The presence of my sons at my brother’s memorial service proved deeply comforting, just as Telemakhos and Odysseus are comforted when they reencounter each other.
Tag Archives: fathers and sons
A Li-Young Lee Poem for Father’s Day
Li-Young Lee has written the perfect poem for Father’s Day.
English Patient Taught Me about My Father
“The English Patient” has given me a valuable new perspective on my father–which is another good reason why we should all read novels.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged atom bombs, British fascism, Dachau, English Patient, Hiroshima, Michael Ondaatje, Nagasaki, World War II Comments closed
Roth and the Hamline Mess
Roth’s “Human Stain” has lessons for Hamline’s recent mess-up over an art teacher. It has also given me a new perspective on my two sons.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged censorship, Hamline University, Human Stain, Philip Roth Comments closed
On Fathers & Sons & Things Fall Apart
In a recent talk with my oldest son, I suddenly realized I was replicating my father’s relationship with me. I also found myself identifying with characters in Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart.”
A Father’s Day Poem about Tenderness
For upcoming Father’s Day, here’s a poem about father tenderness by Li-Young Lee.
Illness in 19th Century Lit
19th century literature is filled with images of illness. Reading it should make us grateful to the advances in medical science.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Bleak House, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell, epidemics, Francis Hodgson Burnett, George Eliot, Illness, Ivan Turgenev, Jane Eyre, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, Middlemarch, North and South, pandemics, Secret Garden Comments closed
Mentor: Rare for Sons to Be Like Fathers
Homer explores the difficulty of a young man living up to his famous father. It’s a problem that continues with fathers and sons.
