Feldman's Faves: October 23, 2023

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

This week is always fun now that our United Way Campaign is underway. Our own Maddie and Jay are leading the charge and I know have an excellent week in store for us. Please participate and contribute as best as you are able.

I want to take the opportunity to thank Ayesha and Zach for their hard and smart work during their first Articling term.

And finally, I want to welcome Noah and Noa (not a hip hop band from the 90’s) to our section for their second rotation. Please make an effort meet them and bring them on to your files- they are eager to get going.

The theme this week is Nobel Prize winners (by coincidence).

THE POLE By: J.M. Coetzee –I have always been a fan of the work of Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee. Disgrace is probably his all-time best. So whenever he comes out with a new book I am always very excited. The Pole is no exception. In this book we learn of a relationship that develops between an aging man (Witold, a famous pianist from Poland, hence the name of the book) and a middle aged “society lady”, Beatriz, from Barcelona who is tasked with welcoming him to her city and her crowd. As the book unfolds the Pole falls in love with the Spaniard and tries to woo her. It is a very interesting character study of both of these people in different stages of their lives, as we watch the relationship unfold, meet people in their lives and try to understand how this relationship could ever be. We also get an interesting glimpse of life in both Poland and Spain. One of the key themes of this book is aging (a favourite topic of mine) and how people deal with that reality. This is a short novel that is slow moving and really beautiful. I could see this book becoming a Merchant Ivory type film one day.

As one reviewer notes, “The novella is a tale of translingual seduction, concerning Witold, a 72-year-old Polish pianist and noted but retiring Chopin interpreter and his relationship with Beatriz, a married Catalan woman assisting him during his stay in Barcelona. It opens enigmatically: “The woman is the first to give him trouble, followed soon afterwards by the man.” Who is “him”? Is it Coetzee, shirtsleeves tugged at by his two characters lobbying for life, for the animation fiction grants? Perhaps it is a kind of third voice or doubling, like the text that lies invisibly inside all acts of translation; or the fact Beatriz and Witold communicate with one another in a third language – English – until he dies, leaving behind a suite of poems. Each leads the other on – to revelations, misgivings, curiosities and uncertainties – becoming, in the process, their collaborator and accompanist, their significant other. Beatriz’s own triangle comprises her, her acts of self-communion and Witold. Or perhaps: herself, Witold as he lived, and finally his afterlife, each in dialogue with the other. When Beatriz writes to Witold after his death – having translated his final poems into Spanish from Polish so that she might interpret them – the result is a magnificent final chapter dialogue (and poignant concluding line) in which both characters, in a sense, are granted the final say. … In The Pole and Other Stories, Coetzee revisits his perennial themes: animal kinship, ontological questions (of life, love and death) and the nature of desire – desire to understand the other, to comprehend and be in communion with “that which is beyond us”. Beneath plain-spoken surfaces unexpected depths are often revealed, glinting with flashes of playful seriousness, humour, and grand, existential strangeness – a sense of how the past occupies us until, one day, we come to occupy it.” Coetzee continues to deliver brilliant work. Given his age there are probably not many works left from him so I suggest you read them while you can. Here is a good review from The New Yorker – https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/10/02/the-pole-j-m-coetzee-book-review

TED TALKS DAILY - CRISPR's next advance is bigger than you think | Jennifer Doudna – Last year I reviewed Walter Issacson’ s biography on Jennifer Doudna who had recently won the Nobel Prize for her work on CRISPR. Since then her work has been an essential element to the forwarding of medical and scientific research, including most prominently, the rapid ability of scientists to develop the various Covid vaccines. But her wok continues to advance science and pathways to better health. In this PODCAST we learn about how her research is being used to fight the Four Horsemen (Dr. Attia’s term) of disease. Here is an excerpt from the PODCAST itself, “You've probably heard of CRISPR, the revolutionary technology that allows us to edit the DNA in living organisms. Biochemist and 2023 Audacious Project grantee Jennifer Doudna earned the Nobel Prize for her groundbreaking work in this field -- and now she's here to tell us about its next world-changing advancement. She explains how her team at the Innovative Genomics Institute is pioneering a brand new field of science -- precision microbiome editing -- that uses CRISPR in an effort to solve seemingly insurmountable problems like asthma, Alzheimer's and climate change. (This ambitious idea is part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)” : https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ted-talks-daily/id160904630?i=1000629229044

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation. And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon