Sources: literature

A reprint of an article first published in 1995 in which Denby describes a university literature class engage with Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Denby’s worry the forces of moral correction may remove it from memory. The article is mainly hopeful but a reflection published almost 30 years after observes the progress of forgetting has advanced. In any case, a lovely essay.

A dense tour through Hugh Kenner’s ideas on action and intention as revealed primarily in his work on T.S. Eliot. Featuring comparative remarks by Stanley Cavell, G.E.M. Anscombe, and others. A winding literary path into practical reason and moral theory.

Justice for all is composed of the ugliest compromises…
Ben Caplan, Truth Doesn’t Live in a Book

Another outstanding entry in the ACX 2023 Book Review contest. This one a review of the medieval Icelandic classic Njal’s Saga. A hilarious and entertaining reflection on a very strange work as commentary on liberty, justice, and civilization, and the ancient Norwegian example of how we have tried to negotiate them.

Engaging reminder of the perpetually fresh realism of Chaucer, this one presenting his Wife of Bath as the first ordinary woman in english literature — a plain-talking feminist from the 14th century.