The closer we get to July 4, the flood of articles relating to America’s 250th anniversary is becoming a tsunami. Emerging Revolutionary War Era is starting a new video series. One of America’s founders chronicled the beginning in sonnets. Benedict Arnold, whose name became synonymous with treason, was first a hero on more than one occasion. The U.S. Army Museum at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is using “augmented reality” to bring the revolution to life. And there are more links below.
I think I was 10 or 11 when I started stamp collecting, a hobby that lasted off and on right up to now. One stamp that also seemed financially out of reach was the very first one – the “Penny Black” issued by Great Britain in 1840. It’s still financially out of reach, at least for most of us. But it transformed how letters were mailed, and it made postal management possible on a national and international scale.
Some 40 years ago, when I was in a graduate seminar on the Latin American novel, I was trying to tackle Conversations in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa for my seminar research paper and oral presentation. About 100 pages in (it’s a 600-page novel), I almost gave up in despair. I couldn’t figure out what the story was about. Instead, I started over, but this time I briefly outlined each chapter. After the first five chapters, I cracked the code. It was actually a narrative of four interrelated stories, each one told in successive chapters. So the story in chapter one picked up in chapter five, nine, and so on. Maybe it was the work I put into it, but Conversation in the Cathedral remains one of my favorite novels. Henry Oliver at The Common Reader has some observations about difficult writing and difficult novels and poems.
More Good Reads
America 250
Money and the Making of the American Revolution – Kevin Diestelow at Journal of the American Revolution.
Thoughts on Thoughts on Government – Chris Mackowski at Emerging Revolutionary Era.
When Germany Invaded America – Jonathan Horn at The Free Press.
American Plans for a Fourth Invasion of East Florida – Him Piecuch at Journal of the American Revolution.
George Washington’s American Monarchy – Frank Prochaska at History Today.
American Stuff
The Myth of the American West – Elizabeth Stice at Mere Orthodoxy.
Faith
From Sermon to Life: The Powerful Story of Lloyd-Jones and Stott’s Reconciliation – Peter Withowski.
How Jesus Saves from Identity Crisis – Justin Poythress at Digital Liturgies.
Life and Culture
A Letter to Me – Brian Miller at Notes from an East Tennessee Farmer.
Writing and Literature
Who Killed the Book Review? – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.
A.A. Milne’s crossword-puzzle heart in the Hundred Acre Wood – Henry Oliver at The Common Reader.
Why MacDonald’s Phantastes is Essential Reading – Annie Nardone at Anselm Society.
Forsaking Success: Wendell Berry’s Return to Kentucky – David Demaree at Front Porch Republic.
Poetry
Sweet Darkness – David Whyte.
“Blue Girls,” poem by John Crowe Ranson – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.
Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) – Jordan Kauflin
Painting: Student Monk, oil on canvas (1890) by Eduard von Grutzner (1846-1925).
