Monday Although I’ve promised not to write about Democratic presidential candidates until the debates, I’ve made one exception: anyone who mentions literature will get coverage. So far I’ve mentioned Sherrod Brown’s love of Tolstoy (although Brown has since decided not to run) and Pete Buttigieg’s love of James Joyce (Buttigieg has not yet declared but […]
Tag Archives: George Eliot
Stacey Abrams and “Silas Marner”
When Christianity Becomes a Money Cult
A new book, “The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream,” brings to mind Howard Nemerov’s poem “Boom!” The book’s author argues that prosperity theology is not an aberration but was present from the beginning of American Puritanism.
My Great Grandmother Read for Courage
Reading over the memoirs of my great grandmother, I have been impressed by how reading literature helped her get through the hard times. The authors included Tennyson, George Eliot, Susan Warner, and Charlotte Yonge.
Unwanted Pregnancies, Desperate Women
As reproductive service centers are closed down by conservative state legislatures, attempted self abortions are on the rise. For a literary depiction of a desperate woman there is Hetty Sorrel from George Eliot’s “Adam Bede.”
Can Lit Also Be a Force for Evil? A Debate
The classics are capable to doing great good but can they also do harm? Even as they powerfully open up the mind to new possibilities, can they also close it down? A debate.
Top 10 Parent-Child Classics (Positive)
A top ten list of classics with positive depictions of parent-child relationships.
England’s Most Humane Novel
A new bibliomemoir on “Middlemarch” shows a book shaping a life.