The first female peace laureate, Bertha Von Suttner was specifically praised for this anti-war novel. At a time where military service was less patrioThe first female peace laureate, Bertha Von Suttner was specifically praised for this anti-war novel. At a time where military service was less patriotic duty, more commonplace career, this collection of human consequences and philosophical debates was a thumb in the eye to traditional attitudes and gender norms.
As effective and compelling as that was in the 19th century, 150 years of more pacifist consensus has neutered the most daring passages. Von Suttner’s own tendency to reiterate strong claims and demolish straw men arguments also limits the work. (Thought it probably would be right at home in an Aaron Sorkin script.)
As a historical artifact, it’s worth reading, but maybe not in full for funsies....more
I don't often talk about my faith, but I do think about it quite a bit.
In a world where I'm surrounded by contradictions, my religion comforts me a biI don't often talk about my faith, but I do think about it quite a bit.
In a world where I'm surrounded by contradictions, my religion comforts me a bit by showing that we've literally been dealing with them for thousands of years. Philosophers and historical figures throughout time have encountered opposing values and sought a way to make sense of themselves and the world. It tells me there isn't a simple or easy answer, and that when you're surrounded by this mess of life, you just have to try to do the best you can in the situation you're in.
I'm frankly a little surprised that this is the book that captures that view of faith. Sienkiewicz's historical Christian epic is rare in that it doesn't seem to fall into the neat trap that "Christianity is the solution to all of life's problems" or that "Christians are morally superior to everyone else". To be sure, there's some very obvious casting of heroes and villains on opposite sides of faith, but I don't think you can read the story without recognizing the flaws and failings of the supposedly "holy" Crispus, or without seeing the decency and spirit of the worldly Patronius. Profession of faith is important in this story of Christians withstanding the decadence and despoiling of the Roman empire, but it's not a shibboleth that separates the good from the wicked.
In addition, there's a bounty of quotable lines, courtly intrigue, steamy romance, and brutal combat. There's also some painfully on the nose foreshadowing, and more than a few needlessly false finishes. On a personal note: the fact that I had just listened to 17 hours of Frederick Davidson reading Ivanhoe, did not incline me to appreciate nuances in the narration...sorry Mr. Davidson but please, get out of my brain.
All the same, this book is well worth the read whether you profess to a faith or question it, whether you compulsively think about Rome or never do, whether you're one of the billions of experts in 19th century Polish literature or the rare few who aren't. ...more
This marks the second adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo I've read without reading the original. The plot certainly bears all the hallmarks of tThis marks the second adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo I've read without reading the original. The plot certainly bears all the hallmarks of the classic revenge tale and beautifully stylized to build a new and masterfully imagined futuristic world free from Eurocentric domination.
As a team Jama-Everett and Roach work well balancing the tone and mood of the scenes, evoking a world that feels easy to fall into, even as it looks wildly different and foreign. That style carries the reader along when the language turns stale, or layouts becoming confusing.
The biggest problem is that for a revenge tale to really sing it needs a much deeper grounding in both the antagonists reasoning for cruelty, their profit since the cruelty and the protagonists pursuit of revenge. The graphic novel nails the final one, Quabbinah Dantes seems thoroughly driven by his imprisonment, his faith journey, his career, and his self-formed community. The other two? Far less clear. It's hard to track who the cruel character assassins are, let alone what they do, so their comeuppance feels more like a plot beat than righteous justification or satisfying catharsis. I'm sure part of that is the limited nature of a graphic novel, especially when you emphasize Dantes' internal journey in jail, but it did limit the book's effectiveness.
I plan on having a copy in my classroom because I hope kids can catch the itch of complex narratives from a gorgeous artistic flair...more
I was not prepared for this book to go as hard as it does.
I fancy that I have a good handle on what to expect from Victorian era literature, even wideI was not prepared for this book to go as hard as it does.
I fancy that I have a good handle on what to expect from Victorian era literature, even widely popular and well appreciated ones: slow pacing, mannered/hyper-intellectualized dialogue, more than a few chaste romances and problematic representations of anybody who isn't an English aristocrat. Add to that the fact that I already felt I knew a good bit about the "Dracula" legend and I expected some slow but, ultimately, intriguing storytelling.
NOPE!
Stoker sure has slow pacing and hyper-intellectualized dialogue...but he doesn't let that stop him from going in hard from the jump.
