Friday Links – November 24 2017

Eve Tushnet considers the thematic connections between Flannery O'Connor's Wiseblood and Marilynne Robinson's Home. "It was impossible to miss the common elements in these two intensely different novels: two men who reject Christ, for whom American racism is one of the most compelling arguments against Christianity, who have ferociously self-destructive urges toward pain as penance, and who have a disastrous sexual relationship with a young teenage girl."

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has an... intriguing... exhibition featuring religious artwork and designer garments inspired by said artwork. "So a Balenciaga one-seam wedding dress will be displayed in a chapel in the Cloisters dominated by an enormous crucifix; a Dolce & Gabbana mosaic piece from fall 2013, inspired by mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale in Sicily, will be set against the Byzantine mosaics of the Met’s collection. The point is to connect the dots between material expression and sourcing."

What is it about small bookstores that evoke feelings of contemplation, nostalgia, and romance? "This lack of noise alone makes the bookstore quite unusual. As if to emphasize the point, deep comfortable chairs invite customers to sit and stay. With a book or without, those chairs are an infrastructure that encourages patrons to slow down, sit, and ponder. In a society devoted to novelty, speed, and shallow pursuits of every variety, a place that encourages the slow process of reflection also encourages a kind of rebellion. Sit there long enough, and you’ll find yourself moving away from modern culture whose success requires, above all, a population averse to meditation."