#literary-references

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Writing
fromThe New Yorker
21 hours ago

Said Sayrafiezadeh on Opening with Kafka

A barista is central to the story 'Process of Elimination,' exploring themes of wrongful accusation and bureaucracy.
fromLGBTQ Nation
10 hours ago

These 10 banned LGBTQ+ books for teens and young adults teach resilience & authenticity - LGBTQ Nation

In his 'memoir-manifesto', Johnson writes personal essays about navigating homophobia, their supportive family, and their first sexual experiences while growing up Black and queer in the South. Johnson ultimately encourages readers to shed society's toxic masculinity and embrace themselves fully.
LGBT
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
20 hours ago

Newly released letters reveal JD Salinger's wariness over second-rate reviewers'

JD Salinger's letters reveal his desire to obscure his Jewish-Irish heritage from the public and his concerns about cultural representation.
fromVulture
3 days ago

Blue Heron Resists Catharsis

"Why did you do that, sweetheart?" encapsulates the central theme of Blue Heron, as Sasha's actions prompt her parents to question the unpredictable behavior of her half-brother Jeremy.
Film
fromThe New Yorker
3 days ago

Why Earnestness Is Everywhere

"We've just seen too much awful stuff, and it's impossible to ironize. The only sane response to that is to kind of sober up and say, 'All right, what resources do humans still have?'"
Humor
Books
fromSlate Magazine
1 day ago

My Teen Daughter Wrote a Romantasy Novel. I Read It-And It Sends a Very Alarming Message.

Trusting strangers in vulnerable situations can send harmful messages, especially in narratives aimed at young readers.
Philosophy
fromOpen Culture
1 week ago

Leo Tolstoy Calls Shakespeare an 'Insignificant, Inartistic Writer.' Then George Orwell Fires Back

Leo Tolstoy's radical conversion to Christian anarchism led him to vehemently oppose patriarchal institutions and advocate for the Russian peasantry.
Film
fromThe Atlantic
5 days ago

Enough With the Vibesy Literary Remakes

Modern adaptations of classic literature often simplify complex themes, resulting in superficial interpretations that lack depth.
Books
fromThe New Yorker
3 days ago

A Literary Wunderkind's Best-Selling Nostalgia

Nelio Biedermann's 'Lázár' reimagines the life of Hungarian aristocrats, reflecting on the impact of historical events on their legacy.
Writing
fromwww.theguardian.com
6 days ago

Ghost Stories by Siri Hustvedt review life after Paul Auster

Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt shared a deep literary bond and a complex marriage lasting over 40 years, filled with love and creativity.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
4 days ago

Eight Biographies That Really Bring Their Subjects to Life

Literary biography requires a delicate balance of reverence and creativity to portray a subject's life authentically and humanely.
Writing
fromwww.nytimes.com
6 days ago

Poetry Challenge Day 2: Love, How It Works and What It Means

Auden's poem explores love philosophically, contrasting indifference with the desire for mutual affection.
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
4 days ago

The best books to read in April: new paperbacks from Katie Kitamura, Benjamin Wood and Mick Herron

The novel explores themes of identity, trauma, and the performance of self through the interactions between the narrator and Xavier.
fromwww.nytimes.com
1 week ago

Classic and Contemporary Literature From France, Japan, India, the U.K. and Brazil

Classic France is a country of nuance with a love of conversation and freedom and an aversion to fanaticism. Contemporary Houellebecq describes France as a museum, where landscape turns into decor and where rural areas are emptying out.
Writing
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Daunting, inspiring, comforting, terrifying: the writers who can make silence as eloquent as words

A vision lay before him: Fleet Street blanketed with snow, silent, empty, pure white, and, at the end of it, the huge and majestic form of Saint Paul's Cathedral. It was a spellbinding moment: the great thoroughfare temporarily devoid of carts and carriages, the cathedral looming blurrily out of the still-falling snowflakes a real-life snow globe.
London
#poetry
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 weeks ago

