Tom Perkins complaining about Nazi-like progressives resembles the dragon in “Beowulf.”
Monthly Archives: January 2014
How Is Lit Useful? Let Me Count the Ways
A recent issue of “New Literary History” explores a number of ways that literature is useful.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Charles Dickens, Hard Times, Literary Theory, Lolita, reader response, utilitarianism, Vladimir Nabokov Comments closed
Pete Seeger Has Got Up and Went
Pete Seeger’s song defying old age is of a piece with all the other ills he defied.
Arguing against Lit for Lit’s Sake
Nabokov’s aestheticism in the 1960s tried to separate literature from history.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged aestheticism, formalism, New Criticism, New Historicism, Vladimir Nabokov Comments closed
England’s Most Humane Novel
A new bibliomemoir on “Middlemarch” shows a book shaping a life.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged bibliomemoir, George Eliot, Middlemarch, reader response, Vladimir Nabokov Comments closed
This House Is Filling with Light
Tim Winton’s novel “That Eye, the Sky” finds spiritual resonance in difficult circumstances.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Christianity, hardship, John the Baptist, That Eye the Sky, Tim Winton Comments closed
Competing Heroic Narratives in Super Bowl
One Super Bowl narrative: Manning as the return of the king. Another narrative: Manning as Laius blocking the way of the next generation. Plus: Belichick-Welker in Oedipal drama.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Bill Belichick, Denver Broncos, Homer, Odyssey, Oedipus, Peyton Manning, Seattle Seahawks, Sophocles, Super Bowl, Wes Welker Comments closed
Using Fantasy to Take Back Time
Fantasy appeals to us as we chafe against machine-imposed reality, including machine-imposed time.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alice in Wonderland, fantasy literature, Lewis Carroll, machines, nonsense, technology, Time Comments closed
Fantasy’s Special Insight into Reality
Fantasy literature becomes something different after the world ceased believing in magic.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Don Quixote, fantasy, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Miguel Cervantes Comments closed
