Opinions on Reserve
Innovation Entering the Library
J-Term can make quite a bit of difference. Harvard’s campus probably looks just as snowy, icy, and dreary as it did in December. Yet inside of some of the most important buildings in and around Harvard Yard, changes have been implemented that will change students’ lives on a daily basis. What do I mean? What am I talking about? Just some programs going by the names of “Secure Exit” and “Harvard Direct.”
The Many Strains of Affluenza
Couch killed four people: a woman whose car had broken down on the roadside and three good Samaritans who stopped to help her—a mother and daughter, and a youth pastor. Prosecutors requested a sentence of 20 years in jail, the maximum sentence. Acting within Texas’ minimum sentencing guidelines, the judge ordered Couch to be sentenced to 10 years—of probation!
The Glossy Paper Tiger
Consider the long simmering battle between the actress Gwyneth Paltrow and the glossy magazine Vanity Fair. The affair in sum: Vanity Fair vows to run a feature exposé on Paltrow; Paltrow allegedly instructs her friends and followers to boycott the magazine, refusing to provide quotes, tips, photos, or interviews; Vanity Fair gives in, and holds the feature back from publication pending a softening of its negative tone. TKO—Gwyneth wins!
An Orphan Crosses His Tracks
I take the time to mention the original title because only Norwegian copies of the book are for sale; a hard-cover copy costs about $20, plus $30 for delivery to the US—in order to obtain a copy of one’s own. I was lucky in borrowing Widener’s copy, because I would otherwise never have had the pleasure of reading Sandemose. My appreciation for the book sent me on an historical investigation of its printing history that leads me to believe the novel might be an orphaned work.