The best recent poetry review roundup

The collection features unrhymed sonnets exploring the relationship between landscape, language, and human experience amidst themes of illness and trauma.
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 weeks ago

The best recent poetry review roundup

The collection features unrhymed sonnets exploring the relationship between landscape, language, and human experience amidst themes of illness and trauma.
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 weeks ago

From Peepo! to Middlemarch: 25 books to read before you turn 25

Children's reading for pleasure has significantly declined, with only one in five reading daily, prompting concerns about a post-literate age.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
2 weeks ago

The Writers Who Can't Let Go of the South

Nancy Lemann's New Orleans upbringing profoundly influences her writing, with most of her novels featuring Southern characters and themes.
Writing
fromThe Atlantic
2 weeks ago

The Feeling of Becoming Less and Less of a Person

The advent of the smartphone marked a significant shift in human perception and relationships, altering the human sensorium since June 2007.
#infinite-jest
Writing
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 weeks ago

Life of Pi author Yann Martel: I thought the Iliad was a book for old farts then I started getting ideas'

Yann Martel's new novel, Son of Nobody, reimagines the Trojan War from the perspective of an unknown soldier, blending humor and domesticity with scholarly footnotes.
#literature
fromThe Atlantic
3 weeks ago
Books

Unconventional Novels About Conventional People

Aging revolutionaries and conformists share parallel narratives of disillusionment and the loss of youthful dreams in recent literature.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
3 weeks ago

Unconventional Novels About Conventional People

Aging revolutionaries and conformists share parallel narratives of disillusionment and the loss of youthful dreams in recent literature.
#film-vs-literature
Writing
fromThe New Yorker
3 weeks ago

The Ample Rewards of Ben Lerner's Slender New Novel

An interview with Ben Lerner reveals complexities of memory and influence in art and literature.
Books
fromInsideHook
3 weeks ago

What to Read Right Now, According to Cool Men

Men are encouraged to read a variety of fiction, including classics, memoirs, and trending novels, especially as summer approaches.
Books
fromThe New Yorker
3 weeks ago

The Sci-Fi Novelist Who Disappeared for Decades

Cameron Reed's science fiction explores cognitive estrangement, revealing alien worlds that reflect and challenge our own societal norms and moral dilemmas.
Books
fromenglish.elpais.com
3 weeks ago

Frankenstein, Jane Eyre and Snow White with a gender-based perspective: The Madwoman in the Attic' and the beginning of feminist literary criticism

The new edition of 'La loca del desvan' revives feminist literary criticism, highlighting the relevance of women's voices in literature today.
fromHarvard Gazette
2 months ago

Moved by what's missing in Homer's 'Harrow' - Harvard Gazette

At first sight, Winslow Homer's " The Brush Harrow," which depicts two young boys, a horse, and a harrow against an arid landscape, evokes a feeling of somber isolation - but it's hard to pinpoint why. During a talk by curator Horace D. Ballard at the Harvard Art Museums on Jan. 29, visitors learned that Homer painted the scene in 1865, as the Civil War was ending, making the emotional underpinnings of the work clearer.
Arts
Music
fromwww.npr.org
2 months ago

Why music has become such a big part of the romance novel reading experience

Romance novel readers increasingly use pop music playlists to enhance their reading experiences, creating a community that bridges book fandom and music fandom, exemplified by Charli XCX's Wuthering Heights album.
Roam Research
fromWIRED
1 month ago

Grammarly Is Offering 'Expert' AI Reviews From Your Favorite Authors-Dead or Alive

Grammarly has expanded from a grammar checker to an AI writing platform offering multiple generative features, including an 'expert review' option that falsely attributes critiques to real academics and deceased authors without their permission or involvement.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 month ago

Why some of us build entire worlds inside our heads and then feel homesick for places that never existed - Silicon Canals

Elaborate inner worlds built through imagination are common cognitive features that fulfill emotional needs, characterized by specific details and consistent logic that can persist for decades.
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Benjamin Wood: John Fowles's The Magus was so frustrating I threw it at the wall'

My mother bought me Stanley Bagshaw and the Short-sighted Football Trainer by Bob Wilson. I grew up thinking he was the same Bob Wilson who played in goal for Arsenal and presented sport on ITV.
Books
Music
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

From Bronte to Ballard, Orwell to Okri: the best songs inspired by literature ranked!

