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Analyzing “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by W. B. Yeats

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W.B. Yeats was an immensely popular poet in his time, and for good reason. His poems resonate with readers for their beauty and themes. In fact, his poem, “When You Are Old,” very simply identifies aging in a creative way. These themes include universal ideas of nature, solitude, and peace. In this post, we examine his poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” which discusses these ideas. While one of his most popular, the poem is eternal in its meaning.

Format Structure of Innisfree

The poem has three quatrains, and it is written in iambic tetrameter. It also has an ABAB rhyme scheme. There is simplicity to its form, but this is intentional. Additionally, it uses repetition to repeat the important ideas of determination to escape from the confines of their life. There is peace in this simple verse.

Themes of Innisfree

The themes in the poem include those of solitude, nature’s healing, and imagination. To begin, the solitude of this poem is found in the speaker’s disdain for “pavements gray,” and his want of a “small cabin” that consists “of clay and wattles.”

Likewise, there is an emphasis on the healing power of nature. Yeats writes, “Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee, / An live alone in the bee-loud glade.” Yeats’s yearning for such agrarian existence shows his interest in the natural world. In addition, the themes of imagination come through in Yeats’s want of this faraway, natural world. Imagination, in this way, takes Yeats to a land of carefree calm.

Conclusion

Yeats’s poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” speaks to the authors need to escape the world as we know it. In pining for nature, he imagines himself in a land of peace. The structure of this poem speaks to this simplicity. As in one’s desires and love of imagined worlds, Yeats simplistic poem gives way to complex understandings. Leaving the concrete jungle of urban life for rural serenity is a dream of many.

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Book Review: Mark Twain’s ‘Letters from the Earth’

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It goes without saying that Mark Twain has a myriad of books that are worth reviewing. In fact, I’ve reviewed A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in excessive detail on The Writing Post. Yet, Twain has a great many short-form pieces that are worth discussing, including his essay collections. In Mark Twain’s Letters from the Earth, published “posthumously” in 1962, the author expresses his feelings about Earth and governance–and a few other life-adjacent topics.

Summary of Letters from the Earth

Background

Twain’s Letters from the Earth features a variety of different writings put together by “Twain’s second literary executor” Bernard DeVoto. These pieces include stories about Satan and his fellow angels, a historical account of Adam and Eve, critiques on other writer’s writing styles, and always a decent amount of perilous satire.

In the foreword of the book, Literary Editor of the Mark Twain Papers Henry Nash Smith writes that DeVoto submitted a manuscript of Letters from the Earth in 1939. However, Twain’s family kept it from seeing the light of day for reasons of impropriety.

As stated: “…when Clara Clemens read the manuscript she objected to the publication of certain parts of it on the ground that they presented a distorted view of her father’s ideas and attitudes.” Obviously, it is to the family’s only opinion whether something is published or not, but I might argue that Twain’s views on life were sometimes overly critical and distorted themselves, shifting from novel to novel. Pastoral, reflective, and cynical in Huckleberry Finn while biting, violent, critical, and depressed in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. However, the critical approach to religion surprised critics as Mark Twain’s atheism shocked a Christian-focused society.

Of course, the book would eventually be published and here we are today. Smith also points out that the volume of writings contained in Letters from the Earth is cut into multiple sections.

Letters from the Earth Writings

The novel features biblical themes in a collection of letters between Satan and the angels Gabriel and Michael. In these letters, Satan dissects human life. In these letters, Satan laments the strangeness of human rationale and how they perceive their own beliefs. He also tears into God’s hypocrisy related to a variety of actions. These include Adam and Eve to violence toward the innocent. Similarly, there are moralistic tales from the POV of a feline family. There is also a good deal of pondering on why humans assume their superiority on Earth in some. The essays in question focused on kangaroos courts and the evil nature of humanity.

Book Blurb

From the book: “In Letters from the Earth, Twain presents himself as the Father of History, reviewing and interpreting events from the garden of Eden through the Fall and the Flood, translating the papers of Adam and his descendants down through the generations. First published fifty years after his death, this eclectic collection is vintage Twain: sharp, witty, imaginative, complex, and wildly funny.”

Critical Response

In looking for a critical response on Amazon, I used my edition of the book (Perennial Classics, Feb. 2004) to siphon reviews. The positive reviewers stated that Letters from the Earth “is sharp, witty, frequently funny, irreverent.” Other stated that it should be “required reading.” Interestingly, one review stated that the book is “For Hardcore Twain Fans Only.” They go on to write that “Its (sic) recommended that you read his most famous titles first and then come back to this if you’re craving more.”

In looking for negative reviews of Mark Twain’s Letters from the Earth on Amazon, I found that most of the negatives aimed at the edition of the book. This was different from the text itself, which I suppose speaks volumes of the content. Nevertheless, three to four star reviews address that it is “tough to read” and that some readers had to “look up” words “in a dictionary.” Most damning is that for some readers it “failed to hold interest.”

In positive reviews, The New York Times Book Review stated that Twain’s attitude in the book was “of Swift” and “the intellectual contempt is that of Voltaire,” and finally that “the imagination is that of one of the great masters of American writing.” Likewise, the Chicago Sunday Tribune stated that “Here Twain takes some of man’s most revered beliefs and demonstrated their downright preposterousness when examined in a cold light.”

Impressions

Some of the middling reviews of Letters from the Earth address my own criticisms of the text. Twain’s style and echelon of prioritization in writing is sometimes confusing and arbitrary. In this way, his style can be “wandering and garbled at times.” Some examples include the structure of Letters from the Earth. Perhaps, if I gave it more time, I could put themes together, but the book seems to be organized by no real relationship. Satan writes to Gabriel and Michael in the titular story, and then we venture into a bedtime story about cats. Again, though, I have yet to read this book in full and would need time to analyze its contents.

Though, coming back from Chicago after purchasing this text, I realized that I was going to need some help contextualizing. Twain’s essays and writings often need context. This is because (as a matter of theology) it is important to know when somebody lived and how the populace perceived the Church at that time, as far as politically and necessity. A dry read of Mark Twain’s Letters from the Earth book would be create conflict for any reader

Works cited

Twain, Mark. Letters from the Earth.  Harper Collins. 1991, 2004. Print.

