On portraying Mrs. Danvers
I first saw the movie Rebecca on TV when I was about ten years old, and was immediately taken with it. I went on to read the book when I was very young, too, and loved it. The movie is … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Literature and writing
What Shakespeare had to say about need
Yesterday I wrote a post about Liz Warren’s desire to confiscate more of Jeff Bezos’ money. The title of the post was, “How much money does Jeff Bezos need, anyway?” Afterwards, a line from Shakespeare kept coming to me: “Oh … Continue reading →
President’s Day poetry
[NOTE: Today is Presidents’ Day or Washington’s Birthday – or both – and this is a repeat of a previous post.] I’m not that old, but pedagogical practices in my youth seem absolutely archaic compared to whatever passes for education … Continue reading →
Anti-American studies
This will not surprise you: The 250th anniversary of America’s founding provides an opportunity to reflect on—and fight over—the country’s extraordinary story. Unfortunately, many of the serious scholars who study America—its history, literature and culture—fail to provide a balanced and … Continue reading →
Modern dilemmas: what to do with those empty churches
The number of Christian believers in Germany has been falling rapidly, and this presents a problem: what to do with all those empty churches? Maybe it’s time to re-purpose them as mosques – it’s certainly happened before; just ask the … Continue reading →
You can now buy INTO THE SMOKE OF THE WORLD, the book of Gerard Van der Leun’s poetry [scroll down for new posts, because I’ve pinned this one]
I’m extremely pleased to announce that Gerard Van der Leun’s poetry book, Into the Smoke of the World and other poems, is ready for purchase. Poetry was very dear to Gerard’s heart, and this beautiful book features almost all of … Continue reading →
What a weekend: mere anarchy
Too many murders, both of the public political and jihadi type, and of the private. They signify different things and threaten different things, but there’s this quality to it: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed … Continue reading →
Progress on the poetry book
I’m happy to report that I finally found a printer that can put out a version with which I’m satisfied, and I gave them the go-ahead. I originally thought the book would be available around Thanksgiving time, but that obviously … Continue reading →
An Animal Farm for our times
Switching it up: Originally conceived by George Orwell as a satirical allegory for the Russian Revolution and the subsequent struggles of the USSR under the rule of Joseph Stalin, Animal Farm’s political ire is redirected in this lively CG-animated adaptation … Continue reading →
And then there’s the poetry book
I had originally thought Gerard’s poetry book would be ready for sale by November 1. Dream on. Then it seemed highly likely it would be ready by December 1. But then I ran into printer troubles. Trust me – you … Continue reading →
On turkey soup and books for sale
I’ve been making turkey soup with the leftovers from Thanksgiving, which this year in my case amounts to about 95% of a cooked turkey. Turkey soup always sounds so easy, and is one of the reasons I like to make … Continue reading →
Orwell on the uses of hatred
In this post I’ll be presenting the “Two Minutes Hate” excerpt from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. I think the template for the passage’s physical description of Goldstein (the object of the Hate) may have been Trotsky, at least in part. Here’s … Continue reading →