Numerous popular songs draw direct inspiration from literature, with artists adapting novels, authors, and literary imagery into lyrics, themes, and song concepts.
LGBT
fromQueerty
2 months ago

The Myth of Greek Sex: How Oscar Wilde, some steamy classics & a century of bias rewrote ancient queer love - Queerty

Homophobia in the West originated across the ancient Mediterranean amid crises—inequality, fear, and obsession with self-control—transforming previously accepted queer love into sin.
#frankenstein
Writing
fromThe Walrus
1 month ago

Frankenstein Taught Me the Classics Are Alive, They're Really Alive! | The Walrus

Frankenstein explores themes of unchecked ambition and responsibility, paralleling modern concerns about artificial intelligence and the creation of consciousness.
Books
fromHarvard Gazette
1 month ago

Our 'Frankenstein' Fixation - Harvard Gazette

Frankenstein endures as a cultural touchstone over 200 years after publication due to its nested narrative structure and the monster's eloquent humanity that challenges initial perceptions of monstrosity.
Writing
fromThe Walrus
1 month ago

Frankenstein Taught Me the Classics Are Alive, They're Really Alive! | The Walrus

Frankenstein explores themes of unchecked ambition and responsibility, paralleling modern concerns about artificial intelligence and the creation of consciousness.
Books
fromHarvard Gazette
1 month ago

Our 'Frankenstein' Fixation - Harvard Gazette

Frankenstein endures as a cultural touchstone over 200 years after publication due to its nested narrative structure and the monster's eloquent humanity that challenges initial perceptions of monstrosity.
Film
fromwww.dw.com
2 months ago

An undying trend: How vampires hold a mirror to society

The vampire figure personifies societal anxieties and mirrors social and racial violence, sustaining enduring cultural relevance across myth, literature, and film.
Books
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Fiction Is Indispensable to Life's Journey

Fiction is essential for emotional connection, learning, and social cognition, allowing us to escape reality and engage deeply with narratives.
fromThe Conversation
1 month ago

Today's obsession with authenticity isn't new - being true to yourself has troubled philosophers for centuries

All of us live in an age where we're bombarded by social media and artificial intelligence - when striving to be your authentic self becomes an increasingly difficult task. Yet, even if it has somehow become a common goal, it is unclear how many of us can truly define the "authenticity" that we say we are pursuing.
Philosophy
Film
fromwww.dw.com
2 months ago

An undying trend: How vampires hold a mirror to society

Vampires in storytelling symbolize societal fears and reflect historical social and racial violence, as shown by a 1930s-set horror about community-targeted vampires.
Writing
fromBig Think
1 month ago

"If it sounds literary, it isn't": The deceptively simple rules behind good writing

Neal Allen and Anne Lamott co-authored Good Writing by combining Allen's 36 writing rules with Lamott's annotations, creating a collaborative guide where Allen explains rules and Lamott provides practical examples and alternative perspectives.
Writing
fromThe New Yorker
2 months ago

The Brilliance and the Badness of "The Sun Also Rises"

A narrative that outwardly endorses bravery, nature, and grace is fundamentally held together by hatred.
#literary-fiction
Writing
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Virginia Woolf and the Reclaiming of Attention

Virginia Woolf's stream-of-consciousness technique demonstrates how attention shapes consciousness and remains relevant to contemporary struggles against digital distraction.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
1 month ago

When Did Literature Get Less Dirty?

