The Vulgar Eclectic
Vulgar: of the usual, typical, or ordinary kind
definitions courtesy of Merriam-Webster
Eclectic: composed of elements drawn from various sources
recent blog posts
- House of Mystery (Bernie Wrightson!)
I’ve been in the process of packing up all my comics in order to prepare for an upcoming renovation project in my bedroom. While sorting, I came across this coverless issue of House of Mystery (#211, February 1973). When my brother and I were kids, we had a gigantic box of coverless comics my parents bought us at a rummage sale and we had lots of issues of similar comics…all kinds of horror and weird war stories. This one makes me think of all of those. And the Bernie Wrightson art is just incredible!
- Pebble and Optimus Prime
- The Robbers by Friedrich Schiller
I finished reading The Robbers (translated by F. J. Lamport), a play by Friedrich Schiller originally published in 1781. It is Schiller’s first published play and part of the romantic Sturm und Drang literary movement. Everything is pretty much turned up to an 11! The dialogue is vivid, dramatic, and often philosophical. The plot follows the conflict between two brothers, while exploring questions of morality, liberty, duty, and fate.
It was very dramatic, even melodramatic, but not in a way that felt absurd. In contrast to the quietness of a play by Chekhov or the tight compactness of a Greek tragedy, The Robbers feels wild with bursts of stark violence amid a backdrop of forest, town, and castle.
“–I have lost myself since I went in there–”
***
This is a book jot from February 2021 that I hadn’t yet posted here. I’m almost all caught up now!
Title page from the first edition of Die Räuber (The Robbers) by Friedrich Schiller - The sun is sinking in the west…
- Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I recently finished reading Pellucidar (1915) by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the second novel in the Pellucidar series of seven books.
As one would expect, it is a fast-paced story of action, adventure, and danger featuring characters defined by their sense of honor and allegiance to friendship. The main character, David Innes, returns to the world inside the Earth in this story, to search for his friend Perry and his partner Dian. In the process, he explores more of the land of Pellucidar, meets a wide variety of inhabitants, and has many adventures.
Modern readers may occasionally desire a more nuanced view of Innes’ actions and dreams but the adventure and camaraderie of it all carries one away.
