Book picks similar to
Tolkien's Overture: Concerning the Music of the Ainur by John Carswell
tolkien
wishlist-non-fiction
fantasy-tolkien
literary-criticism
Called: My Journey to C. S. Lewis's House and Back Again
Ryan J. Pemberton - 2015
S. Lewis's house, and back again--and why it was only in the reality of his worst nightmare that he learned what it means to be called.What is it like to be ''called'' by God for a particular purpose? What can you learn for your own life of faith from such a calling?Through a series of personal anecdotes, illuminating conversations, and candid reflections, Called brings you face-to-face not only with the world of C. S. Lewis, but also with the very real peaks and valleys of pursuing a calling. Seeking to reclaim the uniquely Christian sense of calling, Pemberton shows that God's call cannot be reduced to one's dreams, skills, or passions, vividly and powerfully illustrating how Christ turns ideas of failure and success on their head. Called will encourage you to realize God has entered into your story, calling out to you anew each day with the words, ''Follow me,'' leaving you to ask, Will I be obedient to the calling set before me?
Shakespeare's Freedom (Rice University Campbell Lecture)
Stephen Greenblatt - 2010
With the elegance and verve for which he is well known, Stephen Greenblatt, author of the best-selling Will in the World, shows that Shakespeare was strikingly averse to such absolutes and constantly probed the possibility of freedom from them. Again and again, Shakespeare confounds the designs and pretensions of kings, generals, and churchmen. His aversion to absolutes even leads him to probe the exalted and seemingly limitless passions of his lovers.Greenblatt explores this rich theme by addressing four of Shakespeare’s preoccupations across all the genres in which he worked. He first considers the idea of beauty in Shakespeare’s works, specifically his challenge to the cult of featureless perfection and his interest in distinguishing marks. He then turns to Shakespeare’s interest in murderous hatred, most famously embodied in Shylock but seen also in the character Bernardine in Measure for Measure. Next Greenblatt considers the idea of Shakespearean authority—that is, Shakespeare’s deep sense of the ethical ambiguity of power, including his own. Ultimately, Greenblatt takes up Shakespearean autonomy, in particular the freedom of artists, guided by distinctive forms of perception, to live by their own laws and to claim that their creations are singularly unconstrained.A book that could only have been written by Stephen Greenblatt, Shakespeare’s Freedom is a wholly original and eloquent meditation by the most acclaimed and influential Shakespearean of our time.
Joseph Brodsky: A Literary Life
Lev Losev - 1999
His life, too, is the stuff of legend, from his survival of the siege of Leningrad in early childhood to his expulsion from the Soviet Union and his achievements as a Nobel Prize winner and America’s poet laureate.In this penetrating biography, Brodsky’s life and work are illuminated by his great friend, the late poet and literary scholar Lev Loseff. Drawing on a wide range of source materials, some previously unpublished, and extensive interviews with writers and critics, Loseff carefully reconstructs Brodsky’s personal history while offering deft and sensitive commentary on the philosophical, religious, and mythological sources that influenced the poet’s work. Published to great acclaim in Russia and now available in English for the first time, this is literary biography of the first order, and sets the groundwork for any books on Brodsky that might follow.
Inspired Imperfection: How the Bible's Problems Enhance Its Divine Authority
Gregory A. Boyd - 2020
Boyd adds another counterintuitive and provocative thesis to his corpus. While conservative scholars and pastors have struggled for years to show that the Bible is without errors, Boyd considers this a fool's errand. Instead, he says, we should embrace the mistakes and contradictions in Scripture, for they show that God chose to use fallible humans to communicate timeless truths. Just as God ultimately came to save humanity in the form of a human, God chose to impart truth through the imperfect medium of human writing. Instead of the Bible's imperfections being a reason to attack its veracity, these "problems" actually support the trustworthiness of Christian Scripture. Inspired Imperfection is required reading for anyone who's questioned the Bible because of its contradictions.
Leaving the Beach: A Woman’s Tale of Music and Mental Illness
Mary Rowen - 2014
Erin is a perfectly flawed heroine.” ~ Semifinalist, 2017 BookLife Prize (10 out of 10 in All 5 Categories Judged)Erin Reardon gets her first kiss from Jim Morrison and loses her virginity to David Bowie. When she flunks out of college, Bruce Springsteen comforts her, and Elvis Costello breaks her heart in Europe. So what happens when she finally meets a rock star in the flesh?Erin’s a lonely misfit with an eating disorder and a wild imagination. She believes she was born to save—and love—at least one tortured musician, and is willing to risk almost everything to fulfill that destiny.“...gracefully grapples with several important issues, including alcohol and drug addiction, loss, grief and sexuality... There are also many entertaining pop-culture references to offset the weighty themes... An intriguing novel that looks at the ways that people cope with the pain in their lives.” ~ Kirkus ReviewsEVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a newly revised and edited second edition of a critically-acclaimed, award-winning literary/women’s fiction piece sure to compel you to keep those pages turning. [DRM-Free]
Books by Mary Rowen:
Leaving the Beach
Living by Ear (Coming Fall 2019)
It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way (Coming Winter 2019/2020)
More Great Women’s Fiction from Evolved Publishing:
Participant by Carmen Kemp
All the Tomorrows by Nillu Nasser
The “Borderline” Series by Taya DeVere
Yours to Keep or Throw Aside by E.D. Martin
White Chalk by P.K. Tyler
Cassia by Lanette Kauten
Herman Melville: Moby-Dick: Essays - Articles - Reviews
Nick Selby - 1998
This "Columbia Critical Guide" starts with extracts from Melville's own letters and essays and from early reviews of "Moby-Dick" that set the terms for later critical evaluations. Subsequent chapters deal with the "Melville Revival" of the 1920s and the novel's central place in the establishment, growth, and reassessment of American Studies in the 1940s and 1950s. The final chapters examine postmodern New Americanist readings of the text, and how these provide new models for thinking about American culture.
Naked Angels: Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs
John Tytell - 1976
Burroughs' attempt to redefine a complacent society's notion of sanity and normalcy and to reinvent their own lives through jazz, drugs, and law-breaking.
The Priority of Christ: Toward a Postliberal Catholicism
Robert Barron - 2007
In The Priority of Christ, Bishop Robert Barron shows that the answer to this debate--and the way to move forward--lies in Jesus. Barron transcends the usual liberal/conservative or Protestant/Catholic divides with a postliberal Catholicism that brings the focus back on Jesus as revealed in the New Testament narratives. Barron's classical Catholic post-liberalism will be of interest to a broad audience including not only the academic community but also preachers and general readers interested in entering the dialogue between Catholicism and postliberalism.
Slide or Die
Todd Strasser - 2006
He tries to avoid getting swept up into the life that has brought him grief in the past, but he is just too good a driver - and too much in love with cars - to resist.