Philip Roth's Zuckerman Unbound functioned as a response to the controversial reception of Portnoy's Complaint, with Roth's protagonist expressing regret over writing sexually explicit material that drew accusations of anti-Semitism and misogyny.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

Why Tennyson Feels So Modern

Young Alfred, Lord Tennyson absorbed unsettling scientific ideas, shaping his melancholic temperament and the themes of belief crisis in his poetry.
Books
fromHarvard Gazette
2 months ago

The stories behind the books - Harvard Gazette

Harvard's library collection includes books that use layered images, movable elements, and raised type to create interactive, tactile, and accessible reading experiences.
Books
fromBustle
1 month ago

The 10 Best New Books Of March

Spring 2024 brings diverse literary releases across romance, literary fiction, and debuts, featuring works by established authors like Abby Jimenez and Rebecca Serle alongside promising new writers.
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Saba Sams: I've no interest in reading Wuthering Heights again'

Jacqueline Wilson's unflinching approach to children's literature, alongside works by authors like Gwendoline Riley and Clarice Lispector, demonstrates that literary courage and emotional complexity resonate more powerfully than conventional safety or virtuousness.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

Seven Books to Read When You Have No Time to Read

Choosing absorbing, conveniently divisible books and small daily habits enables busy people to make consistent reading progress without strict goals.
Books
fromScary Mommy
2 months ago

People On Reddit Are Sharing The Book That Turned Them Into "Readers"

Childhood favorites, household libraries, and life events like parenthood often spark or revive lifelong reading habits.
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

The best recent poetry review roundup

Andrew Motion's latest collection explores mortality and loss through elegies, showing a shift toward rootedness and acceptance of death as a universal human experience rather than personal bewilderment.
Books
fromInsideHook
2 months ago

What to Read Right Now, According to Cool Men

Men continue to read fiction; male readers recommend a diverse set of books, including literary fiction, nonfiction, and widely endorsed titles.
Books
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
2 months ago

8 romance novels for readers who love science, too

Romantic novels blend rigorous science and emotional narrative across diverse settings, balancing scientific detail with humor, satire, and varied genre influences.
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

The Most Dangerous Books in Society

A study found that reading banned books predicted civic engagement more strongly than personality traits. Reading banned books showed zero correlation with grades, violent crime, or nonviolent crime in adolescents. Reactance theory explains why censorship backfires: Restricted freedoms activate curiosity and thinking.
Books
Books
fromwww.nytimes.com
2 months ago

Romance Glossary: An A-Z Guide of Tropes and Themes to Find Your Next Book

Lists 101 romance-genre terms (e.g., cinnamon roll, shadow daddy, fae) to help readers identify subgenres and find recommended books.
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

What we're reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in February

Claire Baglin's 'On the Clock' uses narrow focus on fast-food work to reveal profound truths about contemporary alienation and precarity with compassion and emotional depth.
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror review roundup

Subsequently, runaway children turned the valley into a fortress, surviving on food they could catch or grow, with occasional forays into the towns below. Riley has heard the rumours, but it is only when she sees a green-clad boy or is it a girl? hovering outside her bedroom window offering directions on how to find Nowhere that she realises this might be her chance to escape and save her little brother from their sadistic guardian.
Books
Books
fromThe Nation
1 month ago

Has Contemporary Fiction Ignored the Working Class?

Work's grip on life demands vigilance; allowing career to consume identity risks losing oneself entirely to labor's demands.
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 months ago

Underground wit and poor attention spans | Letters

Poems on the Underground seldom capture the London Underground experience, inspiring satirical commuter poems and comparisons between oral epic attention strategies and modern cinema.
Books
fromThe New Yorker
3 months ago

Tessa Hadley on the Power of Memory

A lasting friendship rests on shared sensibility, mutual trust to perceive and understand, and an affinity of insight beyond mere shared experiences.
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