Episode 290: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, Ch. 9-21

On The Literary Life podcast today, Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins discuss G. K. Chesterton’s essay “A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls.” Before diving in to today’s episode, don’t forget to register for the amazing Back to School online conference coming up on August 26-29, 2019! Angelina opens with a brief history of the Victorian era and the more prevalent availability of the novel to the masses. She also gives several examples of the “penny dreadful.” Cindy and Angelina discuss why they agree with Chesterton that people need these simple, even formulaic stories. They remind us that childhood is a time for good books, not a time to worry about reading all the “Great Books.” Another topic that Cindy and Angelina chat about is the importance of developing imagination. They talk about the truth that fiction and story-telling are necessary parts of human culture. Cindy highlights the importance of the heroic adventure stories for boys. Angelina brings out the point that the elite critic is out of touch with the masses who long for stories of good winning over evil. The penny dreadful should not be judged as art, since that was never what it was intended to be. Summer of the Short Story: Ep 13: “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield Ep 14: “Adventures of a Shilling” by Joseph Addison Ep 15: “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant Ep 16: “Why I Write” by George Orwell Ep 17: “The Celestial Omnibus” by E. M. Forster Ep 18: “Vulture on War” by Samuel Johnson Bavarian Gentians by D. H. Lawrence Not every man has gentians in his house in Soft September, at slow, Sad Michaelmas. Bavarian gentians, big and dark, only dark darkening the daytime torchlike with the smoking blueness of Pluto’s gloom, ribbed and torchlike, with their blaze of darkness spread blue down flattening into points, flattened under the sweep of white day torch-flower of the blue-smoking darkness, Pluto’s dark-blue daze, black lamps from the halls of Dis, burning dark blue, giving off darkness, blue darkness, as Demeter’s pale lamps give off light, lead me then, lead me the way. Reach me a gentian, give me a torch let me guide myself with the blue, forked torch of this flower down the darker and darker stairs, where blue is darkened on blueness. even where Persephone goes, just now, from the frosted September to the sightless realm where darkness was awake upon the dark and Persephone herself is but a voice or a darkness invisible enfolded in the deeper dark of the arms Plutonic, and pierced with the passion of dense gloom, among the splendor of torches of darkness, shedding darkness on the lost bride and groom. Book List: Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason War and Peace by Leo Tolsto The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis G. A. Henty books Dave Dawson War Adventure Series Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: Find Angelina at  https://angelinastanford.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/ Jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

23 Juli 20191h 16min

This week on The Literary Life, Cindy Rollins and Angelina Stanford open our Summer of the Short Story series with a discussion of “Araby” by James Joyce. Cindy and Angelina also announce an encouraging Back to School online conference coming up on August 26-29, 2019. In delving into “Araby,” Angelina talks about the history and development of the short story form. Cindy gives a little of her own background with reading James Joyce and why she loves his short stories. Angelina and Cindy also discuss the essential “Irishness” of this story and all the tales in The Dubliners. Angelina walks us through the story, highlighting the kinds of questions and things we should look for when reading closely. Themes discussed in this story include: blindness and sight, light and darkness, romanticism, religious devotion, the search for truth, money, courtly love, and the knight’s quest. Summer of the Short Story: Ep 12: “A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls” by G. K. Chesterton Ep 13: “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield Ep 14: “Adventures of a Shilling” by Joseph Addison Ep 15: “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant Ep 16: “Why I Write” by George Orwell Ep 17: “The Celestial Omnibus” by E. M. Forster Ep 18: “Vulture on War” by Samuel Johnson Huxley Hall by John Betjemen In the Garden City Cafe‚ with its murals on the wall Before a talk on “Sex and Civics” I meditated on the Fall. Deep depression settled on me under that electric glare While outside the lightsome poplars flanked the rose-beds in the square. While outside the carefree children sported in the summer haze And released their inhibitions in a hundred different ways. She who eats her greasy crumpets snugly in the inglenook Of some birch-enshrouded homestead, dropping butter on her book Can she know the deep depression of this bright, hygienic hell? And her husband, stout free-thinker, can he share in it as well? Not the folk-museum’s charting of man’s Progress out of slime Can release me from the painful seeming accident of Time. Barry smashes Shirley’s dolly, Shirley’s eyes are crossed with hate, Comrades plot a Comrade’s downfall “in the interests of the State”. Not my vegetarian dinner, not my lime-juice minus gin, Quite can drown a faint conviction that we may be born in Sin Book List: (Affiliate Links) To Pause on the Threshold by Esther de Waal The Dubliners by James Joyce Ulysses by James Joyce A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: Find Angelina at  https://angelinastanford.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/ Jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

