The inventive and philosophical short stories of the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) take in a range of themes. Like many other authors, Borges had a set of preoccupations which he revisited time and again in his fiction, and a number of his stories are variations on the same theme or themes. His stories
Literature
March 22, 2022, 2:56pm Lit Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Pulitzer-winning author Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel Lucy by the Sea, which will be published by Random House this September. In Lucy by the Sea, Strout follows Lucy—the protagonist of My Name is Lucy Barton and Oh William!—through the early days of the
TODAY: In 1892, Czech writer Karel Polacek is born. OSCARS WEEK: In part two of our literary look at this year’s Best Picture Nominees, we recommend what to read (and watch) if you liked Belfast and Dune. | Lit Hub Oscars In a book slump? Here are 14 new releases to revive your reading
‘The Red Shoes’ (1845) is perhaps the strangest of all of Hans Christian Andersen’s well-known fairy tales. Divining the meaning of some of Andersen’s other stories for children is relatively easy, but a number of aspects of the meaning and symbolism of ‘The Red Shoes’ remain troubling. Let’s take a closer look at this unusual
March 21, 2022, 4:20pm Dolly Parton is going to be working 9-5 on a new movie! Word on the street is: the beloved musician/godmother of literacy/vaccine funder/hotly contested Rock & Roll hall of fame nominee has signed on for Hello Sunshine’s adaptation of Run, Rose, Run. The book, which she co-wrote with the prolific James
TODAY: In 1905, Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Phyllis McGinley is born. “Her books gave us hope that one day we would be able to speak our minds, to express what we truly felt, to chart our own destiny.” Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry on reading Toni Morrison in Moscow. | Lit Hub OSCARS WEEK: Criticism, side reading,
‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair’ is a 1920 short story by the American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), first published in the Saturday Evening Post before being reprinted in his 1920 collection of stories, Flappers and Philosophers. A scathing satire on the viciousness of the American privileged lasses, ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair’ is about a young
It’s one of the most absurd ironies of our neoliberal age. Having looted the public realm over the last half century in the name of the free-market, we are suddenly discovering that the last refuge of public virtue is—yes, you guessed it—the private company. The only thing we “trust,” these days, we are told, are
Based on Min Jin Lee’s eponymous bestselling novel, Apple TV’s new series Pachinko is a curious reverse export product in a post-Squid Game era. Produced and directed by Korean Americans, it is about Korea but not of Korea. Will it appeal to audiences who have come to love propulsive K-dramas? And will it be more
‘Flight’ is a 1938 short story by the American writer John Steinbeck, included in his short-story collection The Long Valley, which focuses on the Salinas Valley in California. The story is about a young man from rural California who goes into town and kills a drunken man in a fight; he has to flee to
March 18, 2022, 10:58am It’s not even noon and we’ve basically cycled through two fruitless Twitter storms around putatively bookish topics. The first seems like a classic case of engagement farming (“How can you read fiction during a time of war [you escapist monster]?”), so ought to be truly ignored.* The second—which is a bit
TODAY: In 1922, Jack Kerouac is born. 14 contemporary artists on how reading influences their work (and what they’re reading now!). | Lit Hub Art “Writing is very subconscious, and the last thing I want to do is think about it.” Rare thoughts on writing from Cormac McCarthy. | Lit Hub Craft “Austen knew much more about female erotic fantasy
‘The Pedestrian’ is a 1951 short story by Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), which is included in his 1953 collection The Golden Apples of the Sun. In some ways a precursor to Bradbury’s more famous novel Fahrenheit 451, ‘The Pedestrian’ is set in a future world in which people sit mindlessly and passively in front of their
March 18, 2022, 1:24pm Last month, we blogged about researchers using ecological models to estimate the amount of lost medieval literature, and now, we’re blogging about the opposite: researchers using work from creatives to conduct ecological research. As JSTOR Daily highlighted this week, scientists have recently examined the effect of climate change on Walden Pond’s
TODAY: In 1932, John Updike is born. “By definition, the war reporter seeks out trauma.” Dan O’Brien on the essential value—and deep cost—of reporting from conflict zones. | Lit Hub Journalism More Hollywood or Hallyu? Juhea Kim weighs in on the upcoming series adaptation of Pachinko. | Lit Hub Film & TV Ross Showalter
‘I, Too’ is a 1924 poem by the American poet Langston Hughes (1901-67), a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance who was nicknamed ‘the Bard of Harlem’. In part a response to Walt Whitman, ‘I, Too’ sees Hughes asserting that he, and other black American voices like his, also ‘sing’ of America and are America,
March 17, 2022, 12:22pm Here at Lit Hub, we believe strongly in the power of poetry. So we were heartened to see all of Twitter come together because of a single poem—or, actually, the mention of a single poem. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “Later at the lunch, maybe you might wanna watch, I’m gonna be
TODAY: In 1740, Henry Fielding summors Poet Laureate Colley Cibber to court for murdering the English language. “Austen knew much more about female erotic fantasy than is commonly assumed.” Robert Morrison considers Jane Austen’s works as a precursor to Bridgerton. | Lit Hub TV Jonathan Franzen and his art team go behind the scenes of