Instant Gratification Very few readers today could sit still long enough to get through the first page of a Dickens novel. Oh, they might make it through a film of one of his novels, but read it? Not likely. And that is fine on some accounts. Different readers prefer different books. Yet, in the 19th … Continue reading Why Are Readers So Impatient?
Category: British Literature
Why Writers Write—I think!
Whenever I have a Q & A with elementary students, someone inevitably asks me why I write. I always manage some sort of answer which I believe to be true, but I never feel satisfied with that answer. I say something to the effect that I grew up loving to read and wanted to see … Continue reading Why Writers Write—I think!
“THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY”
A few nights ago, my husband and I were scrolling through some movie possibilities on Amazon Prime and came across a period drama called The Go Between, a 1971 film based on the novel of the same name written in 1952 by L. P. Hartley, an accomplished British author. The story, set at the turn … Continue reading “THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY”
Alone
There are those times in our lives when the crushing throngs around us become too much to deal with, and we seek the calm of solitude or the society of a select few. One need not be a misanthrope to desire the quiet and still, the company of “old dogs and watermelon wine,’ or the … Continue reading Alone
New Year’s Eve
The Passing of the Year by Robert W. Service My glass is filled, my pipe is lit, My den is all a cosy glow; And snug before the fire I sit, And wait to feel the old year go. I dedicate to solemn thought Amid my too-unthinking days, This sober moment, sadly fraught With much … Continue reading New Year’s Eve