16 Juli 20191h 31min

In this episode of The Literary Life, Cindy and Angelina interview their long time friend and fellow reader, Kelly Cumbee. Kelly is a wife and homeschooling mother of seven who has given herself a highly literary education. Together they discuss how Kelly started reading at a very young age and the kinds of books she loved as a child. Kelly talks about her love for Edmund Spenser and how she began reading Spenser with her children. Angelina asks about Kelly's background and how she makes connections throughout her conversations and her reading. Another topic of conversation is how Kelly made time for books throughout the different seasons of life and how she didn't really start reading "hard books" until later in life. They wrap up the conversation discussing what Kelly is currently reading and with more encouragement to read widely and make connections. Summer of the Short Story: Ep 11: "Araby" by James Joyce Ep 12: “A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls” by G. K. Chesterton Ep 13: “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield Ep 14: “Adventures of a Shilling” by Joseph Addison Ep 15: “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant Ep 16: “Why I Write” by George Orwell Ep 17: “The Celestial Omnibus” by E. M. Forster Ep 18: “Vulture on War” by Samuel Johnson Amoretti XXIII by Edmund Spenser Penelope for her Ulisses sake, Deviz’d a Web her wooers to deceave: In which the worke that she all day did make The same at night she did again unreave: Such subtile craft my Damzell doth conceave, Th’ importune suit of my desire to shonne: For all that I in many dayes doo weave, In one short houre I find by her undonne. So when I thinke to end that I begonne, I must begin and never bring to end: For with one looke she spils that long I sponne, And with one word my whole years work doth rend. Such labour like the Spyders web I fynd, Whose fruitless worke is broken with least wynd.   Book List: (affiliate links) A White Bird Flying by Bess Streeter Aldrich Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry The Secular Scripture by Northrop Frye Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham The Space Trilogy (The Ransom Trilogy) by C. S. Lewis Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis Realm of Numbers by Isaac Asimov I, Robot by Isaac Asimov   Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: Find Angelina at  https://angelinastanford.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/ Jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

9 Juli 20191h 15min

Today on The Literary Life, Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins discuss Dorothy L. Sayers’ essay “Are Women Human?“ They explore the ideas that Sayers wrestles with in the essay, including: the Victorian view of women, the significance of the industrial revolution, the human need for meaningful occupation, and the early feminist movement and women’s suffrage. Angelina and Cindy also discuss the history of women’s work inside and outside of the home and how they have been impacted by industry and our production-consumption culture. They take a fascinating look at the effects of the Enlightenment on women in the modern western world, as well as the problem of over-generalization and categorizing people according to classes. Finally, Cindy and Angelina highlight the importance of asking yourself the question: “Who am I supposed to be as a mother and a woman?” Upcoming Events and Shows: June 20: Live Q&A Session on the Patreon page for “Fellows” July 9: The Literary Life of Kelly Cumbee July 16: Araby by James Joyce (The Summer of the Short Story) Villon by Siegfried Sassoon They threw me from the gates: my matted hair  Was dank with dungeon wetness; my spent frame  O’erlaid with marish agues: everywhere  Tortured by leaping pangs of frost and flame,  So hideous was I that even Lazarus there In noisome rags arrayed and leprous shame,  Beside me set had seemed full sweet and fair,  And looked on me with loathing.  But one came  Who laid a cloak on me and brought me in  Tenderly to an hostel quiet and clean; Used me with healing hands for all my needs.  The mortal stain of my reputed sin,  My state despised, and my defilèd weeds,  He hath put by as though they had not been. Book List: New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton Seeking God by Esther De Waal Raids on the Unspeakable by Thomas Merton Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers Thanks to our Sponsor: The Literary Life Podcast is brought to you New College Franklin. Located in beautiful Franklin Tennessee, NCF is a four year Christian Liberal Arts college dedicated to excellent academics and discipling relationships among students and faculty. Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: Find Angelina at  https://angelinastanford.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/ Jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

