Bobby Thym > Recent Status Updates

I used to teach a world literature class and frequently used David Damrosch’s videos in his Invitation to World Literature series. Martin Puchner is a colleague of Damrosch at Harvard who writes well for the average American reader, who knows nothing about world literature.

I picked up this book because we’re all scratching our heads, asking ourselves, “ How in the hell did we get here? The world seems upside- down.” Jill Lepore does extensive research and is a great storyteller. She’s on the right path with this book.

Finally get to read for pleasure after getting the degree.

Discussing Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, a Renaissance literature professor asked our class,” What is the national myth of the United States?” The class concluded that we were too young to have a national myth; however, I keep thinking that tales from the American West are so integral to our identity— and most of these stories are fiction. Mr. Miller agrees.

Think of the change that occurred between 1890-1930. At the center of this change is Marcel Duchamp. Tompkins has done an outstanding job of research and does his best to explain this truly inscrutable artist.

As someone who still contemplates what Marshall McLuhan meant when he wrote, “The medium is the message,” I’ve always been interested in the history of communications. Wu’s book is incredibly informative on the transition between invention to information company— a topic we should all investigate.

I’m reading Jill Lepore’s The Secret History of Wonder Woman because my mythology class is about the history of storytelling, and the invention of comic books is part about that history. Check out this first sentence: “William Moulton Marston, who believed women should rule the world, decided at the unnaturally early and altogether impetuous age of eighteen that the time had come for him to die.”

Borg repeats Karen Armstrong’s idea in a Short History of Myth how the Enlightenment changed the reading of scripture. ( Armstrong probably has been reading Borg. ) Now, certain readers demand factuality and become blind to metaphorical truth. Anyone interested in narratology and the history of first century Israel should read this text

I’m actually rereading this book.

I see why Colson Whitehead gets the accolades he received. I simply love the character of Ray Carney “who is only slightly bent”, and I’m going to be pissed off if Whitehead kills him.

I must confess: I saw the movie first— and I loved seeing Robert Downey Jr. playing numerous roles. Remember George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove? However, the intelligent voice of Nguyen’s narrator hooked me in the first three pages. And can he craft a sentence?