Tag: hemingway

Currently Reading: Postmodernism, 1920s, and Fiction

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet2 Comments

This semester is pretty crazy for me as I am sure some of you have noticed I have not been posting as much because I have no time! My last semester is jam-packed and I’ve been reading a book a week alongside 200 pages of required reading for classes and writing up articles for my job at The Chrony.

Just to keep in touch,

Here is my current reading list (NOT including required reading for class)

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“Beyond Gatsby: How Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Writers of the 1920’s shaped American Culture” 

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“The 42nd Parallel by John Dos Passos”

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“Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen R.C. Hicks” 

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“Cinderella’s Big Score by Maria Raha” 

and still reading

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“Gotham Writers’ Workshop: Writing Fiction”

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“Dracula by Bram Stoker” (a regular ‘re-read’ of mine)

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“Frankenstein by Mary Shelley” (another regular ‘re-read’ of mine)

 

This is just a quick cap of what I am currently reading the real list is about 18 books.

I hope to have review posts finished within the next few weeks. The review posts will be on “Gotham Writers’ Workshop: Writing Fiction” and

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“Hemingway’s Paris: A User’s Guide by John Baxter” 

I read “Hemingway’s Paris” recently and found it to be extremely fascinating for its content and concise writing style.

 

Thank you to all my regular readers and followers for sticking with me! 

-Alina

Review of “Writers Gone Wild” by Bill Peschel

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

 
Writers Gone Wild: The Feuds, Frolics, and Follies of Literature's Great Adventurers, Drunkards, Lovers, Iconoclasts, and Misanthropes
photo source: goodreads.com

 

 

I recently finished “Writers Gone Wild: The Feuds, Frolics, and Follies of Literature’s Great Adventurers, Drunkards, Lovers, Iconoclasts, and Misanthropes” by Bill Peschel. This book was interesting in that it contains numerous little facts about various western writers and poets. Most notable literary figures that are highlighted multiple times in this book include Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Oscar Wilde, and James Joyce among many others.

I found this book to be funny and pleasant to read after a long day. And the little fact snippets are very short making for easy and fast reading. Some snippets are just a paragraph while others are a couple of pages. The book is divided up into three parts, “On the Job”, “Off the Job” and “Everything Else”. The facts are not all ‘facts’ since most of the time possible rumors and hearsay at the time of their creation are discussed. Which I think makes this little collection all the more fascinating.

Bill Peschel writes with a humorous tone and fluid style that allows for enjoyable reading. And at the end of each little section, there is often bullet points of facts related to the story. I would say that anyone with a love for the modern classics of western literature should give this book a go. It would be enjoyed by the avid reader and book geek that finds themselves getting lost in a trail of Wikipedia pages in search of interesting speculations about their favorite authors. I recently conducted a two-hour meander on Wikipedia and online sources about one of my favorite writers, Bram Stoker. I was amazed to learn about his prevalence in the Irish Theatre scene and the fact that he was a personal assistant to the then-popular actor Henry Irving.  Of course, I don’t consider Wikipedia trustworthy but good for light curious reading now and then. “Writers Gone Wild” goes on my shelf as a good reference book that I may pick up again and skim through on a rainy day. It has an average rating of 3.3/5 stars. I honestly think it deserves better.

I hope that whoever reads this takes a little time to research the book and give it a chance. Thank you for reading my review and I hope that you will return in the future!

-Alina