Esther's Classic Literature Blog July 2003 Archive

In "Am I a Snob?," Sean Latham explores not only the origins of the term, but what it has come to mean for writers. In his discussion of Thackeray, Wilde, ... Read More

Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) was a Russian poet and novelist, famous for "Doctor Zhivago." Publication of his works was restricted in his lifetime, and "Doctor Zhivago" is still being censored and ... Read More

Like many writers and artists, Thomas Hardy left instructions that his notes should be destroyed upon his death, and the executors of his will destroyed most of his papers. Fortunately, ... Read More

When Oscar Wilde first saw "Hedda Gabler" in 1890, he said, "I felt pity and terror, as though the play had been Greek." In this play, we find some of ... Read More

In his new book, Thomas Foster opens up a new world of literature, drawing from some of the world's greatest classics to explore what literature is, what it means to ... Read More

Pirates appear in some of our greatest adventure literature. In this new book, Richard Zacks explores the pirate life and adventures from the viewpoint of Captain Kidd, a man who ... Read More

We've already had the "American Idol" and the show drew enormous attention. Now, "The Canterbury Tales" has inspired a contest of the literary sort. The producers at BBC are searching ... Read More

Henrik Ibsen's play, "The Master Builder," was first published in 1892. The play centers on Halvard Solness, an aging architect who is inspired by Hilda Wangel to build castles in ... Read More

Important and irreplaceable manuscripts have been lost when libraries burned to the ground. The most famous lost library was the one at Alexandria, which contained 500,000 scrolls. In Tom Stoppard's ... Read More

July 4th is just days away, which means most of us are gearing up for fireworks and barbecues. And how, you may ask, does any of that relate to Classic ... Read More