Welcome to Friday,
Here are five things I found worth sharing this week.
Notre Dame’s roof is being repaired using medieval woodworking techniques, and “the same material: oak. We have the same tools, with the same axes that were used, exactly the same tools. We have the same know-how. And soon, it will return to its same place”.
How tea became a Japanese national treasure.
“Have you been to the library lately?” Pair with Susan Orlean’s delightful The Library Book, a great examination of the role public libraries play, centered around the Los Angeles Public Library.
Harold Bloom on Cormac McCarthy; “the true heir to Melville and Faulkner”. McCarthy, who passed away this week at the age of 89, was widely considered the greatest living American novelist and Blooms 2019 piece illustrates why.
Finally, Happy Bloomsday! Today is the anniversary of the single day on which James Joyce’s Ulysses takes place. Here is one reader’s account of trekking to Ireland for the annual celebration.
Currently reading: The Revolt of the Masses by Jose Ortega y Gasset
Image credit: Spray of Sunflowers on a Stone Ledge. Roosenboom, Margaretha, (1843-1896).
