4 Posts Found

A series of vampire novels illuminates the complexities of female adolescent desire.

Author: Caitlin Flanagan | Source: The Atlantic (December2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Literature | Arts, Psychology | Behavior

Alec Nevala-Lee, author of Astounding, a forthcoming book on the history of science fiction, digs into the writing career of L. Ron Hubbard, gaining new insights into the life of the controversial founder of dianetics and the origins and nature of Scientology itself.

Source: Longreads (February 1, 2017) | Subjects: Excerpts, Literature | Arts, Religion

Orwell never intended his novel to be a prediction, only a warning. And it’s as a warning that 1984 keeps finding new relevance.

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Unfreedom today is voluntary. It comes from the bottom up.

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We are living with a new kind of regime that didn’t exist in Orwell’s time. It combines hard nationalism—the diversion of frustration and cynicism into xenophobia and hatred—with soft distraction and confusion: … [ Read more ]

Author: George Packer | Source: The Atlantic (June 8, 2019) | Subjects: Excerpts, Life & Society, Literature | Arts, Politics & Public Policy

In the variedly stimulating 1976 volume The Identities of Persons, philosopher Amelie Rorty considers the seven layers of personhood, rooted in literature but extensible to life.

Authors: Amelie Rorty, Maria Popova | Source: The Marginalian (Brain Pickings) (March 2, 2016) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Literature | Arts, Psychology | Behavior