Classics Considered

Portrait of James Thomas Fields (1817-1881), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), and William Davis Ticknor (1810-1864). Over on Instagram , I'd mentioned I've been getting into Hawthorne's short stories again.  He's a favorite author of mine, and when I read the collection Twice Told Tales (already five years ago, wow!), I was blown away by the craft of his shorter works.  I finally broke down and bought the complete Tales and Sketches, and for my first reading chose "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," one of the more famous ones. The story is set up simply enough: a young man and clergyman's son, Robin, sets out one day to seek his fortune.  More specifically, he leaves the countryside and arrives in Boston in order to get in touch with Major Molineux, a relative who had once offered to help him get started in life. It's a dark, gloomy night in Boston.  Robin goes from door to door, inquiring for his kinsman.  Everyone laughs at him, while he wand...

A magazine article provoked me to re-read H. G. Well's sci-fi horror classic, The Island of Doctor Moreau. Join my trip back in time as I talk about a Soviet scientist, a British author, and human-chimpanzee people . Sources / Further Reading: "It’s Time to Make Human-Chimp Hybrids" by David Barash Articles referencing Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov: Smithsonian Magazine Laboratory Primate Newsletter (Brown University) Wikipedia discussion H. G. Wells's The New World Order H. G. Wells vs. George Orwell ( The Conversation ) "The Comprachicos" by John Kaiser (JSTOR) "Wanting Babies Like Themselves, Some Parents Choose Genetic Defects" ( New York Times )