It began as the GODFATHER OF MATH, evolved into the GOODFATHER OF MATH. Now this. Go figure...

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The kind of humor I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think for ten minutes = G. CARLIN...Stain glass, engraved glass, frosted glass
–give me plain glass = JOHN FOWLES ... Music is the mathematics of the gods=PYTHAGORAS ... Nothing is more fluid than language = R. L. SWIHART
I cannot live without the oxygen of laughter = DAWN POWELL ... !!! ... But laughter cannot survive without the hydrogen of gravitas = PAUL OLIVERIO
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Friday, January 30, 2015

Benjamin Franklin, Franz Kafka & Me

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The early bird gets the worm 
but if that worm slept in, he 
might still be alive today.
                                       -Paul Oliverio
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This is another example of a  deferential equation  (not to be confused with a differential equation)
wherein I equate little old me with some known personage of cultural stature.

Call it kowtowing in reverse.

If I were Benjamin Franklin, I would be able to say
I inspired Franz Kafka to write a novel.

But I am not  Benjamin Franklin.

I am a 65 year-old teenager whose alleged writings
have been strongly influenced by  Franz Kafka.
Forgive me Ben: I have not read ye at all.

With that last sentence, I have stated my first lie on this page.

Franklin's essay THE SAVAGE INDIAN is an Oliverio favorite
because it portrays 18th Century Native Americans
as the exact opposite of savage.

Surely, I digress.

Franz Kafka never set foot on American soil
but  Amerika,  published in 1927, is about
a young German man who visits
the United States of America.

Despite the word not having existed
at the time of publication, the man
has no shortage of "Kafka-esque"
adventures and misadventures
while he is there.


Having read Mr. Franklin's Autobiography
inspired Kafka to write this novel. 

The cover of this  New Directions Paperback
was designed by Mrs. CarPeo's best friend
(Mr. CarPeo notwithstanding). 


That is no lie and neither is this: an excerpt of Amerika can be read by clicking  here.


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Footnote
Another example of a deferential equation–despite the difference
in auction house pricing– appears  there.

The next Kafka page, one tenth the length of this one, is  here. 


The next Benjamin Franklin page is  an "almanack."
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2 comments:

  1. First today that I can remember
    but I am not so good at
    trusting my memory

    ReplyDelete