It’s satisfying, isn’t it, when a book you read leads the way to others — where one opens your eyes to another topic, another author or another passion and off you go. I’m happy to report that the joy of discovery is still alive and well in the mind of this 50-plus reader.
A few months …
October 8, 2009 – 7:30 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in Books, Films, History, Inspiration, Medievalism, Poetry, The Novel, Writing
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Tagged Andrew Davidson, Dante, Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, Inferno, Italian Literature, The Gargoyle, Virgil
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As is so often the case, a recent New Yorker cartoon took a medieval story to heart and added a 21st century twist to great comic effect. In this case, Rapunzel* has let down her hair, as the fairy tale goes, but she has inadvertently foiled the prince’s attempt to climb her prison tower using …
July 5, 2009 – 5:50 pm
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By David Morton
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Posted in Chaucer, History, Inspiration, Medievalism
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Tagged All In The Family, Archie Bunker, Brothers Grimm, Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's Triumph, Edith Bunker, Garry O'Connor, Geoffrey Chaucer, Medievalism, middle ages, Middle English, New Yorker, Phillipa Roet, Rapunzel, Wife of Bath
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I’ve been reading a terrific book about the Middle Ages, recently, by an American scholar with a great sweeping view of history about the powerful influence of medievalism on the contemporary world. I’ve always found the imaginative influence of the Middle Ages captivating: Chaucer’s pilgrims, the wild behaviours of feudal lords, the gritty view of …
June 25, 2009 – 6:30 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in Books, History, Inspiration, Medievalism
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Tagged Camille Paglia, Dante, David Attenborough, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Giotto, Harold Bloom, Hildegard of Bingen, Hinges of History, History, Medievalism, Mysteries of the Middle Ages, Peter Abelard, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Cahill
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I wish I could say my recent hiatus from blog posting had resulted in a prodigious output in pages for my novel. Alas, nothing of the sort. I had taken time off work a few months ago that was a great boon to the novel, but my return to teaching has overwhelmed me. Not only …
Whan that Aprill with its shoures sote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote,
And bathed every veyne is swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe …
April 1, 2009 – 6:30 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in Chaucer, Inspiration, Language, Middle English, Poetry, Writing
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Tagged Canterbury Tales, Chaucer, General Prologue, Geoffrey Chaucer, inspiration, Language, Last Waltz, Michael McClure, middle ages, Midle English, Spring, Writing
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“Literature is a toil and a snare, a curse that bites deep.”
Or so said D.H. Lawrence. Which gives me some comfort, because I seem to be doing all I can to avoid my writing, this morning. I’ve spent the last couple of hours brewing a Shitake Beef Stew that will be consumed tonight. I’ve cleaned …
March 24, 2009 – 8:00 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in History, Inspiration, Medievalism, The Writer's Struggle, Writing, blogs
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Tagged blogs, Detroit Publishing, DH Lawrence, History, inspiration, medieval, Medievalism, middle ages, monasticism, Oregon, Photochroms, procrastination, research, Richenda, Romantic poetry, Romanticism, Tintern Abbey, Washington, William Wordsworth, Writing
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Finally, a respite from the rain and the cold. The sun shines today in Vancouver, and it looks like spring, though the cherry blossoms are nowhere to be seen. The blossoms in my front yard are trying, but they are reluctant to invest themselves in this uneven weather. They look like little popcorn kernels ready …
March 21, 2009 – 10:35 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in Books, Inspiration, The Novel, Uncategorized, Writing
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Tagged Barry Unsworth, inspiration, medieval, Medievalism, middle ages, monks, Morality Play, novel, novels, Paul Bettany, The Reckoning, Willem Dafoe, Writing
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