…but one day late. Thankfully, last week was a really good week on the bookish internet and I have a lot things to share to make up for my tardiness.
- Kim Echlin reflects on teaching English literature in China in the shadow of the Cultural Revolution. (LitHub)
- Selina Sheth profiles Shah Muhammed Rais, a bookseller in Kabul. (Scroll.in)
- Who doesn’t love a round up of Shakespearean insults? (Merriam-Webster)
- Sulari Gentill explains why crime writers cannot kill the dog in their novels. (CrimeReads)
- Joshua C. Craig looks to science to understand reading slumps. (Book Riot)
- Charlie Tyson dives deep into Scandinavian crime fiction and asks “Who Killed Nordic Noir?” (Public Books)
- The word “Orwellian” is all over the media and, if you bother to ask English majors and literary critics, it’s being used incorrectly every time. Here are some recent articles that attempt to wise people up:
- Jennifer Szalai answers the question: “How ‘Orwellian’ Became an All-Purpose Insult.” (New York Times)
- Rachel Klein implores people to “Stop Comparing Things to 1984.” (Electric Literature)
- Also, brace yourselves. Great Gatsby retelling, prequels, sequels, and spins offs are coming now that the novel has hit the public domain:
- John Williams reports on “The Great Gatsby Glut.” (New York Times)
- Wesley Morris wonders “Why Do We Keep Reading The Great Gatsby?” (The Paris Review)
