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The Long View

The Long View: The Brothers Karamazov

John J. Reilly felt that The Brothers Karamazov was a window into the Russian soul. I haven’t read the book myself, so I’ll have to await your comments. The Brothers Karamazov By Fyodor Dostoevsky First Published in Russian 1880 English Translation by Andrew R. MacAndrew Bantam Classic Reissue

The Long View 2009-01-12: Establishment & Chaos

John J. Reilly quotes Carrol Quigley’s dim characterization of the American right in this blog post about the incoming Obama administration. I find it funny because the use of “petty bourgeois” as a term of abuse is coming back in style. The Right, however, was dominated by a parody,

The Long View 2009-01-10: Stupidity, Fear, Fossilization, Art

Lots of opinions on economics are like this: Like the proposals for a federal Balanced Budget amendment to the Constitution, the harm done by the Tax Holiday idea is not the danger that it will ever be enacted, but that it takes up space that might be usefully occupied by

The Long View 2009-01-08: Panic Now

Looking back, 2009 really was the start of a huge spike in the US Federal deficit. Until the COVID stimulus, it was the highest it had ever been. John J. Reilly also offered us some reflections on the death of Fr. Neuhaus, only three years before John’s own unexpected

The Long View 2009-01-04: Valkyrie, Runciman 2012

John J. Reilly’s brief comments on the movie Valkyrie in 2009 are a reminder that Tom Cruise may be one of the most successful actors of our era. Valkyrie, Runciman, 2012 Yesterday, I went to see the new film Valkyrie [changed to IMDB link BIE], directed by Bryan Singer.

The Long View: Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life by Joseph Ratzinger

When I wrap up a year’s worth of blog posts from John J. Reilly, I go back and collect any stray essays or reviews that I missed from that year. This is a masterpiece of John’s, an extended reflection on a book written by Joseph Ratzinger before he

The Long View 2009-01-01: Count Your Blessings

It might not be obvious, thirteen years later, but this was John J. Reilly’s deadpan satire of how 2009 could have been worse. Count Your Blessings For many people, the television images this morning of the continuing sack of the Green Zone brought a sense of closure, if not