by Lucy A. Snyder | Apr 5, 2015 | Columns
I started reading The Turn of the Screw with some awareness of the book’s reputation of having an ambiguous narrative: the young governess’s story could be read as a straightforward documentation of a tragic haunting … or it could be read as a madwoman’s diary,...
by Wayne Edwards | Apr 2, 2015 | Columns
I am starting to worry that I am developing some sort of organic mental disorder. I do not know what it is but I find that I am confused a lot of the time. When people speak, I have no idea what they are talking about. It all sounds like gibberish. I have been...
by Lucy A. Snyder | Mar 22, 2015 | Columns
“The Minister’s Black Veil” is an allegorical story in which the parson of a small New England town, Reverend Hooper, abruptly starts wearing a black veil. The townfolk are all tremendously disturbed by the sight of his veil; his fiancée breaks off their engagement...
by Lucy A. Snyder | Mar 8, 2015 | Columns
One of the things that impressed me most about Conrad’s novel about Charles Marlow’s nightmarish adventures in the Congo was the lushness of language. I’ve been reading several works from the late 19th century, and the atmospheric opening immediately struck me as...
by Lucy A. Snyder | Feb 21, 2015 | Columns
Yesterday, I led a workshop called “Creative Kickstart” to help students build creative habits, learn how to brainstorm, and work through blocks. One of the things that I tried to impress upon the participants is that ideas are all around us. It’s...
by Lucy A. Snyder | Feb 14, 2015 | Columns, Reviews
The Drowning Girl: A Memoir is a fictional memoir of madness, haunting and loss written by Caitlín R. Kiernan. The novel was published in 2012 by Roc Books (an imprint of Penguin). It was nominated for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the...
