Esther's Classic Literature Blog

With April Fool's Day, just a few days away, this is just a warning: Beware the literary pranksters! Read more about humor, jokes, and literature. April Fool's Day Literary Insults Devil's Dictionary Mark Twain's ... Read More

Mary Wollstonecraft was a social critic, famous for Vindication and the Rights of Women and other works. On March 29, 1797, Mary Wollstonecraft married William Godwin when she discovered ... Read More

The individual moments of a person's life are lost forever when one dies--all we often have left is a jumble of images and anecdotes, filtered through the perceptions and memories ... Read More

Heinrich Mann was a German writer, who was born on March 27, 1871. An essayist, novelist, and playwright, Heinrich Mann was the brother of Thomas Mann. His works include: Small ... Read More

Robert Frost was one of the greatest American poets. He was an important "nature poet" in American literature, famous for his depiction of the New England landscape. Some of his ... Read More

Hunting and fishing were important activities in the life of Ernest Hemingway, and they would figure prominently into some of his most famous works. Now, Hemingway's 40-foot, black-hulled fishing boat, ... Read More

The various recent adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings has helped to revive the fanatical following in Tolkien's famous works. But, the Lord of the Rings musical is ... Read More

Roger Martin du Gard was a French writer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1937. He is perhaps best known for Les Thibault, his novel cycle. Read ... Read More

He may not be considered one of the greatest classic writers of all time, but he certainly had his avid fans in his genre of fiction... Louis L'Amour was born ... Read More

The closing arguments have been said, and now the world is waiting for Justice Peter Smith's decision about whether Dan Brown infringed on the copyright of Michael Baigent and Richard ... Read More

Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal. The snows of winter melt away, flowers bloom, and all the world seems new again. Read about how writers have employed the ... Read More

Philip Roth was born on March 19, 1933. For his first published work, Goodbye, Columbus (1959), a collection of stories, Philip Roth won the 1960 National Book Award in fiction. ... Read More

Harold Pinter is one of the most famous British playwrights. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature, but was unable to attend the ceremony because of poor health. Now, in ... Read More

St. Patrick is a legendary figure in Irish history and literature--so famous that a day is named after him. Medieval stories surround St. Patrick, describing how he drove the snakes ... Read More

On March 16, 1850, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathanial Hawthorne, first appeared in print. It is the tale of a young woman, Hester Prynne, who commits adultery in the Massachusetts ... Read More

Paul Johann von Heyse was a German novelist, poet, and dramatist. He received the 1910 Nobel Prize in Literature as a tribute to "the consummate artistry, permeated with idealism." He ... Read More

Algernon Henry Blackwood was a British writer, famous for his works about the supernatural. He's known for his articles, reviews, children's books, and fantasy books. Blackwood wrote The Egyptian Hornet. ... Read More

Ghosts, by Henrik Ibsen first appeared on the London stage on March 13, 1891. The play is controversial and has been banned for its references to incest and sexually transmitted ... Read More

Death walks through The Book Thief, following the horrors experienced by a young girl, Liesel Meminger, in Nazi Germany. This book is a marvellous exploration of the power of words ... Read More

Torquato Tasso was one of the greatest Italian poets of the late Renaissance. He was born on March 11, 1544, and he's known for La Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered, 1575). ... Read More

In the study of 19th-century Victorian literature, women writers like Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Mary Shelley are fixtures in our imagination; but who are ... Read More

Victoria Sackville-West was born on March 9, 1892. She was the only child of Vita Sackville-West became a novelist and poet, and she would become known for "The Land," for ... Read More

Death is not a topic that many of us want to talk about, or read about... But, some writers have pushed the taboo aside, so that they can share with ... Read More

If Tom Jones is going on a journey, he must be following a quest, especially if he has a place to go, a reason to go, challenges, trials, and a ... Read More

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was a famous Victorian poet long before she began her relationship with Robert Browning when she was 39 (first carried on through letters). With works like ... Read More

Charlotte Bronte's tale of Jane Eyre is a Gothic adventure tale. This tale of romance and the supernatural has fascinated readers for generations, and has inspired adaptations on and off ... Read More

Death walks through Book Thief, following the horrors experienced by a young girl, Liesel Meminger, in Nazi Germany. The author, Markus Zusak, uses the voice of Death to chronicle the ... Read More

In March, we celebrate Irish-American Heritage Month. Of course, St. Patrick's Day takes place on March 17th, so this is the perfect time to call attention to the accomplishments of ... Read More

Today, we celebrate books! Find out what's happening for World Book Day--in libraries, book stores, bookstores, etc. The promoters claim that the World Book Day is the "biggest annual celebration ... Read More

What can help people read and enjoy books? And, where do we start? Everyone seems to have a different solution, but Goodwill is offers a basic solution for kids in the ... Read More

Women's History Month is the perfect time to celebrate the accomplishments of women writers, but it's also important to remember famous heroines, who have been such important characters in our ... Read More

The Oxford University Press Blog just launched a new weekly column on etymology and word origins from Anatoly Liberman. The column will appear every Wednesday. Take a look at The ... Read More