Thanks to recent advancements in digital scanning technology, it looks like the Herculaneum scrolls will be made legible after some two thousand years. The new technique allows for close study of the scrolls without causing irreparable damage to the papyrus via exposure to the moisture in the air, an issue which had dogged scholars for centuries. If the impermanence and tenuousness of writing is more your speed, here’s a bit on Twitter, instead.
Hidden Libraries
Lincoln vs. Hitler
“Adolf Hitler loved books—that nasty bent for book burning notwithstanding—and the book industry loves him back. Type his name into Amazon, and while he doesn't trigger the English-language numbers of Jesus (186,740) or Lincoln (70,710), he registers a solid 18,597—a stunning figure for someone who died less than 70 years ago.” On the Fuhrer’s paradoxical relationship with literature.
IRL
Joshua Cohen’s new novel has gotten a lot of attention for its odd relationship with Internet culture. In The New Republic, he talks with Gideon Lewis-Kraus in a Gchat, explaining his view that “it’s time writing took something back from the Internet.” Pair with Cohen’s Millions interview from 2012.
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Lowering the Millennial Boom
"Millennials in America are more likely to have visited a public library in the past year than any other adult generation." Pew Research Center drops the boom mic. Pair with this confession by a self-proclaimed librarian drone.
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Weary Old Men
In an excerpt of Out of Time, a new book on “the pleasures and perils of ageing,” author Lynne Segal makes a case that many iconic male writers -- among them Philip Roth, John Updike and Martin Amis -- display in their works a belief that the slow loss of virility is one of the most tragic effects of growing older for men. Citing passages from Toward the End of Time and Portnoy’s Complaint, she finds evidence that these writers' depictions of masculinity reveal “obdurate social hierarchies of gender and ageing." (Related: Keith Meatto on advice you can glean from Philip Roth’s work.)
The Heat-Packing Poet
Why did Richard Brautigan’s friends eventually stop inviting him to parties? Was it because he got drunk? Was it because he brought too many friends? Or was it because, as Michael LaPointe suggests in his review of Jubilee Hitchhiker: The Life and Times of Richard Brautigan, he liked to pack a revolver?
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Showtime Confirms
I reported earlier that Franzen’s Purity was headed to TV with Daniel Craig front and center. Now, Showtime has officially sealed the deal. Production is expected to begin in 2017. Revisit our editor Lydia Kiesling’s review of the book to prepare for the series.
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