Monthly Archives: November 2011

A Paradise within Thee, Happier Far

By Robin Bates | Published: November 20, 2011

By the end of “Paradise Lost,” John Milton has discovered a powerful response to suffering.

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If Indiana Jones Raided Iran . . .

By Robin Bates | Published: November 18, 2011

The scene in “Raiders of the Lost Arc” where Indiana Jones defeats a sword-twirling antagonist by shooting him articulates a fantasy that most of the Republican candidates for president are indulging in as they discuss Iran’s nuclear bomb ambitions.

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Jane Austen & My Son’s Secret Wedding

By Robin Bates | Published: November 17, 2011

A secret marriage entered into by my son Toby could have been taken straight out of Jane Austen’s “Emma.”

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The Perfection and Poetry of Tyrants

By Robin Bates | Published: November 16, 2011

W. H. Auden’s chilling “Epitaph on a Tyrant” matter-of-factly shows the deadly but seductive simplicity that characterizes dictators like Qaddafi and Assad.

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Mitt Romney, an American Podsnap

By Robin Bates | Published: November 15, 2011

Charles Dickens has a character who resembles Mitt Romney when he states that he believes in American exceptionalism while Barack Obama doesn’t: John Podsnap in “Our Mutual Friend.”

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Lit, an RX for Fanaticism?

By Robin Bates | Published: November 14, 2011

Israeli author Amos Oz believes that literature can provide “a partial and limited immunity to fanaticism.”

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Honor Your Gifts and Patiently Wait

By Robin Bates | Published: November 13, 2011

Rather than lament the loss of the his eyesight–and therefore potentially his writing–in “On His Blindness” John Milton resolves to accept the new road laid out for him.

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A “Greatest Generation” Vet Reflects

By Robin Bates | Published: November 11, 2011

World War II vet Scott Bates remembers the war far differently from the images we have of it–not as heroic but as “people surrounded by dying men.”

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Quick Note on Rick Perry’s “Oops”

By Robin Bates | Published: November 10, 2011

Rick Perry’s “oops” moment in last night’s Republican debates brings to mind a passage in a Tom Stoppard play.

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