How to use this Page

Robert Mack is the editor The Oxford World’s Classics Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Sweeney Todd is the tale of an infamous London barber who partners with a pie-maker to do devilish things with his customers. Below Mack mulls over cannibalism. This post first appeared on Powell’s.

Have you ever noticed just how many cannibals there seem to be about these days? I don’t mean the real thing (well … not just yet, at least, although be patient; we will come to them in time). No, for the moment I simply mean: have you ever noticed the extent to which the actual language we use on a day-to-day basis itself remains to an extraordinary degree permeated by the signs or the lingering rumours of what might also be described as ‘lustful cannibalism’ — a common rhetoric of erotic possession and physical consumption? (more…)

Share This

To celebrate the holidays we asked some of our favorite people in publishing what their favorite book was. Let us know in the comments what your favorite book is and be sure to check back throughout the week for more “favorites”.

Randall Klein is an Associate Foreign Rights Agent at Trident Media Group

I found my favorite book early. My sister forced me to read The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, when I was six and I have read it once every other year or so since. As I get older, the book ages with me, revealing new ideas on what it means to be clever, to be a hero, to have an adventure. Milo’s journey to bring peace to the warring kingdoms of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis are woven brilliantly into a tale about making the most of one’s time. Juster’s wordplay shines, and there is no foe more fierce than the Terrible Trivium, no friend more loyal than Tock the Watchdog. It’s my favorite book because I cannot pick my favorite part.

Share This

Last year to celebrate the holidays we asked our co-workers what their favorite books were. This year we asked some of our favorite people from all around publishing. They were kind enough to take a few minutes in this busy holiday season to share with us. To thank them I am going to make it my goal to read all of their suggestions by next year. Throughout the week we will be sharing favorite books from our favorite people so be sure to check back for updates and let us know what your favorite books are in the comments!

Andrew Goldberg is the Managing Editor of Thesmokinggun.com.

While this has not been a banner year for me when it comes to the quantity of books I have made it through–I have read a few that are entertaining, funny, informative, and moving. (more…)

Share This

Some time ago (I’m talking July here) the lovely Lauren Cerand pointed out that Carrie Frye at About Last Night was yearning for a copy of Faustus: From the German of Goethe Translated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge edited by Frederick Burwick and James C. McKusick.  So I ordered a copy with the intent of sending Ms. Frye a surprise package.  Alas, the book did not arrive until November! So with my deepest apologies I am putting the book in the mail today, with the hopes that it will still brighten Ms. Frye’s day.  Better late than never right?  Sadly, I can not send you all a copy so I have excerpted the introduction from the book which gives us some background on Coleridge. Enjoy!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), the youngest of the ten children of Reverend John and Ann Bowden Coleridge, was born at Ottery St Mary in Devon. He attended the local grammar school until the year following his father’s death in 1781, when he was sent to the charity school at Christ’s Hospital in London. In 1791 he entered Jesus College, Cambridge. In 1794, he met with Robert Southey and became engaged to Sara Fricker, the sister of Southey’s fiancee. With Southey, he planned to establish a commune, a pantisocracy, on the banks of the Susqehanna in America. In their political zeal they also jointly wrote The Fall of Robespierre, published September of that year. (more…)

Share This

The Hero Archetype

By Andrew Varhol

As long as Man (and Woman, for all you feminists out there) has existed, the stories of heroes have always fascinated us. From ancient Greek epics to the adventures of modern day superheroes, some of our most popular stories involve a hero and his triumph over the villain. And it seems lately that movie studios are churning out these stories more and more. Why do you think ancient epics still interest us today, and how have stories such as Beowulf, Homer’s Odyssey, and the legend of King Arthur affected modern day “myths?” Do you see any similarities between Beowulf and any particular modern day hero?

Share This

The Book vs. the Movie-SPOILER ALERT

By Andrew Varhol

Have you seen the Beowulf movie yet? I went to go see if over the weekend, and not surprisingly, there were some major “edits” made to the story, most notably, the fact that Beowulf does not actually kill Grendel’s Mother and also that the dragon is the son of Beowulf and Grendel’s Mother.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Hollywood has the right to tamper with famous works on the grounds of “artistic license?”

Share This

By Andrew Varhol

Welcome, brave warriors to our monthly OWC discussion! I know that Rebecca is your regular poster, but I had to steal this one from her, just because I love this month’s pick… and also it gave me a good reason to go see Angelina Jolie looking all sexy. But that’s besides the point. Where was I? Oh yes! This month’s pick is drumrolll…wait for it… Beowulf!
(more…)

Share This

Philip Davis professor of English literature at Liverpool University, author of Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life, and editor of The Reader is fed up! This post originally appeared on Moreover.

