Theorist Peter Brooks contends that it is through novels that we find shape and meaning to our lives.
Monthly Archives: January 2023
To Understand Your Life, Read Novels
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged narrative, narratology, Peter Brooks, Seduced by Story, Walter Benjamin Comments closed
“Paradise” Explains Nichols Killing
Toni Morrison’s “Paradise” helps explain why Black policemen would carry out the horrific killing of Tyre Nichols.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Paradise, police killings, racism, Toni Morrison, Tyre Nichols Comments closed
Lit in Andre Agassi’s Life
In his autobiography, Agassi cites two literary works that come to his aid at difficult moments.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Ulysses", Alfred Lord Tennyson, Andre Agassi, Death in the Family, James Agee, Novak Djokovic, tennis Comments closed
Lifting for a Little While the Veil
Micah’s instructions and Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount” function themselves as poems. Guite has his own poem about Jesus’s sermon.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Beatitudes", Malcolm Guite, Micah, Sermon on the Mount Comments closed
Alice, Victorian Rebel
Lewis Carroll’s Alice books use nonsense to hold off no-nonsense adult society.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alice in Wonderland, Alice through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll Comments closed
Integration’s Child Pioneers
Black children in the early days of integration report intense bullying from peers. Ozeki describes such childhood cruelty in “Tale for the Time Being.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Civil Rights Movement, desegregation, racism, Ruth Ozeki, Tale for the Time Being Comments closed
The Usefulness of “Let’s Pretend”
In “Seduced by Story,” Brooks challenges the idea that literature is meant to be useful. Instead, he says, it resembles play (and then acknowledges that play itself is useful).
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alice in Wonderland, Alice through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll, narrative, narratology, Peter Brooks, Seduced by Story Comments closed
Avatar II’s Debt to Moby Dick
Cameron’s “Avatar 2” owes a large debt to “Moby Dick.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Avatar 2, Herman Melville, James Cameron, Moby Dick, whale hunting Comments closed
Silko Foresaw Arizona’s Water Crisis
In “Almanac of the Dead” (1991), Silko foresees Arizona’s current water problems.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Requiem for Sonora", Almanac of the Dead, deserts, drought, Leslie Marmon Silko, Richard Shelton, Sonora Desert, water problems Comments closed
