As the Census Bureau reports the highest number of poor people since it has been publishing figures, it’s worth turning to George Bernard Shaw’s “Major Barbara,” which reveals the true cost of poverty.
Monthly Archives: September 2011
Fed, Rafa, Djoker–A Sibling Drama
Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic are like the brothers in a Dostoevsky novel or a Grimm Brothers fairy tale: the two older brothers focus on each other and then the unassuming younger brother comes in and takes over.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Grimm Brothers, Invisible Man, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Ralph Ellison, Roger Federer, Sports, tennis Comments closed
A Temple Built of Compassionate Action
In “The Far Mosque,” Rumi reminds us that we are princes in waiting who will step into our spiritual kingdom through compassionate action.
The Horror of Sex without Love
Sex without love, the subject of several sex comedies this past summer, was also an issue explored by poets and playwrights in the British Restoration.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Against Constancy, Comedy, Country Wife, Film, Friends with Benefits, John Wilmot, Libertine, No Strings Attached, sex, Sex without Love, Sharon Olds, William Wycherley Comments closed
Beans and Rice, the Taste of Home
Inspired by “foodie novels” such as “Like Water for Chocolate” and “Fried Green Tomatoes,” student Julia Rocha discovered that beans and rice brought back a sense of home and her Brazilian heritage.
The Hell of Doing Whatever We Feel Like
John Wilmot’s poetry stands as a warning against living only for self.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "To the Postboy", David Ferriss, Henry David Thoreau, John Wilmot, Self-Help, Seneca, Stoicism, Walden Comments closed
Shine On, Harvest Moon
Philip Larkin has written a fine poem about harvest moons, one of which we experienced last night.
Lit the Indecipherable Text of a Magic Spell
The Haruki Murakami short story “Town of Cats” has a passage that speaks to literature’s ability to provide solutions to life’s problems==only the solution may be conveyed as “the indecipherable text of a magic spell.”
I Walk among the Rubbled Tales
To commemorate 9-11, I post Derek Walcott’s “A City’s Death by Fire,” written about another disaster. Walcott finds the hope of baptismal renewal amongst the destruction.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "A City's Death by Fire", 9-11, Derek Walcott, Disaster Comments closed
