Tag Archives: Harold Bloom

Resources on David Lyndsay’s Cult Classic “A Voyage to Arcturus”

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a scathing review of David Lindsay’s trippy SF morality tale, A Voyage to Arcturus (1920). C.S. Lewis loved this book–and so does genius actor Paul Giamatti, according to the rather peculiar, subtly hypnotic, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes, News & Links | Tagged A Voyage to Arcturus, C.S. Lewis, David Lindsay, Harold Bloom, J.R.R. Tolkien, Paul Giamatti, Philip Pullman, The Western Canon, Vakula | 9 Comments

9/11 and Mythology

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

Based on the number of brochures that governments and non-profit groups produce, I suspect that most people are under the delusion that people operate out of beliefs. Know→Believe→Do, this is the way that the brochure-makers and moral pundits understand the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged 9/11, conspiracy theory, Ex Machina, Harold Bloom, Harvey Co, Mad Max, myth, Mythologies, mythology, Reinhold Niebuhr, Roland Barthes, terrorism, The Martian, The Revenant, Tiannaman Square Massacre, Tom Hanks, Wild | 17 Comments

Stephen King and the Genre of Genius

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

This year for my Stickin’ Huge Awesome Novel Winter Awesome Read (SHANWAR), I chose Stephen King’s The Stand (1978) I have never read it before and I don’t think I have ever had a conversation with someone about it. Still, … Continue reading →

Posted in On Writing, Reflections, Reviews, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged 'Salem's Lot, Carrie, fantasy, genre, Harold Bloom, IT, literature, Margaret Atwood, On Writing, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, Stephen King, The Green Mile, The Shining, The Stand | 26 Comments

New Approaches to Academic Writing: An Unusual Marking Note for a Good Student

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

I am at that time of year when the marking pile on my desk is higher than my laptop screen. Like a fool, each year, I go into the marking expecting great things. So far, I have never had a … Continue reading →

Posted in On Writing, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged academic, Alice Walker, autoethnography, B.R. Myers, Christopher Hitchens, Corey Olsen, Dorothy L. Sayers, Flannery O'Connor, George Orwell, Harold Bloom, John Updike, literary criticism, Margaret Atwood, Marilynne Robinson, research, Roxane Gay, Slavoj Žižek, Stanley Fish, Teaching, Terry Eagleton, theology, Ursula K. Le Guin, Virginia Woolf, writing | 15 Comments

Why C.S. Lewis Says My Reading Program is Wrong, or What Cheese has to do with Reading

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

This year on A Pilgrim in Narnia we have been doing some thinking about programs for reading great books: Why I Read C.S. Lewis Chronologically How You Can Read C.S. Lewis Chronologically The Canon of Fantasy Literature Harold Bloom’s “The Western … Continue reading →