Skip to main content

The Platypus Reads Part XXV

Odds and ends as summer wraps up.

My big "thinking book" for this summer was "The Closing of the American Mind" by Allan Bloom. Yeah, I'm coming to this one a little late, but I was just a kid in the '80s when it was written. I undertook it as a sort of intellectual archeology, since it influenced people who have influenced me. Even if it's a little out of date, (and when has that ever stopped a Torrey student?) it's still worth the read just to uncover some of the ideas and problems that shaped the way we were taught. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue that archeology by digging into a bit of Strauss later in the year.

In prepping for my American History class, I also undertook to read "1776" by David McCullough. My grandmother sent me the illustrated edition for my birthday. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read and all the reproductions of historical documents were fun to play with and will be useful in the classroom.

Finally, I'm also prepping for a lecture on Gothic literature, and so I've been reading through my "Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe". Poe's easy to underestimate, and I fear that I underestimated him for too long. Yes, he doesn't have a terrible lot to say, but the ways he finds to say it are powerful and engaging, and all the more so since they pass so easily for gloomy, middlebrow fluff. It reminds me a lot of Hellboy in that. Speaking of Hellboy, I finally got out to see "The Golden Army" the other day! It was fun. Nothing life-changing, but just plain fun. If I can gather my thoughts, I may sit down and write a review... We'll see.

Comments

Linds said…
I got the Illustrated 1776 as well, courtesy of in-laws. Way too much fun!

And I'd be interested to hear more of your thoughts on Golden Army. I loved it and hated it. There were things that were amazing, and things that made me cringe. I'm so mixed up inside about this movie! :)
James said…
Yeah, I know what you mean. We'll see if I have to see it again before I can collect my thoughts though. Did you or Nate get through "Darkness Calls"?

Popular posts from this blog

The Platypus Reads Part XXVII

Thoughts after reading the "Iliad" to prepare a Greece unit for my students: -Hector is a jerk until he's dead. He even advocates the exposure of Achaean corpses and then has the cheek to turn around and ask Achilles to spare his. He rudely ignores Polydamas' prophecies and fights outside the gate to save his pride knowing full well what it will cost his family and city. After he's dead, he becomes a martyr for the cause. -Agamemnon has several moments of true leadership to balance out his pettiness. In this way, he's a haunting foil to Achilles: the two men are more alike than they want to acknowledge. -We see that Achilles is the better man at the funeral games of Patroclos. His lordliness, tact, and generosity there give us a window into Achilles before his fight with Agamemnon and the death of Patroclos consumed him. -Nestor is a boring, rambling, old man who's better days are far behind him, and yet every Achaean treats him with the upmo...

SNES as Money Well Spent: Platypus Nostalgia

I got my Super Nintendo Entertainment System when I was eleven years old.  That's a couple years after it first came out.  The occasion was a little dramatic: to celebrate the end of a two-and-a-half year course of treatment for cancer.  I had no idea that it would be waiting for me at home after the final doctors visit.  It was a nice spring day, the trees were waving gently in the breeze outside the bay windows.  With a cup of tea resting on the coffee table, I set down to play.  What was that first game?  It was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past .  Around twenty years later, my SNES still works as does that Zelda cartridge.  It's been a long way from boyhood in Southern Connecticut to manhood in North Houston, but I'm still playing. Why am I still playing?  There were stretches when I didn't.  Many times, I've just been too busy.  There were also seasons when it felt embarrassing to still be playing video games....

Under the Moon: The Platypus Reads Part LXVI

My wife and I were discussing our favorite books from the Chronicles of Narnia on our way back from lunch.  My wife, true to her sunny personality, is a staunch fan of "The Voyage of the Dawntreader."  I can't argue with that choice but, when push comes to shove, "The Silver Chair" has always been my favorite. I have a bit of a theory.  I think "The Voyage of the Dawntreader" is Lewis' grail legend.  If that's so, then I'd hazard a guess and say that "The Silver Chair" is his "Pilgrim's Progress." -just think about the shape of Puddleglum's hat and the fact that he lives in the Fen Country and you'll see what got me thinking down this line. That brings me to why I like "The Silver Chair" so much.  When I was little, we had a children's version of "Pilgrim's Progress" that my mom used to read to me.  I lived in New England and the Christianity I was raised with had a heavy tin...