Showing results for "the place" in Literary History & Criticism

From his much publicized childhood on Cotchford Farm to his war experiences, his marriage, and his proprietorship of a successful bookshop in a small English town, the life of the famous author’s son was one of much joy and some pain. It was also one of deep introspection. This book illuminates the shy, quiet man who was a thoughtful observer of the natural world and a gentle commentator on humankind’s relationship to it.

From modern literature to menopause, from utopian thought to rodeos - in this classic collection of essays, Ursula K. Le Guin roves with her customary audacity over the intersecting arenas of literature, feminism, and social responsibility, exploding any received notions she comes across and revealing visionary possibilities in their stead.  

In the autumn of 1896, the renowned historian of the 17th century, Samuel Rawson Gardiner, delivered six lectures on "Cromwell's Place in History" at the University of Oxford. Gardiner wrote that the "object of these lectures is not to deal with the biography of Cromwell, but to estimate his relation to the political and ecclesiastical movements of his time." Thus, each lecture puts the reader in the midst of a critical period of Cromwell's career, analyzing how and why he acted in response to the problems he encountered. (Summary by Pamela Nagami, M.D.)

Ardis Cameron mines extensive interviews, fan letters, and archival materials including contemporary cartoons and cover images from film posters and foreign editions to tell how the story of a patricide in a small New England village circulated over time and became a cultural phenomenon.

Once Upon a Place explores narratives from modern film, famous fairy tales, and ancient mythology to define the five core locations that shape every story: the Cavern, the Deep, the Vessel, the Forest, and the Labyrinth. Popularized by Joseph Campbell, the hero's journey features narrative...

From the critically acclaimed author Sally Bayley, The Green Lady is a poignant, brilliant exploration of the relationships between children and their teachers. In the style of her memoir Girl with Dove, this book explores a child’s search for artistic education and a sense of self. Lyrical...

In Secret Places of the Heart, Richard Hardy, a member of the British gentry, embarks on a journey to mend his troubled marriage alongside a psychiatrist. This semi-autobiographical tale draws from H. G. Wells own experiences, including his tumultuous relationship with the acclaimed writer Rebecca West. Initially ignited by a provocative article that branded him pseudo-scientific, their connection soon blossomed into an intense and complex affair. As Rebeccas demands for his devotion increased, especially post-World War I, H. G. found himself torn between her and his wife, Jane, and their two ...

William Caruthers was a retired newspaperman who spent 25 years listening to stories told by the inhabitants of Death Valley. This 1951 book collects those stories; the printed version has many interesting pictures. ''Of the actors who made the history of the period, few remain. It was the writer’s good fortune that many of these men were his friends. It is the romance, the comedy, the often stark tragedy these men left along the trail which you will find in the pages that follow.'' (Preface and David Wales)

John Dewey, an early 20th Century American philosopher, psychologist, educational theorist, saw Social Psychology as much a physical science (with rules and predictive power) as Biology and Chemistry. This project encompasses Part 3 of 4 of his book Human Nature and Conduct. An Introduction to Social Psychology, published in 1922. Dewey's uses the words "HABIT" and "Impulse" as a specialized catch-all words to describe how a person and his/her objective environment interact. This interaction is the basis for moral and ethical judgments. Dewey writes: "All habits are demands for certain kinds ...

John Dewey, an early 20th Century American philosopher, psychologist, educational theorist saw Social Psychology as much a physical science (with rules and predictive power) as Biology and Chemistry. This project encompasses Part 1 of 4 of his book Human Nature and Conduct. Dewey's uses the word "HABIT" as a specialized catch-all word to describe how a person and his/her objective environment interact. This interaction is the basis for moral judgement. Dewey writes: "All habits are demands for certain kinds of activity; and they constitute the self.” In other places he also asserts that "...

