A philosophic aside If something is not untrue, is that the same as saying it is true? Let me provide a parallel example: if someone is not wrong, does that mean they are right? I'm fairly confident anyone with the slightest degree of ability to grasp nuance of language would instinctively, if not confidently, say… Continue reading Taking the Temperature of a Society: Fahrenheit 451 Review
Category: Book reviews
Playing a Game of Twenty-One: Glenn Gould Biography Review
Blurb for Extraordinary Canadians: Glenn Gould by Mark Kingwell Glenn Gould, one of the twentieth century’s most renowned classical musicians, was also known as an eccentric genius—solitary, headstrong, a hypochondriac virtuoso. Abandoning stage performances in 1964, Gould concentrated instead on mastering various media: recordings, radio, television, and print. His sudden death at age fifty stunned… Continue reading Playing a Game of Twenty-One: Glenn Gould Biography Review
Bildungsromanesque: The Green Years Review
This review is on a book called The Green Years. Today is Earth Day. Call it serendipity and on with the review. Blurb for The Green Years by A.J. Cronin The Green Years is a 1944 novel by A. J. Cronin which traces the formative years of an Irish orphan, Robert Shannon, who is sent… Continue reading Bildungsromanesque: The Green Years Review
I Am Writing This Letter: The History of Emily Montague Review
Blurb for The History of Emily Montague by Frances Brooke Set in Quebec City immediately after Wolfe's conquest, this charming love story depicts in intimate detail the life of that city's early English inhabitants. It is a comedy of manners played against a backdrop of the rugged scenery of the New World, a world in… Continue reading I Am Writing This Letter: The History of Emily Montague Review
Obscure Tolkien for Tolkien Reading Day
In honour of Tolkien Reading Day, I thought I would just make a quick listing and mini-reviews of a few of J.R.R. Tolkien's more obscure works that I have read. Living in the literary/reading/Christian (alternately: nerdy) circles that I do, it is hard for me to single out many of Tolkien's works as "obscure," but… Continue reading Obscure Tolkien for Tolkien Reading Day
The Saint Patrick’s Day Post: Celtic Pocket Guides Review
I'll be the first to admit I'm not always enchanted with the content that WordPress pushes at me. Not just what it pushes at me, but what I actively seek out is sometimes predictable and uninspiring. I attribute this to WordPress's unhelpful search engine, the unintuitive way following tags works, and probably my own ineptitude… Continue reading The Saint Patrick’s Day Post: Celtic Pocket Guides Review
The Fox and the Hare: The Silver Tracks and Hell Bent
After a bit of a disappointing waste of time reading some random books I browsed from my local library before Christmas, I decided I might as well stick to the books I know I actually want to read. And when they're not on the library shelves, that's what interlibrary loans were invented for. I've been… Continue reading The Fox and the Hare: The Silver Tracks and Hell Bent
The Best and the Wisest: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892-1893) Review
It may seem like I have reviewed this collection of Holmes stories before, but I assure you I have not. This second collection of Holmes "Adventures" is also published independently as "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes." In my complete fascimile 'Strand' edition, these twelve stories are numbered 13-24, as a continuation of the first twelve… Continue reading The Best and the Wisest: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892-1893) Review