I’m going through some short stories with the boys and need to remind myself that we need to read Ambrose Bierce (among others) when we go through the U.S. Civil War again. They will add some depth to their studies. We just went over Bierce’s most famous short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” […]
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Stone Tablets by Wojciech Żukrowski Translation from the Polish by Stephanie Kraft Paul Dry Books, 2016 Paperback, 733 pages One may shake the Ten Commandments in helpless anger, but no one is exempt from them. They are always with us, etched on our consciences; they weigh every action, affixing their sign of approval or condemnation […]
Shakespeare in Swahililand: Adventures with the Ever-Living Poet by Edward Wilson-Lee William Collins; London: 2016 One of the most striking things I found as I followed Shakespeare on his travels through East African history was the fact that the works were present at every stage of life in the region during the very period when […]
Earlier this year Amateur Reader posted on Harold Frederic’s The Damnation of Theron Ware, which reminded me of my reading of that novel as well as Frederic’s novella The Copperhead. At that time, the movie adaptation was available on Amazon Prime for only a few dollars, so I splurged and watched it. A few notes […]
Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes by Ronni Lundy Photography by Johnny Autry Penguin Random House, 2016 Hardcover, 320 pages 2016 seems to be be the year of the redneck, at least when it comes to books. Or is it the hillbilly? White trash? Given the news, literary and otherwise, it looks like I’m up […]
How to Catch a Russian Spy: The True Story of an American Civilian Turned Double Agent by Naveed Jamali and Ellis Henican Scribner, 2015 Hardcover, 304 pages I’m not sure where I heard about this book or what caused me to place a hold on it at the library, but it followed me home one […]
Passing along the info, for those that might be interested… I really enjoyed PBS’ airing of The Hollow Crown series last year (Richard II, Henry IV Part I and Part II and Henry V), and I’m looking forward to their The Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses series airing now. This season’s lineup includes […]
Catullus’ Bedspread: The Life of Rome’s Most Erotic Poet by Daisy DunnHarper, 2016Hardcover, 336 pages An attempt to get back in the swing of posting… Catullus’ Bedspread by Daisy Dunn, released to coincide with her translation titled The Poems of Catullus (also from Harper) looks at the life and work of the poet […]
Netflix’s series Roman Empire: Reign of Blood follows the recent docu-series movement, mixing historians, narration, and drama over multiple episodes. It also continue the trend moving from sword-and-sandal epics to blood-and-boobs entertainment (to paraphrase a line from Adrian Goldsworthy). The story starts with the end of the emperor Marcus Aurelius’ reign and focuses on his […]
A note from Mark Twain, to help put the animated comments of the day in perspective. Heated moments when dealing with elections are nothing new… I’ve been reading books with the boys this year that tie into their history studies. We spent a day on Chapter 13 of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King […]