by Richard Subber | Aug 18, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Joys of reading, Language
…death is an anticlimax…
Book review:
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
by Pierre-Ambroise Choderlos de Laclos
Originally published 1782
Translated as Dangerous Liaisons by Ernest Dowson, New York: Doubleday, 1998
Illustrations by Sylvain Sauvage
Les Liaisons Dangereuses is not a garden of delight.
This is a book about love, but the reader will find precious little of it in these pages.
An acquaintance dismissed this voluptuous tale, thus: “All they do is talk.”
Let’s begin there. The language is rich. I daresay that Laclos turns language into an erogenous zone in Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
If you aspire to a working understanding of good and evil, you could do worse than listen to the riveting chatter of the leading personae, who choose each word with careful, deliciously ribald, austerely cruel, and domineering intent. You really don’t want to be a friend, and you most assuredly don’t want to be an enemy.
Men, en garde! The Marquise de Merteuil impulsively thinks of cojones as table ornaments.
Ladies, away! The Vicomte de Valmont is a pirate lover, he sees women as prize ships ready for boarding.
One might wish to believe that the others are innocents: Cécile Volanges, Danceny, the Présidente de Tourvel. But, hold. Each of them seeks to play the game of love, but they are hardly able to distinguish winning from losing.
Yes, this is a boundless exposé of the worst elements—of human intrigue, self indulgence, hubris, vaunting egos, and careless poaching of souls—that masquerade as amour.
Yes, in a sense, the characters are stereotypes, but each is, remarkably, ingeniously, ingenuously, a masterpiece of the type. Laclos uses every pertinent word to make them real.
Yes, Les Liaisons is an ultimately degraded experience for both the characters and readers…ultimately, the reader must condemn the Marquise and the Vicomte for so many lives destroyed…death is an anticlimax in Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
The Marquise and the Vicomte are burdened with a moral framework that shuns the absolute—they have unimaginably unsatisfied desires, and no intellectual elaboration of right and wrong.
Yet, a gentle reader may offer these two a bare shred of pity.
The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont swirl through their lives, casually jousting with each other as they amuse themselves in controlling the fates of other men and women, but remaining unaware that they are not in control of their own fates.
Note for bibliophiles: Whether you read this in the original French, or in the lush translation by Ernest Dowson, accept the pain of experiencing a literary style that is no longer in vogue, prepare yourself for Laclos’ fabulous late 18th century style that discards a simple declarative sentence, readily, with apparent joy, whenever a sentence heavily laden with clauses, phrases, and modifiers will do just as well, heedless of the effect on a reader, whose inclination may be to appreciate the writhing drama of this story, with somewhat fewer words.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: “Bartleby, the Scrivener”
Loneliness beyond understanding…
by Herman Melville
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many waters: more poems with 53 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Aug 13, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Joys of reading, Language
good story-telling…
Kaa’s Hunting (1893)
in The Jungle Book (1894)
by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Kaa’s Hunting (1893) fills you with thoughts of comradeship, adventure, bravery, loyalty, and jungle stuff. It’s a good introduction to Kipling’s style and to his deep dives into real and fictionalized life events.
Mowgli the man-cub learns much after he is abducted by the monkey people.
The reader learns much about tolerating the way things are, and about doing the right thing to make things better.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Bartender’s Tale
Ivan Doig’s story, I mostly loved it…
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Empyrean: new poems with 57 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Aug 11, 2026 | Language, My poetry, Poetry
say it out loud…
buttah
What is so easy about
learning an accent?
Sit down at the diner,
and hear the gent
in the next booth
ordering his meal,
and listen to him
saying “buttah” for his toast
and “buttah” for his muffin,
and so casually you think you know
his parents
and his birth place
and his region,
and his different-ness
and his limits,
and his prescribed life
and his narrow self…
He is so knowable,
but wait—
he listens when you speak…
May 24, 2026
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Movie review: Same Time, Next Year
all-American adultery, oh yeah…
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As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.
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by Richard Subber | Aug 9, 2026 | Language, Poetry, Reviews of other poets, Tidbits
…words can be pictures…
“The world is never the same
once a good poem has been added to it.”
Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
Welsh poet and writer
Dylan could have said “A poet is never the same after writing a good poem,” or “A person is never the same after reading or hearing a good poem.”
I’m in love with words, and I love to use the best words to create poems that have clarity and character.
Sometimes I think of my work as “literal poetry.” I don’t put my pen down until I’ve said exactly what I feel, exactly what I mean to say, so that you, as the reader or listener, will have no doubt about it. I want to write poems that don’t need to be explained—what you see is what it is. I want to write poems that express deep human emotions, and thoughtful observations, and precise meanings.
I am a poet, a writer, a teacher, a moralist, a historian, and an unflinching student of human nature. I think a lot. I strive to express truth and give context—both rational and emotional—to reality.
I think words can be pictures, and lovely songs, and bodacious scents, and private flavors, and early morning caresses that wake each part of me, one at a time. I know some of those words, and, from time to time, I write some of them.
I read a lot of poetry, including the classic poets like Homer and poets in America and poets around the world who have written since ancient times to modern times. Occasionally I find a poem, or a phrase, or an image that is intensely intuitive, or wonderfully imaginative, or just plain beautiful. I offer those words from other poets for your enjoyment.
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
“Fishering,” by Brian Doyle
…what meets the eye…
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In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears with 64 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Jul 18, 2026 | Language, My poetry, Poetry
no calories added
Sweet thing
The dawn delays the day,
with layered hues
that do not fade,
the vault is cake,
with icing smears
that will not bake,
the sweet spot filled,
an overflow
of cream and gold,
the lavish spread
betokens gild.
February 10, 2026
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie…movie review
it’s all Maggie Smith
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many waters: more poems with 53 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.
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by Richard Subber | Jun 30, 2026 | Language, Tidbits
“…Go and tell the guy what you want.”
The wisdom of David Mackenzie Ogilvy (1911-1999)
This is trenchant advice on how to write well—still relevant almost 45 years after it was written by David Ogilvy, who was renowned in the late 20th century as “The Father of Modern Advertising.”
Now, to be sure, Ogilvy’s legendary sway in the ad biz was recognized in pre-internet, pre-wired, pre-Twitter days when ad copy was deemed more salient and more powerful than ad buzz.
Indeed, Ogilvy’s famous memo “How To Write” was circulated far beyond the Mad Men-world of his agency, Ogilvy & Mather, after he wrote it on September 7, 1982.
Here it is:
- Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.
- Write the way you talk. Naturally.
- Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
- Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.
- Never write more than two pages on any subject.
- Check your quotations.
- Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning—and then edit it.
- If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
- Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.
- If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.
At this point, I know I shouldn’t embarrass myself by trying to reconceptualize or translate Ogilvy’s observations for you…
OK, I can’t resist this one: I think Item 10 is the best. In today’s wired world this can be translated to “If you want to reach an agreement or have an argument, don’t send a text or email when you can call the other party or talk face-to-face.”
Note: the reference in Item 1 is to a now-standard work by Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson, Writing That Works: How to Communicate Effectively in Business. A 3rd edition was issued in 2000.
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: Shantung Compound
They didn’t care much
about each other…
by Langdon Gilkey
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My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 52 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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