12 magical descriptions of Love in the Time of Cholera

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What a book, what a writer, what a story. A good story is one that ends just a little too soon. And at 350 pages this one still had so much more to say.

At nightfall, at the oppressive moment of transition, a storm of carnivorous mosquitoes rose out of the swamps…

His natural gallantry and languid manner were immediately charming, but they were also considered suspect virtues in a confirmed bachelor.

What Florentino Ariza liked best about her was that in order to reach the heights of glory, she had to suck on an infant’s pacifier while they made love. Eventually they had a string of them, in every size, shape, and color they could find in the market, and Sara Noriega hung them on the headboard so she could reach them without looking in her moments of extreme urgency.

For Florentino Ariza, that night was a return to the innocent unruliness of adolescence, when he had not yet been wounded by love.

In the darkness he could barely see the naked woman, her ageless body soaked in hot perspiration, her breathing heavy, who pushed him onto the bunk face up, unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his trousers, impaled herself on him as if she were riding horseback, and stripped him, without glory, of his virginity.

He said: “It is like a firstborn son: your spend your life working for him, sacrificing everything for him, and at the moment of truth he does just as he pleases.”

In any case, he did not resemble him in the pictures, or in his memories of him, or in the image transfigured by love that his mother painted, or in the one unpainted by his Uncle Leo XII with his cruel wit. Nevertheless, Florentino Ariza discovered the resemblance many years later, as he was combing his hair in front of the mirror, and only then did he understand that a man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father.

Every day, at his first swallow of coffee and at his first spoonful of soup, he would break into a heartrending howl that no longer frightened anyone, and then unburden himself: “The day I leave this house, you will know it is because I grew tired of always having a burned mouth.”

A few years later, however, the husbands fell without warning down the precipice of a humiliating aging in body and soul, and then it was their wives who recovered and had to lead them by the arm as if they were blind men on charity, whispering in their ear, in order not to wound their masculine pride, that they should be careful, that there were three steps, not two, that there was a puddle in the middle of the street, that the shape lying across the sidewalk was a dead beggar, and with great difficulty helped them to cross the street as if it were the only ford across the last of life’s rivers.

They finished their second cup in a silence furrowed by presentiments

That is how it always was: he would attempt to move forward, and she would block the way. But on this occasion, despite her ready answer, Florentino Ariza realized that he had hit the mark, because she had to turn her face so that he would not see her blush. A burning, childish blush, with a life of its own and an insolence that turned her vexation on herself. Florentino Ariza was very careful to move to other, less offensive topics, but his courtesy was so obvious that she knew she had been found out, and that increased her anger.

América Vicuña, her pale body dappled by the light coming in through the carelessly drawn blinds, was not of an age to think about death.

10 great podcasts right now

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Two years ago (wow, already) I wrote about my podcast habit-addiction and ranked them. But like travel destinations and coffee drinks and dive bars, your tastes are always changing.

Here’s my greatful 10; they reflect a growing interest in writing and literature; less tech and science, more spirit and faith.

A tip: treat a new podcast like a collection of short stories; instead of starting with the most recent episode, scan the archives and listen first to the guests and topics that interest you

Hope you like them; please share your favorites as well. Thanks!

1. Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin – intimate interviews of his show-biz friends; liked: Penn Jillette, Rosie O’Donnell, Judd Apatow

2. New Yorker: Out Loud – every episode is witty, fast, current; my favorite staff writer slash recurring guest is Adam Gopnik (for example)

3. The Joe Rogan Experience – raw, unfiltered, and unedited conversations hosted by a podcast pioneer; not for everyone; favorites include Eddie Huang and Randall Park, Russell Peters

4. Ben Greenfield Fitness – a trainer’s trainer, episodes are dense with science and data and he lives what he preaches; each episode covers so many topics that it’s hard to recommend one, but I enjoyed “Why strong people are harder to kill”.

5. On Being with Krista Tippett – soulful, kind, curious conversations; liked: Helen Fisher the dating and love expert.

6. a16z – because VC; techies love to save time, a16z wastes none; liked: Peter Thiel

7. The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith – an industry insider interviews interesting inventors (of films!); liked: Dallas Buyers Club, Nightcrawler

8. Longform podcast – writers talking to writers; liked: Buzz Bissinger, Eli Sanders

9. The Tim Ferriss Show – TimTim talktalk! Liked: Kevin Kelly

10. The New York Times Book Review – great hosts, great guests, great books

William Zinsser on writing well

“A writer is always working. Stay alert to the currents around you. Much of what you see and hear will come back, having percolated for days or months or even years through your subconscious mind” – William Zinsser

On Writing Well is a book for working writers who want to improve. If you need inspiration to pick up your pen and put words to paper, I’d recommend Stephen King’s On Writing. If you want to laugh and sympathize with a writer’s life, I’d recommend Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird.

