The late Philip Roth’s novel “Human Stain” reenforced for me that humans are always more complex than ideological caricatures of them.
Monthly Archives: May 2018
For Roth, People Were Always Complex
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Human Stain, lynching, miscegenation, Philip Roth, political correctness, racism Comments closed
Reflections on Internet Trolling
Internet trolling is not contributing to discourse but poisoning it.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "War Song of Dinas Vawr", Argument against Abolishing Christianity, blogging, Isaac Bickerstaff Papers, Jonathan Swift, Modest Proposal, Thomas Love Peacock Comments closed
What Is America’s Favorite Novel?
NPR has compiled a list of 100 books to determine America’s favorite novel. It’s often an infuriating list but the exercise is worthwhile all the same.
Mourning the Mouthless Dead
Charles Hamilton Sorley, killed early in World War I, penned anti-war poetry that anticipated Wilfred Owen.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "When you see millions of the mouthless dead", Charles Hamilton Sorley, Memorial Day, war, Wilfred Owen, World War I Comments closed
A New Isaiah Walks the City Streets
In David Gascoyne’s 1932 poem “New Isaiah,” the poet uses Isaiah imagery to prophesy the decline of the west.
Murakami and Repressed Anger’s Toxicity
Murakami’s novels cast light on a recent Japanese football incident where a player was instructed to take out the other team’s quarterback.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged anger issues, Haruki Murakami, Japanese men, Kafka on the Shore, repressed anger, Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Comments closed
My Three Book Projects
In which I share my first three sabbatical–I mean retirement–book projects.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Sir Gawai, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Writing Comments closed
I Weep Like a Child for the Past
Returning to my childhood home, I thought of one of the great poems about nostalgia, D. H. Lawrence’s “Piano.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Piano" nostalgia, childhood memories, D. H. Lawrence Comments closed
Retiring to the Garden of Eden
Stepping out of our U-Haul truck and into my mother’s wood, I felt I had entered Milton’s Garden of Eden.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Garden of Eden, John Milton, Paradise Lost, retirement Comments closed