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The Rough and Rustic Writings of Jack London

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Tales of exploration, violence, and humanity’s struggle against nature permeate the writings of Jack London. In a past post, we discussed a fantastic story by the author, but, today, we are going to look at London’s life and times to glean some of the significance of his upbringing, which, hopefully, will help us better understand how his experiences impacted his work as a vivid storyteller and weaver of adventures.

London’s Early Years

Jack London was born John Griffith Chaney in San Francisco, California, on January 12th, 1876. London never really knew his father, who left the family when London was young. His mother married a Civil War veteran, and they fell into a working-class life. When London was old enough to work, he ran a variety of manual labor jobs, from shoveling coal to working on ships.

He also spent his youth stealing oysters on his own sloop ship and riding a freight train around the United States as a hobo. As it was the turn of the century, financial ruin and economic disparity plagued many Americans, so London also spent time in Charles T. Kelly’s industrial army—a “protest” army—which was born of the financial strife in the late 1800s.

“London saw depression conditions, was jailed for vagrancy, and in 1894 became a militant socialist” (Britannica).

His early success winning a writing contest after a rather scary adventure on the ocean proved to be a catalyst for the young London. At the behest of his mother, he wrote about his experiences in “Story of a Typhoon of the Coast of China.”

London stated of writing his first victory while still working aggressively as a manual laborer:

“Very tired and sleepy and knowing I had to be up at 5:30, I began the article at midnight and worked straight on until I had written 2,000 words, the limit of the article, but with my idea only half worked out. I continued adding another 2,000 words before I had finished, and the third night I spent in cutting out the excess, so as to bring the article within the conditions of the contest. The first prize came to me, and my success seriously turned my thoughts to writing, but my blood was still too hot for a settled routine” (The New York Times).

He would eventually take this one-off success more seriously and dedicate himself to the craft.

London’s Life as a Writer

Libraries, as they often are for budding writers, became a haven for the young London, who took refuge amongst the volumes of action, adventure, and philosophy. After graduating an accelerated version of high school, London attended the University of California; however, he quit after a year due to a “lack of money or means to support himself.” He then departed to pan for gold in the Klondikes (which would inspire his short story “To Build a fire” among others). After that venture proved to be a bust, London set about taking writing seriously.

“By 1899, he had honed his craft and major magazines began snapping up his vigorous stories. When it came to evoking elemental sensations, he was a literary maven” (Smithsonian).

London published his first book in 1900, The Son of the Wolf. This novel was followed by The God of His Fathers (1901), A Daughter of the Snows (1902), The Children of the Frost (1902), and The Cruise of the Dazzler (1902). Of course, being a prolific author meant that London would continue churning out novel after novel, and story after story for many years.

London died of an apparent accidental overdose of morphine on November 22, 1916, at his ranch home shortly before his 41st birthday.

Works Cited

Brandt, Kenneth. “The Short, Frantic, Rags-to-Riches Life of Jack London.” Smithsonian. Nov. 22, 2016. Web.

“Biography: Jack London.” Biography.com. A&E Television Network. April 2, 2014. Web.

“Jack London.” Famous Authors.org. 2020. Web.

“Jack London: American Author.” Britannica. Jan. 8, 2022. Web.

The New York Times. “Jack London Dies Suddenly on Ranch. November 23, 1916.

Literary Bios

An Author in Many Forms: Richard Matheson

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Richard Matheson is a great, unsung hero of literature. While he is well-known in writerly circles, he often seems vacant from mainstream discussion. Nevertheless, he may be one of the most talented horror authors and genre writers of all time. This is because he writes in a modern, straightforward way that speaks to a universal audience. His style is utilitarian, and has no frills or accoutrement. Putting it plainly, he is just a brilliant writer with an equitable style. In this post, we will analyze his history and his style.

About Richard Matheson

Born in Allendale, New Jersey on Feb. 20, 1926, Matheson loved the film Dracula and the writings of history author Kenneth Roberts. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School and went on to serve in the US Army during WWII before entering The Missouri School of Journalism. 

Matheson started his career much like many other writers by writing short stories. His first story published, “Born of Man and Woman,” which told the tale of a monster child, appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Following this, Matheson’s career became a long one, and he wrote a lot material in many genres, including science fiction and horror. His list of written works features numerous books that include The Beardless Warriors, The Incredible Shrinking Man, A Stir of Echoes, and What Dreams May Come. He is also an accomplished short story writer, having written “Third from the Sun,” “Little Girl Lost,” “The Conqueror,” and “Steel.”

Likewise, he has written many films, such as Tales of Terror and The Legend of Hell House. Most notably, Matheson wrote 14 episodes of The Twilight Zone, also writing Rod Serling’s introduction and concluding statement of each episode. He also wrote the two Kolchak: The Night Stalker movies. Considering this, his work is worth investigating purely for his ability to jump from genre to genre.

After a long and robust writing career, Matheson died at the age of 87 on June 23, 2013.

Matheson’s Lasting Impression

Matheson left behind a large quantity of memorable works and many of which defined genres, from the vampiric creatures in I am Legend to the harrowing science experiment in The Incredible Shrinking Man. This balance between genres is a difficult one to maintain, but his ability to create compelling stories of average people dealing with above average conflicts is a crucial element of his staying power.

Not only that, he inspired many authors who were on the rise, which in itself is an extraordinary achievement.

As stated by the AP:

“Matheson influenced several generations of storytellers. Among them were Stephen King, who dedicated his 2006 novel Cell to Matheson, and Steven Spielberg, whose first feature-length film was the made-for-TV movie Duel, based on the Matheson short story of the same name.”

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Social Class in “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield

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Regularly, you will see collections of short stories marked The Greatest Short Stories of All Time, or Short Stories to Read Before You Die. Typically, these books have a number of great stories inside. Edgar Allan Poe will undoubtedly make an appearance. So will “Beyond the Door” by Philip K. Dick, and certainly “The Other Side of the Hedge” by E. M. Forster. In addition, you might find Kate Chopin’s extraordinary “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and the following short story: “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield. 

As you will see, Mansfield’s short story fits well with the classics, as it has a great deal of emotional depth and sheds a light on class conflict. In today’s post, we are going to examine the short story and analyze its themes and importance.

Background of “The Garden Party”

Mansfield wrote “The Garden Party” in 1922. The Saturday Westminster Gazette published it in three parts. It later appeared in the collection The Garden Party and Other Stories.

