For a start, the Odyssey was the first time a hero in Western culture was celebrated for smarts and cunning—and not just fighting and violence. It was as if Homer had grown up after creating the Iliad (in which 239 characters, identified by name, meet their death), and decided to tell a more civilized tale.
But hang on here while we make the turn into the final six where all will be resolved, where longing and heartache will find an end, where Laura will tell Petrarch to put down his pen, take off those crazy medieval tights, blow out the lights, and come at last to bed.
These older books have a sense of integrity. This project was just an opportunity for me to go back to some of my favorite books and look at the ways that's true.
One of my favorite radio programs of all time, where an author (and often a legendary one) is interviewed about their novel by an audience that's recently read it.
1mo ago
Underscored — save the words that stop you in your tracks.
