As a lover of both writing and drawing, I am fascinated with horror as a great vehicle, particularly of the disfigured, for both of my loves. As a beginner of the genre, I suppose that the horror genre has subtypes, the attributes of each can combine with those of the others. Poe’s “The Murders in … Continue reading Faces of Horror: Horror in 1800’s — Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
Author: Cathy Callera
A learner of writing and books from the Philippines.
Love as a Demon: Some Long-Winded Thoughts
The novella by the great Colombian writer, which makes the offensive suggestion in its title, I find, among other things, as a feature on the problem of determinism. It illustrates, more than anything, how determinism is itself man-made, enforced, and as in the case of what happens to the protagonists Sierva and Cayetano, inflicted. There … Continue reading Love as a Demon: Some Long-Winded Thoughts
An Interesting Relief in the Time of Crisis: The Phantom of the Opera and Hamlet
On the second week of April—the middle of the quarantine period—came the free streaming on YouTube of the theater plays The Phantom of the Opera and Hamlet. A short reflection on these plays may be a curt and interesting relief in the current crisis. Nothing could be more dissimilar as a pair than this pair—at … Continue reading An Interesting Relief in the Time of Crisis: The Phantom of the Opera and Hamlet
What is Behind the Seen
Director Busom’s animation film is a feature of contrasts. First is the contrast of the dramatic and the suggested, or perhaps better put, the outlandish and the unseen. Mimicking the art of its protagonist-hero Luis Buñuel, Busom’s animation film has dream sequences at intervals which give mesmerizing surrealistic effects. These dream sequences as a basic … Continue reading What is Behind the Seen
On Barnes’ Noise and Music and My Meandering about Artistic Integrity
Barnes’ fictional account of Dmitri Shostakovich’s life delves into the heart of the issue of artistic and moral integrity. In the case of Shostakovich, as a Russian classical composer during Stalin’s reign, the delicacy of such integrity is tested and underscored under the pressure of ideological coercion. Barnes’ novel, in its audacity, undertakes the hard … Continue reading On Barnes’ Noise and Music and My Meandering about Artistic Integrity
A Bit on Replica and Barnes’ Satirical Novel
Recall our snappy childhood chants, those banters where words seem random, but how deliciously nonsensical their strings of words? In Julian Barnes’ satirical novel, what is nonsensical makes sense. Martha, as a child, had a peerless one, worthy of the book: Alfalfa, who farts in Devon, Bellowed be thy name. Thy wigwam … Continue reading A Bit on Replica and Barnes’ Satirical Novel
A Bit on Fiction and Gina Apostol’s Bibliolepsy
It was my penchant for the fictional that gave me an attraction to contradiction, the counterintuitive and the paradoxical in life. Now, in hindsight, I think that perhaps I had naively taken my fiction to heart. Now, I consider that paradox in fiction can take us only so far in life. Paradox does catch some … Continue reading A Bit on Fiction and Gina Apostol’s Bibliolepsy
Good Bad Poetry? And Cornelius Whur
I love bad poetry. I’ve tried my hand at verses myself, and so far only bred verses that could easily fall under the “bad poetry file.” Bad poetry reminds me of a dabbler and even an eager beaver’s dreaded fate. There’s no excuse for the travesty: not even – all the best poems have been … Continue reading Good Bad Poetry? And Cornelius Whur
On the Filipino Writer N. V. M. Gonzalez and His Poem “How the Heart Aches”
This is my second time writing about a Filipino poem, as a reader. To be honest, I am overcome by trepidation writing about a Filipino work, for it is closer to home. I am wary to make a mistake, which I frequently commit as a reader. Plus, I can be easily chastised by a fellow … Continue reading On the Filipino Writer N. V. M. Gonzalez and His Poem “How the Heart Aches”
Personal Thoughts on “Personal” Poetry, and Seamus Heaney’s “A Royal Prospect”
Lyric poetry has been associated with personal biography, whether a moment of experience or a moment of feeling. It is an association almost soiled by now. I think this association is not natural, that is, lyric poetry is not permanently or necessarily personal, even if this personal translates to the social. What I admire about … Continue reading Personal Thoughts on “Personal” Poetry, and Seamus Heaney’s “A Royal Prospect”
Murmurings and Mimicries 