Part 2 describes Dewey's concept of IMPULSES. They encompass the interaction of one's self with the environment. When the environment encounters problems with one's HABITS, Impulses are the motivating, innate forces which prompt one to modify habits and/or modify the environment. "Nature vs Nurture" explanations of someone's personality are deceptive and fallacious. This stems from the human inclination to CLASSIFY things - practically everything! Innate behaviors are a collection of habits which one's culture has solidified as Customs. Most education is not learning but rather training of ...

An eclectic collection of essays on late 19th-century Lancashire culture and life, including essays on the poets John Critchley Prince and Edwin Waugh. Thomas Newbigging was born in Glasgow and died in Knutsford, Chesshire, living in between in Rossendale, Pernambuco, and Manchester. A gas manager by profession and writer-historian by inclination, his two major works were the Handbook for Gas Engineers and Managers (1889) and the History of the Forest of Rossendale (1893). (Summary by Phil Benson)

Alice Meynell was an English essayist, critic, and poet who was also a leading suffragist, serving as vice-president of the Women Writers' Suffrage League. She and her husband Wilfrid Meynell were active in publishing and editing literary works including helping to launch the first works of Francis Thompson, author of "Hound of Heaven." This is a collection of her essays covering a wide range of topics from the opening essay on the "Spirit of Place" to a playful essay about the foot, and musing on topics such as rain, the horizon and the concluding essay, "Shadows." - Summary by Larry Wilson

This pamphlet by LGBT pioneer and philosopher Edward Carpenter was originally intended to form part of his work "Love's Coming of Age", but was removed following public discourse on the Oscar Wilde trials of 1895. It was subsequently published privately and circulated among his inner circle. This is Carpenter's first publication on the subject of homosexuality, and displays his typical forward-thinking and utopian sentiments. It seeks to make clear that homosexuality is innate, is more widespread than generally accepted, and even implies that degress of bisexuality may be universal. - Summary ...

Grant Morrison’s entire run of Batman discussed issue-by-issue by Jeff, Justin, Roman and Django, of the Perfectly Acceptable Podcast by Comics Place.

The mother-daughter partnership that produced the Little House books has fascinated scholars and readers alike. Now, John E. Miller, one of America’s leading authorities on Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane, combines analyses of both women to explore this collaborative process and shows how their books reflect the authors’ distinctive views of place, time, and culture. He also addresses two controversial issues: How much did Lane actually contribute to the writing of the Little House books, and what was Wilder’s real attitude toward American Indians?

Four Stories of Horsesense Hank combined here to tell the tales of adventure with time travel and perhaps, what might have been....? - Summary by Cindy Morton

Someone recommended Crime and Punishment. Maybe it was a professor. Maybe it was that person at the coffee shop who looked very thoughtful. Maybe you just wanted to seem interesting at parties. Whatever the reason, you're now 200 pages into a Russian novel where a sweaty man has a theory about Napoleon, and you're starting to suspect you've made a terrible mistake. Welcome. You're in the right place.

Welcome to the maddeningly strange and inventive mind of prolific pulp genre author Rog Phillips (real name Roger Phillip Graham)! Having written over 200 stories, this is hopefully the first of several collections of Phillips challenging, off-trail fiction that tackles complex ideas like time travel, alternate universes, artificial intelligence and the completely inexplicable with a grounding in deft character work and clever, brisk prose. Included in this collection is the harrowing, Hugo-nominated novelette Rat in the Skull. (Summary by Ben Tucker)

Described by author Liza Daly as a "strange masterpiece of outsider art," Arqtiq is a bizarre, borderline hallucinatory work of feminist utopian fiction. Equal parts sci-fi adventure, philosophical tract, and pro-Symmesian pamphlet, Anna Adolph’s strange, self-published novella centers its narrative around an aviator (also named Anna) who, along with a ragtag group of family and friends, charts an expedition to the North Pole in a retro-futuristic airship of her own invention. There, Anna and her crew travel into the hollow earth, encounter a race of telepathic giants, and uncover secrets ...