It is probably because when I was a young beginner, trying to write about literature, I did not feel encouraged or appreciated. Those were days of high theory in literary studies: it was naïve to be interested in realism, in emotion, in the human content of literature as I was. “Nobody came,” says Thomas Hardy of the plight of his own young idealist, “because nobody does.” (more…)

Share This

By Andrew Varhol

Listen!
All ye fans of tales of yore.

I hereby decree the tale
of the daring feats of the Hero of Denmark
will be the chosen selection for this month.

So raise your cups and rejoice,
and bring your sword and battle-shield,
as we engage in lively discussion
On this date, the twenty-second of November.

Share This

Philip Davis professor of English literature at Liverpool University, author of Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life, and editor of The Reader is back with another fascinating blog post. This post originally appeared on Moreover.

It was 30 years ago in the bookish front-room of a house off the Chesterton Road in Cambridge, England.

It was the home of Muriel Bradbrook, a Shakespearian scholar, and I was the most junior lunch guest, literally sitting in the corner on a stool, chewing and chewing away on a piece of home-made liver-pate, with muscle. (In the end I found a flower pot, or else I might still be there, chewing and chewing.) I was among some of Cambridge’s finest golden-oldies of the literary-critical world. (more…)

Share This

Last week we posted a series of articles by Philip Davis, author of Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life. Today is the final piece in the installation. To see the previous posts click here. This post originally appeared on Moreover.

In the beginning dogs, it is written, were the first creatures domesticated by human beings. And when the humans saw the difference between themselves and the dogs, they knew more about what being human meant. (This is the true Gospel of Otherness.) Then the humans, being more than their dogs, began to domesticate other animals, to lie amongst them. And so in time what became pastoral agriculture was born. (more…)

Share This

Below Philip Davis, author of Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life, combines science with literature to convince us to read out loud more often. To read his other blog posts click here. This piece first appeared in Moreover.

I have just launched a new M.A. course in bibliotherapy—by which I mean to ask, What help can reading provide for people? But I am not allowed to call the course “M.A. in bibliotherapy” because some of scientists at my university were not too keen on the word, accepted though it is in the States. I think they confused it with aromatherapy, when in the great words of the poet Gray, on the neglect of lowly human worth:

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. (more…)

Share This

I simply cannot encourage you to read Philip Davis’s blog series on Moreover enough. I love it. Davis, the author of Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life, also seems to be a born blogger. Below is part three of his blog series, which originally appeared in here.

I thought I would get braver as I got older but (aged 54), not so. I remember the poet Joseph Brodsky saying to me, near the end of his life, “I used to be one of the Strong”—it was across a drink in a Liverpool bar—”but not now.”
(more…)

Share This

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Each year, on Rosh Hashanah mankind is judged and entered into the “book of life,” but the judgment is not final. We have ten days of atonement before Yom Kippur when the judgment is sealed. Below is a myth about atonement from The Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism by Howard Schwartz. Perhaps the example of Rabbi Abraham will inspire you. To read last year’s excerpt from The Tree of Souls click here.

A Vision at the Wailing Wall

In those days Rabbi Abraham Berukhim was known for performing the Midnight Vigil. He rose every night at midnight and walked through the streets of Safed, crying out, “Arise, for the Shekhinah is in exile, and our holy house is devoured by fire, and Israel faces great danger.” He longed, more than anything else, to bring the Shekhinah out of exile.

Now Rabbi Abraham was a follower of Rabbi Isaac Luria, known as the Ari. The Ari had great mystical powers. By looking at a man’s forehead he could read the history of his soul. He could overhear the angels and he knew the language of the birds. He could point out a stone in a wall and reveal whose soul was trapped in it. So too was he able to divine the future, and he always knew from the first day of Rosh ha-Shanah who among his disciples was destined to live or die. This knowledge he rarely disclosed, but once, when he learned there was a way to avert the decree, he made an exception. Summoning Rabbi Abraham Berukhim, he said: “Know, Rabbi Abraham, that a heavenly voice has gone forth to announce that this will be your last year among us—unless you do what is necessary to change the decree.” (more…)

Share This

Yesterday we posted Philip Davis’s first post for Moreover and today we are happy to post number two. Davis, the author of Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life is a natural blogger so be sure to keep checking back for more of his insights. This post first appeared in Moreover.

In Joseph Hellers novel, “Good As Gold”, Gold the youthful protagonist and his hapless friend each decide to send their poems to the New Yorker magazine. If I remember rightly, Gold submits 6 poems and, a month later, learns that he has got 2 published and 4 returned as rejected. Not a bad result.

