Book Tales

08/11/2024

Latest on Substack: poetry as a superpower.

The Art of Slowing Down: Why Poetry is the Ultimate Superpower

05/29/2024

Going Live tomorrow at 11:30am PT.

Join Mark Pellegrino Jennifer Reaves Bouani Jacqueline Schumann and me as we discuss this controversial show Baby Reindeer.

Kirk Barbera works for the Ayn Rand Institute, but his views do not represent the institutes. Learn more about Ayn Rand's view of Psychologizing in the artic...

11/16/2021

I'm proud to announce a new poetry show premiering tonight on Ayn Rand Centre UK.

Maria Laz and I will be reading and discussing one of Ayn Rand's favorite poems "The Westerner" By Badger Clark.

You can read the poem ahead of time if you'd like, or just come and enjoy a great poem and a great discussion!

Consider supporting our work by becoming a member: https://aynrandcentre.co.uk/become-a-member/

10/28/2021

As part of my Literary Canon Club we read Greek and Roman literature. This is one video recommended to me for better understanding Rome.Please support Overly...

07/23/2021

Come join us live for a discussion of the great play by Maurice Maeterlink.

Consider supporting our work by becoming a member: https://aynrandcentre.co.uk/become-a-member/

03/15/2021

Help to shape the Literary Canon.

Since embarking on this literary journey into great works, one question has pulled me from one book to the next: What qualifies as a great work of imaginative literature? The Canon of Western Literature has been under attack since the 60s. Today with movements like , which is a teacher....

02/26/2021

I am doing a new show called "Troubadour Talks, where a guest and I discuss a great work of classic literature.

On this first episode Jon Hersey of the Objective Standard Institute joined me for a robust discussion of Ayn Rand's We The Living.

The episode is available on Youtube or as a podcast wherever you listen.

Welcome to Troubadour Talks, a new show where a guest and I discuss a great work of classic literature. On today's episode I spoke with Jon Hersey of the Objective Standard Institute about Ayn Rand's fist novel, We The Living. Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist. Her dates are 1905-1982. She is...

02/03/2021

the strongest, most authentic motive for deep reading of the now much-abused traditional canon is the search for a difficult pleasure.” Meaning, a higher pleasure. Some have called this higher pleasure “The Sublime.” It may be the only secular transcendence we can attain, perhaps next to falling in love.

here are countless reasons to read the great literary canon. It has been under attack these past fifty years...

01/26/2021

Have you ever thought about reading more of the western literary canon? Now is your chance.
This club is for people serious about expanding their knowledge and scope of the greatest literature ever written. Our goal is to "touch on the high points of literature from each era," as philosopher Dr. Peikoff put it.
In other words, this is the literary education we all should have had in school.
We have cultivated a list of 57 works in Narrative, Drama and Poetry. These include short poems and long narrative epics, as well as novels, theatre, and short stories.
We will have live group discussion for each work of art!
To go through the entire list will take over 3 years. And it would be time well spent! However, I have broken it down into shorter "sessions" each session is six months. You can join any session that has open enrollment.
Right now we are excepting enrollment for Session One: The Ancients.
Signing up does not obligate you to enroll in any sessions.
There are benefits even of signing up. I will send you the list of works we will cover. You will also receive some of the tips on how to read great works of literature as well as guidelines to specific works.

An online community dedicated to reading and exploring the western literary canon. Save the canon by reading it for yourself.

01/19/2021

https://www.youandifinancial.com/prioritizing-your-financial-health-in-the-new-year/

12/29/2020

"The Boat Stealing Scene" is the most famous passage from the romantic poet William Wordsworth's great work The Prelude.

One summer evening (led by her) I found A little boat tied to a willow tree Within a rocky cove, its usual home.

12/27/2020

For anyone who might be interested, here is an analysis of a scene from The Queen's Gambit. Big time spoilers.

My purpose was to show you how to look at cinema from a literary perspective. I thought The Queen's Gambit was a well told story of a young orphan girl who must overcome her past and develop her own value system in order to become the world's greatest chess player. The conflict between the anxieties of an uncontrollable life and the escape into the controllable world of chess served for endlessly fascinating look into the character of a female world champion.

In the scene I'm analyzing here Beth is spring-boarding into the world of competitive chess, and her adoptive mother is dwindling down in her last major failure in life.

The characterization, acting, dialogue, plot development are superb in this limited series and this scene shows why.