All the past we leave behind; We debouch upon a newer, mightier world, varied world, Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march, Pioneers! O pioneers! ~Walt Whitman, “Pioneers, O Pioneers!” I just finished O Pioneers! and it was one of the most inspiring, stirring books I’ve read in a long time. The words of the poem, when paired with the novel, illustrate a brave and confident group of people who took chances and paid prices for their dreams. Alexandra […]
Rabbits are the new Lil’ Sebastian
Apparently, this summer will be spent reading All the Things I Never Read in High School. Because this next book fell into the category. And somehow, I missed it again in college. And graduate school. What? How could I have missed out on such a famous book? Well, gentle bloggers, I picked it up, read it, and have only three letters to add: W.T.F. Seriously, WTF DID I JUST READ. Before I delve into my analysis, I’d like to offer a little confessional about myself: […]
A Bear and a Maiden Sparklepony
I’ve avoided reading James Fenimore Cooper for a long time. I don’t know if it was the subject matter, the age of the texts, or the daunting length of the novels, but until now, I’d never cracked open anything of his. It took me a few weeks to get through The Last of the Mohicans, but when I finally finished it, only one thought ran through my mind: WHAT DID I JUST READ. I actually had to have Wikipedia help me with the plot, because […]
Who’s the bastard in this scenario?
I really can’t talk about this book. It’s important and groundbreaking, but it devastated me so much that I couldn’t even cry. I just sort of curled up into a ball and felt awful all evening after I finished reading it. Ruth Anne Boatwright, known as Bone, doesn’t know who her father is, and her family won’t tell. To add further insult, the state of South Carolina stamps “bastard” on her birth certificate and her fifteen-year-old mother can’t get them to take it off. With […]
Willa Cather is my new girl crush.
The Chancellor has been at me to read Willa Cather since we’ve been dating (that was six plus years ago). Finally, I opened The Song of the Lark this summer. Silly me, how did I wait this long? Okay, The Song of the Lark is a Kunstlerroman (that’s coming of age for the artist, in layman’s terms) about a young woman with ambitions and a hugely talented voice languishing away in the fictional town of Moonstone, Colorado. Thea Kronborg is clever and restless, longing for […]
Pork and the Demise of the American Dream
Ergh. How is it July already????? I won’t laundry list you with all the things that Must Get Done by the time this school year starts, but my dissertation draft is at the top of the list, followed by unit plans for this next semester of composition (thankfully, teaching the same class for the fourth year will come in awfully handy). Last year, I Cannonballed in July. Ain’t gonna happen this year. What are you going to do? Anyway. I read The Jungle, thinking that […]
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