Not unlike the mad Captain Ahab, DJT threatens to sink our ship of state.
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Author Archives: Robin Bates
Ahab-Like Trump Will Sink Us All
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged DJT, Federal Election Commission, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, super power suicide, Trevor Potter Comments closed
Argentina: Trapped in a Bell Jar against Spain
Spain suffocated first the French and then the Argentinian team, bring to mind the suffocating bell jar in the Sylvia Plath novel and the crushing rocks in The Crucible.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Arthur Miller, Beggar’s Opera, Crucible, French soccer, John Gay, World Cup Comments closed
Groping Our Way Up Jacob’s Ladder
In her poem about Jacob’s ladder, Levertov find humans using rough material to connect with the divine.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Jacob's Ladder", “Thursday 9/13-01", Denise Levertov, Lucille Clifton Comments closed
My Friendships Grounded in Literature
In this latest memoir installment, I look at the friendships in my life that revolved around literature.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged C.S. Lewis, Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Hardy Boys, Herman Hesse, In Search of Lost Time, Jane Austen, Leaps of Faith, Marcel Proust, Northanger Abbey, Paul Hunter, Siddhartha, Silver Chair, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Comments closed
Pratchett on Paperwork and Accountability
Pratchett’s “Fifth Elephant” has a running joke about paperwork, but its bigger theme is the urge to escape all accountability as one abuses power. ICE agents should read it.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Fifth Element, ICE, ICE killings, paperwork, Terry Pratchett Comments closed
World Cup Semi: All for One, One for All
The Musketeers’ motto—“All for one and one for all”—applies to both France and Spain in tomorrow’s semi-final World Cup match.
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
The Lost Honor of Lindsey Graham
Trump sycophant Lindsey Graham died unexpectedly yesterday. I turn to Beckett, Orwell, Conrad and Eliot to sum up the man.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Hollow Men", 1984, Anne Appelbaum, Captive Mind, collaborators, Czeslaw Milosz, DJT, George Orwell, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, Lindsey Graham, Samuel Beckett, T. S. Eliot, Waiting for Godot Comments closed
The Bible in English Classes? Good Idea
The Texas Board of Education is requiring Biblical passages now. This may be a good thing.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Bible, Genesis, Greg Olear, separation of church and state, Texas Board of Education Comments closed