Episodes
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Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and the wrap up of our series on Samuel Taylor Coleridgeâs Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Today Angelina and Thomas cover the second half of the poem, beginning with some more discussion about the Romantic poets and what they were trying to do through their work. They talk at some length about the importance of imagination and fantasy in response to the focus on realism and science. After this, Thomas reads aloud some of the most important passages in this section of the poem. Angelina brings up the importance of understanding Deism in relation to Romanticism.
To see all the books and get the full show notes for today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://www.theliterary.life/249/.
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On todayâs episode of The Literary Life, Angelina and Thomas discuss the first half of Samuel Taylor Coleridgeâs Rime of the Ancient Mariner. They review some of the ideas covered last week, particularly Romanticism and the harkening back to the medieval tradition in contrast to the Neo-Classicism that preceded this period. Thomas sets up the plot with an explanation of the âframe tale,â then reads several of the opening stanzas, pausing frequently for commentary and discussion with Angelina. They talk about the symbolism of the albatross, plus so much more!
To see all the books and get the full show notes for today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://www.theliterary.life/248/.
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Missing episodes?
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On The Literary Life podcast this week, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks begin their newest series, this time discussing Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. First, Thomas and Angelina speak to the question of different editions of this poem, then they dive into the background on Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and the lyrical ballads. They discuss the artistic and cultural moment in which Coleridge is writing, particularly the Romantic period in literature. Angelina talks about the Romantics and why they used so much medieval language and used allegory so heavily. She shares some examples of the writers in this vein seeking to rediscover and return to ancient tradition and stories. Thomas also considers Coleridge as a poet and a person. Finally, they give some helpful information and tips for those approaching this text for the first time.
To see all the books and get the full show notes for today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://www.theliterary.life/247/.
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Todayâs episode of The Literary Life podcast is one in our âBest of The Literary Lifeâ series. This weekâs remix is a conversation from 2019 between Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins in which they discuss Dorothy L. Sayersâ essay âAre Women Human?â They explore the ideas that Sayers wrestles with in the essay, including: the Victorian view of women, the significance of the industrial revolution, the human need for meaningful occupation, and the early feminist movement and womenâs suffrage.
Angelina and Cindy also discuss the history of womenâs work inside and outside of the home and how they have been impacted by industry and our production-consumption culture. They take a fascinating look at the effects of the Enlightenment on women in the modern western world, as well as the problem of over-generalization and categorizing people according to classes. Finally, Cindy and Angelina highlight the importance of asking yourself the question: âWho am I supposed to be as a mother and a woman?â
To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://www.theliterary.life/246/.
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Today on The Literary Life podcast, hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks wrap up their series on Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers. To begin the conversation, Thomas shares his reaction on finishing this book. Angelina then dives into her discoveries of Alice in Wonderland references throughout all of Sayers' detective books. They talk about how the cricket game relates to the whole story arc, review the descent and parody imagery ideas from last episode, and look at Lord Peter's arrest and its significance in the form of the romance. More topics they cover in these final chapters include the ascent imagery, Tallboy's confession, the act of justice in the detective novel, and how the ending of this book is actually quite fitting. We hope you have enjoyed this series and will be picking up more Sayers novels soon!
To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/245/.
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Todayâs episode of The Literary Life podcast picks up our series on Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers with a discussion of chapters 12-16. After sharing their commonplace quotes, Angelina and Thomas begin by talking about whether Sayers is âtoo accomplishedâ to be writing detective stories and the decline and resurgence of the genre. Angelina makes more connections between the medieval romance and Murder Must Advertise, as well as the images that parallel Aliceâs Adventures in Wonderland scenes and the purpose they serve. They also talk about the many masks of Lord Peter, the âhellish huntâ, the ad world and the drug world, and so much more.
To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/244/.
