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“Mao Doesn’t Sell” – The Chinese Government’s Return to Confucianism
Fascinating article in the WSJ about the Chinese government’s attempt to return to Confucianism. “Mao doesn’t sell,” says one official. But what’s left? In the last year, the party has publicly ordered its officials nationwide to attend lectures on Confucius and other classical Chinese thinkers, while tightening restrictions on Western influence in art, academia and… Continue reading
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Sneak Preview: The Chinese Classic of Poetry
Hello everyone! This week we’ll be taking a look at the Shi Jing, or Classic of Poetry. It’s our first work from China on the History of Literature podcast. The above image depicts the first poem in the collection: how gorgeous is that? I love the combination of a beautifully rendered poem and the serenity of Chinese… Continue reading
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Are Chain Bookstores Doomed? Or Just Stupid? The U.K. Shows the U.S. How It’s Done
Have you been to a Barnes and Noble lately? It looks like a record shop, a toy store, an arts supplies store, an…ehhh, I don’t know what. I know what you’re thinking. Well, Jacke, can you blame them? Look how besieged they are! Look what happened to the indies! Look what happened to Borders! Let’s… Continue reading
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We Don’t Need The Onion Anymore…
I read things like this NYT description of Faerie Magazine and just…well… scratch my head in wonder… ‘‘Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,’’ wrote W.B. Yeats, ‘‘for I would ride with you upon the wind.’’ Had Yeats read an issue of Faerie Magazine, he might have found what he was yearning for:… Continue reading
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The Man In the High Castle – Best Title Sequence Ever?
I’m three episodes into Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle, a new series based on a book of the same name by Philip K. Dick. I’m enjoying the alternative history aspects of the drama – it takes place in the 60s and imagines that Hitler’s Germany won the war (they got the A bomb… Continue reading
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Aristophanes and Spike Lee
Our History of Literature journey takes us to Aristophanes next. I’m working on the episode now, which of course will have a heavy emphasis on his play Lysistrata. And then I realize that the play has been adapted to a modern-day setting for a movie (Chi-Raq) by none other than Spike Lee. I admire Spike Lee… Continue reading
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A Sufjan Stevens Christmas
I haven’t listened to Sufjan Stevens in a while, but there was a time when his Michigan album was just about all I listened to. Is he completely unlike anyone else, or do I just not listen to enough music? In any case, I ran across his Christmas albums the other day. Here’s a taste: So… Continue reading
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“A Crisp and Merciless Clarity”: Mary Beard’s SPQR
I haven’t read the latest book by Mary Beard yet, but this NY Times review is certainly enough to whet my readerly appetite: How on earth did they do it? The Greek historian Polybius, writing in the second century B.C., was the first to ask the question: “Who could be so indifferent or so idle that they… Continue reading
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History of Literature Episode 4 – Sappho
Ancient Greece viewed her as Homer’s poetic equal; Plato referred to her as the “tenth muse.” As a fearless and lyrical chronicler of female desire, she had a profound impact on literature and society. Author Jacke Wilson takes a look at the genius of Sappho, the first great female writer in the history of literature.… Continue reading
Jacke Wilson 