Bite-sized thoughts on books, writing, and culture
Perestroika in Paris (Penguin, 2020) by Jane Smiley is a charming novel about a racehorse who lives her stable one night and moves herself to Paris. Language, the discussion of humans actions from the animal perspective and the discourse between the various animals (horse, dog, ras, ducks, crow, etc...) of this novel brings a level... Continue Reading →
My fiance's favorite painting is Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. This painting is beautiful. I was not aware of it until he pointed it out during a documentary on the painting's loss during an art heist in 1990. A slight beam of light from the sun shines through dark stormy clouds onto... Continue Reading →
At the library I work at, I am helping facilitate the lending of a couple of items for a T.S. Eliot exhibit at the World Chess Hall of Fame here in St. Louis in May. They have asked for a couple of items whose editions would have likely been ones Eliot was familiar with or... Continue Reading →
It is officially March tomorrow and that means Women’s History Month. And I have been thinking a lot about women authors and women in literature. I am currently working on an idea for a course on examples of women in late classical/early medieval women in literature. Here is a bite of what I have been... Continue Reading →
I was prompted recently to think about woman storytellers who have influenced me. I immediately thought of Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), a woman author who has meant a lot to my growth as an independent woman, and in my academics and faith. Sayers was an English crime writer, scholar, and poet. She was in the... Continue Reading →
Over the past year I finally read Maria Dahvana Headley’s The Mere Wife, a retelling of the Beowulf story, which is fantastic and I will write about later. More recently, her translation of Beowulf was released and I believe it may be the most compelling translation to come out since Seamus Heaney’s version was published... Continue Reading →
Lately I have been struggling, just as I am sure many have living in the time of COVID, with anger, frustration, and wondering about past life choices now that a world-wide pandemic has separated me from family and friends, and caused job markets to wither and die just as I am finishing my PhD and... Continue Reading →
Hi! I’m Natalie, a librarian and college writing instructor currently finishing my Ph.D. in English Literature. I decided to start blogging because, after years of writing in an academic bubble, I have found I really enjoy public writing about popular culture, society, reading, writing and sharing ideas with others in more open spaces. So I... Continue Reading →
Natalie Whitaker: Book Bites 