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My Name Is Aram
William Saroyan 1940 (An open and curious boy growing up in an Armenian community in California encounters the rich quirkiness of his family and neighbors.) Writing from the spirit of memory. Not a record of specific memories, but effortless intuitive writing that naturally conjures the ethos, tinged with wistfulness, that can accompany the distant remembrance […]
The History of Mr. Polly
H. G. Wells 1910 (A man of precisely 37.5 years of age can’t seem to find success or happiness in life… perhaps he has to do something drastic.) “HOLE!” said Mr. Polly, and then for a change, and with greatly increased emphasis: “ ‘Ole!” He paused, and then broke out with one of his private and […]
The Travels
(Il Milione) Marco Polo (with Rustichello of Pisa) 1299 (An Italian explorer treks fearlessly into the unknown East, and discovers astonishing cultures and kingdoms no European had ever seen). We are fortunate that Marco Polo lived long enough and expended the energy to record the greatest travels ever performed by any man to his time […]
Tom Jones
Henry Fielding 1749 (Tom really wants to be good for the sake of his love Sophia, but his nature keeps getting in the way!) It is prudent to be morally pure– there can be weighty unseen consequences to any moral failure. Fielding’s signature novel has this ponderous theme, and yet manages not to be at […]
Twain’s stories
February 9, 2015 / Leave a comment
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) 1865-1890 (A champion of common sense and nonsense casually delivers his colorful yarns, witty satires, and twisty dramas.) Sitting with Mark Twain when he’s in a storytelling mood, we get to know the man—or at least he leads us to believe we get to know him. He lets us in on […]
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