The most haunting image of Dekalog one is the line “I am ready _” made complete with the blinking cursor. Who is ready? I am sure that Kieslowski has discussed this ending in an interview with someone, but before I venture to explore that, I want to express a possibility that he may be suggesting…

Kryzsztof approaches the pond, but he is still looking for Pawel. He has taken a walkie-talkie and tries to connect with Pawel that way. He gets no response. We hear helicopters in the distance … he is still avoiding the dread. It is very human to avoid the dread. People put off doctor’s visits for…

I’ve begun the process of transitioning my Tolstoy material from this site back to mytolstoyproject.org and this story will migrate there as well. But this little tale was such an exciting find to me that I feel obliged to post it on my main site first. While reading the fantastic Leo Tolstoy Critical Lives biography…

Returing to that strange chapter in Ron Rosenbaum’s book “In Defense of Love” and his brutal takedown of Count Leo Tolstoy, I’m getting close to the point where I could make a full refutation of his argument, but now that I’m about halfway through Tolstoy’s novelella “The Kreutzer Sonata” and a highly acclaimed short biography…

It’s a remnant of my competitive debate days that I still feel compelled, with something complicated, to give a roadmap to what’s ahead. For example, any first draft I speech I write has an excess of exposition up front, with the full understanding that none of it is actually going to make it into the…

The past week has been a very pleasant experience for me, rambling a bit through some different topics, seeing where they might lead me. I’d like to get back to the projects that mean the most to me now, but I also want to let the universe decide for me where to spend my attention….