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1On The Literary Life podcast this week, we continue our series on Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers, covering chapters 6-11. Angelina and Thomas begin the discussion talking about authors and their own thoughts on their best books versus those which readers seem to like best. Angelina shares some of the things she has learned about the drug trade in the early 20th century and in relation to this story. Thomas points out some of the allusions and references to other literature in these chapters. Angelina also expands on Lord Peterâs disguises and the role of the harlequin in the literary tradition. For an entertaining side note, Thomas reads some bad reviews of Sayersâ novels.
To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/243/.
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Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and the beginning of our series on Dorothy L. Sayers' classic detective novel, Murder Must Advertise. Beginning with the Golden Age of the detective novel and the backdrop of World War I, Angelina and Thomas give some historical background to provide a setting for this novel. Angelina also shares some biographical information about Dorothy Sayers and her literary education and advertising work. As they dig into the opening chapters of this novel, our hosts talk about Lord Peter Wimsey, his name and character. They also talk at some length about the "Bright Young Things" circle and their place in society during the post-WWI era.
To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/242/.
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On this weekâs episode of The Literary Life podcast, we are excited to bring you a new conversation with hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks and their guest Dr. Jason Baxter. They open the discussion with some thoughts on why Dante has had renewed popularity in recent days. Jason talks about the big questions that poets seek to answer, and what some of the obstacles modern readers might have when approaching Dante for the first time. Thomas asks whether Dante had a precedent for making himself a character in his own epic. Angelina brings up the question of what it means that The Divine Comedy is poetry rather than some other genre. Other topics they discuss are Danteâs cosmology, his psychological precision, how to approach The Divine Comedy for the first time, and Jasonâs own translation work.
To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/241/.
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Today on The Literary Life Podcast, we bring you another episode from the vault, this time to prepare you for our upcoming discussion of Dorothy L. Sayers' detective novel Murder Must Advertise. In this conversation, Angelina and Cindy talk all things related to the detective novel. Why do we love detective fiction so much? What are the qualities of a good detective novel? What is the history of detective fiction, and how did World War I bring about the Golden Age of the genre? Angelina and Cindy answer all these questions and more. Be sure to visit the shownotes page for this episode for links to all the books and authors mentioned in this episode here -->> https://theliterary.life/240/.
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Welcome to another remix episode of The Literary Life podcast with this popular âLiterary Life ofâŠâ interview episode with Angelina, Cindy and their guest Jone Rose. Jone is a âsuper-fanâ of the podcast and is a homeschool mom living in North Carolina. Today Angelina starts off the interview asking about Joneâs childhood reading life and school experience. Jone shares how her own adult literary education didnât start until after she had been homeschooling her own children for several years. In addition to discussing the redemption of Joneâs own education, they talk about what Joneâs reading life looks like now, how narration helps make connections and increase understanding, asking better questions, and so much more!
To get see all the books and links mentioned in this episode, please view the full show notes on our website at https://www.theliterary.life/239.
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Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast with Angelina Stanford, Thomas Banks, and Cindy Rollins. Thomas starts the conversation with some general thoughts on the biography as a branch of literature and as an art form. He also mentions some types of biography he does not care to read at all. Cindy brings up the tension between white-washing historical figures and dragging out every piece of their dirty laundry in biographical treatments. Angelina poses a question about the place of biographies in children's education.
To get a list of all the books mentioned and any other links mentioned in this episode, visit https://www.theliterary.life/238/.
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This week on The Literary Life Podcast, we continue our remix of a past discussion of Robert Louis Stevensonâs The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If you missed last weekâs episode, you will want to go back and catch Part 1. Angelina kicks of the book chat with a look at the format of the story and how it keeps us in suspense. Thomas brings up the idea of forbidden knowledge found in this book and the similarities between it and Frankenstein. Some other topics covered in this episode include the dangers of dehumanizing victims of crime, the nature of sin and addiction, the Renaissance idea of the well-ordered man, and the mythic qualities of this story.
For a complete booklists and links to everything mentioned in this episode, including ways to connect with our hosts, please visit https://theliterary.life/237.
