Monthly Archives: November 2015

When It Comes to Culture, Bet on France

By Robin Bates | Published: November 18, 2015

In the wake of the ISIS attacks, France has something to fall back on: its proud literary tradition.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Albert Camus, Guillaume Apollinaire, ISIS, Jean Paul Sartre, John Oliver, Marcel Proust, Paris terror attacks, Victor Hugo | Comments closed

ISIS Mastermind Like Mystery Cat Macavity

By Robin Bates | Published: November 17, 2015

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind behind the Paris attacks, is like Eliot’s “Macavity: the Mystery Cat.” He has been connected with a string of terrorist incident but is never captured.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Macavity the Mystery Cat", ISIS, ISIS recruitment, Paris terror attacks, T. S. Eliot | Comments closed

We Risk Becoming Grendel’s Mother

By Robin Bates | Published: November 16, 2015

In reaction to the horrors of the Paris massacres, we are in danger of becoming consumed by the vengeful grief of Grendel’s Mother. The times call upon us to be Beowulf strong.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Barack Obama, Beowulf, GOP presidential candidates, Grendel's mother, ISIS, Terrorism | Comments closed

Can Poetry Respond Adequately to Evil?

By Robin Bates | Published: November 15, 2015

Americans turned to Auden’s “September 1, 1939” following 9-11, and it can inspire and guide us following the Paris terror attacks.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "September 1 1939", ISIS, Paris terror attacks, W. H. Auden | Comments closed

Love & the Red Fool-Fury of the Seine

By Robin Bates | Published: November 14, 2015

Tennyson, responding to Paris massacres in the 1840s, asserts his faith in love and in social truth. Our challenge is to continue to believe this in the wake of the recent terror attacks.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam, Paris terror attacks, Terrorism, violence | Comments closed

Dorothy and the Oklahoma Earthquakes

By Robin Bates | Published: November 12, 2015

Oklahoma is now #1 in the world for number of earthquakes. “Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz” is also about a midwesterner encountering earthquakes for the first time.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, earthquakes, fracking, L. Frank Baum, Oklahoma earthquakes | Comments closed

A Cosmic Theory of Literature

By Robin Bates | Published: November 11, 2015

My attempt at an overarching theory of literature and its place in human history and human progress.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Sir Philip Sidney, Terence, Twelfth Night, Wayne Booth, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Soldier, I Wish You Well

By Robin Bates | Published: November 10, 2015

Here’s an A.E. Housman poem to honor our men and women in uniform on Veterans Day.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Street Sounds to the Soldiers' Tread", A. E. Housman, Military, Soldiers, Veterans Day | Comments closed

Deaths in the White Middle Class

By Robin Bates | Published: November 9, 2015

New studies report that middle class whites are dying younger, even though longevity for all other American demographic groups is rising. Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” may help us understand why.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Angus Deaton, Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, Existential crisis, middle class white America | Comments closed