Reading "Jane Eyre" for the second time revealed a quite different— quite Christian and not postcolonial—one from what inhabited my memory (and imagination).
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Notes, observations, both complete and errant thoughts are what populate the Ashley Vaught’s Reading Journal.
Pleasures in Reading: Edgar Lee Master’s “Spoon River Anthology”
From the "Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters, excerpts and commentary on the experience of its reading
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- 2022-11-10
- On Literature, Books Idle Reflections Reading Journal
Tyrannical Imagination: Henry James’ “An International Episode”
A passage from Henry James’ novel "An International Episode" displays the tyranny of the imagination
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- 2022-10-29
- On Literature, Books Reading Journal
Reading Ulysses’ “Oxen of the Sun” (to oneself, aloud, and just in general)
On the experience, specifically pain, of reading as instanced with reference to the modernist masterpiece "Ulysses" by Irish writer James Joyce.
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- 2022-05-23
- On Literature, Books Reading Journal
Fragrant Excerpt from Joyce’s “Ulysses”: 5, Lotus Eaters
One of several forthcoming asides on the book "Ulysses" by James Joyce. Lead us not into temptation.
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- 2022-02-27
- On Literature, Books Reading Journal
“The Silence” by Don DeLillo: Electromagnetic Pulses and Voiceless Narration
Don DeLillo’s "The Silence," is a strange novel featuring an electromagnetic pulse and empty narration
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- 2022-01-29
- On Literature, Books Reading Journal
Cynthia Ozick’s novel “Trust”: a 1400-word Summary
A summary of Cynthia Ozick’s "Trust", being the story of a peculiar, nameless narrator seeking the reasons for her lack of name and lack of a father.
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- 2021-12-29
- On Literature, Books Reading Journal
Reading well an excerpt from Cynthia Ozick’s novel “Trust”
An excerpted passage from the 1966 novel "Trust" by Cynthia Ozick, dripping with the poetry and squalor of Rimbaud.
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- 2021-12-19
- Reading Journal
Cynthia Ozick’s “Trust”: Exegesis | Tom Hanks on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Ruminations on Cynthia Ozick’s knotty, profound prose counterposed to some armchair commentary on Tom Hanks’ eminently forgettable appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Live.
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- 2021-11-07
- Reading Journal Viewing Journal
Satire or Misanthropy? “Solar,” by Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan’s 2010 novel “Solar” is a misanthropic retelling of ten years in the life of erstwhile Nobel Prize recipient Michael Beard
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- 2021-05-23
- On Literature, Books Reading Journal
Affecting Song and W.E.B. Du Bois’ “Souls of Black Folk”
Each chapter of W.E.B. Du Bois’ “The Souls of Black Folk” begins with an excerpt of verse and a few bars of music, begging the question why this song?
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- 2021-03-31
- On Literature, Books Reading Journal
Harriet Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”
Harriet Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” tells of her life in and escape from the ‘Demon Slavery,’ and its nonpareil powers of corruption.
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- 2021-02-28
- Reading Journal On Literature, Books
“Up From Slavery”: Booker T. Washington’s words
Booker T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery” promotes a vocational training for blacks imbued with Christian virtue. Is W.E.B. Du Bois’ critique of it justified?
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- 2021-02-18
- Reading Journal On Literature, Books
Coming to Booker T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery”
The circumstances of my purchase and knowledge of “Up From Slavery,” Booker T. Washington’s most famous autobiography
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- 2021-02-10
- Reading Journal On Literature, Books
Reading Journal: Assembling Dinosaurs, “War and Peace”
A glorious night when I just wanted to keep reading: first, 25 pages of Lukas Rieppel’s “Assembling the Dinosaur”; then Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, concluding Volume III; a feast of the undeveloped imagination.
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- 2021-01-24
- Reading Journal On Literature, Books