One of the first Library of America stories I wrote about here was John Muir's "A wind-storm in the forests", so when I saw one titled "About trees" pop up recently, I had to read it. By recently, I mean April - as the Library of America published it to coincide with Arbor Day in the … Continue reading J. Sterling Morton, About trees (Review)
19th century literature
Mary Grant Bruce, The early tales (Review)
Around a month ago I wrote a Monday Musings post on the Juvenilia Press, and said that I would read and post on some of its publications. Well, here is the first of those posts. While I discovered the press through its Jane Austen juvenilia, the books I ordered were those for juvenilia by Australian authors. … Continue reading Mary Grant Bruce, The early tales (Review)
Mansfield Park Symposium, Jane Austen Festival Australia, 2014 (Part 2)
WORDPRESS GREMLIN: Those of you who subscribe to my blog will have received two notifications yesterday of my Part 1 post - as the result of what was rather a nightmare. I published the post. Up popped WordPress's successfully published screen as usual, and then POOF it all disappeared. It was nowhere to be seen … Continue reading Mansfield Park Symposium, Jane Austen Festival Australia, 2014 (Part 2)
Mansfield Park Symposium, Jane Austen Festival Australia, 2014 (Part 1)
The seventh annual Jane Austen Festival Australia, which was held in early April, is establishing itself as a comprehensive affair. Originally focusing primarily on Regency times and activities, it has gradually increased its literary content. This year it introduced a new feature, a half-day literary symposium dedicated to in-depth discussion of the year’s feature novel, Mansfield Park. … Continue reading Mansfield Park Symposium, Jane Austen Festival Australia, 2014 (Part 1)
William Wells Brown, Madison Washington (Review)
Having recently reviewed Harriet Ann Jacobs' story "The lover" in the Library of America's (LOA) Story of the Week program - and also having seen the movie 12 Years a Slave - I couldn't ignore William Wells Brown's story, Madison Washington, when it appeared last month as an LOA offering. Brown (1814-1884), like Jacobs, was born into slavery. He managed to … Continue reading William Wells Brown, Madison Washington (Review)
Harriet Ann Jacobs, The lover (Review)
It's a while since I read a story from the Library of America's (LOA) Story of the Week program, but when I saw Harriet Ann Jacobs' story "The lover" appear in its list of Top 10 stories from 2013 I felt it was time to rectify my tardiness - particularly with the movie, 12 Years a … Continue reading Harriet Ann Jacobs, The lover (Review)
Delicious descriptions from Down under: Jane Austen on politics
I was going to label this post "Jane Austen and plus ça change" but then decided to be provocative, because Austen is regularly criticised for not discussing politics, what was happening in her time, in her novels. Of course, I disagree that novelists have to specifically write about the political background to their stories. Those … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down under: Jane Austen on politics
Willa Cather, Peter (Review)
Surely a whole year can't have passed since I last wrote about a Library of America short story? But yes, it has. My last one was Robert Frost's "The question of a feather" in July last year. Many times I've chosen one to read, and many times I've let other things get in the way … Continue reading Willa Cather, Peter (Review)
Jane Austen’s letters, 1796-1800
For the past five years my Jane Austen group has been reading Jane Austen's letters in a rather higgledy piggdledy manner*. We have nearly finished now. We have just done her first letters, and next year we will conclude, logically at last, on her final letters. What a fascinating time we've been having. Jane Austen's … Continue reading Jane Austen’s letters, 1796-1800
Autumn and a favourite poem
I was lying in front of a sunny window reading my current novel this afternoon when an urge came upon me to write about one of my favourite poems. It's one of the few I can recite from heart. The poem is "Spring and Fall" by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and it goes like this: To … Continue reading Autumn and a favourite poem
Whispering Gums 