Emmanuel L. Di Rossetti
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What death for the West?
It is increasingly sweet to me to hear these speeches from Westerners gargling about the death of Catholicism, the death of this old skin of religion, when it is not simply the death of God. Continue reading
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Japan book review
I just finished reading "The Mask of the Samurai," an essay by Aude Fieschi (Editions Philippe Picquier). It's an educational, well-written book that presents the different facets of the Samurai throughout the Japanese Middle Ages until its decline with the advent of modern Japan. Continue reading
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Emmanuel Todd or intellectual vulgarity
Emmanuel Todd was on France Culture the other morning to deliver his good word. Emmanuel Todd is a prophet. He has the eloquence. He has the pretension, above all. He lacks the honesty. Indeed, one cannot be a prophet and an ideologue. Continue reading
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Tribute to Jean-Marie Domenach
Rereading notes taken years ago while reading Jean-Marie Domenach's The Return of the Tragic, I remember our meeting. I see him arriving at my small studio in La Fourche, asking me for a glass of wine, and me starting to explain to him in detail the direction I'm taking. Continue reading
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The path of God passes through our humanity…
Extraordinary passage from Blessed Cardinal Newman: By sinning, by suffering, by correcting ourselves, by improving ourselves, we advance toward the truth through the experience of error; we obtain success through failure. We do not know how to act well except after having acted badly. […] We know what is good not from Continue reading
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Tibhirine's breath
It's an intelligent film. And in saying that, a lot has already been said. In an age where stupidity reigns supreme, making an intelligent film about faith allows you to get your head above water and inflate your lungs; to be satisfied. Of Gods and Men exemplifies the life of monks. What Continue reading
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Philia, agapê and other little things…
The Greeks used three words to describe love: eros, carnal love; philia, friendship; and agape, mature, accomplished love. Is love only there to comfort us? Shouldn't we seek to give meaning to love, as to every event in life? Only meaning saves the human condition. Meaning... Continue reading
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The chronicler's hatred
I call this article "The Hatred of the Columnist." The French columnist—because it is indeed a French evil—is how he invents himself master of time, of the world, and above all of how it is. It is unbearable. Expunge the columnists and pluck the buds! All these columnists gathered together form nothing other than a Café du Commerce. Continue reading
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Haiku Lessons
To write a haiku, it is essential to respect four qualities: Sabi: simplicity and awareness of the passing of time which alters things and beings Sh?ri: the capacity to suggest the love of humble things Hosomi: the discovery of the beauty of everyday life Karumi: humor which lightens the Continue reading
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Another stopover...
Alvaro Mutis is a great writer and, what's more, one of my dearest friends. Since he hasn't published any books for a few years, I thought I'd pay him a little tribute with quotes from "The Last Stop of the Tramp Steamer," a short novel full of Continue reading
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Confession of a player (his life told by Maradona)
The life of Diego Armando Maradona is a tale. Because Maradona always remained a child. It is therefore a children's tale and as such it is edifying. We must tell all those who say that Maradona was not exemplary enough for an athlete of his caliber that they are wrong. It is Continue reading
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What Monsieur Ouine says in our time…
Monsieur Ouine, one of the greatest French novels of the 20th century, provides many answers to the modern world as it is. The following few quotes provide a glimpse of the evil that is everywhere. Continue reading
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The virtues of boredom
In a small, acidic book (De la France, translated by Alain Paruit, L'Herne), Emil Cioran gave an answer to the French malaise. He explained how much he cared about boredom, but he distinguished two kinds of boredom: the one that opens "its doors to infinity," "as an extension into the spiritual of an immanent void of being," and the one that Continue reading
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Notes on The Child of Voluptuousness
Notes on Gabriele D'Annunzio's The Child of Voluptuousness. P 58. Between the obelisk of the Trinity and the column of the Conception, I suspended my Catholic and pagan heart as an ex-voto. She laughed at his sentence. He had a madrigal on his lips about this suspended heart; but he did not pronounce it, because Continue reading