“I can love only what I can place so high above me that I cannot reach it.” Novelist Franz Kafka. one of the leading German-language fiction writers of the 20th century, was born on 3 July 1883 (see here).In 1919 he was contacted by Milena Jesenskám, writer, journalist and translator, who asked him for permission… Read More Into the Abyss with Kafka
John Gay, English poet and dramatist, was born on 30 June 1685.He owes his fame mainly to “The Beggar’s Opera”, a ballad opera with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch, performed for the first time in London in 1728. It was produced by John Rich, an important theatre director and it was so successful that… Read More Black-Eyed Susan & Sweet William/1 (John Gay)
➡️ Part 1 The poem “Diving into the Wreck” , written by Adrienne Rich in 1973 and first published in a collection of the same title, follows a woman preparing and diving into the depths of the ocean in search of a wreck. The first stanzas describe her as a warrior, wearing the black wetsuit,… Read More Diving into the Wreck/2
George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, was born on 25 June 1903 in Motihari, Bengal (now Bihar), British India English novelist, essayist, and critic, his work is characterised by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, and strong opposition to totalitarianism. His most famous novels are “Animal Farm” a satire which allegorically depicts Stalin’s betrayal of… Read More George Orwell: What’s in a Name?
➡️ Part 1➡️ Part 2 When Oscar Wilde enlarged the story for the novel-length version, he responded to his critics by further toning down its “immoral” elements, obscuring the homoeroticism of the plot and expanding the personal background of the characters. The amended version, extended from 13 to 20 chapters, was published in a single… Read More The Picture of Dorian Gray: Preface/3
➡️ Part 1 When J.M. Stoddart finally received Oscar Wilde’s novella “The Portrait of Dorian Gray” and began reading it, he was immediately impressed by the literary merits of the work . But there were some aspects that left him much less enthusiastic, indeed, decidedly perplexed. He told the publisher, George Lippincott, that the story… Read More The Picture of Dorian Gray: a novella/2
Reinhold Niebuhr (born on 21 June 1892) was an American theologian famous for his studies on the possibility of relating the Christian faith to the realities of modern politics and diplomacy. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr., who claimed he had been more influenced by Niebuhr’s social and ethical ideals than… Read More Serenity Prayer
On 20 June 1890 the reading public began to hear about “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, Oscar Wilde’s famous tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul.It was on that day that a shorter novella-length version of the novel was published on both sides of the Atlantic in… Read More The Picture of Dorian Gray: a novella/1
Elbert Hubbard, born on 19 June 1856 , was an American writer, philosopher, and artist who died with his wife aboard the RMS Lusitania which was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland on 7 May 1915.One of the survivors wrote to Hubbard’s son to tell him that his parents refused to… Read More Silence
“Happiness is not reliable. Melancholy is reliable.” American author Joyce Carol Oates was born on 16 June 1938. Known for her extensive literary output in a variety of styles and genres, she has published over fifty novels, as well as many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction.She is one of the most insightful observers… Read More Occult
words and music and stories 