You get ominous threats, perilous journeys, entrapment, attempted seduction and destruction. desperate escapes and you're still only 50 pages in. Yes there's dull lawyer jabber about this and that, but in comparison with expectations from the genre and the era, it's paltry.
The rest of the novel becomes much less a horror story than an adventure tale of stalwart friends encountering a paranormal force they don't fully understand. And it's a strong one, especially if you're able to divorce yourself from the modern expectation that leaves the name "Dracula" totally synonymous with "vampire". If that's not a given, then everything feels as uncertain, unsettling and dire as the characters present, and it's well worth it.
I'd also encourage people to read it along with the superb live-tweeting stream from @xoDrVenture from 2019 which offers an excellent queer analysis and snarky commentary as you go along. While I probably liked it better than @xoDrVenture, I liked it better with their commentary than by itself.
The real question is this: can I get this story to read as dramatically and engagingly to 8th graders who keep demanding good horror and having to settle for YA-thriller-adjacent-substitutes? What wins out: classic monsters or modern sensibilities? (I'll follow up if I ever do get them to read it) ...more
As a parent to two young kids I don't get to see as many plays as I used to (I don't get to see anything that's not singing cartoon princesses/superheAs a parent to two young kids I don't get to see as many plays as I used to (I don't get to see anything that's not singing cartoon princesses/superheroes as much as I used to).
But my brain still finds a way to revel in scripts. The old actor, or director, or drama teacher or whatever it is in my head unravels scripts faster and more fully than almost any other form of literature: even for Sartre who writes plays less for the human drama or relatable characters and more as a means to throw philosophical ideas into a competitive conflict through human embodiments of each opinion.
I'd stumbled through No Exit in 4th year HS French, but I felt rebalanced, re-centered and thoroughly engaged in this reading (it probably helped that I read it in English this time, and that I was often imagining the scenes play out with actors from Michael Schur's The Good Place--which owes a fairly sizable debt to Sartre.
I yawned during The Flies (the Greeks already did the Greek thing...sorry Sartre, you didn't need to take a swing at it), and while I liked the ideas of truth/reality that coursed through the Respectful Prostitute, the presence of racism (especially American racism) felt less like a relevant or important part of the story and more of a convenient backdrop for someone who wanted to make a point but also didn't try talking to a black person about it.
But I was surprised at how invested and engaged I was in Dirty Hands the play of revolutionaries pushing and pulling at every fiber of right and wrong, expedient and truth, idealism and posturing. Even when the play took a clear turn towards philosophical hand-wringing, it was easy to care about the characters as they struggled and sought clarity.
Sartre definitely had so many ideas that it feels natural for the stage to feel crowded (all those opinions and perspectives and possibilities suffuse every scene) but letting it play out is also sincerely engaging....more
Mistral’s writing is maybe my favorite new discovery so far in a reread of Nobel Laureates. It’s a poetic style with pithy turns of phrase, heroic couMistral’s writing is maybe my favorite new discovery so far in a reread of Nobel Laureates. It’s a poetic style with pithy turns of phrase, heroic couplets, and surprisingly derring-do.
All that balances a fairly typical star-crossed lovers storyline. But if doomed romance novels made better use of jokes about Parisians and sea-monster sightings, I’d like them better. I do wish there were more places to find it in Provençal, even if I don’t speak it (or at least French) as it was hard to tell how much of the typical bits owe to the original or the translation I read....more
I clearly missed the melodrama that was intended for an 19th century audience. I thought most of the protagonists’ lines were so arch that you could hI clearly missed the melodrama that was intended for an 19th century audience. I thought most of the protagonists’ lines were so arch that you could have built a gothic cathedral. By Act 3 I was eager to see a witty solution to these farcically overwrought emotions.
Oops. Turns out it was sincere and genuine in studying the sins of the father and the consequences of familial dysfunction (making it more Ibsen than Wilde). Still I was highly amused for most of it, so…it wasn’t all bad....more
This book checks a lot of favorite boxes of mine: Austen-esque social satire (check), Dickensian cast of selfless/self cantered and self-destructive, This book checks a lot of favorite boxes of mine: Austen-esque social satire (check), Dickensian cast of selfless/self cantered and self-destructive, (check), Fowles-ish boneheaded protagonists who can’t connect their internal monologues with external actions (check)
But notably, all those comparable authors are British, and when you get offered up as a great American novel who seems to echo (or presage) the Old Empire…it doesn’t feel quite right.
