The Literary Life Podcast

Dive into the dark and thrilling world of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' as our hosts explore chapters 12-17! They unravel the Gothic novel's purpose, blending modern technology with ancient wisdom to fight evil. Discover intriguing themes like the duality of womanhood and spiritualism's role in literature, alongside the evolving representation of women like Mina and Lucy. They also touch on the intersection of supernatural elements and morality, accompanied by playful banter and heartfelt reflections on literature and family.

Dive into the chilling world of 'Dracula' as the hosts unpack the concept of the 'New Woman' versus the 'Angel in the House' in Victorian literature. Explore the symbolic significance of blood and medical practices like transfusions, juxtaposed with tales of science battling superstition through Dr. Van Helsing. Personal stories enrich the discussion, as they unravel Mina and Lucy's complex identities, navigating the shadows of femininity and vulnerability in the face of Dracula's dark powers.

The hosts dive deep into Bram Stoker’s 'Dracula,' exploring the proper way to read it beyond modern psychological frameworks. They discuss the dark etymology of 'Dracula' and its connection to evil. Themes of love vs. darkness shine through Jonathan's memories of Mina. The conversation also touches on the richness of intertwined literary symbols and the importance of historical context in understanding classic literature. Additionally, there's excitement about upcoming courses and webinars on literature and history.

Dive into the intriguing world of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' as hosts discuss the historical backdrop and literary significance of this Gothic classic. They explore themes like the evolving role of monsters in literature, contrasting traditional views with modern interpretations. Personal anecdotes add a humorous twist, while the tension between Enlightenment rationalism and supernatural elements is examined. Listeners will gain insights into Dracula's enduring relevance and the societal anxieties that shaped its narrative.

On The Literary Life Podcast this week, our hosts Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks sit down for a special conversation with Jason Baxter, author of The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis. Jason is a speaker, writer, and college professor who writes primarily on medieval thought and is especially interested in Lewis' ideas. You can find out more about him and his books at JasonMBaxter.com. Our hosts and Jason discuss a wide range of ideas, including the values of literature, the sacramental view of reality, why it is important to understand medieval thought, the "problem" of paganism in Lewis' writings, and how to approach reading ancient and medieval literature. Be back next week when we will begin digging into Bram Stoker's Dracula together and learning more about this late Victorian Gothic novel. It's not what you might think! Get the latest news from House of Humane Letters by signing up for their e-newsletter today! Commonplace Quotes: My part has been merely that of Walter Scott's Old Mortality, who busied himself in clearing the moss, and bringing back to light the words, on the gravestones of the dead who seemed to him to have served humanity. This needs to be done and redone, generation after generation, in a world where there persists always a strong tendency to read newer writers, not because they are better, but because they are newer. The moss grows fast, and ceaselessly. F. L. Lucas It is the memory of time that makes us old; remembering eternity makes us young again. Statford Caldecott It is my settled conviction that in order to read old Western literature aright, you must suspend most of the responses and unlearn most of the habits you have acquired in reading modern literature. C. S. Lewis, from "De Descriptione Temporum" What then is the good of–what is even the defense for–occupying our hearts with stories of what never happened and entering vicariously into feeling which we should try to avoid in our own person?…The nearest I have yet got to an answer is that we seek an enlargement of our being. We want to be more than ourselves…[In] reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do. C. S. Lewis Victory by C. S. Lewis Roland is dead, Cuchulain's crest is low, The battered war-rear wastes and turns to rust, And Helen's eyes and Iseult's lips are dust And dust the shoulders and the breasts of snow. The faerie people from our woods are gone, No Dryads have I found in all our trees, No Triton blows his horn about our seas And Arthur sleeps far hence in Avalon. The ancient songs they wither as the grass And waste as doth a garment waxen old, All poets have been fools who thought to mould A monument more durable than brass. For these decay: but not for that decays The yearning, high, rebellious spirit of man That never rested yet since life began From striving with red Nature and her ways. Now in the filth of war, the baresark shout Of battle, it is vexed. And yet so oft Out of the deeps, of old, it rose aloft That they who watch the ages may not doubt. Though often bruised, oft broken by the rod, Yet, like the phoenix, from each fiery bed Higher the stricken spirit lifts its head And higher-till the beast become a god. Book List: Beauty in the Word by Stratford Caldecott An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis The Art of Living: Four Eighteenth Century Minds by F. L. Lucas Transposition by C. S. Lewis The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis Til We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis The Divine Comedy by Dante Nicholas of Cusa The Life of St. Francis of Assisi by St. Bonaventure The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius Confessions by St. Augustine Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