Mansfield came from an affluent household. She would attend Wellington Girls’ College and later to the Fitzherbert Terrace School. “The Garden Party” illustrates her experience as a well-to-do child from a wealthy home. Yet, it’s also much deeper than just superficial aristocracy. The story has a great reflection on wealth and opportunity. 

“The Garden Party” Summary

Laura, the protagonist, sets about preparing for a fancy garden party. She occasionally looks to the workers in reverence because she feels connected to them.

“Four men in their shirt-sleeves stood grouped together on the garden path. They carried staves covered with rolls of canvas, and they had big tool-bags slung on their backs. They looked impressive. Laura wished now that she had not got the bread-and-butter, but there was nowhere to put it, and she couldn’t possibly throw it away.”

(The Garden Party)

Regardless of the extravagant event, Mansfield presents Laura’s own rich lifestyle as a norm. In this way, Laura is afforded many opportunities to live a separate life from the workers. Laura, though aristocratic, has a great deal of empathy for those from the working class. 

Later in the story, Laura is informed that her neighbor, Mr. Scott, has been killed outside of their home in a car accident. Laura drags her sister into the kitchen to discuss how she will stop the party. Her sister, Jose, confused, doesn’t quite understand what Laura is getting at in her hysteria.

“Stop everything, Laura!” cried Jose in astonishment. “What do you mean?”

“Stop the garden-party, of course.” Why did Jose pretend?

But Jose was still more amazed. “Stop the garden-party? My dear Laura, don’t be so absurd. Of course we can’t do anything of the kind. Nobody expects us to. Don’t be so extravagant.”

“But we can’t possibly have a garden-party with a man dead just outside the front gate.”

(The Garden Party)

After visiting Mr. Scott’s home with party leftovers, she sees his dead body and is overcome by the experience. She likens the man’s peaceful expression to that of somebody in a deep “fast sleep,” and dosing so intensely that he was “far, far away from them both” in the real world.

“Oh, so remote, so peaceful. He was dreaming. Never wake him up again. His head was sunk in the pillow, his eyes were closed; they were blind under the closed eyelids. He was given up to his dream.”

(The Garden Party)

After departing the home and meeting her brother Laurie at the corner, Laura is pulled from her fanciful life and instead grapples with questions of mortality and life itself. Laurie asks her if it was “awful” to witness his corpse.

“No,” sobbed laura. “It was simply marvellous. But Laurie–” She stopped, she looked at her brother. “Isn’t life,” she stammered, “isn’t life–” But what life was she couldn’t explain. No matter. He quite understood. 

“Isn’t it, darling?” said Laurie. 

Themes 

Mansfield’s story discusses multiple themes. These include life, socioeconomic concerns, and the reality of death. In the text, the reader gets a good sense that Laura is living a near fantastical life outside of poverty and circumstance; meanwhile, the workers around her are all living a more grounded existence, as they lack the opportunities and conveniences of Laura’s life. 

However, with that said, Laura is a conscious child and realizes that there are many similarities between herself and the workers. They are all just people after all. Similarly, Laura sees a sort of beauty and patience in Mr. Scott’s death. His expression of happiness as he lies dead in his room is how Laura feels in life. So, there are actually very few differences in both of their lives when class is stripped away. 

Conclusion

In my opinion, “The Garden Party” excels at these themes by providing the reader a window into the atmosphere of wealth. The garden party itself is a foray into decadence. Nevertheless, death drags Laura into reality. By and of itself, Laura has an epiphany about death and her own station in life.

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Exploring Sestina Poem Examples and Their Unique Features

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Poems are a fun, complex thing. They can take many forms, from acrostic to haikus. Likewise, some poems take the sestina verse form, which have their own complex way about them. In this post, we will define these types of poems and look at a few examples.

Background

The sestina was developed by Arnaut Daniel, who was a troubadour during the 12th century, and the first known example of his craft was “lo ferm voler qu’el cor m’intra,” which was written around 1200.

Many sestinas were about “courtly love” and were practiced by Dante and Petrarch. Similarly, the form has taken on many variations, including double sestinas and tritina (poets.org).

Definition

As mentioned, poems are intricate, and sestina verse form is a great example of that complexity.

“The sestina is a complex, thirty-nine-line poem featuring the intricate repetition of end-words in six stanzas and envoi” states some sources (poets.org). An envoi, in this case, is just a brief stanza at the end of a poem that either addresses the poem or acts as explanatory remarks.

“The end words of the first stanza are repeated in a different order as end words in each of the subsequent five stanzas; the closing envoi contains all six words, two per line, placed in the middle and at the end of the three lines” (poetryfoundation)

A sestina would look like this in scheme:

ABCDEF

FAEBDC

CFDABE

ECBFAD

DEACFB

BDFECA

ECA or ACE

Examples of Sestinas

  1. Elizabeth Bishop’s “A Miracle for Breakfast” 
  2. Camille Guthrie’s “Beautiful Poetry”
  3. John Ashbery’s “Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape.”
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Gothic elements in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a Gothic/Romantic novel dreamt up by an 18-year-old Shelley after a rigorous debate about moldy cheese between her husband and his colleague Lord Byron. Having been put to a challenge, Shelley wrote a story to show her literary dominance. Out of her momentary brilliance popped the immortal Frankenstein, a story of a God-complex, madness, and love. In this post, we are going to examine how Shelley’s novel fits the description of the gothic genre.

What is the gothic genre?

The gothic genre originated in the 18th century. It is a literary and artistic movement characterized by the mysterious, supernatural, and macabre. Similarly, it often features eerie settings. These include ancient castles, gloomy landscapes, and decaying mansions to create an atmosphere of suspense and dread.

The genre frequently explores themes of madness, death, sin of the spirit, and the unknown. As such, readers often find tales of haunted protagonists encountering ghosts, monsters, or other supernatural elements.

Gothic texts delve into the darker aspects of human nature. And, it explores the psychological and emotional realms while often incorporating elements of horror and romance.

Brief synopsis of Frankenstein

The novel follows Dr. Frankenstein as he tells his story of obsession to a ship captain. The story details the doctor’s search for the secret of life. Frankenstein achieves his goal by bringing back to life to an abomination. The creature is so horrible that it terrifies him enough to cause the doctor to flee in terror.

