Monthly Archives: October 2014

Krauss’ Book about Imaginary Books

By Robin Bates | Published: October 13, 2014

Books that describe imaginary books seem to offer us special portals to magical worlds.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged History of Love, Jorge Luis Borges, metafiction, Nicole Krauss, reading | Comments closed

Celebrating the Golden Calf

By Robin Bates | Published: October 12, 2014

In Rabbi Jacob Staub’s vision, the early Israelites’ worship of the Golden Calf was liberating.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Goden Calf", Book of Exodus, Jacob Staub, Moses | Comments closed

Tom Brady Channels Medea’s Fury

By Robin Bates | Published: October 11, 2014

Lack of respect can lead to fury and destruction. As it was with Medea, so it was last week with Tom Brady.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Euripides, Football, Medea, New England Patriots, NFL, Sports, Tom Brady | Comments closed

You Don’t Have to Read between the Lines

By Robin Bates | Published: October 10, 2014

To teach poetry successfully, focus initially on what is being said and why people care about it. The form of the poem should come last.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Craft Reader, Robert Herrick, Robert Scholes, teaching poetry | Comments closed

Eclipses in Literature

By Robin Bates | Published: October 9, 2014

Yesterday’s lunar eclipse brought to mind a couple of books that mention eclipses.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, eclipses, Hergé, lunar eclipse, Mark Twain, solar eclipse, Temple of the Sun | Comments closed

Comedy & Sentiment, a Potent Mixture

By Robin Bates | Published: October 8, 2014

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

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Charles Dickens, Clarissa, Comedy, couples comedy, Henry Fielding, Henry MacKenzie, Jane Austen, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Man of Feeling, Old Curiosity Shop, Oscar Wilde, romantic comedy age of sensibility, Samuel Richardson, Sense and Sensibility, Thomas Hobbes, Tom Jones | Comments closed

Kingsolver Tries to Save the Planet

By Robin Bates | Published: October 7, 2014

I’m not entirely sure what to make of Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior (2012), which I’m currently teaching in my Introduction to Literature class. It fits well with my theme, which is “Humans in Nature,” and I certainly agree with Kingsolver’s point that climate change is one of the greatest dangers facing humankind. I just have […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Barbara Kingsolver, climate change, Flight Behavior, monarch butterflies | Comments closed

Literature as a Social Activity

By Robin Bates | Published: October 6, 2014

Literature becomes especially interesting when it enters social situations.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Haruki Murakami, Lawrence Sterne, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy, Tristram Shandy | Comments closed

Rich Reflects on Yom Kippur & Conflict

By Robin Bates | Published: October 5, 2014

Adrienne Rich’s meditates on the meaning of Yom Kippur in light of America’s divisions and her own longing for solitude.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Prelude", "Yom Kippur 1984", Adrienne Rich, Judaism, Robinson Jeffers, Walt Whitman, Yom Kippur | Comments closed