Jonathan Emmesedi

Intermittent humanities education worker. Brit resident in USA.

Profile picture: Boy standing thigh deep in the ocean, holding a trident in his left hand. Image created by AI.

Header picture: Ocean waves. Picture from US government National Ocean Service.

Last Notes

2026-10-17 16:30:19 UTC

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I love the hair!

2026-07-28 20:01:34 UTC

Robert Graves -- Good-Bye To All That
This 1929 autobiographical work is indispensable for an understanding of how many British dealt with the memory of the Great War in the years that followed.
The accounts of the chaos and confusion of military operations were vividly narrated, but did not come as a great surprise to me. I was more taken aback by the stories of allied mistreatment of German prisoners, with Graves picking out Canadian and Australian soldiers as especially notable for this behaviour.
"Good-Bye To All That" is rich with memorable anecdote and imagery, such as tommies using machine gun cooling water to make tea, and incidents of the wartime absurd, like the story of Graves mistakenly being reported as dead, then receiving a communication from his commanding officer: “I cannot tell you how pleased I am you are alive.”
Nevertheless the horror of the war is never forgotten: “The first dead body I came upon was Samson’s. I found that he had forced his knuckles into his mouth to stop himself crying out and attracting any more men to their death. He had been hit in 17 places.”
#Books #RobertGraves #GoodByeToAllThat #Autobiography #BritishLiterature #LiteratureInEnglish #FirstWorldWar #WW1 #History
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2026-07-27 17:22:24 UTC

Anthony Powell -- Afternoon Men
One might think of Anthony Powell as a quintessentially British novelist, so the importance of the USA in his first novel, the 1931 "Afternoon Men", might come as a surprise.
The USA makes itself felt both in the novel's content and in its style. The publisher Scheigan is the stereotyped American abroad, while the USA itself is mentioned continually throughout the novel as a place where people can go to either make or hunt fortunes. Making up the bulk of the text, the clipped dialogue of the novel seems indebted both to Hemingway and the new American popular culture form, the talkie.
I also noted Powell's depiction of Jews in the novel. Although "Afternoon Men" does not promote antisemitism as a central theme, a current of unfriendly suspicion is nevertheless detectable.
Although the novel was published in 1931, the social, romantic, and occupational misadventures of the mostly youthful characters smacks of the decade preceding the great depression. Comparing it to Waugh's "Decline and Fall" and "Vile Bodies", I found the comedy less broad but more perceptive about British society and individual ambition and romantic aspiration.
Decades have passed since I last read "A Dance to the Music of Time". I wonder how that cycle would strike me now that I am acquainted with Powell's 1931 novel of comedy and class.
#Books #AfternoonMen #AnthonyPowell #Novel #BritishLiterature #LiteratureInEnglish #20thCenturyLiterature #1930s #1920s #Antisemitism
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2026-07-23 13:04:51 UTC

Kep1er -- Xiaoting
I know it's not really one of those shorter hair styles that I Iove so much because she in fact has her locks in a long braid, but I still think her style shows off her head and face to great advantage.
I'm looking forward to her solo release.
#Kpop #KpopPix #Xiaoting #Kep1er #Hair #KpopStyling
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2026-07-16 02:27:23 UTC

Having to make a conscious effort not to respond to a nasty post.
Temperance I sometimes find difficult to exercise, but it is a virtue that I must cultivate.
Image: Temperance --Vittore Carpaccio (Italian, 1460–1526) -- ca. 1525 -- oil on wood panel.
#Temperance #SelfRestraint #Virtues #SocialMedia
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