During the month of December, the University Libraries staff make lists and check them twice. What are these lists about? Anything! You can look at past years’ lists here and stay tuned for more lists!
Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone
A haunting and poetic depiction of societal collapse and human resilience during the fall of the Soviet Union by one of the world’s most creative and insightful documentarians. Intimate, surreal, and hypnotic as it may be, Adam Curtis’ BBC series provides a source of strength and understanding in a world that ever more reflects its troubled past.
Alice Coltrane
Her music extends beyond any two or three sentence summary. This is the cosmos. This is spirituality (if you’re looking for it). A salve for the daily minutiae that slowly overtakes us all.
Taste of Cherry
Abbas Kiarostami’s Palme d’Or winner (first in Iranian film history) is a meditative and serene search for meaning and connection in the face of existential despair. Can the value of life be ascribed to individual choice? Can we continue to find beauty and meaning, even amidst profound suffering, via the subtly unfolding aspects of life that have always existed in the background?
Animal Well
Indie developer Billy Blasso’s labor of love came together over seven years and is bursting at the seams with ideas and thoughtfulness. Blending idiosyncratic pixel art, intricate puzzles/world design, and pillowy soundscapes, Animal Well is a marvel of a video game and a gift to get lost in.
Rauque
Roberto Greco’s Rauque perfume reminds me of a foggy morning in my rural hometown. There’s something comforting and optimistic in its blending of green florals, earthy accords (featuring a particularly creative and evocative mushroom note), balsamic resins, and animalic references to leather and musk that takes me right back to my uncle’s farm. It’s a grounding fragrance that calls upon a narrow window of nostalgia, but simultaneously offers a wider worldview and greater possibilities.
The Book of Disquiet
Fernando Pessoa’s signature work is awash in fragmented/dreamlike prose and gently explores the quiet complexities of the human soul. The book has become a fixture on my bedside table and a companion through many late-night musings concerning modern existence and solitude.
Jeff Lawrence is the E-Resource Associate at Loyola Chicago Libraries and not nearly as pretentious as this posting may lead you to believe (probably). He welcomes any and all suggestions for his next wormhole of obsession.