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Welcome to todayâs episode and another âBest ofâ remix on The Literary Life Podcast! Today our hosts Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks explore Robert Louis Stevensonâs The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. After their commonplace quote discussion, each cohost shares some personal thoughts on Robert Louis Stevenson. Be aware that this episode will contain some spoilers, though we will not spoil the full ending. Thomas shares some biographical information about R. L. Stevenson. Angelina points out the mythic quality of this story and the enduring cultural references inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She and Thomas also discuss some of the differences between early and late Victorian writers. They also begin digging into the first section of the book.
Join us again next week for the second part of this discussion. Check out our Upcoming Events page for if want to know what we will be reading and talking about on the podcast next!
Donât forget to check out our sister podcast, The Well Read Poem, as well as Cindyâs new podcast, The New Mason Jar!
Commonplace Quotes:I would rather (said he) have the rod to be the general terrour to all, to make them learn, than tell a child, if you do thus, or thus, you will be more esteemed than your brothers or sisters. The rod produces an effect which terminates in itself. A child is afraid of being whipped, and gets his task, and thereâs an end onât; whereas, by exciting emulation and comparisons of superiority, you lay the foundation of lasting mischief; you make brothers and sisters hate each other.
Samuel Johnson, as quoted by James BoswellDo not talk about Shakespeareâs mistakes: they are probably your own.
G. M. YoungThe most influential books, and the truest in their influence, are works of fiction. They do not pin the reader to a dogma, which he must afterwards discover to be inexact; they do not teach him a lesson, which he must afterwards unlearn⊠They disengage us from ourselves, they constrain us to the acquaintance of others; and they show us the web of experience, not as we see it for ourselves, but with a singular changeâthat monstrous, consuming ego of ours being, for the nonce, struck out.
Robert Louis Stevenson R L Sby A. E. Houseman
Home is the sailor, home from sea:
Her far-borne canvas furled
The ship pours shining on the quay
The plunder of the world.
Home is the hunter from the hill:
Fast in the boundless snare
All flesh lies taken at his will
And every fowl of air.âTis evening on the moorland free,
Book List:
The starlit wave is still:
Home is the sailor from the sea,
The hunter from the hill.The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell
Daylight and Champaign by G. M. Young
âBooks Which Have Influenced Meâ by Robert Louis Stevenson
David Balfour by Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
A Childâs Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson
Travels with a Donkey in the CĂ©vennes by Robert Louis Stevenson
King Solomonâs Mines by H. Ryder Haggard
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel
Robert Louis Stevenson by G. K. Chesterton
God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Body-Snatcher and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson
Support The Literary Life:Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the âFriends and Fellows Communityâ on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support!
Connect with Us:You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/
Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CindyRollinsWriter. Check out Cindyâs own Patreon page also!
Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and letâs get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB
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This week on The Literary Life, Angelina and Thomas wrap up their series on J. K. Rowlingâs Harry Potter: Book 1. Angelina and Thomas begin the episode with some thoughts on their Aristotelian approach to literature as seen in this series of episodes. After sharing their commonplace quotes, they dive into their discussion of the last few chapters of the book. Some of the ideas they consider are how the entire plot is a series of symbols, alchemy and the allegory of the soul, and the figure of the âwildmanâ in the literary tradition. They also go over the characters of the centaurs, the significance of the unicorn, more references to Greek mythology, how Harry exemplifies the âchestâ of the well-ordered man, and the great importance of the philosopherâs stone as a Christ symbol.
Visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com for classes with Angelina, Thomas, and other members of their teaching team.
Commonplace Quotes:There is a sort of wild fairy interest in these tales which makes me think them fully better adapted to awaken and soften the heart of childhood that the âgood boyâ stories which have been in later years composed for them. In the latter case their minds are, as it were, put into the stocksâŠand the moral always consists in good conduct being crowned with temporal success. The truth is, I would not give one tear shed over Little Red Riding Hood for all the benefit to be derived from a hundred histories of Jimmy Goodchild.
