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Anatomy of a Soldier by Harry Parker Knopf, 2016I was intrigued enough by the premise and approach of this book to overcome my reluctance in reading current fiction. The novel tells the story of Captain Tom Barnes, a 25-year-old British army captain stationed in Afghanistan (the location is not specifically named but it’s clear where […]
Not All Bastards Are From Vienna by Andrea Molesini Translated from the Italian by Antony Shugaar and Patrick Creagh Grove Press I don’t read much current fiction. The current releases I usually focus on are usually either nonfiction or recent translations of older books. I’ve been holding off posting on a few recent releases that […]
I remember running across St. John’s College’s website in the late 1990s and being inspired by the reading list they provided. THIS was the liberal arts education I wished I had gotten. It inspired me to take my reading more seriously. This blog, for better or worse, was one eventual outcome. Gil Roth at Virtual […]
While I’m posting on things happening in San Francisco this week, I don’t want to forget to mention “Archive Live by The Collected Works.” The Collected Works is one of my favorite theater groups (better described as collaborative artists) in the San Francisco Bay area, and I’ve mentioned them before after seeing “Princess Ivona” by […]
A few years back I had posted on Melanie O’Reilly’s song “I Lose Myself”, inspired by James Joyce and the Irish myths that inspired him. I wanted to pass the following flyer along to those in the San Francisco Bay area who may be interested in what sounds like a fun Bloomsday event: Bloomsday is […]
While we’re on the topic of Don Quixote, I wanted to mention Terry Gilliam’s umpteenth try at filming a movie based on Cervantes’ book. There are many articles available, but here are two I liked: Terry Gilliam on finally filming Don Quixote: ‘Adam Driver is bankable! Thank God for Star Wars!’ and Video: Watch Terry […]
Don Quixote’s Profession by Mark Van Doren New York: Columbia University Press, 1958. Print. Drawings by Joseph Low Mark Van Doren in Quiz Show, answering a question about the meaning of Don Quixote: “It means, if you want to be a knight, act like a knight.” My great friends do not know me. Hamlet in […]
Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: Twelve Stories after Cervantes and Shakespeare Edited by Daniel Hahn and Margarita Valencia Introduction by Salman Rushdie Los Angeles: And Other Stories, 2016. Paperback.Links: Introduction by Salman Rushdie at the NewStatesman “The Dogs of War” by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at the Irish Times “Shakespeare, New Mexico” by Valeria Luiselli in Guernica […]
A few years ago, Dr. James Lacey, professor of Strategic Studies at the Marine Corps War College, contacted me about my series of posts on Thucydides. It was and remains one of the high points in blogging for me. So I wanted to share a recent article of his that looks at the difficulty in […]
Lost Children of the Empire by Philip Bean and Joy Melville The Untold Story of Britain’s Child Migrants Unwin Hyman Limited (London); 1989 ISBN: 0-04-440358-5 In 1618, a group of orphaned and destitute children left Britain for Richmond, Virginia in the United States. It was the start of an extraordinary era in British history, formally […]