Watch out for political purists and dogmatic idealists. They can do a lot of damage. A writer who delivers this warning is Milan Kundera, a Czech novelist who owes his insights to his experience with communism and the 1968 Soviet invasion. Expect to encounter regular posts from me about Kundera because I am mentoring a […]
Tag Archives: politics
Do Mistaken Idealists Apologize?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Communism, Milan Kundera, Oedipus, Sophocles, Unbearable Lightness of Being Comments closed
A Dickensian Response to the Mine Rescue
As I write this, the last of the 33 Chilean miners has just been pulled to safety after spending two months underground in a situation that once seemed hopeless. It appears that the entire world is celebrating, probably because we are all in need of hope. Given how we are continually battered by economic […]
Hard Times in 1854, Hard Times in 2010
I am teaching Charles Dickens’ Hard Times this week and it is disconcerting to see how applicable is still is to modern life. To be sure, one needs to be careful with comparisons. Industrial England in 1854 is not America in 2010. Dickens was writing about a world in which there were no air quality […]
Forget Bootstrapism – We Need Each Other
Always be suspicious of people who talk about pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. The image is an excellent one since you can only rise if you have help from others. Yet many people think they are somehow diminished if they can’t claim to have risen on their own. Thanks to Dickens, there […]
Slouching towards Bethlehem?! Get a Grip
“We are starting to wonder whether Congressional Democrats lack the courage of their convictions, or simply lack convictions,” stated a recent New York Times editorial. The editorial was displeased that the Democrats were afraid of standing up against the Bush tax cuts, due to expire by the end of this year. What with cowardly Democrats […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Second Coming", Democrats, William Butler Yeats Comments closed
My Favorite Film: Spirit of the Beehive
Film Friday In today’s post I write about my favorite film, one that pulls me into the world of a child’s imagination like no other artistic work. The film is Victor Erice’s Spirit of the Beehive (Espíritu de la colmena), which came out in 1973. The film is set during or immediately after the Spanish […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Fascism, Film, Franco, Spirit of the Beehive, Victor Erice Comments closed
