Monday Morning

This morning I've spent some time reading criticism of The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway's first novel. Yesterday evening I saw the world premiere of the stage play of this novel. The premiere was just shy of four hours and was an uneasy theater experience for me. I've always wondered if Hemingway is nihilistic. Although I read Old Man and the Sea as a teenager, the author's view on life seemed to be so purposeless at that time. Perhaps he was drawing attention to the pervasive philosophical paradigm holding that no intrinsic meaning or value exists? I don't know. There's a lot more reading to do to discover that. Overall, the play was morally absurd but well acted. MBA liked it. I didn't.

Image Courtesy of Elevator Repair Service

Friday evening I had a much better theatrical experience. (Can you tell I like supporting the arts?). MBA and I attended The Apprentice at Rosslyn Chapel. The actors were brilliant! And being in the very place where the legendary story unfolded 600 or so years ago is pretty incredible. The play was done in the round, and being set in one of the most exquisite architectural gems in all of Scotland, the event seemed almost magical.

Taking pictures inside Rosslyn Chapel is not permitted, but I found the above one on Undiscovered Scotland's website. Pretty amazing!

Yesterday afternoon I took a walk around town with a friend. There's so much going on in Edinburgh, so we thought we'd stroll through some of the festival areas to see what all is going on. Well, remember when I mentioned the "festival in the sky"? I captured the aforementioned festival on film:

Perhaps it's more like a table lifted in the air by a crane? While it's probably still fun, calling this activity a "festival" is a bit much!