The Vulgar Eclectic

Tag: reading

  • Theodore the Poet

    As a boy, Theodore, you sat for long hoursOn the shore of the turbid SpoonWith deep-set eye staring at the door of the crawfish’s burrow,Waiting for him to appear, pushing ahead,First his waving antennae, like straws of hay,And soon his body, colored like soap-stone,Gemmed with eyes of jet.And you wondered in a trance of thoughtWhat…

  • My Own Two Feet: A Memoir by Beverly Cleary

    I read this memoir back in May of 2021. I just finished reading My Own Two Feet: A Memoir (1995) by Beverly Cleary. It was an absolutely wonderful reading experience! I felt immersed in her voice and in the unfolding of her life. She seems a lot like how I might have imagined her to…

  • Vestigia nulla retrorsum

    I’ve been reading The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle, and am greatly enjoying the adventure of it. It is kind of making me feel like a boy again, tramping along the banks of Apple Creek and dreaming of adventure.

  • An old book jot…Sappho

    This is a reaction I typed up after reading a collection of the poetry of Sappho. I finished reading this back in May of 2021. I’m going back and adding these sorts of reactions to the “book jots” section of the website. I thought I’d throw it up as a post, too, even though it’s…

  • A Conversation

    I read the chapter titled ‘Mutiny’ in The Brothers Karamazov yesterday morning. It reminded me greatly of the story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin; so much so that it seems to be an answer, in the form of fiction, to the question posed by Ivan: “And are you…

  • Some short stories, a list

    I decided to make a list of some short stories I’ve either really enjoyed or found memorable. Some authors have multiple stories that come to mind but, for this particular list, I thought I’d include only one story per writer.

  • Hiero’s Journey

    I just finished reading Hiero’s Journey by Sterling E. Lanier (1973). The tale is set in the distant future, thousands of years after nuclear and biological warfare nearly destroyed humanity. It’s an adventure story of travel, discovery, and conflict and is well-told. Some of the character interactions, especially around gender, I found annoying and trite.…

  • The Suppliant Women

    I finished reading The Suppliant Women by Euripides (first performed in 423 BC), translated by Philip Vellacott. The events of this play occur shortly after Polyneices’ attempt to wrest the throne from his brother Eteocles, as told by Aeschylus in Seven Against Thebes. Besides being another fantastically written play by Euripides, The Suppliant Women explores…

  • My Ántonia

    I finished reading My Ántonia by Willa Cather (1918). I loved it! It was one of the best reading experiences I’ve had recently. The novel is told through the eyes of Jim, who grows up on the plains of Nebraska in the late 1800s. A new immigrant family from Bohemia moves to the area to…