Once upon a time in the long ago, as Cormac McCarthy wrote, I was an avid traveler. These days, I don’t get out all that much, but I still enjoy reading about people who do. My most favorite literary road trips aren’t lifestyle magazine featurettes but, rather, bookish adventures. Because I too believe, as literary critic Harold Bloom said over and over, that the secret to reading is rereading, here are some musings on four road trips which top my re-re-rereading list.
Continue reading Four Literary Road Trips by Famous AuthorsMonthly Archives: August 2020
Stephen Crane: A Biography of a Literary Master
Many of us remember reading The Red Badge of Courage in middle school. At the time, it may have seemed like a slog, but as you get older books have a habit of changing. That is, parts of The Red Badge of Courage do stick with me, such as the emotional depth of the novel. As it stands, Stephen Crane is a masterful writer, and he fits right into the realm of literary realism. In this post, we will take a brief look at his life and times.
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“To Build a Fire” by Jack London Analysis
When considering literary realism and naturalism, there are many stories that come to mind. However, there is one I often think of that is extremely important to both genres. The short story I am referring one of the more popular stories of the realism and naturalist movement: “To Build a Fire” (1908) by Jack London. Much like how one feels after reading “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (1890) by Ambrose Bierce, “To Build a Fire” (1902) typically ignites an emotional reaction. Essentially, it has much to do with London’s ability to tell a story about humanity’s fight with nature, and its often despondent outcome.
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“I saw a man pursuing the horizon” by Stephen Crane Analysis
In the literary realism movement, we have a great deal of authors and their novels doing some heavy lifting. In today’s post, a poem titled “I saw a man pursuing the horizon” by Stephen Crane will do the work.
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A Look at the Era of Literary Realism and its Authors
We have looked at a lot of movements on this blog, but today we look at the era of literary realism. We have even discussed writers from this particular era, so it’s high-time to see what these realistic writers were up during the time of the American Civil War.
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Reflections on Mortality in ‘End of Summer’ by Kunitz
Today, I thought that I would share my analysis of the poem “End of Summer” by Stanley Kunitz. I love it dearly. Particularly, the second-to-last stanza. It reminds me that even though life moves quickly, it is okay to sit back and reflect on the days gone by. Hopefully, it does that for you, too. The poem can be found here.
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Top 10 Books to Read During Fall
In today’s post, we present 10 books to read for fall. Books that are perfect for crunchy leaves, tasty cider. We all know literature and fall go hand in hand when it comes to late night and blustery winds.
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The Trial Surrounding “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg
Society is capable of strange evils, like burning books or banning them from curriculum. Society can also convict people of thought crimes, because words have a great deal of power. Today, we are going to look at the trial of the poem “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg.
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“Howl” as Read by Allen Ginsberg
In today’s post, we listen to Allen Ginsberg read his infamous poem “Howl.” While accused of being obscene, this poem conveys a changing dynamic in American culture. The freedom and breakaway from the 1950s-1960s culture was becoming apparent, and this poem embodies that message. There are many universal themes in poetry, but “Howl” tapped into the minds and feelings of a generation.
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Poem: “The Hollow Men” by T. S. Eliot
In this post, we are going to read T.S. Eliot’s free verse (no rhyme or meter) poem “The Hollow Men” (1925). This is a morbid poem with a lot of great imagery. Furthermore, the poem ends with a famous line that appears in a lot of dystopian fiction, so you can make some connections to some of your favorite works. Similarly, there is a lot of beautiful language in this poem and some really interesting ideas about death and dying. Still, we must remain optimistic regarding the most moody of themes to better understand the author and the work.
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