After the monster educates himself in solitude, he returns to the doctor to ask for the creation of a mate. Loneliness has consumed his life. Dr. Frankenstein agrees–only to destroy the second monster at the last moment (due to moral quandaries of the soul). Frankenstein’s actions enrages the monster. Afterward, the monster then sets itself about murdering Dr. Frankenstein’s loved ones. He does this in retribution, and he adeptly completes this grim objective.

Dr. Frankenstein gives chase to destroy the monster. After a long pursuit through the desolate arctic, Dr. Frankenstein succumbs to sickness. He dies aboard the ship of Captain Robert Walton, who was bound for the North Pole. The monster returns and finds Dr. Frankenstein dead. He decides to end his own life by traveling as far north as possible and into the freezing ice.

How Frankenstein fits the gothic genre

  • Setting

First, it fits the genre through its atmospheric setting, thematic elements, and exploration of the macabre. That is to say, the novel unfolds against a backdrop of desolate landscapes, from the icy vastness of the Arctic to the isolated laboratories where Frankenstein conducts his experiments. These settings contribute significantly to the Gothic atmosphere, which gives the reader a sense of loneliness and terror that is characteristic of the genre.

  • Themes

The thematic elements in Frankenstein align closely with gothic conventions. The narrative delves into the consequences of scientific ambition (becoming God), as Frankenstein’s relentless pursuit of knowledge leads to the creation of a grotesque and tormented monster.

The novel grapples with existential questions surrounding life and death, morality, and the limits of scientific experimentation (think about how vivisection was in vogue at one point). Shelley’s exploration of the darker facets of human nature, the consequences of playing god, and the impact of isolation on the psyche all resonate with Gothic sensibilities.

  • Tropes

Moreover, the novel incorporates gothic tropes such as the supernatural and the grotesque. Frankenstein’s creation embodies the macabre—a stitched-together amalgamation of body parts brought to life through untested knowledge. The monster’s existence as an outcast, rejected by society, adds a layer of tragedy and horror, reflecting the theme of the monstrous and the misunderstood, which factors in the gothic genre.

  • Tone

The narrative’s gothic tone is enhanced by the sense of dread and impending doom in the story. Frankenstein’s descent into madness and the haunting pursuit of revenge by his creation contribute to the overall atmosphere of suspense and horror. Furthermore, the novel is slowly paced as per gothic tradition. This adds layers of complexity, reinforcing the gothic tradition of intricate and mysterious storytelling.

In conclusion

In summary, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein embodies the gothic genre through its settings, themes, tropes, and overall tone. These elements achieve a legendary status in the novel due to Shelley’s ability to weave her narrative with intelligence and empathy. Frankenstein is a quintessential gothic novel, and it will continue to be the reference point for future authors of the genre for many years to come.

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Understanding Neologisms in Literature and Context

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When a writer adds a new word to our vocabulary, such as “quark,” which comes from James Joyce’s novel Finnegans Wake, we have to call it something. In today’s post, we are going to examine neologisms. These are words that did not exist, but now are in the lexicon thanks to an author’s creation.

What is a Neologism?

As defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, a neologism is a “a new word or expression, or a new meaning for an existing word.” Other sources states that: “Neologisms can be either loan words in the form of direct loans and loan translations, or newly coined terms, either morphologically new words or by giving existing words a new semantic content” (Gahramanova).

Moreover, there are many different types of neologisms, including:

  • Transferred or imported words: These are words that were taken from a different language and “transferred” to English.
  • Blended words: A neologism can also be a combination of two words, such as Smog = Smoke and fog, and Spork = Spoon and fork.
  • Derived words: “Derived” words come from Greek or Latin. A few examples include “sub” as in “under” and “villa” as in “house.

Examples of Neologisms in Context

As aforementioned, James Joyce, modernist author, contributed the word “quark” to our vocabulary. The word appears in his novel Finnegans Wake.

In it, he writes:

Three quarks for Muster Mark!

Sure he hasn’t got much of a bark

And sure any he has it’s all beside the mark.

“Quark” would later be used by Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig in 1964 to describe “any member of a group of elementary subatomic particles that interact by means of the strong force and are believed to be among the fundamental constituents of matter” (Britannica). With that in mind, we can now talk about neologism, which is “a new word, usage, or expression” as defined by Merriam-Webster.

Banana Republic – Introduced by O. Henry in his 1901 short story “The Admiral” to describe Honduras. Politicians currently use it to describe unstable countries.

Meme – Derived from Richard Dawkins’ first book The Selfish Gene (1976) to describe the evolving “soup of human culture.” It is now (accurately, I say) used to describe entertaining images that exist on social media.

Yahoo – Used by Johnathan Swift to in Gulliver’s Travels (1726) to describe the human-like animals in Houyhnhnm. It is now used as a synergistic search engine.

Works Cited

Britannica. “Quark.” Web.

Merriam-webster. “Neologism” Web.

Cambridge Diction. “Neologism.” Web.

Gahramanova, Aytan. “Neologisms.” Academia.edu. Web.

“Neologism: Definition and Examples.” Literary Terms. Web.

Literary Bios

James Joyce: Author of “Finnegans Wake” and “Ulysses”

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James Joyce falls right in line with modernist literature, although his work can be difficult to digest, unlike other modernist writers. However, as we know, just because literature can be difficult doesn’t mean we should discard it. For today’s post, let’s take a look at Joyce’s life and a few major works.

Early life

Joyce was born in Dublin, Ireland on Feb. 2, 1882 as James Augustine Aloysius Joyce. Joyce was the oldest of ten children in a rather unstable household where his father failed to bring in enough money for a suitable household, instead falling to drink. Nevertheless, Joyce was a smart child and excelled in all modes of writing.

As the Britannica states:

“Because of his intelligence, Joyce’s family pushed him to get an education. Largely educated by Jesuits, Joyce attended the Irish schools of Clongowes Wood College and later Belvedere College before finally landing at University College Dublin, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a focus on modern languages.”

(Britannica)

Joyce left for Paris after graduating and after departing for Ireland to tend to sick mother, he moved with his future wife to the Italian city of Trieste. There, Joyce taught English until he published Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. These books, though unremarkable at the time, found their way to prominent writers and poets, such as Ezra Pound.

James Joyce and Ulysses

Joyce began working on his landmark novel Ulysses, which showcased his virtuosic talent as a stream-of-conscious writer. However, detractors claimed its subject matter was less than savory.

