Our Choice: Fight Evil? Or Strengthen Good?
By Doris Lessing
ESSAY EXCERPT |
January 26, 2026
Doris Lessing writes in 1957 during the Cold War: "What is the choice before us? It is not merely a question of preventing an evil, but of strengthening a vision of a good which may defeat evil."
Movie & Book Reviews
Attack of 50 Min. of Boredom
On a lark, I watched this movie, “Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman”, thinking it might be weird and campy – but it turned out painfully stupid and boring. You’ll get most of it by fast forwarding to the 58:00 minute mark and catching the “50 Ft. Woman” in the last five minutes of the film.
The Floating Opera: Loving Life’s Absurdities
John Barth’s first novel, The Floating Opera may seem like a warm-up to the author’s later “post-modernist meta-fictions,” On re-reading, I see a model of what a novel can be – a new vision of everyday life, imbued with love and delight at all the world’s absurdities and pleasures.
The Morning Show: exploitation of the cubicles
Well-written, deliberately nuanced perspective on male sexual exploitation of vulnerable women in high-pressure corporations. Identifies with the victims – at last! – but how about the the poor and powerless around the world, victims of American policies left out of the “news”?
The Mentalist: The charm of nihilism
The amusing detective work of a whimsical but charming nihilist. Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) works as a “consultant” for the FBI, but is perfectly candid that his real mission is to seek revenge against the serial killer who murdered his family, legal procedures be damned.