Peter Murmann

Departures

No Comments 28 January 2025

For many years, I have recorded films that I want to see in a to-do list software called OmniFocus. There are 128 items on the films list. One of them is Okuribito (a foreign language film). It is in position No. 5, which means it was recorded many years ago. I searched for the film and found that it is called Departures in English. To my surprise, it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009. This was probably how it ended up on my list of films to watch 15 years ago.

Diary, Politics

From Marx to MAGA

No Comments 24 January 2025

The WSJ published this beautiful essay by Jacob Berger, a professor of philosophy at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Why MAGA Folks Should Read Marx

Today’s conservative populists will find sympathetic ideas about the failings of capitalism in the writings of the great communist philosopher

Books, Fiction

To live

No Comments 2 January 2025

This Chinese novel is deeply moving. The writing is very simple, but it manages to pierce through one’s heart. Set during the Civil War in China, it tells the story of a farmer who gambled away his father’s land and tries to make a living in an increasingly difficult context. First, he is forcefully inducted into the Nationalist army. Then, when the Communists take over, things improve for a while before turning dire. We accompany Fugui throughout his life, starting from his early gambling habits to his marriage and, eventually, his children.