Here’s a tame, descriptive excerpt:

“Suppose the communal kitchen years to come perhaps. All trotting down with porringers and tommycans to be filled. Devour contents in the street. John Howard Parnell example the provost of Trinity every mother’s son don’t talk of your provosts and provost of Trinity women and children cabmen priests parsons fieldmarshals archbishops.”

(Ulysses)

As you can see—it’s not exactly direct. However, it struck up a bit of controversy.

Writer Laura Miller writes, “One of the unexpected effects of the novel, which was first published in its entirety in Paris in 1922, was the most famous obscenity trial in U.S. history, conducted in 1933.”

Eventually the book got a fair shake (we’ll talk more about this in a later post), and it is currently revered for its challenging prose and style.

Joyce eventually settled down in Paris with his family and wrote Finnegans Wake (1939), which was also a success. With those two books alone (Ulysses and Finnegans Wake), Joyce cemented his status as a literary icon.

Joyce died following an “intestinal operation” on Jan. 12, 1941.

James Joyce’s Notable Works

Dubliners (1914)

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)

Ulysses (1922)

Finnegans Wake (1939)

Works Cited

Britannica. “James Joyce.” Sep. 12, 2019. Web.

Miller, Laura. “The Most Dangerous Book”: When ‘Ulysses’ was obscene.” Salon. June 16, 2014. Web.

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Infamous book burnings of history

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“It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” — Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Real book burnings are a real deal. They happen. As fascism takes hold in a society–which occurs for many reasons–knowledge is typically the first to be eradicated. There are countless examples of armies marching academics and intellectuals out in the front of a firing squad and pulling their triggers. Dissidents can’t fight back, after all. I thought today we could look at a few real-life examples of people setting fire to history if only to understand why it happens with more acuity.

Book Burnings in Germany 1933

In 1933, Germany was run by the Nazi party, and the fascist movement wasn’t too big on a variety of realities. They were actually just quite fond of their own. So that meant books that countered their own beliefs had to go by way of incineration. According to some sources, the Nazis burned “tens of thousands of books, from the works of Sigmund Freud to those of Jack London” (Rothman).

“Along with the Nazi ideology that there existed a superior race of people came the idea that there was one true culture and ideological canon; that which didn’t fit was consigned to fire,” stated Lily Rothman writing for Time.

Ideally, the Nazis would cleanse their own histories and replace them with new, and, according to them, more superior philosophies. In the case of the Nazis, if contrary information did not exist to combat their motives, then the contrary information simply could not exist to challenge their rule. There is more information available here.

The Satanic Verses Book Burnings

When Salman Rushdie published “The Satanic Verses” in 1988, it did not sit well with the Muslim population of 50,000 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. In fact, the senior imam in the city led a book burning because he—and many others—felt it was blasphemous to Islam.

“The book was also burned in Oldham, in Greater Manchester. Large demonstrations by Muslims against the book have since taken place in London. In New York the offices of Viking Penguin, the publisher of Satanic Verses, have received seven bomb threats from people who object to the book.”

(The New York Review)

Also, Iran’s spiritual leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini, ordered the execution of Rushdie on Valentine’s Day 1989 (via a Fatwa). Luckily, Rushdie still lives to this day (73 years old at the time of this writing), albeit, no doubt by living quietly and with a bit of fear in his heart because the Fatwa is still active (Maley).

Burning the Quran

I remember reading and watching parts of this saga starring the 61-year-old Pastor Terry Jones unfold, and it is kind of strange to remember police officers arrest such a hate-filled man on television.

Jones, angered over another looming Sept. 11 anniversary, decided he would burn the Quran in a unique commemorative gesture on March 20, 2011—which he did—but then threatened that he would do it again on Sept. 11. “World leaders” talked Jones down and he did not go through with the book burning.

However, this did not stop like-minded people from committing to similar incidents that sparked violence overseas.

“… it inspired similar burnings in Springfield, Tennessee and Topeka, Kansas, which in turn inspired protests in Kashmir that resulted in the deaths of 13 civilians. After Jones followed through with his burning in March, Protests in Afghanistan ended with 30 casualties.”

(Applebaum)

It was reported that Jones was stopped again after he planned to burn a number of Qurans in relation to each victim that died in the Sept. 11 attacks (somewhere around 3,000). Sheriff’s deputies arrested him on felony charges before he could carry through with his plan (Associated Press).

Conclusion

Book burnings are caused by a variety of systemic issues in society. Some of these issues include radicalization and others include a lack of knowledge and education. Invariably, these consequential actions result in volumes being torched in the pursuit of a more Utopian (in fact a Dystopian) society. By understanding these symptoms in society, and real book burnings, it may be easier to target where the problem lie and push back against ignorance and hate.

Works Cited

Applebaum, Adina. “10 Modern Day Book Burnings.” The Airship.

“Florida pastor Terry Jones arrested on way to burn Qur’ans.” Associated Press. Sept. 12, 2013. Web.

Maley, Jacqueline. “Salman Rushdie survived an actual fatwa. Yet he still thinks the Twitter crowd has gone too far.” The Sydney Morning Herald. July 12, 2010. Web.

Rothman, Lily. “The Real History Behind Book Burning and Fahrenheit 451.” Time. May 18, 2018. Web.

Rushdie, Salman. “The Book Burning.” The New York Review. March 2, 1989. Web.

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    Knowledge on fire: why do book burnings happen?

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    At the end of the endearing Kevin Bacon film Footloose (1984), John Lithgow, playing the antagonist Rev. Shaw Moore, realizes he has created a truly noxious environment of zealotry and closemindedness after his ban on dancing results in his flock piling books into a big pile with the intention to set it ablaze. Book burnings are a byproduct of fascist ideology in this case. Luckily, Lithgow convinces everybody to stop their staunch, entrenched antics, and therefore has an epiphany that resisting difference with extreme prejudice is not the right course of action.

    As we know, Footloose is fiction…but that doesn’t mean book burnings and banning dance parties hasn’t happened. Unfortunately, wherever there is knowledge, there will be those who look to remove it, because facts and evidence can stand contrary to entire parties—and that really upsets oligarchs, demagogues, and dictators. For today’s post, let’s take a look at the world as Ray Bradbury envisioned it in Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and try to understand why burning books happens.

    Knowledge is power. Literally.

    Books allow the average person to learn more, which goes beyond just learning new facts, but books allow people to understand new narratives, new points of view, and new arguments (“Letter from Birmingham Jail” by MLK).

