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The Red Sphinx by Alexandre Dumas Edited and translated by Lawrence Ellsworth Pegasus Books, 2017 Hardcover, 832 pages What is clear and undeniable in this painting is that it depicts a man of mind and intelligence, and nothing more. Here is neither heart nor spirit—fortunately for France. In the vacuum of the monarchy between Henry […]
Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli in His World by Erica Benner W. W. Norton & Company, 2017 Erica Brenner’s study of “Machiavelli in his world” is being released today. I obtained an advance reading copy secondhand and wanted to pass on a few of my thoughts about the book since I found it helpful and […]
Many thanks to Michael Wooff for translating this short story and making it available at Project Gutenberg. It’s a wonderful piece that hints at what we will see in later works by Galdós. Published in 1871, “The Novel on the Tram” is close in tone and style to Galdós’ first novel The Shadow. The story […]
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ll know from my reading projects on Herodotus’ Histories, Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War, and Arrian’s The Campaigns of Alexander that I am a huge fan of The Landmark Ancient Histories series. As I noted in a post last August, a quote from editor Robert Stassler on an […]
Jean Barois by Roger Martin du Gard Translated by Stuart Gilbert Viking Press, 1949 (original publication in 1913)I picked up The Thibaults a couple of years of years ago, but haven’t been able to commit to the almost-two thousand page work. Jean Barois ended up being my introduction to Roger Martin du Gard instead. I […]
I’m updating this post because of Grant Hart’s recent death. My range of focus online has narrowed quite a bit, but I was surprised how little I saw about this as it was happening. What he contributed to me is difficult to quantify, but I have to say the influence was substantial. I guess I […]
I wanted to recommend this article on Reginald Foster, “The Vatican’s Latinist,” by John Byron Kuhner. Foster was “part of a small team of scribes who composed the pope’s correspondence, translated his encyclicals, and wrote copy for internal church documents” for over forty years. He has done so much more, though. He also taught Latin […]
I recently saw that “Firing Line” now has a channel on YouTube. I’ve mentioned the episode on “The Southern Imagination” a few times, with Eudora Welty and Walker Percy, and it is available here. A different episode I wanted to share was the conversation with Jorge Luis Borges, recorded on February 1, 1977. If you’re […]
Last night my son was watching Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage while I was fixing dinner. At one point I asked him to repeat a scene: “Did I just see Geddy Lee reading Faulkner?” Yes. Yes I did. Update: A few blogs I found that feature books on the screen Cinematic Literature People reading in […]
There was a flurry of news last week celebrating the 30th anniversary of U2’s The Joshua Tree, and it brought back a fond memory I’ve always associated with the album. I hope you’ll indulge this onion-on-my-belt moment… The weekend after the album was released, I caught a flight to spend a weekend with my brother. […]
I hope to post soon on some of the books I’ve read over the past few months. I can’t make any promises, but I really want to relay a few comments on some of the better ones. Much depends on…well, a lot of things, not the least on some follow-up surgeries to help relieve the […]
Well, not Twain himself, but the mullets he ascribed to nobility in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, that is… About bedtime I took the king to my private quarters to cut his hair and help him get the hang of the lowly raiment he was to wear. The high classes wore their hair […]
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,” […]
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 […]