We are currently enjoying nightly frog choruses, which brings me around to Aristophanes’s “The Frogs.”
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Octavia Butler and Hungary’s Liberation
Looking back at Hungary’s authoritarian rule, Octavia Butler helps us understand why such people rise to power and why the resistance we saw in the Hungarian people can be effective.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged authoritarianism, Hungary, Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, Viktor Orbán Comments closed
A Stone Has Rolled from My Mind
An Easter poem by R.S. Thomas expresses doubts but finds them answered in an unexpected way.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Denial", "Answer", Easter, George Herbert, R. S. Thomas Comments closed
Sterne’s Uncle Toby and My Own Toby
In which I reflect on the name I gave to my youngest son, linking him back to the kindly Uncle Toby in “Tristram Shandy.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Kindness", "We Are Seven", Book of Tobit, Laurence Sterne, Tobias Wilson-Bates, Tristram Shandy, William Wordsworth Comments closed
Careless People Leaving Messes
“The Great Gatsby” helps explain Trump’s meltdown over Iranian resistance.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Great Gatsby, Iran invasion Comments closed
Reflections on the Nature of Satire
In which I sort out my mixed feelings about satire.
The Madness of Donald Trump
In which I compare Trump’s madness with that of King Lear.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Christopher Marlowe, Dante, dementia, Doctor Faustus, Donald Trump, Inferno, King Lear, Love Song of J. Alfred Pruforck, Marjorie Taylor Greene, T.E. Eliot, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Dickens and Our Rapacious Billionaires
“Our Mutual Friend” shows how immense wealth corrupts and brings unhappiness. Would that our rapacious billionaires would take note.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged billionaires, Charles Dickens, corruption, Our Mutual Friend Comments closed
A White Cross Streaming across the Sky
Mary Oliver’s “Swan” has an Easter message.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Fish", "Morning at Great Pond", "Swan", Easter, Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver Comments closed