Don’t Cancel the Classics—We Need Them More Than Ever
Criticism - “Those who are adamant that love will trump hate, heal the world, and divinize us are not articulating anything new. The Greeks are still singing to us the songs of humanistic love as the spirit that will heal the world.” 1/12/2021
Criticism - “Those who are adamant that love will trump hate, heal the world, and divinize us are not articulating anything new. The Greeks are still singing to us the songs of humanistic love as the spirit that will heal the world.” 1/12/2021General Patton’s Silent Night Reflection - “On December 21, 1945—75 years ago today—in the stillness of his waning moments in a German military hospital, General George S. Patton Jr. pondered his life.” 12/21/2020
Reflection - “On December 21, 1945—75 years ago today—in the stillness of his waning moments in a German military hospital, General George S. Patton Jr. pondered his life.” 12/21/2020Beware the Interpreter: “Hillbilly Elegy” as a Prime Example Criticism - “Vance’s critics could benefit from a basic overview of the difference between a primary and secondary source, and between the personal and the systemic.” 12/15/2020
Criticism - “Vance’s critics could benefit from a basic overview of the difference between a primary and secondary source, and between the personal and the systemic.” 12/15/2020Ten Novels for Understanding the Modern British Identity Criticism - “Therefore, in the spirit of diversity and exploration, I have compiled a list of what I see as the ten best novels on modern British identity, to remind us that British identity is not exhausted by the referendum divides…” 12/13/2020
Criticism - “Therefore, in the spirit of diversity and exploration, I have compiled a list of what I see as the ten best novels on modern British identity, to remind us that British identity is not exhausted by the referendum divides…” 12/13/2020A Once-Unnecessary Reminder: Criticism Produces Good Works Criticism - “My own song ‘Alabama’ richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. I don’t like my words when I listen to it. They are accusatory and condescending…” 11/29/2020
Criticism - “My own song ‘Alabama’ richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. I don’t like my words when I listen to it. They are accusatory and condescending…” 11/29/2020Review: Clint Margrave’s “Lying Bastard” Criticism - “Lying Bastard is a work of the zeitgeist. Disgruntled intellectuals. Returning war veterans just beginning their higher education. A school shooting. The fraud of academicians. Societal exploitation.” 11/10/2020
Criticism - “Lying Bastard is a work of the zeitgeist. Disgruntled intellectuals. Returning war veterans just beginning their higher education. A school shooting. The fraud of academicians. Societal exploitation.” 11/10/2020A Korean Dyad Fiction - “Saying that people need to know the objective truth about what goes on Up There, the objective truth about evil places fueled by imported wine and blank consciences.” 10/13/2020
Fiction - “Saying that people need to know the objective truth about what goes on Up There, the objective truth about evil places fueled by imported wine and blank consciences.” 10/13/2020Self-Determination and Philip K. Dick’s “Ubik” Criticism - “The ultimate message it proffers—Ubik the substance, Ubik the book—is one of self-determination despite humanity’s manifest lack of control and certainty.” 10/9/2020
Criticism - “The ultimate message it proffers—Ubik the substance, Ubik the book—is one of self-determination despite humanity’s manifest lack of control and certainty.” 10/9/2020“Gone with the Wind” Isn’t Going Anywhere Criticism - “What is a classic? What is an epic? These two questions loom over any reader of Gone with the Wind (and great literature, more generally).” 9/26/2020
Criticism - “What is a classic? What is an epic? These two questions loom over any reader of Gone with the Wind (and great literature, more generally).” 9/26/2020The Oedipus Complex of a Nation in Flux Criticism - “Reading it specifically in the context of the current societal struggles and apparently widespread cultural conflicts occurring in the United States today, the myth imbues the reader with a redoubled vigilance.” 9/14/2020
Criticism - “Reading it specifically in the context of the current societal struggles and apparently widespread cultural conflicts occurring in the United States today, the myth imbues the reader with a redoubled vigilance.” 9/14/2020[Give the Man a Name] Fiction - “On fences and poles were the signs and posters of the age. Men with hard eyes and stiff lips; men with mustaches and military hats; women in dresses, sleeves rolled, forearms flexed. The age the man knew not.” 8/18/2020
Fiction - “On fences and poles were the signs and posters of the age. Men with hard eyes and stiff lips; men with mustaches and military hats; women in dresses, sleeves rolled, forearms flexed. The age the man knew not.” 8/18/2020What “The Merchant of Venice” Has to Say about Justice Criticism - “Just as it was in Shakespeare’s time, the questions of justice, mercy, and society remain as relevant as ever before, and we have much to learn from the great bard of Anglodom.” 7/19/2020
Criticism - “Just as it was in Shakespeare’s time, the questions of justice, mercy, and society remain as relevant as ever before, and we have much to learn from the great bard of Anglodom.” 7/19/2020Achilles, Priam, and the Redemptive Power of Forgiveness Criticism - “For all the battle scenes, violent sex, and rage that fills the poem, the most memorable scenes in the poem are moments of love—especially loving moments of embrace.” 4/6/2020
Criticism - “For all the battle scenes, violent sex, and rage that fills the poem, the most memorable scenes in the poem are moments of love—especially loving moments of embrace.” 4/6/2020Maurizio Cattelan and When Art “Ridicules Art Itself” Criticism - “This is an art which no longer presumes to speak to or for the general public. Such an art “assails all previous art” and even “ridicules art itself.” 2/14/2020
Criticism - “This is an art which no longer presumes to speak to or for the general public. Such an art “assails all previous art” and even “ridicules art itself.” 2/14/2020Can We Read Moby Dick? Criticism - “But, as I found myself stumbling in my response to my sister, a more elemental question arose: Can we read Moby Dick?” 1/4/2020
Criticism - “But, as I found myself stumbling in my response to my sister, a more elemental question arose: Can we read Moby Dick?” 1/4/2020Aeschylus’ “Prometheus Bound”: Where Is Meaning to be Found? Criticism - “Aeschylus’ tragedy represents the most elemental aspects of our human condition: all human flourishing comes with a cost.” 11/26/2019
Criticism - “Aeschylus’ tragedy represents the most elemental aspects of our human condition: all human flourishing comes with a cost.” 11/26/2019