A painting by Gabriel Metsu at a Dublin exhibition reminds Dalrymple how mankind, confronted by death, refuses to face the obvious. In the New English Review.
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I couldn’t help but get misty upon reading the second last paragraph.
i read some of the comments on the article and one guy wrote about the lack of proofreading by Dr Dalrymple. can someone tell me where there is grammatical mistakes or errors in syntax in this essay? this is the second time that i read someone criticising dalrymple’s writing skills
Same here! I have had exactly the same experience, and I can’t bear to think of the anguish we (my wife and I) will feel when we lose our current dog, who has been a irreplaceable companion to us for nearly ten years.
That was a great piece, one of his best.
Agreed. His New English Review essays in general are becoming some of his very best.
Here’s one: “…terrier whose jaws once locked into flesh cannot be prised apart except be decapitation.”
This, I grudgingly concede, is one of the most compelling essays I have read that chronicles the ‘special’ relationship between man and dog. And he even intersperses his narrative with an analysis of the way our denial of the possibility of death pervades everyday life – necessary, of course, if we are to survive.
Such an emotionally overwhelming essay, that I think we all can relate to. The painting is also a masterpiece.