Tag Archives: Jean Jacques Rousseau

The Dangers of Emotional Identification

In which I push back against an article warning about emotional identification with literary characters.

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Lit and Life: My Intellectual Trajectory

I’ve long held that great literature impacts history harder than lesser literature. I trace the evolution of my ideas in today’s post.

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Food Is More Than Food for Esquivel

Esquivel captures the greater significance of food in “Like Water for Chocolate.” I also share a whiskey cake recipe and reflect on the magic in magical realism.

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Comedy & Sentiment, a Potent Mixture

Literature that moves the heart seems opposed to comedy, but sometimes they work together.

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Lit’s Role in the Decline of Violence

The empathy fostered by novel reading may have played a role in the decline of violence.

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The Classics, Better than Business Guides

The Republic, The Art of War, The Social Contract, The Prince, and the Tao Te Ching gave me a way of understanding the broader implications of the business choices I was making. They helped me look beyond the immediate challenges to find a greater purpose. My individual efforts seemed part of a legacy of thinkers and doers who had come before.

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