Sir Walter Scott, from a letter to a friendâI believe in God, not magic.â In fact, Rowling initially was afraid that if people were aware of her Christian faith, she would give away too much of whatâs coming in the series. âIt I talk too freely about that,â she told a Canadian reporter, âI think the intelligent readerâwhether ten [years old] or sixtyâwill be able to guess what is coming in the books.â
Michael Nelson, quoting J. K. Rowling, from âFantasia: The Gospel According to C. S. Lewisâ A Selection from âThe Infernoâ, Canto XIIBy Dante Alighieri, trans. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
O blind cupidity, O wrath insane,
That spurs us onward so in our short life,
And in the eternal then so badly steeps us!
I saw an ample moat bent like a bow,
As one which all the plain encompasses,
Conformable to what my Guide had said.
And between this and the embankmentâs foot
Centaurs in file were running, armed with arrows,
As in the world they used the chase to follow.
Beholding us descend, each one stood still,
And from the squadron three detached themselves,
With bows and arrows in advance selected;
And from afar one cried: âUnto what torment
Come ye, who down the hillside are descending?
Tell us from there; if not, I draw the bow.â Book List:Studies in Classic American Literature by D. H. Lawrence
Aliceâs Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
Unlocking Harry Potter by John Granger
Harry Potterâs Bookshelf by John Granger
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Sacred and The Profane by Mircea Eliade
The Elizabethan World Picture by E. M. Tillyard
The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis
Mythos by Stephen Fry
Metamorphoses by Ovid
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
Support The Literary Life:Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the âFriends and Fellows Communityâ on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support!
Connect with Us:You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/
Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and letâs get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB
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Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and our series on J. K. Rowlingâs Harry Potter: Book 1. After sharing some thoughts on detective fiction as it relates to Rowling, our hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks discuss chapters 8-12. Some of the ideas they share are the following: Homeric echos and classical allusions in this book, the identity quest, the significance of charactersâ names, the four houses and the bestiary, the three parts of the soul, the Christian influence on Rowlingâs stories. Angelina also seeks to teach something about symbolism and structure of literature and art as seen through the Harry Potter books.
Visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com for updates on classes with Angelina, Thomas, and other members of their teaching team.
Previous episodes mentioned in this podcast:
The Importance of the Detective Novel (Episode 3/174)
Series on Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers (Episodes 4-8)
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (Episode 79)
Commonplace Quotes:The wise man combines the pleasures of the senses and the pleasures of the spirit in such a way as to increase the satisfaction he gets from both.
W. Somerset Maugham, from The Narrow CornerFor it is through symbols that man finds his way out of his particular situation and âopens himselfâ to the general and the Universal. Symbols awaken individual experience and transmute it into a spiritual act, into metaphysical comprehension of the world.
Mircea Eliade, from The Sacred and the Profane The FairiesBy William Allingham
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We darenât go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owlâs feather!
Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.
High on the hill-top
The old King sits;
He is now so old and gray
Heâs nigh lost his wits.
With a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses,
On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses;
Or going up with music
On cold starry nights
To sup with the Queen
Of the gay Northern Lights.
They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she came down again
Her friends were all gone.
They took her lightly back,
Between the night and morrow,
They thought that she was fast asleep,
But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
Deep within the lake,
On a bed of flag-leaves,
Watching till she wake.
By the craggy hill-side,
Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn-trees
For pleasure here and there.
If any man so daring
As dig them up in spite,
He shall find their sharpest thorns
In his bed at night.
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We darenât go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owlâs feather! Book List:Cormoran Strike Series by Robert Galbraith
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Agatha Christie
Margery Allingham
Ngaio Marsh
Fanny Burney
Northrop Frye
The Odyssey by Homer
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J. K. Rowling
The Book of Beasts trans. by T. H. White
The Once and Future King by T. H. White
Fabulous Tales and Mythical Beasts by Woody Allen
Support The Literary Life:Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the âFriends and Fellows Communityâ on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support!
