Saturday, December 16, 2023

Saturday Good Reads - Dec. 16, 2023


I read this week about a study by anthropologists with the Museum of London. They announced a new study – how the Black Death was more deadly to Black women of African descent than to others in London. This was attributed to “premodern structural racism.”  I am no anthropologist or disease specialist or scientist, but this sounded off to me. As in, how many Black women of African descent were living in London at the time? With no reliable numbers, how could you make a case like this? It turns out I wasn’t the only one with doubts. Ian Leslie at The Ruffian takes a look

The Strand Magazine, normally a publication for mystery and detective stories, has been discovering and publishing previously unknown manuscripts by famous authors. The latest, reports Maya Yang at The Guardian, is a poem by Raymond Chandler, the writer of noir mystery and detective novels like The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely

 

Samuel D. James, who posts at Digital Liberties, took a long, in-depth look at that Christmas staple, It’s a Wonderful Life. And he developed a wonderful theological discussion of the movie in general and the character of George Bailey in particular. Read “Let Me Live Again.”

 

More Good Reads

 

Writing and Literature

 

New Wine, Old Skins: Donna Tartt – Brother Thomas Nee at The Imaginative Conservative. 

 

Mutual Friends: The Adventures of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins – Hannah Gal at Quillette. (The notice for the exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum can be seen here.)

 

After Melville – Andrew Schenker at The Baffler.

 

Book Diversions: Publishing Troubles – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

Barnes & Noble & Me: Is the books giant making a comeback? – Peter Tonguette at The Spectator.

 

American Stuff

 

“Boston Harbor a Teapot This Night!” – Mark Maloy at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

 

Poetry

 

10 Best Poems for Funerals – Susan Jarvis Bryant at Society of Classical Poets. 

 

Impossibilities – Paul Wittenberger at Paul’s Substack. 

 

How to Be a Poet, poem by Wendell Berry, and Gleanings, poem by Matt Wheeler – Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

Night Traveler – David Whyte.

 

Life and Culture

 

It’s hard to avoid the theology in ‘A Christmas Carol,’ but some movies do just that – Terry Mattingly at Get Religion.

 

Why the HR Mindset Can’t Condemn Genocide – Joe Carter at The Gospel Coalition.

 

The Ouster of Penn’s President Won’t Fix the Problem – Peter Savodnik at The Free Press.

 

A History of Feminist Antisemitism – Kate Jesella at Quillette.

 

Faith

 

The Desecration of Man – Carl Trueman at First Things Magazine.

 

Craft and Theology: The Renaissance – Nathaniel Marshall at Front Porch Republic.

 

The Storm in the Soul – Paul Kingsnorth at The Abbey of Misrule on St. Cuthbert.

 

Rorate Caeli by Jacobus Handl – Gloria Dei Cantores



Painting: An Old Philosopher oil on canvas, attributed to Godfried Schalcken (1643-1706), Warrington Museum & Art Gallery.

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