But poor talentless Levinson, as I’ll call him, is much more ambitious. He decides that he will submit 12 poems. He then has to wait twice as long as Gold. And when finally he does hear back, two months later, Levinson has got none published—and, for his pains, 16 returned. (more…)

Share This

Ahhhh, Paris. Your lure is strong: art, food, nightlife, architecture. One could get caught up in your graces forever! Travel with us this month to the city of lights as we read The Ambassadors by Henry James. Since we are announcing the book a bit late, we will hold the discussion on Thursday, October 4th. So get yourself a copy and start reading!

Share This

Philip Davis, author of Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life, is a professor of English literature at Liverpool University and editor of the Reader magazine. Davis has written the first full-length biography of Malamud, a self-made son of Jewish immigrants who went on to win the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Come hear Davis speak at New York’s 92 Street Y on October 31st at 7:30 pm. This post originally appeared in Moreover.

The academic conference season is ending here in England. If you ever have the misfortune to find yourself in such a setting, you only need one word to get by. The word is “Otherness”, and it has been in tarnished vogue for some time now. If you are feeling really out of place, then try saying Alterity as well. Means the same, sounds even better. You sit in a conference room and you hear so many of these notional terms replacing the reality they purport to describe. (more…)

Share This

Throughout the novel Huckleberry Finn tells a series of lies about his family. For example, he tells the woman who feeds him in Chapter 11 that his name is “Sarah Williams” and that his/her “mother’s down sick, and out of money and everything…” (52).

Later, in Chapter 16 Huck leads two men in a skiff on the river to believe that he is traveling with his family and that they are sick with small-pox. “…because it’s pap that’s there, and maybe you’d help me tow the raft ashore where the light is. He’s sick–and so is mam and Mary Ann” (83).

What do these series of lies reveal? (more…)

Share This

In chapter 24 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim complains to the duke that “it got mighty heavy and tiresome to him when he had to lay all day in the wigwam tied with the rope” (143) pretending to be a runaway slave. So the duke comes up with a clever solution, “He dressed Jim up in King Lear’s outfit…and then he took his theatre-paint and painted Jim’s face and hands and ears and neck all over a dead dull solid blue, like a man that’s been drownded[sic] nine days…Then the duke took and wrote a sign on a shingle…Sick Arab-but harmless when not out of his head.”

Wait, it gets worse. (more…)

Share This

Well it is sad to say the end of August is upon us. The good news is that it is time to discuss Huckleberry Finn. To get your brain back into book club mode I thought we would start slow. What was your favorite quote in the book? I’ll share mine to start things off.

“Music is a good thing.” (150) I just love the simple, honest sentiment from Huck at a time when the king is spouting lies. Share your favorite quotes in the comments.

Share This

I feel pretty sheepish admitting this but it took me a while this month to open The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I assumed that since I had read it before, the book would not hold the same magic for me. I was wrong. I spent a nice portion of last weekend relaxing in a hammock reading, dreaming of traveling down the Mississippi with Huck and Jim. I’d forgotten much of the soul searching, gut-wrenching questions about “right” and “wrong” that Huck wrestles with. The book certainly reveals more upon each read.

I’ll save my full reactions for our discussion on the 30th but if you haven’t started reading yet start today. Huck is the perfect summertime companion.

Share This

Everyday this week we have been lucky enough to co-post insights with Moreover, from Diane and Michael Ravitch, authors of “The English Reader: What Every Literate Person Needs To Know“. Diane is Professor of Education at the Steinhardt School of Education, New York University. Her books include “The American Reader”, “The Language Police”, “Left Back” and “The Troubled Crusade”. Michael Ravitch is a freelance critic and writer, his work has appeared in the New Republic, Yale Review and other publications.  To see all the posts by the Ravitchs click here.

Is the Internet good for the cause of literature? (more…)

Share This

Today we have posted part 4 in the series we are co-posting with Moreover. Diane and Michael Ravitch are the authors of “The English Reader: What Every Literate Person Needs To Know“. Diane is Professor of Education at the Steinhardt School of Education, New York University. Her books include “The American Reader”, “The Language Police”, “Left Back” and “The Troubled Crusade”. Michael Ravitch is a freelance critic and writer, his work has appeared in the New Republic, Yale Review and other publications. Be sure to check out parts one, two and three also. (more…)

Share This

Today we are happy to present the third post in Diane and Michael Ravitch’s series on Moreover. They are the authors of THE ENGLISH READER: What Every Literate Person Needs To Know, .

For decades, professors of pedagogy have preached the gospel of Relevance. According to this gospel, students will have greater motivation to learn if their lessons are about their own lives, or if they can read stories about people just like themselves. (more…)

Share This

Yesterday we co-posted the first of a series of blogs by Diane and Michael Ravitch, authors of The English Reader: What Every Literate Person Needs To Know. Today we present the second article, also available at Moreover, by Diane Ravitch.

I confess that I am distraught by the contemporary paucity of allusion. (more…)

Share This