{"id":7114,"date":"2013-05-31T07:06:17","date_gmt":"2013-05-31T11:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=7114"},"modified":"2013-05-31T07:06:17","modified_gmt":"2013-05-31T11:06:17","slug":"you-must-change-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/you-must-change-your-life","title":{"rendered":"You Must Change Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the last two years, I’ve been beating people over the head to read Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s novel, The Leopard<\/a>\"\". It’s one of my all-time faves and it turns out that E.M. Forster loved it, too. Here’s the opening of a piece he wrote in an intro to Lampedusa’s short works:<\/p>\n

This prefatory note is a meditation rather than an introduction. Prince Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa has meant so much to me that I find it impossible to present him formally. His great novel The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) has certainly enlarged my life — an unusual experience for a life which is well on in its eighties. Reading and rereading it has made me realize how many ways there are of being alive, how many doors there are close to one, which someone else’s touch may open. The authors was born after me and he has died before me — an unexpected sequence. He is my junior. I like to fancy that he has left me a personal legacy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s one of the few books that I felt “changed my life,” and I count myself lucky that I can still have that experience in my forties. I’m glad to discover that Forster had the same experience at twice my age.<\/p>\n

Now go read The Leopard<\/a>\"\", consarnit!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the last two years, I’ve been beating people over the head to read Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s novel, The Leopard. It’s one of my all-time faves and it turns out that E.M. Forster loved it, too. Here’s the opening of a piece he wrote in an intro to Lampedusa’s short works: This prefatory note is … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “You Must Change Your Life”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[1839,1366,1787],"class_list":["post-7114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literature","tag-e-m-forster","tag-giuseppe-di-lampedusa","tag-the-leopard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-1QK","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6360,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/bookbuys","url_meta":{"origin":7114,"position":0},"title":"Bookbuys","author":"Gil","date":"May 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we're building a library downstairs and adding a bunch more shelf-space, I'm no longer quite so constrained in my book-buying. I'm still on an austerity plan for 2012, so I'll generally only pick something up on the cheap. Here's what I've bought lately and why. AbeBooks The Adventures of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "literature"","block_context":{"text":"literature","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0312282990","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9050,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-136-j-d-mcclatchy","url_meta":{"origin":7114,"position":1},"title":"Episode 136 – J.D. McClatchy","author":"Gil","date":"September 29, 2015","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show #136: J.D. McClatchy - A Forest of Things \"I'm now older than the two most important men in my life were when they died: my father and James Merrill.\" The great poet, essayist, librettist and bon vivant J.D. McClatchy (Sandy, to his friends) joins the show to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandy.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandy.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandy.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandy.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandy.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8854,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-122-a-muse-apart","url_meta":{"origin":7114,"position":2},"title":"Episode 122 – A Muse Apart","author":"Gil","date":"June 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show #122: Jonathan Galassi - A Muse Apart \"The literary writer still needs someone to have a dialogue with, to help shape their book, understand it and make it as presentable to the world as possible.\" FSG president Jonathan Galassi has been a literary editor and publisher for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"51xxp01m9xL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/51xxp01m9xL._SY344_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12757,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/my-books-of-the-decade-2010-2019","url_meta":{"origin":7114,"position":3},"title":"My Books of the Decade: 2010-2019","author":"Gil","date":"December 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Alphabetical by author: I Will Be Complete: A Memoir - Glen David Gold (podcast) Essays After Eighty - Donald Hall A Carnival of Losses: Notes Nearing Ninety - Donald Hall James Merrill: Life and Art - Langdon Hammer (podcast) The Witch of Lime Street: S\u00e9ance, Seduction, and Houdini in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "literature"","block_context":{"text":"literature","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_1567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_1567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_1567.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_1567.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9406,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-153-rachel-hadas","url_meta":{"origin":7114,"position":4},"title":"Episode 153 – Rachel Hadas","author":"Gil","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show #153: Rachel Hadas \"I've never felt so happy, but I've never felt so mortal.\" Poet Rachel Hadas returns to the show to talk about her new books, Talking To The Dead (Spuyten Duyvil Press), and Questions in the Vestibule (Northwestern University Press). It's been two years since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2373.jpeg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2373.jpeg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2373.jpeg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10298,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-215-charif-majdalani","url_meta":{"origin":7114,"position":5},"title":"Episode 215 – Charif Majdalani","author":"Gil","date":"April 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 215: Charif Majdalani \"Proust tried to explain how we live in subjective time. Both our work is about the transformation of society, but he seems nostalgic about the time before. I'm not nostalgic for that period. I'm more interested in how societies reach their peak and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Architecture"","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/architecture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7009-620x620.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7009-620x620.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7009-620x620.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7116,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7114\/revisions\/7116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}