A belated happy birthday to the most important writer of the last 1,000 years, Dante Aleghieri.
John Kleiner of The New Yorker writes on Dante here.
Literature
[Video] Калевала (Kalevala) – Лучшую Спою Вам Песню
Though I have an absolute loathing for metal, I really try to cut those who try to mix culture and folklore into their music. Football chants mar the the actual singing taking place in this song, tarnish what might have been quite a good ditty. On the plus side, though I find neo-paganism to be a repugnant fraud, it’s good to see that these kids are maintaining the tradition of metal existing solely to annoy parents until they have to pay their own bills.
If this sort of thing appeals to you (yes, I admit that the singer is pleasant to look at and the bagpipes in some of their songs is a very nice touch), then check out Kalevala’s website here. Better yet, go read the original, which inspired the name.
[Literature] MH Abrams, Norton anthology founder, influential critic, dead at age 102
Meyer Howard Abrams, the legendary literary critic, teacher and founder of W. W. Norton and the Norton Anthology of English Literature, has passed on.
The Guardian prints his obituary here.
[Film] Viy (1967)
[Literature] Disputed Shakespeare Play Is ‘Proven’ Genuine
News from The Bard, via ShortList:
The play Double Falsehood – also known at The Distrest Lovers, was published in 1728 by the English writer and playwright Lewis Theobald, who claimed that his version was based on three manuscripts of an unnamed lost Shakespeare play. Subsequently, having initially rejected these claims of Shakespearean origin, some scholars had come to believe it to be an adaptation of a lost play called Cardenio, which had been written by the Bard and John Fletcher – another English playwright who was equally famous at the time when they were both writing.
Read more here!
[Literature] Sir Terry Pratchett, renowned fantasy author, dies aged 66
Sir Terry Pratchett, fun and pragmatic despite dying from Alzheimer’s Disease to the very end, finally met his end today. He was 66, far too young to leave this mortal coil.
[Literature] Jorge Luis Borges Selects 74 Books for Your Personal Library
The ever-brilliant Jorge Luis Borges, even from the grave, will make you broke looking for incredible books to read.
[Article] Harper Lee to Publish Sophomore Novel
The risk Harper Lee took to publish a second novel is breathtaking. She essentially hit a home-run her first time at bat with To Kill A Mockingbird. She wrote nothing since, though she did help her childhood friend, Truman Capote, by doing research for his classic work, In Cold Blood.
The risk has paid off, however. Go Set A Watchman won’t be released until mid-2015, and it is already #1 over at Amazon.com.
Read Publisher’s Weekly for the announcement of Lee’s book release here.
Rod McKuen, mega-selling poet and performer, dies at 81
Sure, people thought he was corny, and some of his poems were a bit… well… difficult to read without either giggling or smirking on occasion. But those albums of his… Truly masterful easy listening.
RIP, Rod McKuen. News on his passing can be read here, courtesy of Yahoo!
[Art] ‘Le Spectre de Banquo’ by Gustave Doré (1832-1883)
Though he is surely better-known for his etchings for the Holy Bible and Dante’s Divine Comedy, Gustave Doré also tried his hand at Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, to these stunning results.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 