    The more information and education that people have access to, the more likely they are going to challenge institutions of power—and, if you don’t know, that doesn’t always sound agreeable to those who are trying to maintain that power.

    Professors Edward Glaeser, Giacomo Ponzetto, and Andrei Shleifer argue in “Why does Democracy need education?” that education and democracy are highly correlated.

    “Education increases the society-wide support for democracy because democracy relies on people with high participation benefits for its support,” they write. “We show that better educated nations are more likely both to preserve democracy and to protect it from coups.”

    “Why does Democracy need education?”

    Without a doubt, this is important, because it argues that there is political power in being a well-read citizen. So, a good way to dissuade populations from challenging authority is by burning books that sow the seeds of education, because, as Orwell wrote, “Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present, controls the past.” 

    Creating new histories

    Researchers have also suggested that conquering armies have targeted these domains of knowledge deliberately during wartime. Book burnings can create new histories.

     “… Books of poetry, philosophy and history were specifically targeted, so that (a new emperor, king, faction, etc.) couldn’t be compared to more virtuous or successful rulers of the past,” states writer Lorraine Boisoneault.

    This goes specifically for Emperor Shih Huang Ti of China and Caliph Omar—the latter of which ordered over the burning of over 200,000 books from the Library of Alexandria because they stood in contrast to the religious ideology (Seeker).

    And, I suppose, the elimination of knowledge is not the only reason books are burned, but it’s certainly a compelling and familiar rationale for perpetrators.

    Symbolic action

    As John Henley states writing for The Guardian:

    “There’s something uniquely symbolic about the burning of books. It goes beyond censoring of beliefs and ideas. A book, plainly, is something more than ink and paper, and burning one (or many) means something more than destroying it by any other means.”

    “Book-Burning: fanning the flames of hatred”

    And what Henley is hinting at is what visual rhetoricians have been pointing out for years, which is that books have a life of their own—they are not static constructs. They evolve and change, and they can be interacted with and expanded upon.

    For leaders who sometimes need an unchanging view of the world—a text’s very nature is incompatible.

    While brief, hopefully this gives you some view of why regimes and institutions might see book burning as a suitable response to maintaining power. For tomorrow’s post, I will be discussing a few real-life examples.

    Works Cited

    “Why Did Nazis Burn Thousands of Books.” Seeker. Aug. 13, 2015. Web.

    Boissoneault, Lorraine. “A Brief History of Book Burning, From the Printing Press to Internet Archives.” Smithsonian. Aug. 31, 2017. Web.

    Glaeser, Edward, Ponzetto, Shleifer. “Why does democracy need education?” Springer Science, Business Media. May 31, 2007. Web.

    Henley, Jon. “Book-Burning: fanning the flames of hatred.” The Guardian. Sept. 10, 2010. Web.

    Rothman, Lily. “The Real History Behind Book Burning and Fahrenheit 451.” Time. May 18, 2018. Web.

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    The Michigan Dogman: Mystery and History

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    Have you ever seen bigfoot in the woods? What about the mysterious Michigan Dogman? You can be sure that many people in the Midwest have thought about a hairy cryptid from time to time. Whether that be Bigfoot or another unusual monster is up to the imagination. In this post, we are going to discuss the regionally specific cryptid known as the Dogman of Wexford Country.


    Dogman Background

    First Sightings

    To begin, the first sighting of the Michigan Dogman was in 1887 in Wexford County. Allegedly, two lumberjacks “saw the creature whom they described as having a man’s body and a dog’s head.” Certainly, this would have been an alarming sight, considering loggers in California wouldn’t spot bigfoot tracks until 1958; and, yes, I know there were much earlier sightings of bigfoot, but the modern “U.S. concept of bigfoot can be traced quite directly to the Humboldt Times stories in 1958” (Little).

    A Michigan Radio article states that many of the first reports of the Dogman came from lumber camps, as “Michigan was the leading white pine lumber producer in the nation,” and lumberjacks in Michigan at the turn of the century (1870s) were certainly known for working, drinking, fighting, and working/drinking some more. As such, it might be very well possible that working that hard and drinking that hard could create visions of monsters lurking in the shadows, and, why not? Drinking and exhaustion are a noxious combination.

    Other Sightings

    “In 1938 in Paris, Michigan, Robert Fortney was attacked by five wild dogs and said that one of the five walked on two legs,” states the National Paranormal Society. “Reports of similar creatures also came from Allegan County in the 1950s, and in Manistee and Cross Village in 1967” (Cryptozoology).  

    Similarly, it is interesting to note that sightings of the Dogman poured into a Traverse City radio station in 1987 (WTCM-FM) after disc jockey Steve Cook played an April Fools Day song called “The Legend.” I can only imagine it was like a catalyst of sorts, as Cook claimed to have received over 100 reports of Dogman sightings in the years following; and, even with the knowledge that the song was an April Fool’s Day joke and The Gable Film (undoubtable proof) was a hoax, the belief in the Dogman has persisted.


    Conclusion

    I am not entirely sure what to make of the Dogman exactly, but I believe that it represents the unknown that creeps in the forests of Michigan. The Upper Peninsula, for instance (where so many early sightings took place), is a natural wonder…and a different world. Likewise, there are stretches of land up there that go on for miles, untamed, unmanaged—alien to even Michiganders. In those uncharted places, the Dogman could easily rise from our imaginations and stand on two legs, whether we are under the influence of alcohol, or just staring off into the woods after a hard day’s work.


    Works Cited

    Cryptozoology, in. “Dogman – The National Paranormal Society.” The National Paranormal Society, 29 June 2015, national-paranormal-society.org/dogman/.

    Little, Becky, and History.com Staff. “How the Bigfoot Legend Began.” HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 22 Jan. 2020, history.com/news/bigfoot-legend-newspaper.

    Staff, Stateside. “Who’s a Good Boy? Not the Michigan Dogman.” Michigan Radio, 1 Nov. 2019, michiganradio.org/offbeat/2019-10-30/whos-a-good-boy-not-the-michigan-dogman.

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    Author Biography: Richard Wright’s Impact on Black Literature

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    In today’s post, we examine the life of Richard Wright, who wrote an extremely influential novel about the Black American experience. This novel is called Black Boy. Wright was a complex figure who participated in communist communities post-World War I. He cared deeply about the treatment of blacks at the hands of white society and wrote for social reform and justice.. Much like other authors in a similar genre, he wrote about his passions and what he believed needed to change in the world around him.