On top of that this is a great American Novel if you reduce America to elite New Yorkers. But in the same way you wouldn’t prepare for a Montana vacation by watching Gossip Girl, or claim to understand Minnesota Nice because you listened to Empire State of Mind, I don’t think you can say that this book captures more than one slice of America.
It is good. I do like it. (3 stars isn’t bad, gosh darn it!) I love how it captures some great American contradictions: individualism that must conform to conservative society, egalitarian ideals that still privilege elites. And Lorna Raver’s narration brings a needed feminine juxtaposition to those Fowles forerunners. It just doesn’t reach the lofty goal it is tied to....more
There were times as a student (and as a teacher) that I simply could not understand why people would write poetry. How could it click in your head? WoThere were times as a student (and as a teacher) that I simply could not understand why people would write poetry. How could it click in your head? Wouldn't it always feel forced? Rhymes were happy coincidences in speech, not a straight jacket to confine yourself to!
In Ghana, my professors Kofi Awoonor and Kofi Anidyho made it clear to me that poetry as practiced in angsty teenage journals was not the poetry they knew. Not the poetry that began and spread and shined through legendary writers. That poetry was verbal, was aloud and alive and brought out the themes and wonderings in a way that was thoughtful and intentional and careful...and that was the point. It was unlike general speaking, every word and beat and meter had a purpose.
That's both why this script clicked for me, but didn't utterly captivate me. Eliot is working on questions of power and loyalty, faith and deception in ways that must be carefully developed. He is also wild in his stylistic variations: from strict couplets to free verse musings. Some of it works together to bring out the conflicts that make his work so interesting, and some of it is just plain conflicted.
To be sure Eliot's style is complex (to say the absolute least), and it succeeds and struggles in different places throughout this work. I'm glad to have read it, but probably won't go back to it...(neither would the Kofi's I'd wager)
NOTE: I read this as part of a writing project I'm doing slotting every Nobel Literature laureate into a spot on a soccer team. But I don't feel I read it closely enough to merit including it in my 2023 book tracker. ...more
My dad handed this to me a year ago with a curious inclination: he had been impressed by Shapiro's arguments, but what did his extra nerdy-son think oMy dad handed this to me a year ago with a curious inclination: he had been impressed by Shapiro's arguments, but what did his extra nerdy-son think of the suggestions laid out here?
(To be fair, all three of his sons are nerdy, I'm just the one who makes my living being nerdy about books.)
I agree with my dad: there are some impressive arguments. Shapiro does an excellent job amplifying how particular plays meet the cultural moment in a way that echoes the Bard's prodigious power to capture human experience. In particular, the accounts of conversations about Othello and inter-racial relationships among actors, socialites and presidents are captivating; as are the touches that reflect just why The Tempest is so uniquely affecting in an American setting, particularly among the immigration debates that first flared early in the 20th century.
And yet, those accounts are only a part of what becomes a rather limited whole. Throughout the rest of the book, Shapiro dives into particular stagings of Shakespeare or adjacent properties (Kiss me Kate, Shakespeare in Love, controversial 2017 shows with a faux Trump as Caesar) and Shakespearean performers (Lincoln, Booth, and a pair of dueling Macbeth's). In all of this Shakespeare's work feels more like an example of, or convenient bystander to, the grander story of cultural shifts. While those chapters are engaging in their way, they don't follow through on the promise of others.
I'm a nerd. And I liked it all the same. But I wouldn't put it up among my favorite batches of literary criticism. (Sorry, Dad....just kidding, he'll never read this...he's not the nerd I am.)...more
I'm a school teacher in a post pandemic world, so naturally I've dealt with my share of burn out in the last few years. All that was fresh and fun in I'm a school teacher in a post pandemic world, so naturally I've dealt with my share of burn out in the last few years. All that was fresh and fun in my work often feels daunting and dreary.
My parents, in-laws, and more than a few friends have looked to Herman Hesse's fictionalized spiritual journey in Siddhartha for guidance through big questions and dilemmas in life. Perhaps because it comes weighted with expectations, perhaps because I've done a good amount of meditation and living among eastern religions independent of the book, but I was left terribly underwhelmed by the depth and insight I actually found inside Hesse's slim volume.
The spare but philosophical prose and story of an aloof and indecisive young man reminded me not of depth and insight, but of Holden Caulfield, another aloof and indecisive young man revered by others and shrugged off by me.
