He was afraid of touching his own wrist. He never attempted to sleep on his left side, even in those dismal hours of the night when the insomniac longs for a third side after trying the two he has.
—Vladimir Nabokov
—from Pnin
sinistral /SIN-i-strəl/ adjective. Left-handed. Related to, or located, on the left side of the body. When describing some molluscs, a shell that coils clockwise from its apex. In obsolete, but occasionally invoked usage, something unlucky, darkly suspicious or deeply unfavorable. See also: chirality (handedness), of which sinistral is one and dextral the other. From Latin sinistr-, sinister (left).
“Preston would then initiate others into the mysteries of an upside-down, inside-out, sinistral, always faintly askew (if not entirely reversed) universe. A true avatar of topsy-turveydom, Preston gave himself body and soul to the search—in common places such as pools of rainwater, tarnished ornaments, November afternoons—for zones of fractured numinosity, usually with the purpose of fracturing in turn the bizarre icons of his foul and bloated twin, the adult world.” (Thomas Ligotti)
“Also one of his fingers is missing.” ¶ “Which finger?” ¶ “Index on his right hand.” ¶ “At least he can’t pull a trigger,” I said. “Unless he’s sinistral.” (Lawrence Sanders)
“Number one represents a sixteenth-century gentleman in the act of handing a book to a humble fellow who holds a spear and a bay-crowned hat in his left hand. Note the sinistral detail…” (Vladimir Nabokov)
“This house on Franklin Avenue was rented, and paint peeled inside and out, and pipes broke and window sashes crumbled and the tennis court had not been rolled since 193 3, but the rooms were many and high-ceilinged and, during the five years that I lived there, even the rather sinistral inertia of the neighborhood tended to suggest that I should live in the house indefinitely.” (Joan Didion)
“The whorls of a snail shell lean asymmetrically out from the center. My snail’s shell was dextral, with a right-side opening, as is most common. However, some snails are sinistral, with a left-side opening.” (Elisabeth Tova Bailey)
Before Facebook and Twitter, even before the web, there was sinister… paper. → The 19th Century Moral Panic Over … Paper Technology
I’m not sure how I feel about oyster vending machines, but the prospect doesn’t make me hungry.
Wow, almost 30,000 recordings of early 20th century wax cylinders and 78 rpm records at the Internet Archive!
I shared an article about this story a few issues ago, but this deserves sharing for the headline alone. → Calibri in spotlight as Fontgate could leave Pakistan sans Sharif
Is the fear of malevolent artificial intelligence rooted in a reasonable fear that it could be as destructive as our own?
I had no idea there was a lost Sylvia Plath novel. Thanks, Reader B.!
Greece’s disappearing whistled language. Thanks, Reader V.!
Not as obvious as a first glance at the headline might make you think… → Feeling bad about feeling bad can make you feel worse
Unsurprising, but interesting, particularly those who are playing both sides against each other to their profit and our detriment. → Inside The Partisan Fight For Your News Feed
Today is International Lefthanders Day (#lefthandersday). Supposedly founded in 1976 by publicist Dean R. Campbell (though I can’t find any documentation for this oft-repeated claim), the official site says today provides “a chance to tell your family and friends how proud you are of being left-handed, and also raise awareness of the everyday issues that lefties face as we live in a world designed for right-handers.” Maybe you’ve wondered, “Why are some people left-handed?” If you’re a left-hander, did you know there’s an Association of Left-Handers? And even non-lefties might enjoy browsing a collection of famous left-handers. Good further reading: Adrian Flatt on “The sinister handed”. Good watching: ► Right.Left.Write., a short film about growing up left-handed.
“…all kinds of interesting questions which a science knowledge only adds to the excitement and mystery and the awe of a flower. ¶ It only adds. I don’t understand how it subtracts.”
► Richard Feynman on the beauty of the flower. || See also: all flowers are related to a single ancestor and this is what it might have looked like.
Rhode Island-based artist Jessica Rosner uses kitchen gloves to offer a look at James Joyce’s Ulysses unlike any other. Thanks, Reader C.!
(a different) Reader C.: “It shouldn’t be needed but if anyone in the Clamor skipped over the 2017 National Geographic award photos they should stop reading my comment and go there. Literally amazing.”
Reader M.: “I planted five secret letters. It felt so good! Thank you.”
Reader W.: “Long time reader, first time writer here. I should’ve shared my gratitude for Katexic a long time ago. So I am doing so now. And in some secret letters. Thank you so much for what must be untold hours of work.”
Reader J. “#20 on the literary would you rather list. Ah, the shame.”
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