Literature and Poetry
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Part 1
Rebecca West wrote: I raised myself on my elbow and called through the open door into the other wagon-lit: — 'My dear, I know I have inconvenienced you terribly by making you take your holiday now, and I know you did not really want to come to Yugoslavia at all. But when you get there you will see why it was so important that we should make this journey, and that we should make it now, at Easter. It will all be quite clear, once we are in Yugoslavia.' more »
Math and Metaphor
"It should not be surprising that students find poetry a useful tool for accessing these mathematical ideas: the language of poetry is precise and exact, as is the language of math. In both idioms words are heavy with meaning, and word choice is crucial. A well-constructed poem will in this manner be like a well-constructed proof." more »
CultureWatch: A Debut Author - The Warmth of Other Suns; DVD Tip: The Forsyte Saga
The stories of these individual three lives involved in “The Great Migration” are brilliantly told in The Warmth of Other Suns and serve to soften and humanize the long, carefully researched story Isabel Wilkerson has to tell. The DVD Tip, The Forsyte Saga, reminds us just how compelling and sexy the Victorian and 1920 eras can be. Can a new production of Trollope's The Pallisers be far behind?. more »
Maeve Binchy, Queen of the Bookshelves ... and Friend
Jane Shortall writes: Her books chosen by Oprah, made into movies, Maeve somehow managed to remain one of us, to stay absolutely the same warm, giving, human being. Beyond generous, she gave away both time and money as if she had double the amount to spare. She was, in every sense, larger than life, with a superior imagination and an uncanny ability to tell a story. more »