A couple of weeks ago I complained about the lack of depth, metaphysical depth particularly, in the Harry Potter books and in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. Both novels let us down in that regard, because both deal with magic, the supernatural, and environments where people ought to be preoccupied with The Way Things […]
Tag Archives: literature
Does the fact that you can’t find Platform 9 ¾ at the train station bother you? Does the phrase The Well at the World’s End make you hope that there just must be something wrong with your road atlas? Do you check out rabbit holes in the forest . . . just to make sure? […]
Imagine you woke up in a world where you could, with a simple phrase, make a glass partition protecting your evil cousin from a giant python disappear. And shortly after, you discover that there’s a whole community of people just like you who are desperately trying to get in touch with you because you’re their […]
There’s a certain irony to seeing someone who has worked against themselves so successfully that, having arrived at their great goal in life, they find they can’t practice their beloved trade anymore because they have to work at other things all the time to support their new successful status. That’s the politician for you. It’s […]
Last week, exploring the chance to see some medieval art in Washington DC this winter, I wrote about Anonymous 4 and the Folger Consort at the National Cathedral, and rounded it out with a mention of the Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire Hoard at the National Geographic’s Explorer’s Hall. You can find that post here. But there’s more, […]
Would you go out of your way to get yourself castaway on a desert island? Because if you’re a writer, that’s what you’ve done. You’ve rowed out into the middle of the sea all by yourself, found a little island, rowed ashore, and got out onto the sand. The only thing you brought with you […]
What deluded miserable creature doesn’t want to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and thwart the unjust? It’s not only fair and right and good, it’s even cheaper that way. That’s just cold, hard reality. So we have a world full of serious, sober-minded men and women doing their best to make this all happen. […]
