Lucas Blogs About Books

Excuse me? You know, Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, formerly a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and later Transfiguration at same, known for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, &c. I know which Dumbledore you are referring to. Okay, it's just that recent films have indicated that maybe there are more Dumbledores than was previously believed. Thanks for reminding me that JK Rowling's most recent writing credit is for that execrable movie. Speaking of, it turns out that JK Rowling recently confirmed that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were lovers. I mean, didn't she already basically confirm that when she revealed that Dumbledore was gay? Well, not exactly, she said that Dumbledore was in love with Grindelwald. Not that the relationship was reciprocal. But now she...

Characters need to be likable! No they don't! Yes they do! Wait, maybe we should figure out what we mean by "likable." Ya know, able to be liked. Okay, yeah, but what do we really mean by that? Likable in what way really? I feel like you're being intentionally obtuse. Likable as in you'd want to grab a beer with them? As in you'd want to be friends with them? As in you don't wish them any specific harm? All right, I'll play along. Let's say that I want to be able to sympathize with the characters. Well, but there are any number of books where you're specifically not meant to sympathize with the protagonist. You're not jumping straight to something like Lolita  or Fight Club , are you? Well, those are two that spring to mind. But lets put Humbert and Jack aside and talk about Frankenstein . wow! much professional very photoedit I'm always down to talk about Frankenstein . It's so good. I know, right? ...

Oh? Thomas Steinbeck , the author of two novels and a collection of stories? Be serious, we're gonna talk about his dad, Nobel laureate, chronicler of the Great Depression, extraordinary describer of California , and someone who's made me cry : John Steinbeck. A (semi-representative) sampling of the works of John Steinbeck. Oh, like in the style of Lucas Blogs About Dick  from last year? Yeah, but I think it's more of a  Hey, Hypothetical Reader!  kinda thing going forward. All right, let's dive in! Okay, so John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. (1902-1968) is probably best known to American public school students for novels that have become assigned reading standards like Of Mice and Men , The Grapes of Wrath , and East of Eden . Themes that run throughout his work include the beauty of the California landscape and the ugliness of living in poverty in America. In addition to well known novels he was a prolific writer of non-fiction and served as a war correspondent ...

Hey! Hypothetical Reader! LUCAS! HYPOTHETICAL READER! LUCAS! Wanna talk about manga? Most of the manga that survived the most recent  purge . Seriously? Manga? It's actually pronounced manga. I don't think that's going to work in type unless you spell out how we're pronouncing it. Anyway, here on your blog about books you expect us to have a serious conversation about those funny backwards comics from Japan? Wouldn't be the first time . Well, yeah, but that's because if, and I quote, you reads, it ledes. End quote. Quite. Well, I don't pretend to be an expert on it, I mean I did take that "Japanese Popular Culture" class in college, and I've read the work of several well-known mangaka like Shigeru Mizuki, Akira Toriyama, Osamu Tezuka, and Katsuhiro Otomo. When it comes to manga, I'm basic. Mizuki isn't that well-known outside Japan. Also, western audiences would be more familiar with Toriyama, Tezu...

Are you referring to the horror franchise ? No. Bulimia nervosa? No. The Great Purge? No. Purging books from your bookshelves. Hmm, you know that there aren't really a lot of positive connotations for the word "purge," right? I guess there aren't, but I've been calling it the purse for a few years now. Okay, so I used to believe that it wasn't possible to have too many books. Ah yes, you believed the correct thing. No, you see, I'm leading up to the fact that you can, in fact, have too many books. False! If you've run out of space for books you can stack them two layers deep on your bookshelves. I did that. And then you pile more books up on top of those books. I also did that. And then you buy more bookcases. Yes. And then you stack up extra books on the floor until you can figure out where to put them. So, yeah, you can hoard books until they take up every cubic inch of your home. Bu...

No! Why would I want to talk about Literary Theory? Because you appreciate discussions about books and their place in society. Well, I do appreciate those things, yes. But Theory is more than a little pretentious, don't you think? Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about it. Fine. Where should we start? Well, maybe with a rough definition. That's easy, Literary Theory is when you take a discussion about Literature and turn it into a discussion of something else. Hmmm. C'mon, tell me I'm wrong. Well, I'd say it's more when you take a discussion of something else and turn it into a discussion about Literature. Hmmm. Are we being too joke-y? Maybe a little. Well, let's be more straightforward and define Theory as a series of analytical frameworks that you can apply to the discussion of literary texts. That's pretty sweeping. Well, you know. So, it's really just about new ways of looking at Literature. Exa...