Some of Chuck Hagel’s statements about war are reminiscent of the anti-war poetry of Wilfred Owen.
The Sandy Hook killings recall the Biblical massacre of the innocents, referenced in “Moby Dick.”
Rumi honors the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha, which centers on the story of Abraham and Isaac.
Wilfred Owen’s “Strange Meeting” is not only about the soldiers who have died but how their death taints the living.
In his poem “Greater Love,” Owen describes two deaths. One is the physical death of soldiers, which is tragic enough. But the other death is also heartbreaking: the death of innocence that occurs when people become intimately acquainted with war.
Christopher Hitchens I confess to bristling when I hear the name Christopher Hitchens. The intellectual provocateur has been in the news recently, first for publishing his memoirs and second for contracting throat cancer. Although he is smart and well read, he has always struck me as a self-righteous intellectual bully, one who is more interested [...]
Posted in Hitchens (Christopher) | Also tagged Christopher Hitchens, Darkness at Noon, David Brooks, George Orwell, Graham Greene, Hitch-22, How Green Was My Valley, Plato, politics, Republic, Richard Llewellyn |
As the president addressed the nation Tuesday night about his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, I found myself impressed with his seriousness and depressed over the situation. I know that he has no good options. I can’t tell whether his decision is the right one. Literature, as I’ve periodically noted on this blog, [...]