11 Juni 20191h 7min

This week, your hosts Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins are covering the final chapters of Gaudy Night, starting with chapter 16. They also announce the opening of the Patreon community called "Friends and Fellows" where they will be offering a wealth of additional content. In this episode, Cindy and Angelina explore the ideas in these last chapters of the book, including the fact that this is more a novel of manners than it is a thriller. Other topics of discussion include the development of Lord Peter's character, the vampire motif present throughout the novel, and the significance of the sonnet form and musical counterpoint references in this book. Angelina wonders at the brilliance of Sayers and the way she weaves the head versus heart theme into the text. Cindy brings up the problem of principle and passion, and the loss of metaphor in our culture. Of course, no discussion of the end of Gaudy Nightwould be complete without mentioning the proposal, and Angelina delves into the meaning of the Latin words used by Lord Peter. Upcoming Show Schedule: Episode 9 (June 11): Are Women Human? by Dorothy Sayers "The Summer of the Short Story" series Heureux, Qui Comme Ulysse by Joachim du Bellay, translated by Richard Wilbur Happy the man who, journeying far and wide As Jason or Ulysses did, can then Turn homeward, seasoned in the ways of men, And claim his own, and there in peace abide! When shall I see the chimney-smoke divide The sky above my little town: ah, when Stroll the small gardens of that house again Which is my realm and crown, and more beside? Better I love the plain, secluded home My fathers built, than bold façades of Rome; Slate pleases me as marble cannot do; Better than Tiber's flood my quiet Loire, Those little hills than these, and dearer far Than great sea winds the zephyrs of Anjou. Book List: (affiliate links) The Defense of Poesy by Sir Philip Sydney Mere Motherhood Newsletters by Cindy Rollins Crow Lake by Mary Lawson Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: Find Angelina at  https://angelinastanford.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/ Jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

4 Juni 20191h 5min

In this episode of The Literary Life, Cindy Rollins and Angelina Stanford discuss chapters 8-15 of Dorothy L. Sayers' book Gaudy Night. In addition to reviewing the plot points of interest in these chapters, Cindy and Angelina focus in on the interweaving of plot, theme, and setting in Gaudy Night. They talk about how Oxford is more than just a place in which the story is told, but is almost a character itself, as well as being the place where Lord Peter and Harriet can meet as equals. Another recurring topic is the continuing conversation about what it means to be a woman and an intellectual, as well as how marriage changes both men and women. In these chapters, we see more of Harriet and Lord Peter's relationship, and we get to know Lord Peter in a fuller light. Upcoming Show Schedule: Episode 8 (June 4): Gaudy Night, ch 16-23, complete Episode 9 (June 11): Are Women Human? by Dorothy Sayers When You Are Old by William Butler Yeats When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face; And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars. Book List: The Getaway Car by Ann Patchett (included in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage)   Connect with Us: Find Angelina at  https://angelinastanford.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/ Jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

