Paul Kalinithi moves between neuroscience and literature as he tries to understand the meaning of life and death, including his own terminal disease.
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Tag Archives: Joseph Conrad
Reading Lit To Find the Meaning of Life
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged meaning of life, Paul Kalinithi, T. S. Eliot, Vladimir Nabokov, Waste Land, When Breath Becomes Air Comments closed
Conrad: Terrorism Not as Clear as It Looks
We all think we know what went on with the killings in Charleston, Colorado Springs, and San Bernardino because they fit easy narratives. Joseph Conrad’s “The Secret Agent” should make us wary about jumping to conclusions.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Media, Planned Parenthood mass shooting, San Bernadino killings, Secret Agent, Terrorism Comments closed
Speaker Paul Ryan in Literature
I’ve written a lot about Paul Ryan and his aspiration to be a John Galt figure. Now that he is Speaker of the House, I review other literary parallels I’ve drawn over the years.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alice in Wonderland, Ayn Rand, Chinua Achebe, GOP, Hard Times, Heart of Darkness, Lewis Carroll, Oliver Twist, Paul Ryan, politics, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Things Fall Apart, Thomas Hardy Comments closed
A Guide’s Conradian Revenge Fantasy
Do tour guides ever dream of doling out to their chargers what the porters in “Heart of Darkness” do with one of the visiting English?
The CIA’s Heart of Darkness
Published details about the CIA’s torture program reveal that America descended into a Conradian heart of darkness.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged CIA, Heart of Darkness, Senate Intelligence Committee's torture report, torture Comments closed
Why GOP Right Is Beating Up on the Poor
Paul Ryan projects upon the poor as Joseph Conrad did upon Africans.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged GOP, Heart of Darkness, Paul Ryan, politics, war against the poor Comments closed
America’s Heart of Darkness Beginnings
America’s bloody beginnings are part of who we still are.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Colonia America, colonization, Heart of Darkness, U. S. history, violence, Wayne Karlin, Wished For Country Comments closed
Sweethearts Now Cleared for Combat
Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam War story about a woman who goes rogue has things to teach us about the recent suspension of the Pentagon ban on women in combat.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged crimes against humanity, Heart of Darkness, Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien, war, women in combat Comments closed
Armstrong’s Heart of Darkness
One our ideal, Lance Armstrong has proved to be more like Kurtz in “Heart of Darkness.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged cycling, Heart of Darkness, Lance Armstrong, Sports Comments closed