“Beowulf” and “Lord of the Rings” have blind spots but they are transcendent works for all that.
Monthly Archives: October 2019
The GOP in Trump’s Coils
Trump is like the witch in Lewis’s “Silver Chair,” casting a spell on the GOP that gets them to believe an alternative reality.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged C. S. Lewis, Donald Trump, GOP, Ron Johnson, Silver Chair, Trump supporters Comments closed
C. S. Lewis and Trumpian Doublespeak
C. S. Lewis’s “Last Battle” shows us a forerunner to Trump in Shift the Ape, who accuses his attackers of what he himself is guilty of.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged C. S. Lewis, Donald Trump, Last Battle, political lies Comments closed
Following a Drought, Healing Rain
Tuesday For weeks now, we here in Tennessee and other parts of the American south have been gripped by what they’re calling a “flash drought.” Abnormally high temperatures and lack of any precipitation have been “cracking farm soil, drying up ponds and raising the risk of wildfires.” We’re far from the worst extreme weather event […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged drought, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge Comments closed
Trump’s Willie Stark Cynicism
Trump’s view of humanity resembles that of Warren’s Willie Stark: Everyone is corrupt. (And therefore no one is accountable.)
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged All the King's Men, corruption, Donald Trump, Robert Penn Warren Comments closed
Lord, Thou’st Made the World Too Beautiful
Millay’s gorgeous poem about autumn testifies to God’s hand in the world.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "God's Grandeur", "In Blackwater Woods", Autumn, Beauty, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Mary Oliver Comments closed
Leaves Condemned to Be Free
Scott Bates offers this humorous existentialist meditation on falling leaves.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Existentialist Leaf", existentialism, Jean Paul Sartre, Scott Bates Comments closed
Do Novels Open Us Up or Contain Us?
A recent Zadie Smith article explores whether novels open us up or contain us. Her answer: Both.
Why Trump Is Not a Tragic Hero
Wednesday The strangest development in the Trump Ukraine scandal may be the way that Trump himself has given us the smoking gun—which is to say, the rough transcript of a phone call where he tries to shake down the Ukrainian president for dirt on the 2020 political opponent he most fears. Jon Meacham attributes Trump’s […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Greek tragedy, hubris, Oedipus, Sophocles, Trump Ukraine Scandal Comments closed
