This year marks the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s classic “Frankenstein,” a novel that its creator probably didn’t know would keep its grip on our imaginations for two centuries. To celebrate, the Library of Congress is hosting an all-day marathon reading of the novel in the Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building. It’s… Continue reading »
Archives for The Classics
400 Candles
I couldn’t let today end without wishing John Milton a happy quatercentenary. The Guardian has a nice birthday roundup, including a Miltoniana quiz , some musings on Milton v. Shakespeare in the greatest-poet contest (do we really have to choose?), and Philip Pulllman reading a bit o’ Paradise Lost.
Milton Out Loud
Scenes from a marathon: My story about St. Olaf College’s all-day reading of Paradise Lost is now up: In between his reading stints, Chad Goodroad, a senior majoring in English and political science, hawked black “Milton Marathon” T-shirts at a card table. Someone asked him how sales were. “Crazy,” he said. “Actually, kinda slow.” A… Continue reading »
His Dark Materials
In case it’s not already on your calendar, Dec. 9 is Milton’s 400th birthday. A couple of weeks ago I flew out to St. Olaf College, Minn. to take part in a marathon reading of “Paradise Lost” that some folks there staged in honor of the quatercentenary. I write about it in next week’s Chronicle…. Continue reading »
