By Bergotte Joseph Conrad wrote about the darkness at the centre of things — not as a metaphor, not as a philosophical proposition to be argued and defended, but as a lived reality that his own extraordinary life had given him direct and repeated access to. He was a Polish nobleman who became a BritishContinue reading “The Human Condition According to Joseph Conrad”
Category Archives: Aesthetics
Chapter 9: A Bite of the Big Apple
I go to New York with Tilly on leave weekends, and write to the boy whenever I remember, usually in the mornings after I’ve dreamt about him at night, or when I see something that would make him laugh. When I do, I send him presents: records, magazines, books. Lovesick Blues by Hank Williams. IContinue reading “Chapter 9: A Bite of the Big Apple”
Werner Herzog: The Poet of the Obsessive
Werner Herzog walks through cinema like an adventurer through uncharted territory. Born in 1942 in Bavaria and raised in a remote village without electricity, he grew up with little sense that cinema even existed. When he first encountered film as a teenager, it struck him like lightning. By nineteen he had “borrowed” a camera fromContinue reading “Werner Herzog: The Poet of the Obsessive”
Chapter 8: I Miss You
It’s easy to make friends at Miss Porter’s School for Girls. Most of the young ladies here are good eggs. My new best friend is Matilda, she insists everyone call her Tilly. She’s from New York City and knows all about the world. She’s the most confident fourteen-year-old I’ve ever met, and she looks, justContinue reading “Chapter 8: I Miss You”
Our Girl Marilyn at 100
By Bergotte Published June 1, 2026 — on the occasion of her hundredth birthday Marilyn Monroe was born one hundred years ago today, and she has never stopped being alive. Not alive in the way that the famous dead are alive — as a cultural reference, as a poster on a wall, as a costumeContinue reading “Our Girl Marilyn at 100”
Raphael: The Harmony of the Renaissance
When Raphael died suddenly in 1520 at the age of just 37, Rome fell into mourning. His funeral at the Pantheon drew crowds of artists, courtiers, and clergy, all stunned by the loss of a painter whose genius had seemed inexhaustible. According to Vasari, Raphael’s death left “the art of painting bereft of light.” EvenContinue reading “Raphael: The Harmony of the Renaissance”
Chapter 7: It’s My Party
The weekend before I leave, I have a send-off party.Everyone is having the time of their lives. Mabel and Bingham. The country club kids. My friends from school.Miss Mary invites the boy’s family too, and they show up in full force, parents, his grandmother, who’s always around and lives with them most of the time,Continue reading “Chapter 7: It’s My Party “
Buster Keaton: The Silent Stone Face
In the pantheon of cinema’s pioneers, Buster Keaton occupies a place both singular and paradoxical. He was called “The Great Stone Face,” a comic genius who rarely smiled on screen. His films, made in the silent era of the 1920s, were symphonies of precision: breathtaking stunts, elaborate set pieces, narratives that balanced absurdity with inevitability.Continue reading “Buster Keaton: The Silent Stone Face”
Chapter 6: I’ll Remember You
I don’t start school at Miss Porter’s until the end of summer, and thankfully we’re only in the beginning.I want to imprint on the boy as much as I can before I go. I can’t imagine a future without him. It’s impossible. After I tell him I’m leaving, it turns into a push and pull.Continue reading “Chapter 6: I’ll Remember You “
The Swedish Invasion: How Hollywood Fell for Its Nordic Queens
Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s was a factory of dreams, but some of its brightest stars carried with them an accent, a mystery, and a sensibility from far across the Atlantic. They were Swedish, and to American audiences they seemed to embody a northern light: cool, sophisticated, and possessed of a beauty that wasContinue reading “The Swedish Invasion: How Hollywood Fell for Its Nordic Queens”
My World of Interiors 