It’s the week between the end of my academic career and the beginning of my new job. My prior sense of structure has dissolved; I’m left wandering aimlessly through summer afternoon after summer afternoon, relishing sunlit strolls and afternoon cups of peach tea while also fending off the urgent desire to do something more substantive. In this odd limbo between two major events in my life, I’ve once again turned to the world’s authors, essayists, and journalists to stimulate my intellect and soothe my racing thoughts. Processing their ideas means that I don’t feel as pressured to come up with my own, and I close each article with a renewed sense of purpose. Keep scrolling to see which writers have captured my attention over the last few weeks!
“The Hottest Literary Travel Destinations (to visit when lockdown ends)” (The Guardian)
“Reading is a creative collaboration, so being in the environment that inspired a novelist enhances the place and the novel: the setting is overlaid with the events of the book and the book becomes more tangible and memorable as a result.”
There is perhaps nothing more alluring to me than overlaps between travel and literature. Learning about the literary locales that are most significant to other people reminds me that when we read, the setting of a book shapes our experience of it just as readily as the characters do. The protagonists may be witty, deplorable, or charismatic, but they fade into oblivion without a compelling backdrop against which their stories can play out. Journalist Henry Eliot describes several well-known cities where his favorite books are set, including London, Paris, and Prague; but he also identifies more obscure locations, like the desk of a well-known author in a library in Buenos Aires. I also appreciate that he took the time to depart on various literary journeys, or what he calls “layering landscapes and literature;” following the poet John Clare’s exhausting trek through rural England is one example. As I dream of my own literary-themed travels, Eliot provides some much-needed inspiration.
“How the romance genre found its happily ever after” (The Washington Post)
“The thing I knew about romances was that you had a happy ending, and love conquered all. That connected for me — it had bothered me that the most interesting women in stories often came to a bad end.”
There was a time in my life when I, like many other people, refused to take romance novels seriously. “Look at that absurd cover with a half-naked man on it,” I would think to myself. “I’m never reading that.” As I’ve matured as a reader, however, my tendency to associate the romance genre with absurdity has diminished. This article really solidified the idea that romance is, in fact, a very legitimate genre with a rich, complex history of empowering female readers. Angela Haupt interviews authors, editors, and illustrators who have watched the romance novel transform over time alongside the needs and preferences of the readers it’s designed to entertain. It turns out that romance novels from the 70s and 80s onward have provided an outlet for women to be the heroines they’ve always wanted to be in real life. They also enable women to shrug off the male gaze and visualize themselves in a world where they have agency and power in a relationship. It sounds like a small thing, but it’s actually hugely significant in a world where so much literature has historically sidelined female characters. And yes, this article does provide a serious overview of the romance novel cover—illustrators actually give serious thought to book covers and their social implications!
“Mary Beard Keeps History on the Move” (The New Yorker)
“I’m old enough to say that every generation has that corrective impulse, and that’s part of what keeps history on the move.”
This is an era in which many of us wonder what will become of Classical Studies. Are Classics curricula outdated and incompatible with ongoing social trends toward uplifting diverse historical voices? Or, alternatively, can Classical Studies be reframed to accommodate these diverse voices? Mary Beard passionately believes that Classical Studies, like any other branch of history, is a discipline that can be reworked and expanded in response to the social structures in which it is operating. Now, more than ever, is the time to consider what Classical Studies has to say about democracy, feminism, intersectionality, and other crucial aspects of society that are currently at the forefront of our minds. I particularly appreciated Beard’s commentary on the value of a translation—what does it mean when authors translating Greek or Roman texts choose to add or omit certain adjectives? How, for example, can a certain translation of The Odyssey reframe our understanding of the women’s function in the play? Hopefully, this article will get you thinking about the value of a seemingly archaic discipline in a modernizing world.
“Kristen Radtke Considers Another American Epidemic: Loneliness” (The New York Times)
“Writing is an inherently solitary act, and doing it well often means spending great swaths of time alone. When we’re writing about traumatic or complicated material, that sense of aloneness can be compounded.”
This essay struck me for its relatability and its vulnerability. Kristen, a writer, recognizes the inherent loneliness accompanying her craft—and describes how she’s used writing and art to communicate the loneliness of people all around her, from strangers on the subway to shadowy figures pacing behind apartment windows. For those of you who have felt as though you’ve developed a “pandemic brain”—trapped in solitude, unable to connect with others as fluidly as you once did—Kristen’s words will resonate with you. It’s a short, but sweet reflection on the loneliness that has taken hold of people and refused to let go even as the physical dangers associated with the pandemic begin to subside.
