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I want to mention the scheduled showing of The Story of Temple Drake (1933) on TCM at 8pm (Eastern) on September 14. Based on William Faulkner’s Sanctuary, which he described as a “potboiler” (although how much he meant that is debatable), I’m anxious to see the version TCM will show. The movie, filmed pre-Hays code, […]
Driving home yesterday I heard singer Melanie O’Reilly do a song titled “I Lose My Breath”, inspired by Molly Bloom in Joyce’s Ulysses. Instead of using Molly’s words directly (and avoiding Kate Bush’s 20+ year odyssey), O’Reilly turned to The Irish Book of Invasions for lyrics. If interested in the song, you can hear it […]
I tried to keep both prefaces in mind when reading Arrian’s book because they frame everything that follows. Arrian defends his reliance on Ptolemy and Aristoboulos in the opening preface but the disagreement between their reports as well as discrepancies with additional sources stand out in this section. Arrian highlights these differences, lays out several […]
Due to a loss in the family, posting will be sporadic this week. I wanted to go into detail about Books 4 and 5 of Arrian’s The Campaigns of Alexander but I may only have time to post on thematic and stylistic points in this section before the book discussion call on September 12. I […]
No, not together, or on film together…although that might be a fun concept. I have mentioned Win Riley’s documentary on Walker Percy a few times. Despite thinking the movie thin in a few places, I highly recommend watching it when it will be shown on PBS on October 4, 2011. Here’s the link to the […]
I have mentioned Alan Shaw a few times in relation to Alexander Pushkin and will do so again. His translation of The Little Tragedies is now available as an e-book. He graciously sent me a copy and I’m enjoying it a lot. Contents include “The Miserly Knight”, “Mozart and Salieri”, “The Stone Guest”, and “Feast […]