WBH Weekly Digest 2023-12-29: Border Reivers

I get deep into that makes a story a story this week.

Gemini Outsider Book Review

In the second Gemini Man book, Gemini Drifter, I said that Matthew and Jason had the freedom to make their own path. In Gemini Outsider, that choice has now been made. The choice is to seek anonymity and normality, whatever that means for two young men who have traveled between

With Both HandsBenjamin Espen

With Both Hands: Gemini Outsider Review

In the second Gemini Man book, Gemini Drifter, I said that Matthew and Jason had the freedom to make their own path. In Gemini Outsider, that choice has now been made. The choice is to seek anonymity and normality, whatever that means for two young men who have traveled between the stars and thwarted the plans of evil sorcerers.

The regional differences in North America are quite striking, and don't quite map to actual borders, either within or across nations. Don't get me wrong, Juarez and El Paso have very noticeable differences, but that difference is in some dimensions smaller than that between the pink home of the burrito and the acres of corn that are the breadbasket.

The Long View 2009-03-09

John J. Reilly helps us to understand what decadence means: Barzun laconically informs us that late medieval Europe was a “decadent” society. I myself had thought that Richard Gilman had permanently retired that word with his study “Decadence: The Strange Life of an Epithet,” but Barzun may persuade readers that

With Both HandsBenjamin Espen

The Long View 2009-03-09: Decadence Today

John J. Reilly helps us to understand what decadence means:

Barzun laconically informs us that late medieval Europe was a "decadent" society. I myself had thought that Richard Gilman had permanently retired that word with his study "Decadence: The Strange Life of an Epithet," but Barzun may persuade readers that "decadence" is neither a moral category nor a bit of implicit vitalism. Rather, Barzun says, the term "decadent" may properly be used of any social situation that is blocked, where people entertain goals for which they will not tolerate the means. Decadent societies tend to become labyrinthine in both their cultures and their styles of government, as people create small accommodations within a larger, admittedly unsatisfactory context. Decadent periods can be sweet, as Talleyrand remarked of pre-Revolutionary France, but partly because they are obviously ephemeral.

Brian Niemeier: Uncle Buck

More than 30 years on, Uncle Buck retains its status as a John Hughes comedy classic. Besides showcasing Hughes’ writing and directing chops, this film stands as a celluloid memorial to the late John Candy’s comedic genius.

And while acknowledging all of that, I must confess to not having gotten why everybody considered this movie a big deal, even on my first viewing back in the day. But having re-watched it recently, I think I get it now.

Northrop Frye’s Phase Space

I got my start on Northrop Frye through John J. Reilly’s review of his most famous work, Anatomy of Criticism. Since then, I have come to appreciate Frye more and more as I develop my book criticism. I am most interested in genre fiction, especially adventure fiction written for men,

With Both HandsBenjamin Espen

With Both Hands: Northrop Frye's Phase Space

I got my start on Northrop Frye through John J. Reilly's review of his most famous work, Anatomy of Criticism. Since then, I have come to appreciate Frye more and more as I develop my book criticism.

I am most interested in genre fiction, especially adventure fiction written for men, but in order to situate genre fiction within the wider world, it is necessary to understand the breadth and depth of the kind of stories that can be told. Frye is very useful here, because he set out create a "synoptic view of the scope, theory, principles, and techniques of literary criticism".

A Theology of Fiction — With Both Hands

In this month’s First Things magazine is the article “ A Theology of Fiction “ by Cassandra Nelson.

With Both HandsBenjamin Espen

With Both Hands: A Theology of Fiction

The Power of Setting — With Both Hands

Nathan, the Pulp Archivist, has an awesome blog up at Castalia House Why Settings Matter . He uses the tiki bar as an example of a bit of fiction that seemed so real that it perpetuated itself into reality. You should go read it, as Nathan along with JD Cowan is one of the people I turn to when

With Both HandsBenjamin Espen

With Both Hands: The Power of Setting

My introduction to Northrop Frye should be read in concert with these two pieces from 2022. I am going to get deeper into this subject in the future.

Helen Andrews gives us an absolutely hilarious example of when the process of helping people work together gets in the way of doing whatever it is you are supposed to be doing.

Wasteland and Sky: Cultural Ground Zero

I referenced Cultural Ground Zero in my post of Frye this week. Here are a few bits of data that accompany that.