28 Maj 20191h 7min

Today on The Literary Life, your hosts Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins sit down for a chat with their friend and fellow reader, Mary Jo Tate. As well as being an avid reader, Mary Jo is an author, editor, teacher, book collector and single mother to 4 young men. A veteran homeschooler, Mary Jo is the author of Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms, and you can learn more about her and her work at FlourishAtHome.com. In this interview, Angelina and Cindy talk with Mary Jo about her own background as a reader, beginning with her childhood memories of books. They discuss the influence of family, librarians and teachers on the life of a young reader. Mary Jo talks about different seasons of her reading life and gives some advice for the busy, exhausting time as a mother of young children. Another topic of discussion is how Mary Jo's education and profession grew out of her love of literature. Upcoming Show Schedule: Episode 7 (May 28): Gaudy Night ch 8-15 Episode 8 (June 4): Gaudy Night, ch 16-23, complete Episode 9 (June 11): Are Women Human? by Dorothy Sayers Book List: (Amazon affiliate links) Out of the Ashes by Anthony Esolen One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty Raggedy Ann Stories by Johnny Gruelle The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis Andrew Lang's Fairy Books The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald At Home in Mitford by Jan KaronS Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson It little profits that an idle king,  By this still hearth, among these barren crags,  Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole  Unequal laws unto a savage race,  That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.  I cannot rest from travel: I will drink  Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd  Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those  That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when  Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades  Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;  For always roaming with a hungry heart  Much have I seen and known; cities of men  And manners, climates, councils, governments,  Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;  And drunk delight of battle with my peers,  Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.  I am a part of all that I have met;  Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'  Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades  For ever and forever when I move.  How dull it is to pause, to make an end,  To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!  As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life  Were all too little, and of one to me  Little remains: but every hour is saved  From that eternal silence, something more,  A bringer of new things; and vile it were  For some three suns to store and hoard myself,  And this gray spirit yearning in desire  To follow knowledge like a sinking star,  Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.           This is my son, mine own Telemachus,  To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—  Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil  This labour, by slow prudence to make mild  A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees  Subdue them to the useful and the good.  Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere  Of common duties, decent not to fail  In offices of tenderness, and pay  Meet adoration to my household gods,  When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.           There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:  There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,  Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me—  That ever with a frolic welcome took  The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed  Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;  Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;  Death closes all: but something ere the end,  Some work of noble note, may yet be done,  Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.  The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:  The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep  Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,  'T is not too late to seek a newer world.  Push off, and sitting well in order smite  The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds  To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths  Of all the western stars, until I die.  It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:  It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,  And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.  Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'  We are not now that strength which in old days  Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;  One equal temper of heroic hearts,  Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will  To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Connect with Us: Find Angelina at  https://angelinastanford.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/ Jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

21 Maj 201950min

This week on The Literary Life, Angelina and Cindy discuss the next few chapters of Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers. In this episode, Angelina explores the question of why all the epigraphs opening each chapter are from Renaissance writers. Aside from recapping plot points, Cindy and Angelina also chat about the following topics: the unnatural nature of the crime and of the cloistered atmosphere; the gothic themes present in this novel; Harriet's lack of self-awareness; further contemplations on love and marriage. Upcoming Show Schedule: Episode 7 (May 28): Gaudy Night ch 8-15 Episode 8 (June 4): Gaudy Night ch 16-23, complete Episode 9 (June 11): Are Women Human? by Dorothy Sayers Lot's Wife by Anna Akhmatova (trans. by Richard Wilbur) The just man followed then his angel guide Where he strode on the black highway, hulking and bright; But a wild grief in his wife's bosom cried, Look back, it is not too late for a last sight Of the red towers of your native Sodom, the square Where once you sang, the gardens you shall mourn, And the tall house with empty windows where You loved your husband and your babes were born. She turned, and looking on the bitter view Her eyes were welded shut by mortal pain; Into transparent salt her body grew, And her quick feet were rooted in the plain. Who would waste tears upon her? Is she not The least of our losses, this unhappy wife? Yet in my heart she will not be forgot Who, for a single glance, gave up her life. Book List: Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (1967 film adaptation) Are Women Human? by Dorothy Sayers   Connect with Us: Find Angelina at  https://angelinastanford.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/ Jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

14 Maj 20191h 7min