David Foster Wallace fills his book Oblivion: Stories (2004) with double-binds. A character wishes to be significant while working at a job that demands his insignificance. A child misses a teacher’s psychotic breakdown in the classroom, but only because a more horrific daydream transfixes him. A tribe’s magical child can only dispense wisdom to theContinue reading “Wallace’s Double-binds”
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Shakespeare Project: Days 5-8
Today, I finished the Henry VI trilogy. The plays ask a simple question: can a Christian be a good king? A straight reading of the plays says no. Henry VI is a devout man who is a bad ruler. Under Henry VI, the seeds for the War of the Roses were sown. He failed toContinue reading “Shakespeare Project: Days 5-8”
Shakespeare Project: Days 3 and 4
I finished my third Shakespeare play of the new year, Henry VI Part 2. It’s regarded as the strongest of the Henry VI trilogy, and I can see why. Henry VI is a fascinating figure, namely because he’s pious. You can’t find a more Christian king in Shakespeare’s corpus. Yet, his kingdom is in ruin.Continue reading “Shakespeare Project: Days 3 and 4”
Shakespeare Project: Day 2
I knocked out another play today: Henry VI Part 1. It’s a historical drama that critics either think Shakespeare didn’t write (co-writing candidates include Thomas Nashe) or shouldn’t have written. Given its lackluster reputation, I was surprised at how much was inside the play. The play’s action occurs between Henry V’s death and the beginningContinue reading “Shakespeare Project: Day 2”
Shakespeare Project: Day 1
One of my New Year’s commitments was to reread Shakespeare’s corpus. I began today with his provocative The Taming of the Shrew. The plot hearkens back to both folk tales and Biblical parables. Its premise? A beautiful younger daughter (Bianca) with many suitors can’t get married until her shrewish older sister (Katherine/Kate) gets hitched. EnterContinue reading “Shakespeare Project: Day 1”
New Year; More Reading
I started the new year by reading Leland Ryken’s How To Read the Bible as Literature (and Get More Out of It). The book is more of an introduction to the topic than a definitive source. Its best feature? Copious further reading lists at the end of each chapter. I’ll be checking out the followingContinue reading “New Year; More Reading”
Notes from the Underground: Plot and Theme
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground (1864) is a propulsive novella narrated in the first-person by the Underground Man, a retired civil servant. The novel has two sections. The first section records the Underground Man’s rantings against various elements of Russian society, particularly Utopianism. People are incapable of perfection, he argues, and are fundamentally irrational.Continue reading “Notes from the Underground: Plot and Theme”
Ethics and Suspense
Today, I read two selections from Alfred Hitchock’s curated collection, My Favorites in Suspense. The two illustrate the opposed content of suspense stories. “A Sentence of Death” by Thomas Walsh finds suspense in a cop seeking to correct injustice. Mann Rubin’s “A Nice Touch” finds tension in making the story’s protagonist even more unjust thanContinue reading “Ethics and Suspense”
The Pale King: A Covenantal Theme
David Foster Wallace’s posthumous novel The Pale King (2012) is incomplete, but its best sections demonstrate the power of Wallace’s fiction. THEME Set in an IRS office, the novel concerns various characters attempting to find meaning in rote, often dull work. Wallace sees their dilemma as an ethical one. Characters thrive when they discover thatContinue reading “The Pale King: A Covenantal Theme”
Interpreter of Maladies: Covenantal Theme and Plot
Every semester, I teach Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection Interpreter of Maladies (1999). I reread it today and found it as powerful as ever. THEME We destroy our communities through greed, lust, and pride. We most experience broken communities, particularly in marriage, when we communicate poorly. For Lahiri, we experience redemption when we tell or listen toContinue reading “Interpreter of Maladies: Covenantal Theme and Plot”
Experiments in Criticism 