Category Archives: Literature

A KIPLING LIMERICK.

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Philip

A KIPLING LIMERICK. I have posted on limericks and how I think that light verse is an important branch of poetry. Today is the middle of January, and there is playoff game scheduled on the Frozen Tundra in Green Bay. … Continue reading →

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VICTORIAN HARPOONS IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WHALES.

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Philip

VICTORIAN HARPOONS IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WHALES. Nick and his friend Jane went to the whaling museum in New Bedford recently and were struck by the fact that whales are being found today that are carrying harpoons that were fired in … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Literature, Science | 1 Comment

THE WONDER OF THE FUTURE (COMMENT).

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Philip

THE WONDER OF THE FUTURE (COMMENT). Nick Carraway, before his last reflections on Gatsby’s dream , thinks of the Dutch sailors who first saw Long Island, and of their first glimpse of the American continent. Carraway says: “For a transitory … Continue reading →

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REFLECTING ON THE PAST (COMMENT).

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Philip

REFLECTING ON THE PAST (COMMENT). Lee Bryant commented on my post about GATSBY’s wonderful last sentence, calling attention to the beauty of some of the sentences that go before, and how they give force to that last sentence. I realize … Continue reading →

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TO BE REMEMBERED FOREVER—WRONGLY—FOR BEING MEAN.

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Philip

TO BE REMEMBERED FOREVER—WRONGLY—FOR BEING MEAN. Dickens is quoted as saying in his diary about Ebenezer Scroggie: “to be remembered through eternity only for being mean seemed the greatest testament to a life wasted.” And that is a message of … Continue reading →

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EBENEZER SCROGGIE—ADAM SMITH’S GREAT NEPHEW.

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Philip

EBENEZER SCROGGIE—ADAM SMITH’S GREAT NEPHEW. After I had posted before Christmas on Scroogenomics, I was pleased to find that Charles Dickens based his character Ebenezer Scrooge on a great nephew of Adam Smith. The story is told here by Timothy … Continue reading →

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GATSBY’S LAST SENTENCE.

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Philip

GATSBY’S LAST SENTENCE. The great last sentence of THE GREAT GATSBY is: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Vidyan Ravinthiran had a review in the Times Literary Supplement (December 9) of Stanley … Continue reading →

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MAKING CHRISTMAS MEMORIES.

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Philip

MAKING CHRISTMAS MEMORIES. Dickens is wise when he has Scrooge’s conversion accomplished by memories—Scrooge’s past memories, his memories that are being created in the present, and his memories that will be created in the future. We remember our Christmases and … Continue reading →

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EGGCORNS AS “TINY LITTLE POEMS”.

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Philip

EGGCORNS AS “TINY LITTLE POEMS”. Eggcorns as well as mondegreens show up frequently in the student writing mistakes that are discussed in RAB’s blog “You Know What I Meant”. RAB analyzes them in much the same way that a good … Continue reading →

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MIDDLEMARCH.

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Philip

MIDDLEMARCH. The last words of George Eliot’s MIDDLEMARCH: “…the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to … Continue reading →

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