    Richard Wright’s Early Years

    Wright was born on Sept. 4, 1908 on Rucker’s Plantation near Natchez, Mississippi in Roxie. He was the son of a sharecropper and teacher who had been born free after the Civil War. Both sets of his grandparents had been slaves.

    When Wright was six, his father left and did not reunite with his son for 25 years. Wright did not attend school until 1920, when he and his remaining family moved in with his grandparents. Though Wright excelled in his studies, his life at home in a Seventh-Day Adventist household stifled him greatly. .

    Wright’s Publishing Career

    Wright “worked at a number of jobs before joining the northward migration, first to Memphis, Tennessee, and then to Chicago (in 1927). There, after working in unskilled jobs, he got an opportunity to write through the Federal Writers’ Project” (Britannica). The project allowed him other avenues of expression and he was able to pursue a love of the craft.

    The project spurred Wright in his writing interests, and he later joined the Communist Party in 1932. He also acted as the Harlem editor of the Communist Daily Worker in 1937 after he moved to New York City. He would later produce Uncle Tom’s Children in 1938, which was a series of novellas that asks the question: “How may a black man live in a country that denies his humanity?” (Britannica).

    His novellas would begin a string of successes:

    “More acclaimed followed in 1940 with the publication of the novel Native Son, which told the story of a 20-year-old African American man named Bigger Thomas. The book brought Wright fame and freedom to write.”

    (Biography.com)

    Then, in 1945, Wright published Black Boy, which depicted “extreme poverty and his accounts of racial violence against blacks” (Biography.com). This novel continues to be his hallmark and shows his adeptness at

    Richard Wright’s Final Years

    Richard Wright lived in Mexico from 1940 to 1946 and eventually left the Communist Party disenfranchised. He later lived in Paris where he wrote The Outsider (1953), The Long Dream (1958), Black Power (1954) and White Man, Listen (1957). During these years, his books were about “hunger, poverty, race, and various protest movements” (famousauthors.org).

    Wright died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 52 on Nov. 28, 1960.

    Works Cited

    Britannica.com

    Biography.com

    Famousauthors.org

    Wikipedia.org

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    The Reclusive and Complex Thomas Pynchon

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    There is an interesting story about science fiction author Thomas Pynchon that is a little hard to verify—because it’s probably false. But here it is anyway: the author of the book V, Thomas Pynchon, was sitting quietly in his hotel room one day waiting to meet with a publisher. Suddenly, there came a knock on the door, loudly abrasive, and the voice behind demanded an audience. It was a reporter. And he wasn’t going to leave until he got at least one picture of the famously reclusive author. Instead of entertaining this bit of mania, Pynchon instead chose to jump out of a third-story window from the hotel and into a tree. He shimmied down and ran to freedom.

    Much like J. D. Salinger (or Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird), when you are infamous for your reclusive nature, and you hate interviews, myths begin to pop up around your character. In today’s post, we are going to examine the life and achievements of science fiction author Thomas Pynchon.

    Pynchon’s Early Years and Education

    Pynchon was born as one of three children in Glen Cove, Long Island, on May 8, 1937. He would go on to Oyster Bay High School in Nassau County and graduated in 1953. Pynchon earned his bachelor’s in English from Cornell University in 1958. Afterward, he lived in Greenwich Village for a short time, crafting short stories, and eventually found work in Seattle writing safety articles for Boeing.

    Thomas Pynchon’s Publishing History

    He eventually turned to writing full-time and won the Faulkner Foundation Award in 1963 for his book V. Following this success, Pynchon wrote The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) and Gravity’s Rainbow (1973). He also published a collection of short stories titled Slow Learner (1984) (Britannica).

    Over a decade later, Pynchon published Vineland (1990), Mason & Dixon (1997), and Against the Day (2006). His most recent novels include Inherent Vice (2009) and Bleeding Edge (2013). Regarding his “complex” novels, some sources state: “To plunge down the rabbit hole of Pynchon’s fiction is to commence a journey into an alternate world, a world—somewhat like our own but, as Pynchon put it ‘Maybe it’s not the world, but with a minor adjustment or two it’s what the world might be.’”

    Examining Pynchon’s History of Reclusiveness

    As stated earlier in the post, the synonymity of Thomas Pynchon and “the myth of the reclusive author” is apparent when people converse about him. Time reported that, “Almost nothing is known about the author of some of the most seminal, mysterious and generally difficult works of the 20th century fiction, and the novelist would like to keep it that way … When his 1973 novel Gravity’s Rainbow won the National Book Award, Pynchon had someone else accept on his behalf” (Time). In other words, he was not about the song and dance of writing. He was about the writing.

    Moreover, it may be that this reclusiveness is a fabrication of pop culture obsession. It is very well that Pynchon just might dislike the attention from journalists, or he just might not like answering questions. Both of these are valid reasons to skip ceremony, and his privacy is probably a much less dramatic story then some would like. It is not like other writers aren’t eccentric or don’t have eccentric ideas.

    As contributor to Vice David Whelan said of Pynchon’s mythos: “This is far from the truth. He’s not hiding in the woods or refusing to publish new work à la J.D. Salinger; he just doesn’t like talking to reporters. While there are only four known photos of Pynchon … he’s a vibrant prankster with his finger on the world’s pulse. He knows how to manipulate us. He’s willing to make fun of himself …”

    Conclusion

    We should accept a nuanced version of Pynchon because it makes more sense that a story of reclusiveness has been created around him rather than him intentionally creating the story itself because he’s a “weirdo” or an “eccentric.” As we should see it, Pynchon is just a talented writer who doesn’t care at all for the additional publicity that comes with fame. Writing, after all, takes time, and that doesn’t include the spotlight.

    Works Cited

    “Thomas Pynchon.” Britannica. Web.

    “Thomas Pynchon.” Thomaspynchon.com. 1997-2018. Web.

    “Top 10 Most Reclusive Celebrities.” Time. Web.

    Whelan, David. “Thomas Pynchon and the Myth of the Reclusive Author.” Vice. Oct. 9, 2014. Web.

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    Four Literary Road Trips by Famous Authors

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    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.

    The Tender Hem Rides Along

    I’ve tried on several occasions to get into books like For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Sun Also Rises but they just weren’t for me. I’d just about given up on Hemingway when I decided to give The Green Hills of Africa a try. Pleasantly surprised by how much I liked his nonfiction, I next read A Moveable Feast.

