American Dream - Unattainable

American Dream - Unattainable:
Why does the American dream sometimes seem so unattainable (in life and in literature)? There's that deep-set sense of hopelessness and despair? Why?

In The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler writes: "You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that, oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell. Me, I was part of the nastiness now."

What's the quote you most clearly remember from the novel (or the movie versions: 1946 and 1978)? Why did that scene (or line) stay with you?

And, really... What's the point?

Cover Art © Penguin.

On The Road With 'Of Mice and Men'

On The Road With 'Of Mice and Men':
The last time I was "on the road," I took Of Mice and Men with me on the drive. If you've never experienced this famous John Steinbeck classic, it's an intriguing one to pick up for summer reading. The novel was first published in 1937, and the history of the book has been fraught with controversy and book banning. Of course, it's also one of the most fascinating of Steinbeck's works (themes, context, universality, and all the rest... it has something for almost every reader, whether you find that you love it or hate it).

In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck writes: "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place... With us it ain't like that. We got a future."

What do you think of the novel? Do you love it? Hate it? How did it affect you?

Cover Art © Penguin.

English Literature Extravaganza - Opening Ceremony

English Literature Extravaganza - Opening Ceremony:
What do the characters from The Wind in the Willows have in common with Harry Potter and Peter Pan?

They are all colorful and unforgettable figures from world-famous and (sometimes) controversial works of English literature. But, they now also have a much more prestigious place in literary history. In particularly English grand-style, BOOKS and one of the most famous women authors in English history (J.K. Rowling) were pervasive--even center stage--at the Opening Ceremony in the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, East London. Were you one of the estimated 4 billion in attendance, listening to Rowling read Peter Pan?

With such an illustrious list of great English writers, I can't help but wonder what other names may have been on their list to feature. Of course, William Shakespeare could not be ignored! But, what other names should really have been included? Which books (or other nuggets from literary history) should have been mentioned, even in parody?

Here are a few lines from Kenneth Grahame's famous The Wind in the Willows: "I see you don't understand, and I must explain it to you. Well, very long ago, on the spot where the Wild Wood waves now, before ever it had planted itself and grown up to what it now is, there was a city--a city of people, you know. Here, where we are standing, they lived, and walked, and talked, and slept, and carried on their business. Here they stabled their horses and feasted, from here they rode out to fight or drove out to trade. They were a powerful people, and rich, and great builders. They built to last, for they thought their city would last for ever."

Then, there's this: "People come--they stay for a while, they flourish, they build--and they go. It is their way. But we remain... We are an enduring lot, and we may move out for a time, but we wait, and are patient, and back we come. And so it will ever be."

A spectacle for the book geek in all of us...

Cover Art © Penguin.

Hi Ryan, Pete VH your LMU instructor stopped by to hi.