A series dedicated to literature in translation whether classic or contemporary. Originally published in Czech as Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války (1921 – 1923). Translated from the Czech by Cecil Parrott. Original illustrations by Josef Lada Published by … Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: The Good Soldier Švejk, by Jaroslav Hašek
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” Continue reading Commonplace Book: Patriotism and War Crimes in Shakespeare’s Henry V
“After Hitler” by Michael Jones is “a brilliant exploration of the final days of the European theater, valuable in its military analysis and generous use of eyewitness accounts.” Continue reading After Hitler: The Last Ten Days of World War II in Europe, by Michael Jones @ NYJB
After ten years of war, soldiers have grown weary. The leadership now endures uncouth criticism of its policy, accusations of self-interest and self-aggrandizement become commonplace. The gods remain fickle, taking sides and influencing the ground game. Some things never change. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander @ NYJB
Saluting the fallen this Memorial Day with three poems. Continue reading Commonplace Book: Memorial Day Poetry: Sorley, Klemm, Pound
The ghosts of Sixties radicalism return to haunt the life of Boston real estate lawyer Alan Ripley in KC Frederick’s new novel. Continue reading After Lyletown, by K.C. Frederick
The first part in a series dedicated to examining the science fiction and fantasy films from 1979 to 1989. The series will investigate whether these films possess certain ineffable qualities missing from today’s films of the same genres. Kurtz: I expected someone like you. What did you expect? Are you an assassin? Willard: I’m a soldier. Kurtz: You’re neither. You’re an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill. Why are we beginning a series devoted to the science fiction and fantasy films of the 1980s with Apocalypse Now? Francis Ford Coppola’s epic Vietnam War film holds the … Continue reading 80sSFF: Apocalypse Now (1979) and Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)
Subtitled “A Historical Novel of Puget Sound,” Michael Schein’s Bones Beneath Our Feet tells us the story of two men, Isaac Stevens, Mexican-American War veteran and first governor of Washington Territory, and Leschi, Chief of the Nisqually tribe. Published by Bennett & Hastings, a Seattle-based independent publisher, the novel, at first glance, appears like yet another retelling of a White Man-vs.-Native American conflict told with the subtlety of an afternoon special. “Remember kids, the white man is a pure embodiment of evil while the Native Americans are innocent, Nature-loving gentlefolk.” This is the simplistic moralizing found in everything from Dances … Continue reading Bones Beneath Our Feet by Michael Schein
Strange and short, straddling realism and fable, Standing at the Crossroads by Charles Davis tells the tale of Ishmael, his encounters, his adventures, and, above all, his love for literature. Employed as “The Walking Librarian,” he cuts a muscular figure from the heavy books he carries from village to village. For now, his books lay buried in a dry well and he finds himself on a journey with a strident woman named Kate. Ishmael grew up in the harsh land of an unnamed African nation, now a failed state filled with militias sporting anemic acronyms and engaging in atrocities. One … Continue reading Standing at the Crossroads by Charles Davis
The representation of Hell as a cartographic region has its origins in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Dante adapted the imagery already present in medieval painting and sculpture to comment on his political situation and his own scientific and theological beliefs. He populated it with real people, including political heroes and villains, good popes and bad popes, adulterous princesses, and monsters human and mythological. On Dante’s spiritual journey, he traveled with the Roman poet Vergil down the various circles of Hell and then up Mount Purgatory. Finally, led by his beloved Beatrice, he journeyed through the heavenly spheres until he was in … Continue reading Critical Appraisal: The Landscape of Hell
The Driftless Area Review 