I will give Siddhartha a little more credit, its protagonist does make his development and shift in thinking clear. It also addresses how values and life's purpose shifts with your age. The final sections about parenting and accepting limitations hit me in a way nothing else did. But that wasn't enough to distract from what I've come to find as a trite aloof-misunderstood-indecisive-young-man-comes-of-age....more
It can be hard to dig in and digest some of the more complex philosophical principles at play in a foundational text for culture far from your own.
I cIt can be hard to dig in and digest some of the more complex philosophical principles at play in a foundational text for culture far from your own.
I certainly wouldn't pretend that after reading this translation of the Upanishads, I now fully understand Hindu faith and philosophy. But I do feel more that the style, art, and ideas expressed in these translated verses go a long way to reflecting what has been so affecting and influential about the faith just in my own interactions with others over the years.
Credit to the translators for creating a text where the ways into understanding are not only accessible, but affecting in their own way. ...more
Much has been said about the first line "all happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." But the last line "my whole lifMuch has been said about the first line "all happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." But the last line "my whole life...has the unquestionable meaning of the good which it is in my power to put into it," deserves its own share of scrutiny.
Tolstoy's epic is, to be sure, a saga of unique paths towards misery and woe. It is also a clear fable dedicated to Tolstoy's unflagging analysis of morality. The parallel family structures (Anna/Vronsky on one end and Kitty/Levin on the other) capture unique forms of misery and self-flagellation. They also starkly contrast the selfish and the communal, the hedonistic and the aesthetic, the European and the Russian. So much so, at times, that I wonder how Tolstoy and Tyler Perry would get on.
While that didactic clarity can be tiresome, the writing is achingly, gorgeously intimate. The pain and the elation strike closer to your core because of how carefully Tolstoy develops each character and how fully we can see the impending doom advancing on them.
That depth and detail isn't just a catalogue of unique unhappiness or a detailed moralizing metaphor. The depth is an incisive examination of how we strive to put good in to our lives. It couldn't happen with out the detail, without the didacticism, without all 800 flipping pages....more
Like Catcher in the Rye, this is another book I might shelve as: Right book, wrong time.
I certainly have heard plenty of praise for this book. I know Like Catcher in the Rye, this is another book I might shelve as: Right book, wrong time.
I certainly have heard plenty of praise for this book. I know several friends, colleagues, book lovers, and relatives for whom the adventures of Milo, Tock, and Humbug in the Kingdom of Wisdom are every bit as beloved as Charlie in the chocolate factory or Dorothy in Oz. So I was excited to start it myself and see what made it so beloved.
I think I know why: the parallels to our world and morals for young readers are clear cut and easy to understand. Unfortunately, for older readers with more familiarity with kid lit quest allegories, it largely retreads similar ground to other well known books. Charlie and Dorothy aren't just Milo's fellow heroes, they're every bit his reflection in different worlds.
Also like those other children's lit classics, something is lost in our distance from the original work. The allegories in Oz have minimal literal application now. The plot for Charlie and co veers into such gleeful vengeance it's mildly disturbing. For Milo, his colleagues lack many character traits other writers enrich and deepen the story. It's easy to glide past large chunks of other characters, leaving and treat of word play.
All in all, I can see people loving the books, letting the story guide them to critical thinking and academic enthusiasm. I'll gladly keep it on a shelf for our boys to find and try (even if I don't)....more
Thomas More's thought experiment is perfect for those who are willing to sift intellectual games and cerebral hypotheticals to suss out what really maThomas More's thought experiment is perfect for those who are willing to sift intellectual games and cerebral hypotheticals to suss out what really matters to him and to ourselves. Equal parts idealistic opining and satirical snark, More splits his energy between admonishing us to grasp the golden society we deserve and belittling us for succumbing to human frailty. Like Aaron Sorkin without the walk and talks.
To be sure, anyone who gulps down dystopian literature ought to see the root of all "idealized societies", and honestly I do love a well-formed thought experiment, so perhaps these are middling quibbles. More's work is exemplary and well worth a read.
Perhaps it's just May and I'm longing for summer break, perhaps chugging the whole thing in three sits was a bad choice, but I'm okay putting Thomas and his utopia back on the shelf for a little while longer. (Like Aaron Sorkin, he'll be there when I need him)...more
I reread this for my awesome book club (hallowed be its name), and was reminded of the depth and breadth of Huxley's vision: an automated society withI reread this for my awesome book club (hallowed be its name), and was reminded of the depth and breadth of Huxley's vision: an automated society with automatic contentent and controlling community that consumes individuals into a single identity.
