In his farewell speech, Obama quoted Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In light of the white backlash against having had a black president, however, the Atticus Finch of “Go Set a Watchman comes to mind, making Obama’s allusion seem a bit weak.
Monthly Archives: January 2017
Aristotle Changed the Way Europe Thought
In “Aristotle’s Children,” Richard Rubenstein gets us to rethink the Faith-Reason and Religion-Science splits. When Aristotle revolutionized the High Middle Ages, Church leaders and thinkers tried to reconcile the tensions. Knowing this has me rethinking Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Donne.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Aristotle, Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, High Middle Ages, John Donne, Plato, scholasticism, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Reading Lit To Find the Meaning of Life
Paul Kalinithi moves between neuroscience and literature as he tries to understand the meaning of life and death, including his own terminal disease.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Joseph Conrad, meaning of life, Paul Kalinithi, T. S. Eliot, Vladimir Nabokov, Waste Land, When Breath Becomes Air Comments closed
The Epiphany from a Camel’s Point of View
In a very engaging poem, Scott Bates tells the story of the Epiphany from the point of view of the came of one of the Wise Men.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Fable of the Third Christmas Camel", "Journey of the Magi", Epiphany, Scott Bates, T. S. Eliot Comments closed
Personal News: A 2018 Retirement
In June 2018, after 38 years of teaching college, I will retire. I don’t want to go out like Walter Savage Landor’s old man–“the fire is low
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, retirement, teaching, Walter Savage Landor Comments closed
The “Buried Giant” of Fascism Stirs
Kazuo Ishiguro’s fantasy novel “The Buried Giant” works as a fairy tale parable of the shakiness of the European Union and the rise of rightwing parties.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Brexit, European Union, Fascism, Kazuo Ishiguro, rightwing nationalism, rightwing parties, tribalism Comments closed
Morrison: Where America Went Wrong
Toni Morrison’s 2008 novel “A Mercy” seems to start with a promising vision of America before everything goes wrong. It’s as though she starts with the optimism of the Obama years and then predicts the Trump backlash.
