Tag Archives: literature

Book Review: Origins Of The Wheel Of Time

Posted on February 6, 2024 by nathanalbright

Origins Of The Wheel Of Time: The Legends And Mythologies That Inspired Robert Jordan, by Michael Livingston I’m not sure what I expected in reading this book, but what I found was not really what I would have liked. This is not … Continue reading →

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Book Review: A New Literary History Of America

Posted on February 4, 2024 by nathanalbright

A New Literary History Of America, edited by Reil Marcus and Werner Sollors Does this book need to exist? This is a weighty question to ask of a weighty book that is about 1050 pages long or so. There is no doubt … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Spain

Posted on January 23, 2024 by nathanalbright

Spain: The Center Of The World: 1519-1682, by Robert Goodwin In reading a book like this one, it needs to be understood that no one writes a book of this size and scope without some kind of purpose, and likely several ones. One … Continue reading →

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Whose Thousand And One Nights?

Posted on December 7, 2023 by nathanalbright

This evening, shortly before heading to dinner, I was chatting with a dear Persian friend of mine about her tendency to bring up important questions about grammar, ask for me to provide more information about them, only to immediately fall … Continue reading →

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Book Revie: Terra Incognita

Posted on November 20, 2023 by nathanalbright

Terra Incognita (Medicus #2), by Ruth Downie There is always a danger in calling a book or considering something to be Terra Incognita (unknown land). After all, the supposedly unknown lands here are the lands of the human heart, which … Continue reading →

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What Was Forgotten

Posted on February 27, 2023 by nathanalbright

This afternoon, when I was driving to and from dinner, I was listening to the top 40 hits played this week from the year 1989. One of the things that struck me about the songs I was listening to were … Continue reading →

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Willoughby And Ferrars: Two Peas In A Pod

Posted on September 17, 2022 by nathanalbright

One of the more interesting aspects of the way that Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility has been portrayed is the different feelings and judgments people make towards two of its male characters. When Marianne falls passionately in love with Willoughby, … Continue reading →

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Stop Giving Them Ideas

Posted on August 19, 2022 by nathanalbright

There are many reasons why dystopian fiction is less than desirable. One can discuss the ways that children and young adults suffer horrific abuse in their pages, conditioning them to believe that their own existence is tough and miserable and … Continue reading →

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On The Greatness Of Great Books

Posted on August 15, 2022 by nathanalbright

One of the characteristics of mediocre books is that they are a product of their time, and of great books is that they speak to all times. How does this happen? What is it that makes a book great rather … Continue reading →

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A Failure Of Political Imagination

Posted on April 19, 2022 by nathanalbright

In watching the latest Fantastic Beasts movie, I was struck in particular by the failure of many reviewers, who themselves are part of that accursed tribe of contemporary journos, to recognize the subtlety of the portrayal of political matters and … Continue reading →

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