Category Archives: Fiction

The Disappointed Futurist

Posted on January 24, 2020 by

A hundred years ago, the British author H. G. Wells was a prominent social prognosticator. Today his theoretical views are largely neglected. This is the lament of a new biography by Sarah Cole, discussed in the Wall Street Journal. Cole’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, George Orwell, H. G. Wells, Literature

Villains, Victorians, and Westerns

Posted on November 10, 2019 by

In a recent essay for The New Criterion, Henrik Bering refers to his youthful initiation into nineteenth century English literature: “I was all set to become the perfect Victorian, ready to take on the duties of [British] empire, were it … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and Culture, Fiction, Literature

Shades of Right and Wrong

Posted on October 6, 2019 by

“Men who look on nature, and their fellow-men, and cry that all is dark and gloomy, are in the right; but the sombre colours are reflections from their own jaundiced eyes and hearts. The real hues are delicate, and need … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles Dickens, Fiction, Literature

A Necessary Luxury

Posted on December 30, 2018 by

“Books, indeed, were his sole luxuries….”—Edgar Allan Poe, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” A colleague recently told me that her job is the most important thing in her life. I think I scandalized her when I said that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Literature

Mystery for the Holidays

Posted on December 25, 2018 by

“I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Literature

Weinbaum’s Tour of the Solar System

Posted on December 22, 2018 by

The holidays are always a great time to pick up some light reading. In this post I want to pay tribute to the short-lived but brilliant career of science fiction writer Stanley Weinbaum (1902-35). I was first introduced to Weinbaum’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction

Detectives and Philosophers

Posted on May 16, 2018 by

I picked up a new set of the Bantam two volume edition of Sherlock Holmes to replace the tattered copies acquired during my college days. I started with “A Study in Scarlet” a  novella length story, published in the 1887 … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Literature, Philosophy

Tales From the Golden Age

Posted on December 9, 2017 by

Recently I’ve taken time out with books from the “Golden Age” of science fiction. The first two entries are from the Winston series of the 1950s-60s, aimed at younger readers. The stories are definitely more facile, but action packed—the sort … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction

Lord Greystoke of the Jungle

Posted on November 11, 2017 by

Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan of the Apes (1912) is certainly one of the best page-turners I’ve encountered in awhile. Like many people I knew, or thought I knew, the Tarzan story through the old Johnny Weissmuller films that I grew … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction

Truth is Stranger than Science Fiction

Posted on August 19, 2017 by

Fiction may seem outlandish to us when it imagines exotic realms or daring adventures, yet few things in the universe are as mysterious as the human soul. We all enjoy works of pure escapism. That said, the most enduring stories … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and Culture, Fiction