In this blog post, we’ll examine what philosophical questions and perceptions of reality Lovecraft’s bizarre world encompasses beyond mere horror, and explore its significance. Five Works That Define Lovecraft’s World The works I reviewed this time are “The Outsider,” “The Rats in the Walls,” “The Call of Cthulhu,” “The Whisperer in the Darkness,” and “The Color Out of Space”—five stories...
Why did Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ build upon the ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ to create the founding myth of Rome?
In this blog post, we’ll examine how Virgil, through the ‘Aeneid’, drew upon Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ to transform the fall of Troy into the founding narrative of Rome. In Search of the ‘Aeneid’ After reading the ‘Iliad’ and the ‘Odyssey’ and then encountering the ‘Aeneid’, it’s easy to assume that the...
Why Did Yerofeyev’s ‘Train from Moscow to Petushki’ Become a Classic of Soviet Literature?
In this blog post, we’ll explore how the formal ingenuity of this work—which spread through samizdat—and Yerofeyev’s tumultuous life intertwined to create the utopia of Petushki. The Work and First Impressions To most readers, the name Benedict Vasilyevich Yerofeyev (1938–1990) and the title ‘The Train from Moscow to Petushki’ will likely feel somewhat unfamiliar. While Moscow...
How does Antonio Muñoz Molina’s ‘The Polish Cavalry’ intertwine personal memory with modern Spanish history?
In this blog post, using Mahina as a setting, we explore how generational memories and silences shape individual identities and narratives in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, through the narrative structure and main characters of ‘The Polish Cavalry’. Overview of the Author and Work Antonio Muñoz Molina is an author who began his career in earnest in the late 1980s and...
Why does Stendhal’s ‘The Red and the Black’ use the rise and fall of Julien Sorel to expose the social ills of 1830s France?
In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at how Stendhal’s ‘The Red and the Black’ reveals the social injustices and class conflicts of the late Restoration period through the ambition and tragedy of Julien Sorel. About the Author, Stendhal Stendhal’s real name was Marie Henri Beyle. “Stendhal” was merely one of the approximately 170 pen names he used; he chose this...
How does Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda capture the truth of Germanic mythology?
In this blog post, I’ll briefly summarize how the origins and structure of the Prose Edda, combined with skaldic poetry and the historical context of Snorri’s time, worked together to preserve and pass down Germanic mythology. What is the Prose Edda? This book, commonly translated as ‘The Prose Edda’, was written by the medieval Icelandic scholar and poet Snorri Sturluson...
What Do Rilke’s Life and Works Tell Us?
In this blog post, I’ll summarize Rainer Maria Rilke’s life and literary journey, as well as the significance of his short story collection ‘Stories of a Beloved God’. Rilke’s Life and Literature Rainer Maria Rilke was born on December 4, 1875, in Prague. At the time, Prague was the capital of German Bohemia. His father, Josef Rilke, was a man of modest character who worked for...
Laughter in the Renaissance and Liberation: Reading Rabelais’s ‘Gargantua’
In this blog post, we’ll examine François Rabelais’s masterpiece ‘Gargantua’, focusing on the preparation required of the reader, the meaning of the laughter contained within the work, and how the historical context shapes that meaning. Rabelais’s ‘Gargantua’ and the Demand for Laughter If you’re getting ready to open ‘Gargantua’, you’d better be...
What is Lu Xun’s significance, and why are his works still important today?
In this blog post, we will examine Lu Xun’s significance and why his works remain important today. Lu Xun’s Contemporary Significance In September 2010, reports emerged that Chinese textbooks had drastically reduced the amount of writing by Lu Xun—the preeminent intellectual of the Enlightenment era—and instead included a large number of works by authors and intellectuals who provided...
How Did Roberto Bolaño’s Nomadic Life Influence ‘The Savage Detectives’ and ‘2666’?
In this blog post, we’ll explore how Roberto Bolaño’s nomadic life and his major works—particularly ‘The Savage Detectives’ and ‘2666’—intertwined to drive his literary innovation. A Nomadic Life and Intense Writing Roberto Bolaño was born in Chile but spent most of his life in Mexico and Spain, living as a geographical and cultural outsider. His life—in which he...