On this week's episode of The Literary Life Podcast, our hosts wrap up their series on Hard Times by Charles Dickens. Angelina opens the conversation about the book by highlighting Dickens' masterful ability to tie up all the loose ends in his stories. They cover not only the major plot points here at the end of the book, but talk about the craft of Dickens and continue to teach us how to read this type of story. We see each character's full arc and the positive changes that come when people choose repentance versus the fate of those who remain stubbornly on the road to destruction. Join us next time for a special conversation with Jason Baxter, author of The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis. After that, we will be digging into Bram Stoker's Dracula together and learning more about this late Victorian Gothic novel. It's not what you might think! Head over to MorningTimeforMoms.com to get signed up for Dawn Duran's webinar on "A Reasoned Patriotism," taking place later this week! Get the latest news from House of Humane Letters by signing up for their e-newsletter today! Commonplace Quotes: It is not the business of poetry to go about distributing tracts. Andrew Lang The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing people of very ordinary literary ability that they could write excellent continuations of The Screwtape Letters. Fred Sanders In the Bible, the opposite of Sin, with a capital 'S,' is not virtue – it's faith: faith in a God who draws all to himself in his resurrection. Robert Farrar Capon Reviewers who have not had time to reread Milton have failed for the most part to digest your criticism of him, but it is a reasonable hope that of those who heard you in Oxford, many will understand henceforward that when the old poets made some virtue their theme they were not teaching but adoring, and that what we take for the didactic is often the enchanted. C. S. Lewis Say not the Struggle nought Availeth by Arthur Hugh Clough Say not the struggle nought availeth, The labour and the wounds are vain, The enemy faints not, nor faileth, And as things have been they remain. If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars; It may be, in yon smoke concealed, Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers, And, but for you, possess the field. For while the tired waves, vainly breaking Seem here no painful inch to gain, Far back through creeks and inlets making, Comes silent, flooding in, the main. And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light, In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly, But westward, look, the land is bright. Book List: The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis Between Noon and Three by Robert Farrar Capon A Preface to Paradise Lost by C. S. Lewis The Gifts of Reading by Robert MacFarlane North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

On The Literary Life this week our hosts cover the next section of Hard Times by Charles Dickens. Angelina opens the conversation highlighting the structure of the book and the storytelling devices Dickens uses in this book. Cindy talks about the failure of educational systems in general, and the confrontation between Louisa and her father. Thomas shares a little about Jeremy Bentham and his utilitarian economic theory in relation to Hard Times. One of the main points they discuss in today's episode is the importance of motherhood and the quiet work that goes on in the family unit. Head over to MorningTimeforMoms.com to get signed up for Dawn Duran's webinar on "A Reasoned Patriotism." Commonplace Quotes: Persuasion enters like a sunbeam, quietly and without violence. Jeremy Taylor To me the greatness of the story, the horror of the story, and the threat to humanity the story portrays lie in the fact that Frankenstein has usurped the power, not of God, but of women. He has made a man without a mother. His science has eliminated the principle of femininity from the creation of human life. Through the miracle of science a woman can now medicate her body so that men may use it for pleasure without consequence or attachment. Andrew Klavan In the first place, we naturally wish to help the students in studying those parts of the subject where we have most help to give and they need help most. On recent and contemporary literature their need is least and out help least. They ought to understand it better than we, and if they do not then there is something radically wrong either with them or with the literature. But I need not labour the point. There is an intrinsic absurdity in making current literature a subject of academic study, and the student who wants a tutor's assistance in reading the works of his own contemporaries might as well ask for a nurse's assistance in blowing his own nose. C. S. Lewis, from "Our English Syllabus" Death and the Lady by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge TURN in, my lord, she said ; As it were the Father of Sin I have hated the Father of the Dead, The slayer of my kin ; By the Father of the Living led, Turn in, my lord, turn in. We were foes of old ; thy touch was cold, But mine is warm as life ; I have struggled and made thee loose thy hold, I have turned aside the knife. Despair itself in me was bold, I have striven, and won the strife. But that which conquered thee and rose Again to earth descends ; For the last time we have come to blows. And the long combat ends. The worst and secretest of foes, Be now my friend of friends. Book List: Holy Living and Dying by Jeremy Taylor The Truth and the Beauty by Andrew Klavan Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

