American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

In this episode, I look at some historical documents produced in the winter of 1863 and 1864. With the tide of the war decisively changed, desperation, desertion, and even some radical proposals appear in the Confederacy. The war was lost at home and on the battlefield.

In this episode I look at the "Walking Tours" chapter of Stephen King's novel IT. It sets up some important themes for the later half of the novel and prepares us for the non-stop unification of past and present that we will experience from here to the end.

In this episode I explore more documents from the American Civil War, focusing on the end of 1863. Topics include Reconstruction, the battles around Chattanooga, and The Gettysburg Address. 

This is the episode where I deal with the biggest problem I have interpreting this novel. The question of IT's motivations, the return of the Losers, and the reason they are all rich and childless. I also talk about the second "interlude" chapter and "The Reunion".

The documents from the summer of 1863, after the victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, show how rapidly Emancipation changed the fortunes of the war and public opinion in both the North and the South. I had a lot of fun with these documents and hope you enjoy too.

In this episode we continue our slow read through IT by Stephen King and finish up part two of the book. The chapters focus on the power of magic, belief, reason, and the group.

Part three of my review of IT by Stephen King. The chapters I look at here explore the creation of a Ka-tet (to steal a Dark Tower term) and meditate on the power of the group.

In this episode we look at a handful of turning points in the American Civil War by working through the Library of America's anthology of Civil War writings.

Part two of my review of Stephen King's IT. I mostly discuss how much I like the book's relationship to fictional and real history.

As I continue reading through a series of primary sources on the American Civil War, I dig into the events of June of 1863, which set the stage for some climactic events including the draft riots, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the attack on Fort Wagner.