Heavy Oil. Urals. Why? -- June 26, 2020

Re-posting:

Europe and Urals: Urals, heavy and sour, trades in northwestern Europe at a premium of about $2.35 per barrel against Brent, highest since September, 1994. This has been the story for quite some time now; not getting much analysis; this might help:

• analysis;
• analysis;

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The Literature Page

Wow, wow, wow. Enemies of Promise, Cyril Connolly, c. 1983; new foreword, 2008.

Pure literature. And very difficult slogging for me. Will help fill the hours when TCM disappoints.

I was in my Out of Africa phase when a reader mentioned White Mischief which I read, and am now re-reading, taking notes, which led me to Cyril Connolly.

Connolly explores the literature of the 1920's and the 1930's: organizing his analysis around two newly coined categories: the Vernacular (pared down documentary writing that directly engages the contemporary world ) and the Mandarin (stylized writing that is committed above all to its own formal or verbal elegance). The Vernacular: think Ernest Hemingway (later). For the Mandarins, the trophy goes to Henry James. See this book review. I've actually got that book on my shelves, or did so at one time. I may have donated it. I've long forgotten.

I'll re-read Henry James some day. The Ambassadors. Washington Square. So many great memories. The Portrait of a Lady. Turn of the Screw, which I had to read more than once to understand. And finally, perhaps my favorite, The Beast in the Jungle, from wiki:

Almost universally considered one of James' finest short narratives, this story treats appropriately universal themes: loneliness, fate, love and death. The parable of John Marcher and his peculiar destiny has spoken to many readers who have speculated on the worth and meaning of human life.