Marivaux, Moers, Desportes, and others

I enjoyed reading Ellen Moer's Literary Women. First, I identified with much of the sorts of feelings those writers had. Second, I enjoyed reading about how George Eliot and another famous woman writer were nervous about contacting George Sand and decided to send their books to her together. Third, I liked learning that Jane Austen admired Felicite de Genlis, a woman author that is quite little know.

I also read Foucault's Naissance du regard clinique, which I thought was weak if easy to read. No, medicine did not base its diagnoses on botany, but on taxonomy used by both botany and animal science, in earlier centuries.

I read a quick essay on Marivaux, whose theatre and novels I'll be reading on my upcoming trip to Florida (print books are great technologies for airplanes). I like to read a biography or an essay before I take on the complete works.

I also read with great interest a book on the Ashington group, Pitmen Painters. This was a revelation: some of the painters had immense talent to rival the professional artists of their time, but came from the wrong class and background. It confirmed something that I long thought.

Finally, I read Desportes' Decider dans l'incertitude, which is admirably clearly written. It is about decision-making in the fog of war and reviews previous strategists' findings and looks at more contemporary situations.

I read this week's New Scientist, and my partner Tony's eclectic reading.