Category: World Literature

Nine Lives

In Les Misérables, Jean Valjean saves at least nine people: two children in Montreuil-sur-Mer from a fire; Fauchelevent from being crushed to death by a cart; Cosette from her troubled life with the Thénardiers; Fantine…

Just One Little Onion

“You see, Alyoshechka,” Grushenka turned to him, laughing nervously, “I’m boasting to Rakitka that I gave an onion, but I’m not boasting to you, I’ll tell you about it for a different reason. It’s just…

Stick with the Gospel

Ivan has maintained that p­eople bear no responsibility for their wishes—­ “who has not the right to wish?”—­a position that directly contradicts the Sermon on the Mount, which deems not just bad actions but also…

Today’s One-Liner (#242)

Brothers, do not be afraid of men’s sin, love man also in his sin, for this likeness of God’s love is the height of love on earth. –Zosima, in Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

To Learn by Heart

In a more general vein: that which we know by heart will ripen and deploy within us. The memorized text interacts with our temporal existence, modifying our experiences, being dialectically modified by them. The stronger…

Churches

“I had hired a Bohemian as my servant while I remained in London, and being much pleased with him, I asked Dr. Johnson whether his being a Roman Catholick should prevent my taking him with…

Today’s One-Liner (#239)

I hope to read the whole Bible once a year as long as I live. –Dr. Samuel Johnson, quoted in Fiona MacMath, The Faith of Samuel Johnson: An Anthology of His Spiritual and Moral Writings…

Inexplicable, and I Most of All

“And I shall also tell you, dear mother, that each of us is guilty in everything before everyone, and I most of all.” At that mother even smiled, she wept and smiled: “How can it…