I published this post seven years ago and decided it seemed as apt and relevant today as it did all those years ago. I blog because I am a collector, a magpie attracted to shiny things — not all beautiful, but for some reason of interest. In the old days, I kept notebooks […]
Magpie Blogging: Redux. Read More »
Lately, I have been re-reading Rudolph M. Bell's How To Do It, Guides to Good Living for Renaissance Italians — a terrific social history of how Italians viewed their lives from the 15th to the 17th century. Italians were fairly literate then (the publishing industry was booming). There was a proliferation of self-help and advice
How To Do It In the Renaissance Read More »
Near the end of the novel The Pirates of the Levant by Arturo Perez-Reverte, Captain Alatriste finds himself the highest ranking survivor of one of three ships that are battling for their lives against the Turks, who out-gun, out-cannon, and just sheer outnumber the Spaniards. There is a hasty meeting of the remaining "commanders" from
Last Lines and Cool Captains Read More »
There is a passage in Arturo Pérez-Reverte's The Pirates of the Levant that struck me as true. We are a military family and for over ten years it has been my pleasure (mingled with a mother's worry and sometimes grief at the violent deaths) of being in the company of remarkable men who have served
Honor & Loyalty in Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s The Pirates of the Levant. Read More »
In the midst of reading The King’s Gold, Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s fourth volume in his swashbuckling series “The Adventures of Captain Alatriste,” I came across one of those brilliant, long, elegant, artfully constructed sentences that takes up almost the entire paragraph. I’ve read it over several times and just can’t get over how gorgeous it is.
The Art of the Long Sentence: Arturo Pérez-Reverte Read More »
**As I have been reading the last two novels in the Captain Alatriste Series by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and really want to write more about them — I thought it worthwhile to revisit two earlier posts (one from 2008 — almost ten years ago! ) that provide both reviews of the earlier books and details on
Reviews of the Captain Alatriste Series by Arturo Perez-Reverte Read More »
Let me confess: I'm utterly fascinated by the enigmatic Renaissance rebel poet Pietro Aretino. His writings, which often led to him evading furious cardinals and creditors, and his correspondences with influential men who could have potentially blackmailed them earned him the moniker 'Scourge of Princes.' Aretino's life was a captivating juxtaposition of
Pietro Aretino and The Sixteen Pleasures Read More »
"Let us amuse ourselves today, You will never guess my name, and I won't ask you to try. I am a mad spirit or goblin. I come from the other world, and one of those spirits, Actus or Plautus orders me to tell you that a comedy will be played this evening."
Angelo Beolco, Playwright and Actor 1502-1542 Read More »
This is a complicated moment in the novel when several threads come together, all for the purpose of resolving Anna’s terrifying possession. Having accepted the maenad’s mask, and now in its spell, Anna throws herself into the bloody revels of the maenads following Bacchus. Two men with separate interests in Anna have been searching for
Excerpt from The Innamorati: Anna’s Return Read More »
There is nothing more thrilling than to read a novel's opening sentences and feel the entire weight of the novel laid bare, giving both a sense of anticipation and dread. You can not help yourself but to lean in to see if such proclaimed prophecy will turn out to be right even as you are
Lessons From the Masters: Joseph Conrad’s Opening Sentence: An Outcast of the Islands Read More »