Welcome back to The Literary Life this week and the continuation of our series on Hard Times by Charles Dickens. After some autumnal chit-chat, our hosts Angelina, Cindy, and Thomas dive into the plot of the end of Book 2. They open discussing Stephen's fate and Tom Gradgrind's destructive, devouring nature. They highlight Mrs. Sparsit and her similarities to a harpy and other imagery surrounding her denoting evil. Some other ideas discussed are good intentions with bad results, the concept of the fallen woman in Victorian times, Louisa's homecoming and confession, and the failure of a formula in imparting virtue. Head over to MorningTimeforMoms.com to get signed up for Dawn Duran's webinar on "A Reasoned Patriotism." Commonplace Quotes: Beware of the superficial knowledge of cold facts. Beware of sinful ratiocination, for it kills the heart, and when heart and mind have died in a man, there art cannot dwell. Caspar David Friedrich I don't think they are noticeably worse at reading or writing than they were all those decades ago, though they're less likely to have a lot of experience with the standard academic essay (introduction, three major points, conclusion) — which I do not see as a major deficiency. That kind of essay was never more than a highly imperfect tool for teaching students how to read carefully and write about what they have read, and, frankly, I believe that over the years I have come up with some better ones. Alan Jacobs, from Snakes and Ladders The hours of unsponsored, uninspected, perhaps even forbidden, reading, the ramblings, and the "long, long thoughts" in which those of luckier generations first discovered literature and nature and themselves are a thing of the past. C. S. Lewis, from "Lilies that Fester" A Daughter of Eve by Christina Rossetti A fool I was to sleep at noon, And wake when night is chilly Beneath the comfortless cold moon; A fool to pluck my rose too soon, A fool to snap my lily. My garden-plot I have not kept; Faded and all-forsaken, I weep as I have never wept: Oh it was summer when I slept, It's winter now I waken. Talk what you please of future spring And sun-warm'd sweet to-morrow:— Stripp'd bare of hope and everything, No more to laugh, no more to sing, I sit alone with sorrow. Book List: The World's Last Night: and Other Essays by C. S. Lewis Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Esther Waters by George Moore Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell Pictures from Italy by Charles Dickens Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

