Since one of the reasons I started this blog was to keep notes on what I’ve read, I want to start noting the books I want to read and why they catch my interest. If you’re familiar with any book on the list, feel free to comment about your experience with it! I’m sure I’ll […]
Cynthia Haven, of The Book Haven renown, has helped me in many ways over the past few years of blogging. So when she recommended the René Girard Lecture at Stanford to be given by Roberto Calasso, I arranged to be there. In addition to finally meeting Cynthia (which was great and too short!), I got […]
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck Ballantine Books (paperback, 277 pages) ISBN 978-0-345-47232-8 I ‘ve rewritten a post on this book several times because I couldn’t get it right. This post doesn’t get it right either, but I want to pass some notes on this book because it has been an […]
I know this is last minute but if you have ever been interested in reading (or re-reading) Herodotus’ The Histories, consider signing up for the Reading Odyssey’s reading group beginning on September 17, 2014, and running through March 2015. I have participated in several of their reading groups and have found them extremely helpful and […]
It’s been a few years since I read Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin but I saw an article today that has me wanting to revisit it again soon. This may be nothing new to many, but I wanted to pass it on. Onegin’s Tatiana Was Only Thirteen? points out the references to Tatiana’s maid’s age in reference […]
I’ve gotten a few questions via email over the years on the curricula we use in homeschooling our two boys. I’m always a little hesitant to answer because we have been trying different approaches to see what is a good fit for the boys and what isn’t. The latter group doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a […]
Maybe I’m back? I hope so…I’ve missed this place. While we’re in the middle of so many -ennials, such as the War of 1812, the Civil War, and World War I, I did want to pass on this article from Simithsonian.com [Note: link no longer available, but parts of the article can be found at […]
In my post on Rambling on: An Apprentice’s Guide to the Gift of the Gab by Bohumil Hrabal I mentioned that Jiří Menzel had directed a movie based on those stories set in the Kresko settlement of Bohemia. I finally watched a copy of the movie with English subtitles and I found it almost as […]
It’s August already? I wish I could say I’m tanned, rested, and ready to post. Unfortunately it feels more like pasty, stressed…but at least wanting to post. I’ll start with a wonderful site I’ve found regarding drawings by Benito Pérez Galdós. Dr. Michael A. Schnepf at the University of Alabama has a page on The […]
I’ll repeat a favorite non-book post (judging by visits). Since it’s the tail-end of cherry season, you’ll need to get on top of this to enjoy it during the winter holidays. From the wonderful Fancy Pantry by Helen Witty (New York: Workman Publishing Company, 1986): A Cordial of Sweet Cherries After the elements are assembled—the […]
I apologize for the unplanned silence. I haven’t really felt like reading or posting lately, so maybe a break was what was needed. Since I haven’t read much I’ll post on what I’ve recently watched, which was infinitely better. Trevor at The Mookse and the Gripes has a great review of Inside Llewyn Davis, the […]
If you have a chance to pick up a copy of the current Weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal I recommend you do so. The review section has reviews on books about World War I in addition to several essays about the conflict. There’s also a review of The Professor and the Siren by […]
The boys and I started reading The Three Musketeers last week and we’re enjoying it. Looking to see what film versions were available for instant viewing I found 1973’s movie directed by Richard Lester and written by George MacDonald Fraser (of Flashman fame). I’ve always enjoyed Lester’s and Fraser’s version and the kids love the […]
Paideia: the Ideals of Greek Culture (Volume 1) by Werner Jaeger (2nd edition), translation by Gilbert Highet (New York: Oxford University Press) I’m bumping this to the top to keep the posts in this series close together. I know this series won’t interest everyone but I find Jaeger’s work fascinating. Every nation which has reached […]
On May 14, 2014 Paul Cartledge and James Romm talked about Herodotus and the two new translations of his Histories. It’s well worth the hour to listen to the salon sponsored by Reading Odyssey, which can be found here. I asked about other recent books on Herodotus they have enjoyed and they provided some books […]
Picture from Amazon.comPaideia: the Ideals of Greek Culture (Volume 1) by Werner Jaeger (2nd edition), translation by Gilbert Highet (New York: Oxford University Press) I had planned on posting on Werner Jaeger’s monumental work Paideia: the Ideals of Greek Culture last year and didn’t get very far before other things came up. I intend to […]
I had more quotes from the recently released Rambling on: An Apprentice’s Guide to the Gift of Gab by Bohumil Hrabal that I didn’t mention, but I didn’t want the post to run too long. I stumbled across a copy of Hrabal’s 1966 story collection The Death of Mr. Baltisberger (sometimes titled The World Cafeteria) […]
Rambling on: An Apprentice’s Guide to the Gift of the Gab by Bohumil Hrabal English translation by David Short Afterword by Václav Kadlec Illustrations by Jiří Grus Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press ISBN: 978-80-246-2316-0 Dear colleagues and friends, On the occasion of 100th anniversary of Bohumil Hrabal’s birth, we would like to present two […]
Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero by James Romm Alfred A. Knopf (March 2014) ISBN: 978-0-307-59687-1 Seneca was born in 4 B.C. on the Iberian peninsula to the son of a accomplished rhetorician (Seneca the Elder). The young Seneca moved to Rome to study rhetoric and was introduced to Stoic philosophy. Entering […]
The Expedition to the Baobab Tree By Wilma Stockenström Translated from the Afrikaans by J. M. Coetzee Archipelago Books (April 2014) ISBN: 978-1-935744-92-4 The insult of not being allowed to be human that I have overcome. All ugly visions too, of hairy huts and skew door openings that try to entice me in and lock […]