The vision is so sparkly and shiny as to justify all the disbelief when protagonists question it. We may root for them as we do other dystopian heroes who fight Big Brother or the Fathers or Panem, but the oblivious masses are a verifiable and believable force. Their appetite for self-satisfaction seems insatiable, and as the righteous anger of a "noble savage" builds to a boiling fever, we can see the gaping maw of society waiting patiently to devour him too.
At times Huxley lets an avalanche of adjective overwhelm his story, and the gender politics of his sexual liberation society are often unsettling. However, it's a sterling example of how small a dystopian novel can be while still emphasizing how grand the struggle can feel....more
I did it. It took the bulk of the year, but I did it. I read this thing. I really did.
Do I have thoughts on it? Sure! My primary thought is that I'm aI did it. It took the bulk of the year, but I did it. I read this thing. I really did.
Do I have thoughts on it? Sure! My primary thought is that I'm awesome because I read this thing. My secondary thought is that, the power of Tolstoy's writing is most apparent when he's incisively pitting characters against one another in all the many minor ways that we think matter in a moment. The stark contrast of these tiny dramas with the epic narrative, scope and scale of Napoleonic war machines brings to bear just how small we are. The folly of armies, historians and families is all fair game for Tolstoy, and so much of the book bears out this simple observation in thundering detail. Perhaps he should have adopted an editor for the second half of the book, or perhaps he should have separated the history from the family, but it's a mighty work just the way it is. And I read it.
It's easy to see why this has been called "a great existentialist novel", even though it seems to hold its nose at the most existential whiffs of philIt's easy to see why this has been called "a great existentialist novel", even though it seems to hold its nose at the most existential whiffs of philosophizing. So much of the book feels like a jail cell, as though our main character (Mersault) is trapped: by his family situation, by his job, by his relationships and neighbors, by his own life and body. The more isolated and estranged he seems, the more his voice becomes a sharp bell, ringing in the ears of all the others who feel the same way.
But as the plot progresses, and our "hero" kills another man out of... justice/honor/absurdity/stress/the-sun-getting-in-his-eyes ... what becomes clearer (at least to me in my non-existential state) is a sense of just how fortunate we are NOT to be our main character.
Ultimately the issue of whether or not Mersault is a noble outsider, or a blundering dimwit is irrelevant, as is any attempt to understand, legitimize or rationalize his actions. His is a tale that can capture us all at points in our lives, points of uncertainty, foolishness and impulsivity; points of depression, estrangement and absurdity; points where we push away our loved ones, cozy up to ne'er-do-wells, and point the finger every where but at ourselves. It's a story that seems real, not just because Mersault reminds us of our own tragic solitude, but because his actions remind us of the idiocy and illogic of our own bizarre existence.
And for the record...I know I sound pompous, but that's what good books can do to you....more
Two hundred years after Marlowe, Johann Goethe's take on the depraved German scholar offers both the depth and detail of Marlowe's poetry and a more cTwo hundred years after Marlowe, Johann Goethe's take on the depraved German scholar offers both the depth and detail of Marlowe's poetry and a more connected and linear story. This edition's translator Randall Jarrell has gone out of his way to capture the soul of the language rather than mere meaning, and the stark yet subtle illustrations by Peter Sís keeps the text tangible.
Yet the choice to denude Faust of much of his power and history (like you see in Marlowe) minimizes the affect of the story. The good Doctor goes from a would-be God to a love-sick madman. Absent the complexity of his motivations we have to lean all the harder on Poetry which (even in the best translation) is a little unsatisfying....more
There's no mistaking the beauty of Marlowe's poetry. An inspiration to Shakespeare, a master of many forms he has a gift for covering the yearnings ofThere's no mistaking the beauty of Marlowe's poetry. An inspiration to Shakespeare, a master of many forms he has a gift for covering the yearnings of humanity through artful language. Faustus ego, his longing to be a god, his urge to be something more shines through every bit of dialogue.
Unfortunately, the difficulty in finding a full copy of a Marlowe play means we are left with memories of actors; so while Faustus and Mephistopheles stand out (as they ought) other parts--be they scholars, Angels or comic relief--come across as over indulged or utterly random. The inconsistency is aggravating if you expect a cohesive story, but simply part of the context of it's publication.
In short come for the poetry, and stay for that same poetry....more
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