Posts tagged 'Literature'

A carrot cake: “Possibly gives the greatest and most counterintuitive pleasure on earth.”

A line from Fiona Maazel’s new novel, Waking Up Lonely. 

Just had a piece myself this morning, with coffee.

A new novel by Jeanne Thompson, The Humanity Project, explores the ills of modern American society, namely an absence of humanity.

The ills, when listed categorically, are:

1. Bullying

2. School shootings

3. The dangers of cyber-hookups

4. Homelessness

5. The housing ­crises

6. Income disparity

7. Crazy-rich-person philanthropy

"I don’t like overrefinement, or to dwell in the heads of vaporous ladies with fine sensibilities."

— Two-time Booker Prize-winning novelist, Hilary Mantel. 

(Source: The New York Times)

A painting, Antigone in front of the Dead Polynieces (1865), by Nikiforos Lytras.

In ancient Greek playwright Sophocles’ play, Antigone, the heroine Antigone defies the law of the land in order to grant Polyneices a proper burial. Polyneices was a terrorist (by our modern definition) who wanted to blow up the city of Thebes and died in the process.

Daniel Mendelsohn, literature Professor at Bard College, brings up the ethics and politics of the burial of the dead in ancient Greek society and literature, while discussing the recent controversy surrounding the burial of the dead Boston bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

(Source: newyorker.com)

"I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."

— Daisy says this of her daughter, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (I’m guessing it’s a “fool” capable of falling head over heels in love “foolishly”)