Brilliant Minds

Aristotle diagrammed

A visual representation of our discussions on Aristotle (click to View this photo)

Three links for Abelard & Heloise

Medieval Sourcebook
A brief discussion of authenticity questions about the Letters and a short bibliography.

Abelard as Philsopher
Entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Abelard & Heloise in the Times
NY Times Essay by Cristina Nehring discussing recent books on the couple.

Ryder's translation of Sakuntala

For those of you who would like to compare translations of Sakuntala, Arthur Ryder's especially lyrical version is available at Project Gutenberg. You might find his Wikipedia biography of interest as well, especially the comment of his student, J. Robert Oppenheimer.

For an impression of the living practice of ancient Sanskrit theatre, look into the art of Kerala's Koodiyattam.

Web-based Resources

Since we continued past our usual time, I will attempt to post the conclusion of the discussion here later this week as the next audio podcast. In the meantime, here are a few links of interest I hope you enjoy.

Today I mentioned Oxford classicist Oliver Taplin, and his work on the issue of the classical dramas in performance. Here is a link to the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama at Oxford, which Taplin established.

For free electronic versions of classic texts in the public domain which can be read online, downloaded, or printed, search Project Gutenberg. Here is their online version of Kalidasa's Sakuntala. Another good source is The Internet Classics Archive at MIT. Here is a link to their version of Helen. The translations can be quite varied in quality, but do provide access to the work.

You might also compare an online version of the Letters of Abelard and Heloise.

On Carol Ann Duffy

Begin with this extensive profile from the British Council.

Channel 4 notes (scroll down) on Duffy include a section on "Stealing".

Jeanette Winterson on Carol Ann Duffy.

Page on Duffy at the The Poetry Society.

Duffy as Poet Laureate reported by The Guardian with video.

On Jane Eyre adapted

A few items of interest to begin with:

Take a look at the Shared Experience Theatre's website.

Then review the company's education pack (pdf download) for Jane Eyre: Download Jane-eyre_edpack.pdf.

A NYTimes review by Bruce Weber.

Interesting little piece about Polly Teale and her daughter in The Guardian..

Amy Bloom and Away

Some links for getting to know Bloom:
Amy Bloom at the Washington Post on The Writing Life (video)
More video at Bloom's Amazon.com page for Away (scroll down)
Amy Bloom's website and the page for Away
Robert Birnbaum interviews Bloom at The Morning News
Interview with Bloom at Ready When You Are

Reviews of Away by:
Janet Maslin for the New York Times
Louisa Thomas for the New York Times
Ron Charles at the Washington Post
Richard Wallace for the Seattle Times
Natasha Walter for the Guardian
Maureen Corrigan at NPR (audio)

Beginning with Laxness

For background on Halldór Laxness, take a look at his profile on his Nobel Laureate page. We will consider what this 20th Century writer offers to our 21st Century contemporaries. The Great Weaver is described on the Archipelago Books site, with a blurb by current Booker Prize winner Alice Munro.

_{Painting by Einar Hákonarson under license.}

Begin here for Louise Erdrich's The Plague of Doves

Background on Louise Erdrich & her work:
About Louise Erdrich 
At HarperCollins

Reviews of The Plague of Doves:
New York Times (Kakutani)
New York Times (Barcott)
Washington Post (Charles)
Seattle Times (Wakefield)

An essay by Claire Messud on Erdrich and The Plague of Doves:
Blood Relations

Erdrich's bookshop: Birchbark Books

Wikipedia entry: Ojibwa

Follow up links for La Medusa

 Links to follow-up on our discussion of La Medusa:

More discussions with Vanessa Place:
LEMON HOUND Round One
LEMON HOUND Round Two
Les Figues Press

On the mythological figure of the Medusa:
Medusa in Myth and Literary History
(excellent overview of sources, commentary, and images)

On the literary device of ekphrasis:
Notes on Ekphrasis by Alfred Corn
"On the Medusa of Leonardo" Shelley's poem
Ekphrasis - Wikipedia

On conceptual art:
UbuWeb Anthology of Conceptual Writing
Conceptual art - Wikipedia