The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is the story of Nora Seed, a thirty-something English woman who attempts suicide and ends up in a library between life and death. Its shelves are filled to the brim with an infinite number of books, all holding a life she could have lived had she made different choices.…
You Don’t Understand Frost’s Poem, “The Road Not Taken”
Chances are you’ve heard the oft-repeated last lines of Frost’s famous poem, “The Road Not Taken.” Maybe you’ve repeated those words as a life motto or a boost to morale in the midst of a pivotal life change. Perhaps you’ve even internalized them as a New Year’s resolution of sorts, a reminder to live off-the-beaten…
“Dracula” by Bram Stoker: The Vampiric Perversion of Communion
While many are familiar with the story of Dracula, few have bothered to read Stoker’s classic epistolary novel. It follows, through letters and journal entries, the lives of Johnathan Harker─prisoner of the Count’s castle─and his cohorts who will stop at nothing to rid the world of vampiric evil. But it’s not all fangs and fright,…
“The Essex Serpent”: Faith is Not the Absence of Reason
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry weaves a strange story of friendship between the most unlikely people. But slithering between the lines of this Victorian tale is a much darker theme—a theme that permeates much of today’s literature and film: that religion is the biggest threat to reason and progress. Set in London, 1893, The Essex…
“The Awakening”: Destructive Feminist Propaganda
Kate Chopin’s classic novel The Awakening caused an uproar when it was published in 1899. Edna Pontellier, the main character, shocked readers with her disdain for the traditional family life, preferring the pursuit of artistic endeavors and extramarital affairs. Today’s readers call it daring, even brave. You’ll find it on many a course syllabus, lauded…
“Where the Crawdads Sing”: Natural Does Not Equal Moral
"Where the Crawdads Sing" by wildlife scientist Delia Owens is marketed as an “ode to natural world”, but Owens takes the theme further than a simple celebration of nature and into the realm of morality. At the heart of the novel is this presupposition: what is natural is inherently moral. Owens’ story follows Kya Clark,…
