Classics Considered

This summer, I've been getting to know Southern Gothic author Flannery O'Connor through a collection of her short stories. In this "First Impressions" episode, I chat about her life, her writing, and the themes in her stories which grabbed my attention. Sources / Further Reading: "This Lonesome Place: Flannery O’Connor on race and religion in the unreconstructed South." - The New Yorker article Flannery O'Connor biography - New Georgia Encyclopedia The Presence of Grace and Other Book Reviews by Flannery O'Connor (Google Books page)

More 19th-century literature!  I get chatty about Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Lewis Carroll, and Jules Verne as we finish off this second shelf.  And oh, those wood engravings... <3   Let me know if you've read any of these!

How does one become the President of China? If the electoral college seems at times hard to fathom, an election in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is even more esoteric.  According to Kerry Brown, author of CEO, China and former diplomat, the rise of Xi Jinping to the supreme leadership role in China "belonged more to the realm of magic than political science" (p. 92).  The process by which Xi replaced Hu Jintao (2003–2013) was unlike a democratic election, in part because it required a consensus amongst the Party: a one-party state cannot be seen as divided.  This image of unity is one which brought Xi to power and which continues to challenge him as he seeks to maintain that power. (Note: This is a multi-part review, though each part can be read on its own.  Please see Part I and Part II , if you'd like to read more.) U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, 2011 - by Jerry Morrison Coincidence and Conviction Xi's life has ...

Today I take a nostalgia trip back to the time I first met Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary detective has impacted my life in many ways, from violin playing to overcoming social anxiety. I also share my thoughts on a number of adaptations, including the Jeremy Brett TV series and Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock . Links: Opening quote read by David Clarke (LibriVox) Opening music - "Ambush in Rattlesnake Gulch" by Brian Boyko (Public domain, FreePD.com)

In his memoir Open Heart , Elie Wiesel takes us through his experiences surrounding his 2011 open heart surgery.  Wiesel is famous for his Night trilogy, and here some of the same themes come back in short, fleeting chapters - the dark memories of life in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, as well as the perennial question: why does God allow His children to suffer evil?  What should a Jewish person's response be in times of persecution or pain?  Question marks abound in this short work, underlining the great despair we may sometimes feel when evil touches our lives. One reason I picked up this book was to understand something of what a patient experiences during this medical procedure.  My grandma has faced a myriad of health issues, including two heart surgeries; she endured them with grace even while she was in terrible pain.  What could she have been feeling?  I have never asked her, choosing instead (as with other personal questions) to seek another avenue of ...

Since starting my 9–5 desk job a few years ago, my already poor posture has deteriorated quite a bit, due to hunching in front of two monitors all day.  The 8 hours at the desk is not the only problem...when I get home, my first instinct is to switch to my personal laptop (for blogging, etc) or curl up in a chair to read.  Neither of these activities helps my posture, of course. I've had this problem for years but only recently became seriously concerned with the longterm effects.  While I've tried exercises/stretches in the past, I'm convinced that stretching in itself is not enough.  Breaking it down, the first problem, I feel, is simply how to give my back a rest. The last couple of days, I've been experimenting with " constructive rest ," part of the Alexander Technique (which I have not done, but probably could benefit from).  It's as simple as can be - you just lie down on a flat surface with your knees bent and your head slightly propped up. Me, I ...

As president of China, Xi Jinping presides over 18% of the world's population, and he is set to do so for life.  How did Xi rise to such prominence, and what can we learn from his life that will help us understand his future?  Kerry Brown's book, CEO, China , offers some clues as to the man behind the mystery. (Note: This is a multi-part review, though each part can be read on its own.  You can read Part I here if you like.) George W. Bush and Xi Jinping, August 2008 - by Eric Draper The Young Xi: Two Sides of History "The issue of whether Xi is a 'Maoist' is a live one in China," writes Brown (p. 10).  As he goes on to illustrate, Xi's historical and cultural relationship to Mao is not only complicated but personal, with origins that go back to Xi's childhood and his father, Xi Zhongxun. Xi Zhongxun began his career as a distinguished communist soldier, fighting  both the Japanese and the Chinese Nationalists throughout the 1930s-1940s.  This was an ...