Criticism – Page 2 – Davood Gozli

First Person Singular (Haruki Murakami) 1: “Creme”

By Davood Gozli | 20/06/2021 by Davood Gozli

The short story “Creme” is the first in the recently published Haruki Murakami collection, First Personal Singular (Ichininshō Tansū), translated to English by Philip Gabriel. The story’s title hints at the French expression crème de la crème, which refers to the very best part or the very best instance of something. We could, therefore, regard the story as an attempt at describing what is best in life. But this strategy only amplifies the strangeness of this story. Let’s begin…

Criticism Memory Repetition

Reading “Fever” by Raymond Carver

By Davood Gozli | 27/03/202127/03/2021 by Davood Gozli

I’d like to begin by thanking Tyson Woolman for bringing up Raymond Carver in response to one of my recent videos. Today I found “Fever”, in a collection titled, American Short Story Masterpieces (Edited by Raymond Carver, himself, and Tom Jenks). I believe the story had initially appeared in a collection called, Cathedral, which I’m planning to read in full. “Fever” is a strange story. It doesn’t contain any dramatic event, any transformation of a…

book review Criticism

Reading “Beyond Order” (6)

By Davood Gozli | 17/03/202126/05/2023 by Davood Gozli

Rule 10: Plan and work diligently to maintain the romance in your relationship This chapter is about marriage and the work it takes to maintain a marriage. A relationship is like an organism: It is organized, it has its own distinct aims, and it can be helped or hurt by external forces. Married people find themselves busy with work, busy with kids, drawn to solitary hobbies, or drawn to friends outside of the marriage. They…

book review Criticism

Reading “Beyond Order” (5)

By Davood Gozli | 16/03/202108/02/2022 by Davood Gozli

In his discussion of Rule 6 (“Abandon ideology”), Peterson talks about field-testing various topics during his live talks, monitoring how his audiences responded to different topics. He writes that the topic of responsibility consistently induced a quiet attentiveness in the audience. I think his observation is part of the reason why there is so much repetition across the chapters of this book, and why so much of that repetition is about work and responsibility. Out…

book review Criticism Culture

Reading “Beyond Order” (4)

By Davood Gozli | 15/03/202108/02/2022 by Davood Gozli

In this part, I will discuss Rules 4-6 of Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life. Rule 4 says, “Notice that opportunity lurks where responsibility has been abdicated.” In simple language, this rule is about being a good worker, taking the initiative, figuring out where others have failed to take care of something and then claiming responsibility for it. When I am employed in an organization, I can either see what is expected…