The Literary Life Podcast's new episode this week continues our series on Hard Times by Charles Dickens. After Angelina ties up a few loose ends from Book 1, Thomas leads us into Book 2 and introduces us to Mr. Harthouse. Cindy highlights the dangers of not allowing children learn self-government as illustrated in the character of Tom Gradgrind. They then look again at Stephen Blackpool and his position as the martyr in the story. Our hosts also discuss Dickens' focus on demonstrating the problems facing people in his day, not moralizing or trying to present solutions. Head over to MorningTimeforMoms.com to get signed up for Dawn Duran's webinar on "A Reasoned Patriotism." You can also get the replay of Angelina's mini-class on The Taming of the Shrew at houseofhumaneletters.com. Commonplace Quotes: It is ill for a country, Gentlemen – I fear we must acknowledge it – when her destiny passes into the guidance of professors. Arthur Quiller-Couch, from "Studies in Literature" It is the old story. Utilitarian education is profoundly immoral in that it defrauds a child of the associations which should give him intellectual atmosphere. Charlotte Mason That evil may spring from the imagination, as from everything except the perfect love of God cannot be denied. But infinitely worse evils would be the result of its absence. Selfishness, avarice, sensuality, cruelty, would flourish tenfold; and the power of Satan would be well established ere some children had begun to choose. Those who would quell the apparently lawless tossing of the spirit, called the youthful imagination, would suppress all that is to grow out of it. They fear the enthusiasm they never felt; and instead of cherishing this divine thing, instead of giving it room and air for healthful growth, they would crush and confine it–with but one result of their victorious endeavors–imposthume, fever, and corruption. And the disastrous consequences would soon appear in the intellect likewise which they worship. Kill that whence spring the crude fancies and wild day-dreams of the young, and you will never lead them beyond dull facts–dull because their relations to each other, and the one life that works in them all, must remain undiscovered. Whoever would have his children avoid this arid region will do well to allow no teacher to approach them–not even of mathematics–who has no imagination. George MacDonald The Golf Links by Sarah Norcliffe Cleghorn The golf links lie so near the mill That almost every day The laboring children can look out And see the men at play. Book List: Formation of Character by Charlotte Mason A Dish of Orts by George MacDonald Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

Today on The Literary Life Podcast, our hosts continue their series on Charles Dickens' Hard Times. Angelina, Cindy and Thomas open the conversation with their commonplace quotes, which all lead into the discussion of Hard Times. They start out highlighting once again the fairytale and allegory aspects of this story, including the setting of Coketown. Together they talk about the two sides of Sissy Jupe's education, along with the situations and portrayals of the other key characters in this section. A large part of the discussions centers around the ideas of input and output versus sowing and reaping. Purchase the recordings of our 2022 Back to School Conference at MorningTimeforMoms.com. That is also where you can get signed up for Dawn Duran's webinar on "A Reasoned Patriotism." You can also get the replay of Angelina's mini-class on The Taming of the Shrew at houseofhumaneletters.com. Commonplace Quotes: The ways of authorship are dusty and stony, and the stones are only too handy for throwing at the few that, deservedly or undeservedly, have made a name. Andrew Lang, from "How to Fail in Literature" To taboo knowledge is not to secure innocence. We must remember that ignorance is not innocence, and also that ignorance is the parent of insatiable curiosity. Charlotte Mason Early in 1851, Dickens suggested in Household Words that a second exhibition be held of "England's sins and negligences." When he finally went to the Crystal Palace, he described it as "terrible duffery." He wrote in July 1851, "I find I am used up by the exhibition. I don't say there is nothing in it. There is too much. I have only been twice. So many things bewildered me. I have a natural horror of sights, and the fusion of so many sights in one has not decreased it. I'm not sure that I have seen anything but the fountain and perhaps the Amazon. It is a dreadful thing to be obliged to be false, but when anyone says, 'Have you seen…?' I say, 'Yes', because if I don't he'll explain it, and I can't bear that. Julia Baird, quoting Charles Dickens from "Ode On a Distant Prospect of Clapham Academy" by Thomas Hood Ah me! those old familiar bounds! That classic house, those classic grounds My pensive thought recalls! What tender urchins now confine, What little captives now repine, Within yon irksome walls? Ay, that's the very house! I know Its ugly windows, ten a-row! Its chimneys in the rear! And there's the iron rod so high, That drew the thunder from the sky And turn'd our table-beer! There I was birch'd! there I was bred! There like a little Adam fed From Learning's woeful tree! The weary tasks I used to con!— The hopeless leaves I wept upon!— Most fruitless leaves to me!— The summon'd class!—the awful bow!— I wonder who is master now And wholesome anguish sheds! How many ushers now employs, How many maids to see the boys Have nothing in their heads! Book List: Formation of Character by Charlotte Mason The Ink Black Heart (Cormoran Strike Book 6) by Robert Galbraith Victoria: The Queen by Julia Baird Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB