Many people who have praised William Shakespeare's deep knowledge of the criminal mind. But the most interesting assessment which I have seen is by a man who definitely knows what he is talking about. As one of the pioneers of psychological profiling at the FBI, Special Agent John Douglas is something of a legend in law [...]
Excerpted from, "The Critical Prose of Alexander Pushkin," Indiana University Press, 1969. Pages 240-241. The characters created by Shakespeare are, as in Moliere, basically types of such and such a passion, such and such a vice, but living beings filled with many passions, many vices; circumstances develop their varied and many-sided personalities before the viewer. [...]
Special thanks to Pavel Parfentiev for bringing this to my attention.
CLASSICAL LIBERALISM.Anglo-Irish Liberalism.Your absentee landlord has a herd of cattle and has assigned you twocows for your rented plot of a one-sixth acre. Acting through hisagents on the estate, the landlord can demand as much rent as he wantsas often as he wants and routinely evicts families too destitute topay. With a few potato plants, milk, [...]
Brothers Jon and Al Kaplan are satirical composers who specialize in spoofing serious movies by transforming them into musicals. Their targets have ranged from 1980s action films to Oscar-winners. Two years ago, the Kaplan brothers trained their aim against Tolkien's Middle Earth Legendarium. Well, not exactly. Their real targets are Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema. [...]
Hilary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi were arguing about who was more tolerant. "You fool," snapped Pelosi, "I'm twice the Progressive you are. I was sent by God to save America from Fascism!" "No way," responded Clinton, "you're the fool and I was sent by God to save America from Fascism!" Just as they were about to [...]
Excerpted from Sol Stein's "Stein on Writing," pages 302-303. 1. Thou shalt not sprinkle characters into a preconcieved plot lest thou produce hackwork. In the beginning was the character, then the word, and from the character's words is brought forth action. 2. Thou shalt imbue thy heroes with faults and thy villains with charm, for it [...]
It has been said that the greatest test an author's popularity is how often their work has been spoofed. This is especially true of Gene Rodenberry's "Star Trek" and J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth Legendarium. Some time ago, I created the following parody of both "Star Trek" and "The Lord of the Rings." I hope that those who [...]
Hungarian poet Janos Arany (1817-1882) has been referred to as the Shakespeare of Ballads. His most famous poem,A Walesi Bárdok' ("THe Bards of Wales," was written in response to the visit of the Emperor Franz Joseph to Hungary in 1857. Arany, like many other European intellectuals, was enraged by the defeat of the 1848 Revolution. Therefore, instead of writing a [...]
Yesterday marked the 98th anniversary of the abortive Easter Rising in Dublin. Until the outbreak of The Troubles in 1969, every EasterMonday was commemorated with parades by the Irish State. It is, after all, Ireland's Independence Day.In honor of the occasion, I have decided to post a poem by Joseph Mary Plunkett, one of the Rising's leaders. [...]