Connect with Us:You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/
Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and letâs get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB
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On todayâs episode of The Literary Life podcast, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks continue their series on Harry Potter: Book 1 by J. K. Rowling. This week we are covering chapters 3-7. Angelina opens the book discussion with an overview of the literary motifs used by Rowling in the Harry Potter books to help modern readers better understand these kinds of stories. One of the motifs she highlights is the identity quest and how we see Harry on a journey of the soul. She also shares some thoughts on the fairy tale âmagicâ of these stories in contrast to actual witchcraft as well as the symbolism used to show us that this is a fairy world.
Thomas and Angelina talk about the characters we meet in these chapters, including the symbolism of some of their names. Other ideas discussed in this episode include the importance of alchemy, the Gothic literary tradition, the layers of the quest, the rise of the fantasy genre, and so much more!
Visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com for updates on classes with Angelina, Thomas, and other members of their teaching team.
The Literary Life series on Bram Stokerâs Dracula
Commonplace Quotes:It is very often a manâs digressions that reveal his true character and interests.
T. R. Glover, from Springs of HellasI am not suggesting that all works of literature are much the same work or fit into the same general scheme. I am providing a kind of resonance for literary experience, a third dimension, so to speak, in which the work we are experiencing draws strength and power from everything else we have read and may still read. And, second, the strength and power do not stop with the work out there, but enter into us.
Northrop Frye Walking AwayBy Cecil Day-Lewis
It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day â
A sunny day with leaves just turning,
The touch-lines new-ruled â since I watched you play
Your first game of football, then, like a satellite
Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away
Behind a scatter of boys. I can see
You walking away from me towards the school
With the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free
Into a wilderness, the gait of one
Who finds no path where the path should be.
That hesitant figure, eddying away
Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem,
Has something I never quite grasp to convey
About natureâs give-and-take â the small, the scorching
Ordeals which fire oneâs irresolute clay.
I have had worse partings, but none that so
Gnaws at my mind still. Perhaps it is roughly
Saying what God alone could perfectly show â
How selfhood begins with a walking away,
And love is proved in the letting go. Book List:The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody by Will Cuppy
Enid Blyton
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
MacBeth by William Shakespeare
Aliceâs Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
Support The Literary Life:Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the âFriends and Fellows Communityâ on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support!
Connect with Us:You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/
Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and letâs get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB
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On todayâs episode on The Literary Life podcast, we begin our much-anticipated series on Harry Potter: Book 1 by J. K. Rowling, with hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. After sharing a little on their own backgrounds as teachers and their commonplace quotations for the week, Angelina and Thomas open the book discussion with some introductory information on this book and series. They address the controversy surrounding these books in Christian circles. For our previous episode on magic, listen to our Best of Series Episode 168: Wizards, Witches and Magic, Oh My!
Angelina sets up this series with some background on childrenâs publishing in the 1990s, the why there are differences in the British and American editions, the basis for this book in the classic literary tradition, the form and structure of stories. They also share some thoughts on these first couple of chapters. Join us again next week for chapters 3-7!
Visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com for updates on classes with Angelina, Thomas, and other members of their teaching team.
Commonplace Quotes:To what extent people draw their ideas from fiction is disputable. Personally, I believe that most people are influenced far more than they would care to admit by novels, serial stories, films, and so forth, and that from this point of view, the worst books are often the most important.
George Orwell, in âBoysâ WeekliesâDo you think I am trying to weave a spell? Perhaps I am, but remember your fairy tales. Spells are used for breaking enchantments as well as inducing them, and you and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness that has been laid upon us for nearly a hundred years.
C. S. Lewis, from âThe Weight of Gloryâ A Selection from âA School SongâBy Rudyard Kipling
'Let us now praise famous men' -
Men of little showing -
For their work continueth,
And their work continueth,
Broad and deep continueth,
Greater than their knowing!
And we all praise famous men -
Ancients of the College;
For they taught us common sense -
Tried to teach us common sense
Truth and God's Own Common Sense,
Which is more than knowledge! Book List:Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Holes by Louis Sachar
The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
Tom Brownâs School Days by Thomas Hughes
Stalky and Co. by Rudyard Kipling
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Support The Literary Life:Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the âFriends and Fellows Communityâ on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support!
