Pocket Dialogue
Intro
This is Time's Corner, a weekly newsletter by Christian Leithart. I’m co-founder of Little Word, editor of Good Work magazine, and creator of Psalm Tap, a yearly colloquium for church musicians. By day, I teach make the most of summer break, and by night, I edit this newsletter.
I recently learned the term “pocket dialogue,” which is dialogue included in a screenplay that’s not necessarily meant to be heard. Think the scene in Better Call Saul when Hamlin tells Jimmy he won’t hire him as a lawyer. Screenwriters write pocket dialogue so that the actors have something to say, but since it usually gets left out, the writers can use fun lines that they couldn’t fit in any other scene.
Consider this issue of Time’s Corner “pocket dialogue,” a bunch of interesting stuff that doesn’t have anywhere else to go.
From You
First, the replies from last week’s question, “What have you been reading?”
Daniel says:
I've been working my way through James Baldwin lately. Most recently Another Country and Giovanni's Room. He's rightly famous as a person with Ideas, but I think we forget what how truly great he was at the art of the scene. If there's a single "Great American Novelist," I think it's him.
Never have I read Baldwin (not his novels, at least), but now I need to.
Shaina says:
I’ve been reading a lot lately! My husband and I finished up Dune, I blazed through the Anne of Green Gables series, and then Hard Times by Dickens and short story by John Buchan. (Fullcircle) Working on Lord Peter Whimsey now.
I binged Buchan recently: Greenmantle, Mr. Standfast, and The Three Hostages almost back to back. He can write a ripper, for sure, but the later Hannay books are much less thrilling and more thoughtful. Mr. Standfast, in particular, is almost entirely about Hannay swallowing his pride and taking a back seat in the adventure.
Jen says:
Just finished My Name is Asher Lev and I cannot stop thinking about it. The scenes were set so vividly, but in a very minimal way. I've never felt more in a setting than in this book! Heartbreaking, but I didn't want to leave that story. Also: Norms and Nobility (epic), School Education (Mason), The Chosen (do all of his books hold up?) and The Battle for the American Mind (very quickly finding this to be a propagandized slog), all very slowly. :)
Norms and Nobility is epic! Mason is, too. Potok… Sorry, not my favorite.
Ryan says:
This:
Lorie says:
I am working my way through, The Yearling. I recently found out that my brother, Jody, who died two years ago, was named for the boy in this book. I wanted to see what it was about the character that made my mother name my brother after him.
I am seldom only reading one book at a time. Yesterday I read a cute little quick read called 84, Charing Cross Road. It was recommended to me by a friend who said it was among her top five favorite books ever. While I thought it was a cute story and well written, it did not make it to any "favorite list" in my mind.
I am working my way through "The Complete Stories," Flannery O'Conner. A while back, Bruce Etter had listed his top 10 favorite books and Flannery O'Connor was his favorite author of all time. I figured I should read it and see if I could find out why.
And lastly, I'm just a few chapters into, What Your Food Ate, how to heal our land and reclaim our health, by David Montgomery, and Anne Biklé.
I love that you use the phrase “working my way through” because that’s often how busy people read books. The Yearling and O’Connor’s stories are great choices.
Molly says:
I've been reading the English translation of Stefan Zweig's Shooting Stars, Ten Historical Miniatures. I've read nine out of ten so far. Never have I read such compelling stories about historical events of the 18th to early 20th century. I highly recommend!
Never heard of it! I’ll have to find myself a copy.
Remy says:
I have dedicated this summer to light fiction. I have read Norwood, the first novel by Charles Portis of True Grit fame. I have reread Beacon 23 by my social media acquaintance Hugh Howey of Silo fame. The short fiction of Sarah Hall (Madam Zero) and J. F. Powers (Collected). And sprinkled in some Superman comics (good!), some Green Lantern comics (not good), and the first run of Terminal City (1996) from Vertigo Comics (very good).
Nothing wrong with light fiction, especially during the summer.
Melissa says:
I haven't been reading much (aside from Substacks!). I'm slowly making my way through Eleanor Parker's Winters in the World, which is utterly charming. I'm reading Romano Guardini's Meditations Before Mass, well, before Mass. I have the latest Dresden Files novella on audiobook from the library, but I'm saving it for a road trip next week.
I wish I’d asked this question at the beginning of the summer so I’d have more time to check out these books. Thanks for the recommendations, everybody.
Dispatch from Broken Bow
Like last year and the year before, I write this missive from the foyer of the church where the Theopolis Ministry Conference is taking place. Unlike last year, Psalm Tap is happening tomorrow, right here at Third Presbyterian Church. I’ll send a post-Tap analysis next week.
I’ve spent a few days preparing for my classes this upcoming year. I’ve having a blast. More on that later, I’m sure.
And I haven’t forgotten that I owe some of you hand-written letters.
Pocket Dialogue
Ukrainian scientists have discovered a way to generate electricity from humidity. Bizarrely, such a device would use the very thing that makes my house in Alabama so hot (humidity) to cool it down. Huh.
Dhananjay Jagannathan walks through the philosophical assumptions that allow people to justify, even celebrate, medically assisted suicide—or MAiD, as it’s creepily called in Canada: (1) The right to life implies a right to die—and specifically, a right to die as and when one chooses. (2) Euthanasia is medical “care”—that is, care appropriately provided by doctors and other medical practitioners. (3) Limits on autonomy by the government are per se bad. (via Sara Hendren)
I’ve mentioned the web service Montaigne before, creation of Anton Podviaznikov. Anton has also built simple tools for publishing notes, displaying photos, and writing newsletters. Check ‘em out. Support him.
Over two thousand years ago, Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria, collected as many books as he could in his immaculately organized personal library. Proud of his scholastic abilities, he had this message inscribed therein: I learnt the lore of the wise sage Adapa, the hidden secret, the whole of the scribal craft. I can discern celestial and terrestrial portents and deliberate in the assembly of the experts… I can solve convoluted reciprocals and calculations that do not come out evenly. I have read cunningly written text in Sumerian, dark Akkadian, the interpretation of which is very difficult. I have examined stone inscriptions from before the Flood, which are sealed, stopped up and mixed up. I think we should give high school students cuneiform-inscribed tablets to commemorate their understanding of “convoluted reciprocals and calculations that do not come out evenly.” But hold on… “Stone inscriptions from before the Flood?” Where did he find those?
Hayao Miyazaki has released a new animated feature.
Up To
Reading: Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog. Kitty Burns Florey is impossible to dislike.
Watching: The Bear, Season Two. I stand by what I said last year: bless it, it tries so hard.
About
I’m Christian Leithart, a writer and teacher living in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m not active on social media, but you can read my blog here. Use the button below to share this issue of Time’s Corner, if you so desire. Thanks much for reading.