-
2 weeks ago | 
washingtonpost.com | Michael Dirda
His biography of James Joyce was a masterpiece. Now he gets his due. (washingtonpost.com) His biography of James Joyce was a masterpiece. Now he gets his due.
-
1 month ago | 
infobae.com | Michael Dirda
Últimas NoticiasPolíticaEconomíaDólar hoyDeportesSociedadPolicialesSe dice que cuando Guerra y paz estaba terminado y a punto de publicarse, Tolstoi miró el enorme libro y de repente exclamó: “¡La regata de yates! Se me olvidó poner la regata de yates!“. Con 1.174 páginas, Mark Twain, de Ron Chernow tiene esencialmente la misma extensión que Guerra y paz, pero aparentemente no se ha pasado nada por alto ni se ha omitido nada.
-
1 month ago | 
estadao.com.br | Michael Dirda
Diz-se que, quando Guerra e Paz estava concluído e prestes a ser publicado, Tolstóiolhou para aquele livro enorme e de repente exclamou: “A regata! Esqueci de falar da regata!” Com 1.174 páginas, Mark Twain, de Ron Chernow, tem mais ou menos o mesmo tamanho de Guerra e Paz, mas parece que nada foi esquecido nem deixado de fora.
-
1 month ago | 
washingtonpost.com | Michael Dirda
What we get wrong about Mark Twain (washingtonpost.com) What we get wrong about Mark Twain By Michael Dirda 2025051512000000 It's said that when "War and Peace" was finished and about to be published, Tolstoy looked at the huge book and suddenly exclaimed, "The yacht race! I forgot to put in the yacht race!" At 1,174 pages, Ron Chernow's "Mark Twain" is essentially the same length as "War and Peace," but seemingly nothing has been overlooked or left out.
-
1 month ago | 
washingtonpost.com | Michael Dirda
Disillusioned by politics, I read these books to get out of my slump (washingtonpost.com) Disillusioned by politics, I read these books to get out of my slump By Michael Dirda 2025050816000000 For the first six weeks after Jan. 20, I didn't read a book. I moped instead.
-
Mar 6, 2025 | 
nybooks.com | Michael Dirda
Ford Madox Ford’s 1915 novel, The Good Soldier, opens with one of the most arresting first sentences in twentieth-century fiction: “This is the saddest story I have ever heard.” The paragraph that follows, however, almost immediately undercuts it with a series of irresolute, contradictory statements:We had known the Ashburnhams for nine seasons of the town of Nauheim with an extreme intimacy—or rather, with an acquaintance as loose and easy and yet as close as a good glove’s with your hand.
-
Feb 25, 2025 | 
roanoke.com | Michael Dirda
As an author and artist, Maurice Sendak enriched the world with two of our most beloved picture books, “Where the Wild Things Are” (1963) and “In the Night Kitchen” (1970). Yet Sendak’s creative energy also spilled over into more commercial projects, and he often illustrated the work of others, usually favorite writers.
-
Jan 26, 2025 | 
pressherald.com | Michael Dirda
With the possible exceptions of pickleball and gossip, the habitual reading of obituaries may be the favorite sport of older people. After a certain age, we begin to wonder how others have spent their time in what Melville, in “Moby-Dick,” summed up as “this strange mixed affair we call life.” Did they, as Melville went on to say, feel “this whole universe [to be] a vast practical joke” at nobody’s expense but their own? Were they true to the dreams of youth?
-
Jan 16, 2025 | 
washingtonpost.com | Michael Dirda
With the possible exceptions of pickleball and gossip, the habitual reading of obituaries may be the favorite sport of older people. After a certain age, we begin to wonder how others have spent their time in what Melville, in “Moby-Dick,” summed up as “this strange mixed affair we call life.” Did they, as Melville went on to say, feel “this whole universe [to be] a vast practical joke” at nobody’s expense but their own? Were they true to the dreams of youth?
-
Jan 15, 2025 | 
infobae.com | Michael Dirda
Casi todas las naciones tienen su epopeya nacional, que suele ser el relato de las hazañas marciales de un héroe guerrero. Por ejemplo, en Inglaterra está Beowulf; en Francia, La canción de Roldán; en Alemania, Los nibelungos; en Irán, El Shahnameh. En la mayoría de los casos, el héroe exhibe cualidades sobrehumanas y virtudes distintivas que los oyentes o lectores del poema deben admirar y emular: valor, fuerza, lealtad, autocontrol y, a veces, sabiduría.