    It was while reading Hem’s memoir of his youth in Paris that I got my next big surprise. Knowing Hemingway’s reputation of hypermasculinity, I was rather shocked to read how tenderly he behaved toward his friend F. Scott Fitzgerald, particularly during a 900-mile road trip they took from Paris to Léon and back again to pick up Scott and Zelda’s car.

    The auto had been abandoned there due to bad weather after Zelda demanded the roof be cut off because she would only ride in a convertible. From the get-go, Scott—a hypochondriac of sorts—claimed he was coming down with a lung ailment. On their way back from picking up the car, Scott became more and more convinced he was developing congestion of the lungs.

    Hem did his best to manage Scott, even telling him about an article he’d read on the subject. And this helped calm him for a while during the road trip. Then the weather turned bad and they decided to stopover that second night.

    Once at the hotel, Hem sent Scott—who had been complaining of fever and demanding a thermometer—to bed.

    “Scott was lying in bed to conserve his strength for his battle against the disease,” Hemingway wrote. “I had taken his pulse, which was 72, and had felt his forehead, which was cool. I had listened to his chest and had him breathe deeply. His chest sounded alright.”

    Hem continued to assure Scott he was fine and ordered hot beverages to help soothe him, in addition to finding a waiter at that late hour in search of the almighty oral thermometer. But, since everything was closed, the best the waiter could produce was a bathtub thermometer.

    Hem put the thermometer under Scott’s armpit, telling him to be thankful it wasn’t a rectal model. Because he couldn’t remember the conversion, Hem lied about the Celsius reading, saying Scott’s temperature was perfectly normal.

    “You could not be angry with Scott,” Hemingway wrote, “any more than you could be angry with someone who was crazy.”

    Hem continued to nurse Scott through the night. And, when the patient felt fine the next morning, they continued on their road trip to Paris. There’s a lot more to the story, and I urge you to at least check out that chapter of the book for a funny and heartwarming read.

    Manson Family Realty: Bukowski Travels

    In the shortest of my chosen literary road trips, Henry Chinaski (nee Bukowski) scores big when he’s offered $10,000 to write a screenplay and earns $35,000 off the German translations of several of his books. After some rather dubious financial advice from one Vin Marbad, Buk decides to go house hunting.

    This little literary road trip takes Buk and his “good lady” Sarah to a nationally known realty firm, where they are summarily dismissed as vagabonds without ever having had the chance to speak with a realtor. Eventually, they find a place called Rainbow Realty and are taken to a dark mansion occupied by eccentric Grey Gardens types.

    About halfway through the tour, Sarah realizes the house was one of the Manson Family murder sites and she and Buk get the hell out of there toot de suite. My favorite part of this minor misadventure, detailed in the book Hollywood, is when they visit a biker bar where the patrons recognize Buk and begin buying him drinks.

    To get out of there alive, Sarah downs one of the many shots of whiskey intended for Buk, who one drunk refers to as, “The world’s greatest writer.”

    On the way out, Sarah asks, “Are those your readers?”

    Buk says, “That’s most of them, I think.”

    Even though these would seem to be Buk’s people, he takes pity on grown men day-drinking in a filthy dead-end bar.

    “[A]gain I noted the leather jackets and the blandness of the faces and the feeling that there wasn’t much joy or daring in any of them,” Bukowski wrote. “There was something missing, the poor fellows, and something in me wrenched for just a moment. And I felt like throwing my arms around them, consoling, and embracing them like some Dostoevsky.”

    He added, “But I knew that would finally lead nowhere except to ridicule and humiliation for myself and for them. The world had somehow gone too far and spontaneous kindness could never be so easy. It was something we would all have to work for once again.”

    One Fast Move: A Car Ride with Kerouac

    While On The Road continues to be Jack Kerouac’s big hit, I continue to argue his later work Big Sur is superior as a story in general and as a travelogue. Not only is the work a poetic feast from start to finish, its prose is singular in its honesty and beauty. As the book is described in its foreword, Big Sur details Kerouac’s long series of tender nervous breakdowns.

    Jack left his mother’s house after the publication of On The Road made him famous—so famous that he couldn’t get a moment’s peace from reporters, fans, and friends. While it was written in 1961 as one sojourn, his Big Sur trips were several.

    In the book, Kerouac takes a train from his mother’s in New York to San Francisco, where he meets up with Lawrence Ferlinghetti who lets him stay in his cabin in Bixby Canyon.

    Kerouac wanders as a man-child from friend to friend, bed to bed, bottle to bottle; confused, sad, tired, self-absorbed.

    Scared and desperate, he feels the warring pulls of solitude—which always turned out for him to be brutal isolation—and socialization, which soothed him for a time but ended too often in jealousy, shame, regret.

    “One fast more or I’m gone,” Kerouac wrote of his need to get away, and adding that he felt like, “a bent back mudman monster groaning underground in hot steaming mud pulling a long hot burden nowhere.”

    McCarthy On The Road

    Saving the darkest—and most hopeful of these literary road trips—for last, I give you Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Even if you’ve already seen the movie, please make time to read this book. It’s part spiritual journey, part post-apocalyptic adventure, and all meditation on what it means to live a good life amidst suffering and uncertainty … and knowing there will never be a time when we’re truly ready to die.

    Golden nuggets of wisdom include the exhortation to beware what you let into your head, because you’ll remember the things you want to forget and forget the things you want to remember. When the boy character asks what’s the bravest thing his father has ever done, the man says, “Getting up this morning.” One of my favorite lines comes in the father character’s exchange with a fellow hobo.

    When he asks the old man if he wished he had died, the old man responds “no” but that he might wish he had died because, when you’re alive, you’ve always got that to look forward to. I have read The Road more times than any other book except for Bukowski’s Hollywood.

    In fact, as soon as I finished it for the first time, I immediately began reading it again. I’ve been doing so at varying paces for nearly five years.

    These literary road trips have taught me much about both the real and figurative highways we travel, how those roads intersect with other people’s paths or sometimes only run parallel, how we’re all traveling down that long lonesome road of life, and how someday we all come to the end of our own road … even though roads never really end.

    And, if we’re lucky, we’ll have someone who cares about us to carry our memory with them as they keep going down the road long after we’re gone.