• On Literature, Books

“An Unexpected Reunion”: Death’s Dominion Disturbed

4 years ago

In Johann Peter Hebel's "An Unexpected Reunion" death seems to separate a betrothed couple, but after the passing of much…

  • On Literature, Books

Goethe’s Hymn to Virtue: “The Attorney”

4 years ago

Goethe's "The Attorney" shows that though habit and nature are not easily conquered, the powers of the sovereign will as…

  • On Literature, Books

“The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling”: Writing on Trial

4 years ago

Writing explores writing in Ted Chiang's "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling," in a story constructed of two…

  • Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Read Viewed Consumed |2020-09

4 years ago

Cultural consumption involved George Saunders' consummately misanthropic CivilWarLand, as well as Pygmalion (1938) and The 49th Parallel (1944)

  • On Literature, Books

‘Tis Short Story Month

4 years ago

During this lovely autumn month I will read a new short story each day and then write a brief post…

  • Reading Journal

George Saunders’ “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline”

4 years ago

George Saunders' short story collection, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, was born in a minimum security prison in central Pennysylvania

  • Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

August 2020: Read, Viewed

4 years ago

During the hot days of August my tremendous appetite to read was momentarily sated by more Tolstoy (eternally), James Baldwin,…

  • On Literature, Books

Reading Slowly: “War and Peace”

4 years ago

Why reading slowly, especially War and Peace, should be practiced with solicitude, so as to fully appreciate the journey reading…

  • Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Read Viewed Consumed 2020-07

4 years ago

The books and films that I read and viewed during the month of July 2020, including The Life and Death…

  • On Ideas, Concepts, Intuitions

Hither hocus pocus?

4 years ago

On the phrase "hocus pocus," from Marina Warner's essay “Spellbound” on the book Drawing Down The Moon