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Zinsser’s book is an oyster farm of wisdom. Here are some of my favorite pearls (I couldn’t resist the metaphor :)

  • Nobody told all the new computer writers that the essence of writing is rewriting. Just because they’re writing fluently doesn’t mean they’re writing well.
  • Consider all the prepositions that are draped onto verbs that don’t need any help. We don’t face problems anymore. We face up to them when we can free up a few minutes.
  • Beware, then, of the long word that’s no better than the short word: “assistance” (help), “numerous” (many), “facilitate” (ease), “individual” (man or woman), “remainder” (rest), “initial” (first), “implement” (do), “sufficient” (enough), “attempt” (try), “referred to as” (called)
  • It’s amazing how often an editor can throw away the first three or four paragraphs of an article, or even the first few pages, and start with the paragraph where the writer begins to sound like himself
  • Nouns now turn overnight into verbs. We target goals and we access facts.
  • Trust your material if it’s taking you into terrain you didn’t intend to enter but where the vibrations are good.
  • The perfect ending should take your readers slightly by surprise and yet seem exactly right.
  • Surprise is the most refreshing element in nonfiction writing.
  • This is adjective-by-habit—a habit you should get rid of. Not every oak has to be gnarled.
  • Many of us were taught that no sentence should begin with “but.” If that’s what you learned, unlearn it—there’s no stronger word at the start.
  • …it is still widely believed—a residue from school and college—that “which” is more correct, more acceptable, more literary. It’s not. In most situations, “that” is what you would naturally say and therefore what you should write.
  • Surprisingly often a difficult problem in a sentence can be solved by simply getting rid of it.
  • Most of the nudgers urged me to adopt the plural: to use “readers” and “writers,” followed thereafter by “they.” I don’t like plurals; they weaken writing because they are less specific than the singular, less easy to visualize.
  • When you use a quotation, start the sentence with it. Don’t lead up to it with a vapid phrase saying what the man said.
  • Enjoyment, finally, is what all humorists must convey—the idea that they are having a terrific time, and this notion of cranked-up audacity
  • After verbs, plain nouns are your strongest tools; they resonate with emotion.
  • Writing is such lonely work that I try to keep myself cheered up. If something strikes me as funny in the act of writing, I throw it in just to amuse myself.
  • With each rewrite I try to force my personality onto the material.
  • Writers who write interestingly tend to be men and women who keep themselves interested. That’s almost the whole point of becoming a writer.
  • Two final words occur to me. One is quest, the other is intention.
  • The only thing [readers] should notice is that you have made a sensible plan for your journey. Every step should seem inevitable.
  • Never be afraid to break a long sentence into two short ones
  • When you get such a message from your material—when your story tells you it’s over, regardless of what subsequently happened—look for the door.
  • You must find some way to elevate your act of writing into an entertainment. Usually this means giving the reader an enjoyable surprise. Any number of devices will do the job: humor, anecdote, paradox, an unexpected quotation, a powerful fact, an outlandish detail, a circuitous approach, an elegant arrangement of words.
  • One of the bleakest moments for writers is the one when they realize that their editor has missed the point of what they are trying to do.

Thanks for reading! Here’s an earlier post on the same topic, how to improve your writing.

“We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly”

Viktor Frankl

Re-reading a book is like dating an ex-girlfriend; some things change, some stay the same, and it is on that higher level, the meta-ness of the whole thing, where you really learn and grow. While re-reading Man’s Search for Meaning, I came across a few pages that were so powerful I was unable to move past them. The ideas aren’t new, but I had forgotten them, and clearly when I first read them, they made no impression on me. To extend the analogy, it’s like falling in love for different and perhaps more spiritual reasons.

Specifically I am talking about pages 76-78 of the Kindle edition. Within, Viktor Frankl – the renowned psychotherapist and Holocaust survivor – explains why we should stop questioning life, and allow life to question us instead.

“We had to learn ourselves…that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consistent, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct.”

To find the right action and conduct for yourself:

“Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!”

The central, perhaps only, strategy is to live not for yourself but for something and someone else:

“Being human always points, and is directed, to something, or someone, other than oneself — be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself — by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love — the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.”

This book amazes me every time. It’s an easy read, a powerful story, and a potent philosophy.

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how” – Nietzsche

Resources, thoughts from The Religion of Business

I created a website/project/newest-shiny-thing called The Religion of Business, where I’m building a library of advice and insights on how businesses can learn from organized religions (the focus is on the “organized” half of the phrase). I’ve written briefly about it here.

I’ll periodically share useful resources and links here. Here are a few recent ones:

  • A 1-Page Summary of Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer [link] – one of the best psychology books I’ve read, perhaps ever
  • How businesses use religious principles, techniques, ideas [link] – continuing the case for why this intersection is important and undervalued
  • Notes from The Economist’s in-depth report on the Catholic Church’s finances [link] – did you know that Catholic priests make, on average, $25K in salary?

I thought this was an interesting concept: the “cut flower culture” from Jewish theologian Will Herberg:

The attempt made in recent decades by secularist thinkers to disengage the moral principles of western civilization from their scripturally based religious context, in the assurance that they could live a life of their own as “humanistic” ethics, has resulted in our “cut flower culture.” Cut flowers retain their original beauty and fragrance, but only so long as they retain the vitality that they have drawn from their now-severed roots; after that is exhausted, they wither and die. So with freedom, brotherhood, justice, and personal dignity — the values that form the moral foundation of our civilization. Without the life-giving power of the faith out of which they have sprung, they possess neither meaning nor vitality.

I also thought this was a great article, “The Market as God” by Harvey Cox [link]. A memorable quote:

I am beginning to think that for all the religions of the world, however they may differ from one another, the religion of The Market has become the most formidable rival, the more so because it is rarely recognized as a religion