Descent Into Hell, Chapters II-IV
In most novels, this suicide would be the end of an uninteresting and unnamed character, but here it is just the beginning, as he continues to wander about, more lost than ever before.
Tagged: literature
Descent Into Hell
No, the title of this brief announcement does refer to the birth of a baby, trailing clouds of glory, into the abyss of human life in the New America. It is the title of a Charles Williams novel that has been termed a “theological thriller.”
Revenge of the Book Club
Some time ago, I abandoned the regular discussion of selected books. The reason should have been obvious. The cause has disappeared, and we can resume. Working on the second volume of Properties of Blood, I need to rewrite the chapters on revenge. This is a good occasion for looking at the classic work of the English stage, The Avenger’s Tragedy….
Poem by Thomas Chatterton
Chatterton, a late 18th century poet, is more famous as a legend–the teenage poet who died at 17–than as a writer. The Romantics, French as well as English, lionized him. His best known poems are the medievalizing verses he attributed to a 15th century poet, but his talent for painting satiric portraits is evident in “Apostate Will”–a fine sketch of the clergy on the make,
Poetry by Arthur Clough
As I sat at the café, I said to myself,
They may talk as they please about what they call pelf,
