May 7, 2009
Persuasion
Written by Jane Austen
"She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older—the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning."
—page 30, chapter 4
Fun Facts
- Jane Austen contracted her final illness while writing Persuasion and would not live to see Persuasion or Northanger Abbey published.
- Because Jane died before it was published, her brother Henry Austen came up with the title and made sure to include a biographical sketch in each of her novels.
- Persuasion is often seen as a tribute to the self-made man because of the character of Captain Wentworth.
May 13, 2009
Inferno
Written by Dante Alighieri
"Love, that releases no beloved from loving"
—line 103, pg 45, Canto V
Fun Facts
- Inferno is one of three ‘canticas’ that make up The Divine Comedy which is an allegorical poem about the Christian afterlife. It is considered the most important epic poem of Italian literature.
- It helped establish the Tuscan dialect as the Italian standard.
- There are many mathematical and numerological patterns throughout the book particularly with threes and nines.
May 18, 2009
The Story of My Life
Written by Helen Keller
“Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. ‘Light! give me light!’ was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.”
—pg 14, Ch. 4
Fun Facts
- Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to earn a bachelor's degree.
- She was not born deaf or blind, but contracted an illness at nineteen months old that left her that way. People speculate that it might have been meningitis or scarlet fever.
- Annie Sullivan, Helen's teacher, was also visually impaired herself. Her relationship with Helen lasted 49 years.
May 27, 2009
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Written by Leo Tolstoy
“Ivan Ilyich's life had been most simple and commonplace—and most horrifying.”
—pg. 43, chapter 2
Fun Facts
- Leo Tolstoy wrote The Death of Ivan Ilyich shortly after he converted to Christianity.
- Tolstoy was plagued with questions of the meaning of life and death and many see The Death of Ivan Ilyich as the answers to his own questions.
- Both of Tolstoy's parents died before he was nine years old.