Connect with Us:You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/
Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and letâs get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB
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This week on The Literary Life podcast Angelina Stanford is joined by friends and fellow readers Cindy Rollins, Emily Raible, and Jone Rose to discuss how to deal with overwhelm with your literary life. Angelina opens the conversation with the acknowledgment that everyone has moments when they feel overwhelmed by the amount of things to read and to know. Jone talks about how she tries to avoid comparing herself and her reading life to that of others. Cindy talks about how she has seen the Enemy twist something that is a good gift and made it into a negative.
Other encouraging and helpful ideas they discuss are the following: motivation of making connections, how to work up to more challenging books, protecting your brain and attention span, learning to enjoy the feast, and continuing the literary life for the long haul.
Find out more about Cindyâs summer Narration Bootcamps over at MorningTimeforMoms.com. Look for more information about the summer classes over HouseofHumaneLetters.com, too!
Commonplace Quotes:Now you must remember, whenever you have to deal with him, that Analysis, like fire, is a very good servant but a very bad master, for having got his freedom only of late years or so he is, like young men when they come suddenly to be their own masters, apt to be conceited and to fancy that he knows everything when he really knows nothing and can never know anything but only knows about things, which is a different matter. Emily shares her eye-opening understanding after starting out discouraged about being âbehindâ in her self-education journey.
Charles KingsleyWords can come to the ear like blowing wind and neither stop nor remain, just passing by like fleeting time, if hearts and minds arenât awake, arenât ready and willing to receive them. Only the heart can take them in and hold them and keep them.
Chrétrien de Troyes, trans. by Burton Raffel, from Yvain, The Knight of the LionI have my doubts about all this real value in mountaineering, of getting to the top of everywhere and overlooking everything. Satan was the most celebrated of alpine guides when he took Jesus to the top of an exceeding high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth. But the joy of Satan standing on a peak, in not a joy in largeness, but a joy in beholding smallness in the fact that all men look like insects at his feet. It is from the valley that things look large. It is from the level that things look high. I am a child of the level and have no need of that celebrated alpine guide. Everything is an attitude of the mind, and at this moment I am in comfortable attitude. I will sit still and let the marvels and the adventures settle on me like flies. There are plenty of them, I assure you. The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder.
G. K. Chesterton, from Tremendous TriflesAnd prodigies with a vengeance have I known thus produced, prodigies of self-conceit, shallowness, arrogance, and infidelity. Instead of storing the memory during the period when the memory is the predominant faculty with facts for the after-exercise of the judgement, and instead of awakening by the noblest models the fond and unmixed love and admiration which is the natural and graceful temper of early youth, these nurslings of improved pedagogy are taught to dispute and decide, to suspect all but their own and their lecturersâ wisdom and to hold nothing sacred from their contempt but their own contemptible arrogance, boy graduates in all the technicals and in all the dirty passions and impudence of anonymous criticism.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, as quoted in Mariner by Malcom Guite from âIl Penserosoâby John Bunyan
But let my due feet never fail
To walk the studious cloister's pale,
And love the high embowed roof,
With antique pillars massy proof,
And storied windows richly dight,
Casting a dim religious light.
There let the pealing organ blow,
To the full-voic'd quire below,
In service high, and anthems clear,
As may with sweetness, through mine ear,
Dissolve me into ecstasies,
And bring all Heav'n before mine eyes.
And may at last my weary age
Find out the peaceful hermitage,
The hairy gown and mossy cell,
Where I may sit and rightly spell
Of every star that Heav'n doth shew,
And every herb that sips the dew;
Till old experience do attain
To something like prophetic strain.
These pleasures, Melancholy, give,
And I with thee will choose to live. Book List:Beyond Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins
The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Support The Literary Life:Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the âFriends and Fellows Communityâ on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support!
Connect with Us:You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/
Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CindyRollinsWriter. Check out Cindyâs own Patreon page also!
Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and letâs get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB
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For this weekâs âBest of The Literary Lifeâ series episode, we revisit a conversation about George Orwellâs essay âWhy I Write.â Angelina and Cindy kick off the discussion about how much they each identify with Orwellâs description of his childhood. In his story of learning to write, we see many aspects of a good education, even his inclination to imitate other authors. An important point Angelina brings up is Orwellâs own struggle against the calling he felt to write, in contrast to having an ambition to do so. Angelina brings up a related story about musician Gregory Alan Isakov, and Cindy reiterates the idea of why we need leisure in order to find our vocation.
Cindy and Angelina also bring out some of the qualities Orwell possessed that make a good writer. Maturity as a human being and as a master of a craft are crucial to certain forms of writing, as Orwell points out about his own work. Other topics of conversation include truth-telling in writing, the motives for writing according to Orwell, and the growing process of writers.
If you want to find replays of the 2019 Back to School online conference referenced in this episode, you can purchase them in Cindyâs shop at MorningTimeforMoms.com. For replays of the How to Love Poetry webinar with Thomas, you can find those at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.
Check out the schedule for the podcastâs summer episodes on our Upcoming Events page.
Commonplace Quotes:Never had she seen it so clearly as on this evening â what destiny had demanded of her and what it had given her in return with her seven sons. Over and over again joy had quickened the beat of her heart; fear on their behalf had rent it in two. They were her children, these big sons with their lean, bony, boyâs bodies, just as they had been when they were small and so plump that they barely hurt themselves when they tumbled down on their way between the bench and her knee. They were hers, just as they had been back when she lifted them out of the cradle to her milk-filled breast and had to support their heads, which wobbled on their frail necks the way a bluebell nods on its stalk. Wherever they ended in the world, wherever they journeyed, forgetting their motherâ she thought that for her, their lives would be like a current in her own life; they would be one with her, just as they had been when she alone on this earth knew about the new life hidden inside, drinking from her blood and making her cheeks pale.
Sigrid Undset, from Kristen LavransdatterOrwell was a poet who happened to find his medium in prose, a poet not so much in his means of expression as in the nature of his vision, which could strip the sprawling tangle of the world around him down to its core with the simplicity of a timeless flash of intuition.
C. M. Wodehouse, from the introduction to Animal Farm Veni, Creator Spiritusby John Dryden
Creator Spirit, by whose aid
The worldâs foundations first were laid,
Come, visit evâry pious mind;
Come, pour thy joys on human kind;
From sin, and sorrow set us free;
And make thy temples worthy Thee.O, Source of uncreated Light,
The Fatherâs promisâd Paraclete!
Thrice Holy Fount, thrice Holy Fire,
Our hearts with heavânly love inspire;
Come, and thy Sacred Unction bring
To sanctify us, while we sing!Plenteous of grace, descend from high,
Rich in thy sevân-fold energy!
Thou strength of his Almighty Hand,
Whose powâr does heavân and earth command:
Proceeding Spirit, our Defence,
Who doâst the gift of tongues dispence,
And crownâst thy gift with eloquence!Refine and purge our earthly parts;
But, oh, inflame and fire our hearts!
Our frailties help, our vice control;
Submit the senses to the soul;
And when rebellious they are grown,
Then, lay thy hand, and hold âem down.Chase from our minds thâ Infernal Foe;
And peace, the fruit of love, bestow;
And, lest our feet should step astray,
Protect, and guide us in the way.Make us Eternal Truths receive,
And practise, all that we believe:
Give us thy self, that we may see
The Father and the Son, by thee.Immortal honour, endless fame,
Book List:
Attend thâ Almighty Fatherâs name:
The Saviour Son be glorified,
Who for lost Manâs redemption died:
And equal adoration be,
Eternal Paraclete, to thee.Kristen Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
Animal Farm by George Orwell
P. G. Wodehouse
The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip and Carol Zaleski
Support The Literary Life:Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the âFriends and Fellows Communityâ on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support!
Connect with Us:You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/
Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CindyRollinsWriter. Check out Cindyâs own Patreon page also!
Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and letâs get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB
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