Tag Archives: war

Imagine Hemingway in Ukraine

By Robin Bates | Published: May 16, 2022

Ukrainian resistance to the Russians has me reading “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and I’m seeing a lot of similarities.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Lincoln Brigade, Spanish Civil War, Ukraine invasion | Comments closed

Crane’s Reenactment of War’s Horrors

By Robin Bates | Published: September 1, 2021

Leaders should “Red Badge of Courage” before sending their troops into battle.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Afghan War, Civil War, Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane | Comments closed

There Watched I for the Dead

By Robin Bates | Published: May 24, 2020

In Owen’s “Unreturning,” our poem for Memorial Day, the poet excoriates those who use religion to justify warfare.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Unreturning", Memorial Day, war dead, Wilfred Owen | Comments closed

Ask Vets to Tell You Their Stories

By Robin Bates | Published: November 10, 2019

For Veterans Day, ask a vet for his or her story. Scott Bates and Tim O’Brien convey the importance of such storytelling.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Greatest Generation", Scott Bates, Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien, Veterans, Veterans Day | Comments closed

To Avoid War, Look to The Iliad

By Robin Bates | Published: September 18, 2019

As we once again hear war’s drum beat, it’s good to return to “The Iliad” and its vision of peace: the Achilles-Priam truce.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Donald Trump, Homer, Iliad, Iran, Middle East, oil strike, Saudi Arabia | Comments closed

Vets in WWI Documentary Do Not Age

By Robin Bates | Published: March 11, 2019

Tuesday Last night Julia and I watched Peter Jackson’s extraordinary documentary about World War I in which he applied filmmaker’s magic to archival footage to create a sense of immediacy. By brightening dark shots and darkening overexposed ones, erasing scratches, evening out movement (World War I film was shot with hand-cranked cameras), turning long-shots into […]