Beckett exists in a kind of Irish Modernist Mount Rushmore beside other iconic writers like Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, and James Joyce. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: Samuel Beckett: The Complete Short Prose, 1929 – 1989, edited and with an Introduction and Notes by S. E. Gontarski
Jack Burton: I don’t get this at all. I thought Lo Pan— David Lo Pan: Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to “get it!” Big Trouble in Little China (John Carpenter, 1986) Earlier in my life, I read Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Ulysses, all by James Joyce. This year I decided to read Finnegans Wake, a novel notorious for its inaccessibility. Like The Cantos by Ezra Pound, it is a text many know, few read, and less understand. While the Wake is difficult, this shouldn’t be seen as a … Continue reading Critic’s Notebook: The Wake without training wheels
Years of experience has brought with it a fondness for the demanding read. My reading selections are promiscuous, omnivorous, and ecumenical. I’m an enthusiast for the Modern, the Experimental, and the Unclassifiable. I also enjoy reading space fantasy novels published by the Black Library. As a critic, I enjoy plumbing the depths of pop culture, high culture, and places in between. One of the experiences I enjoy I will call the Demanding Read. This essay, the first part of two, will explore the Demanding Read in terms of fiction. The second essay will focus on non-fiction. Given that each reader … Continue reading Critic’s Notebook: A Demanding Read, Part I (Fiction)
The Driftless Area Review 