I read at least 80 books in 2021; that is my new record since I started keeping track of my readings a few years ago. While it is tempting for me to get caught up in trying to beat my records, I am working on keeping the mindset of quality over quantity. And last year I am happy to say there were quite a few books that were well worth my time. In July of last year I wrote a post ranking my favorites as of that point. Now it is interesting to go back and see how those rated…
So far this year I’ve read about 35 books. I think I might have missed a couple that I read on my Kindle and returned already. But that’s a pretty close number. And quite a lot of books! So instead of waiting until the end of the year to recap everything I wanted to mention the highlights thus far. Fiction A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness This is the first in a trilogy of fantasy novels. While I went on to read the sequels, the story seemed to lose some magic along the way (pun intended). “A Discovery of Witches”…
I was a little apprehensive about teaching C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces in my literature class this year—I am usually nervous about any new texts—but this is proving to be one of my favorite selections of the year. I read the book for the first in 7th or 8th grade, and in retrospect I probably should waited a little longer. I remember being thoroughly baffled by it. It was one of those books I wanted to like and understand, but was just too confusing. One of my original problems was the confusion over names of characters. For a speed reader,…
Last semester at Veritas Christi Hybrid Academy, in my 7th and 8th Literature & Composition class I’ve been teaching The Hobbit. There have been multiple times that my own knowledge of Tolkien’s world has been put to shame by students who are quickly becoming experts in Middle-earth lore! I used this as an opportunity to introduce the concept of summarizing, so each day of class would open with a review of the reading assignment they finished. Then the students would take a few minutes to write a one sentence summary of the chapter they read. I found that they enjoyed reading their sentences…
Despite being a voracious reader, I’ve always been intimidated by Medieval and Renaissance literature. So I had somehow gotten this far in my life without reading Paradise Lost. But in preparation for teaching a British Literature class this fall, I decided it was time to overcome my fear. In the Christian Guide to the Classics series, I discovered that Leland Ryken had written a guide for Paradise Lost which I found invaluable during my reading. It broke the text up into manageable sections and provided a summary of the plot that helped me follow along. Additionally, the questions and ideas that Ryken explored made the book more fascinating…
David Tennant, despite being very intense and sometimes exaggerated, makes Hamlet’s character realistic. The mood of the written play, which can seem melodramatic, is compellingly demonstrated in his performance. The only performance of Hamlet I have seen is the RSC’s production with David Tennant, from 2008 Tennant is known for his intensity of personality, most notably seen in his role as the Tenth Doctor in BBC’s TV series, Doctor Who. Tennant brings this intensity to the stage in Hamlet. While it could be argued that his performance is exaggerated and detracts from the artistic intentions of Shakespeare, I believe Tennant skillfully manifested the intensity and drama…
We had left off in Book I with Telemachus (Odysseus’ son) being challenged by Athena to leave his childhood behind and grow into a hero worthy of his father. So, appropriately, Book II is titled, “A Hero’s Son Awakens.” Telemachus carries out a well-intentioned but doomed attempt to intimidate the suitors who are literally eating his family out of house and home. Lacking their respect and having no “bite” to his “bark” they are not scared by his threats but instead pity his childish outburst of temper. Athena intervenes again and counsels Telemachus to go on a trip to visit…
I’ve always had a fascination with Greek literature, and it seems that my interest is never satisfied. Even after doing a MOOC from Harvard last year on “The Greek Hero” I was excited to see another MOOC from University of Pennsylvania on Greek and Roman Mythology. So far—two weeks into the course—it has been amazing! The first book assigned to read for the class was The Odyssey. However, the reading is split up into three weeks, so for each week I’ll be reading 8 of the 24 books (aka chapters) of The Odyssey. You know you’re into Greek lit when…
I recently finished an online course by Futurelearn.com about Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. I wanted to share some reflections on what I learned and what I found most interesting about the course. Although I had read Hamlet a few times prior to this course, I confess that I never really “got” the point. I didn’t see why Hamlet was so upset about his father’s death, and the whole thing just didn’t make sense. But this course helped me understand what it is all about. Hamlet isn’t just about a prince avenging his father’s murder…it is about a young man grappling with the fundamental questions of our existence….
This essay is “hot off the press” (aka, I wrote it about 10 minutes ago) for my MOOC class on Hamlet. Enjoy! There are three different versions of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. The First, or “Bad” Quarto includes a scene which the other two versions leave out completely. This scene is a dialogue between Queen Gertrude and Horatio. Horatio tells the queen that Hamlet has escaped the death trap set by his uncle, King Claudius, (he was sent to England with a sealed letter to the King of England requesting Hamlet’s immediate execution) and is back in Denmark. In the other…
