Wendell Berry very rarely gives television interviews, but in 2013 he agreed to sit down with Bill Moyers as part of a conference at St. Catharine’s College. Take 40 minutes to watch this. Berry speaks on topics close to his heart, and he reads several poems aloud. It’s worth the watch just for that! My […]
A Conversation with Wendell Berry Read More »
I’ve been reading Larry Benson’s (famed editor of the Riverside Chaucer) 1965 book, Art and Tradition in Sir Gawain in the Green Knight in preparation for my online intensive class on Sir Gawain. What I love about Benson’s work is how he roots the entire thing in the medieval tradition and helps us to read
Art and Tradition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Read More »
I was recently talking with a new friend of mine about art and tradition and the role of the poet—like I do—and he recommended to me an essay that had influenced his understanding of all of those things, “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (1921) by TS Eliot. I’ve been a longtime admirer of TS Eliot
Tradition and the Individual Talent: Or, TS Eliot Shares My Love of Dead Poets Read More »
I am rereading Peter Leithart’s book on Jane Austen, Miniatures and Morals. In the introduction he says this, “The moral philosopher Alsadair MacIntyre discerns an Aristotelian trait in Austen’s recognition that virtues are formed, tested, and manifested within community. As Aristotle pointed out, this makes ethics a subdivision of politics–that is, it makes the question
Jane Austen, Wendell Berry, Aristotle, and Community Read More »
Christianity Today has got a great post out about Lenten reading. Rather than recommend the usual non-fiction devotional type books, this one focuses on literature and poetry that nourish the soul. I love that. They’ve got some classics and some newer titles. Check it out here. When I think about what books nourish my soul,
Lenten Reading for the Nourishment of the Soul Read More »
An interesting discussion popped up on my Facebook about some of the ideas we’ve been talking about on Close Reads as we work our way through Berry’s Jayber Crow. Here are some highlights. One of the big ideas that Berry is showing us in Part Two as he repeatedly presents community as a non-sentimentalized ideal,
The Necessity of the Imperfect Community (Inspired by Jayber Crow) Read More »
In his 1755 essay “The Modern Prometheus,” Immanuel Kant cautioned mankind against defying the natural order of things. “There is such a thing as right taste in natural science, which knows how to distinguish the wild extravagances of unbridled curiosity from cautious judgements of reasonable credibility. From the Prometheus of recent times Mr. Franklin, who
Immanuel Kant on Benjamin Franklin Read More »
Sometimes a book falls into your hands at exactly the right moment
Book Review: Rod Dreher’s How Dante Can Save Your Life Read More »
A look at a new book of essays from one of America’s pre-eminent writers
Book Review: Wendell Berry’s Our Only World Read More »
Beowulf, like The Odyssey, opens with a hidden main character. Even though he is the protagonist and the title of the poem, our hero doesn’t show up until line 297, and even then he isn’t named until line 345. Instead the poet carefully sets the stage for the arrival of Beowulf by telling us a
What I Am Reading: Beowulf (lines 1- 190) Read More »
Beowulf is the sort of work that gives some Christians fits. Why I’m reading him anyway.
What I’m Reading: Beowulf (Background) Read More »
I did not grow up in home filled with love. Instead I grew up in a home dominated by the mental illness of one of my parents. As a result I never learned how to love or how to be loved. My dominant parent was always happy to love in us those traits and interests
The Transforming Nature of Love Read More »
