy guide to pronouncing the author’s name, in case you were too embarrassed to ask.)
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“A long, rich and lust-filled tradition”
In the Paris of the late 19th century, the courtesan was “an essential part of the pecking order,” writes Heather Hartley at the Tin House blog.
Sex and the City Prequel
For those who just can’t get enough of Carrie Bradshaw, Candace Bushnell‘s latest: The Carrie Diaries. And some coverage of the book at USA Today.
Reading Scores Fall
SAT reading scores have fallen to their lowest level on record.
“Republics of Imagination”
Our love of The Atlantic‘s By Heart series continues with Azar Nafisi‘s contribution to the series: an essay on reading James Baldwin, the importance of literature to democracy, and how ultimately “we need literature to remind us how like each other we are, despite our differences.” Pair with Justin Campbell‘s Millions essay on race, fatherhood and reading Baldwin.
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