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13
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Looking for an old O. Henry story about a wealthy young man trying to woo a "genteel poor" young lady in New York City
I'm trying to pin down a certain short story by O. Henry. I remember the plot quite well, but not the title, nor which book collection of O. Henry's stories I first encountered it within. And let's face it: That man (otherwise known as William…
Lorendiac
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What literary work is being referred to in this limerick in which "The earth, like an orange, is blue"?
In the blog post Famous Poems Rewritten as Limericks on LanguageHat.com (2 April 2018), a certain Trond Engen posted the following limerick:
The earth, like an orange, is blue.
Your love and your smile — yes, you do!
The window, the bee,
the sun,…
Tsundoku
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Did Harper Lee intend Go set a Watchman to be published?
Despite sharing many of the same characters, the books Go set a Watchman and To Kill a mockingbird portray the same characters in very different ways. I am also made suspicious of how old Harper Lee was when the book came out, as it seems very odd…
Matrim Cauthon
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13
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How much "self-editing" did Nabokov do when his Russian novels were translated into English?
Several of Nabokov's early, Russian-language novels were translated into English in the 1960s, either by Nabokov himself (Despair), or by translators under his guidance (including his son Dmitri). To what extent did Nabokov take these translations…
Kevin Troy
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Why does the former nurse create with metal?
In Kay Chronister's short story "The Fifth Gable," the women who live in the four-gabled house are described in an interlude.
Before they had been women who lived in the four-gabled house, they
had been:
A maiden aunt.
A minister’s wife.
A…
Shokhet
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13
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Original Russian text of this review of Crime and Punishment
In the introduction to Constance Garnett's translation of Crime and Punishment, she quotes this Russian critic:
In the words of a Russian critic, who seeks to explain the feeling
inspired by Dostoevsky: "He was one of ourselves, a man of our…
Isa
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What did Dante mean by "Papè Satan, papè Satan aleppe" in the Inferno?
So, I was recently re-reading the Inferno, and I have come across this quote which I can't make sense of.
"Papè Satan, papè Satan aleppe," (VII.1)
It seemed rather weird that it wouldn't be translated (I am reading the Dorothy Sayers translation),…
In Hoc Signo
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What does Borges' reference to the Greek mean in "The Lottery in Babylon"?
In the first section of his short story "The Lottery in Babylon", Borges writes:
I have known that thing the Greeks knew not -- uncertainty.
As far as I know, there was nothing specific that Babylonians knew about randomness, chance, or…
Benjamin Schneider
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13
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What is an epic and why is there “only one epic in English Language so far”?
I’m quite familiar with novels and stories, if my personal view is concerned I would say that story is just a compact and summarised form of novel. The level of detail in novels is, obviously, much more than in a stories. But what is an epic? Is it…
Knight wants Loong back
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What does Dostoyevsky mean by 'propaganda' in Crime and Punishment?
I am wondering about what Dostoyevsky means by the word 'propaganda' in part six, chapter four of Crime and Punishment. None of the meanings that I understand make sense in the context of the book. Here are the quotes:
Once, after lunch, Avdotya…
Jacob Lee-Hart
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A girl, told that it's wonderful to live in Wales, goes off to live in a whale
This story came to me earlier today and now it's nagging at the edge of my brain. It was a short, somewhat silly, story, part of a collection that I read somewhere in the early 90s. I read it in the United States, in English, but the book very well…
Sean Duggan
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13
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2 answers
Is religion still an important factor in the world of Fahrenheit 451?
There are several cases in Fahrenheit 451 where it is clear that Christianity, while evidently extremely rare, is still heard of. For instance, Faber notes that Jesus is still known, though in a much different form than before:
"It's as good as I…
HDE 226868
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Was Princess Ida written as a negative commentary on women's education?
One of Gilbert's more controversial librettos is Princess Ida, a story making fun of woman's education. I am asking this question in relation to how Princess Ida should be viewed as a text. If his opinions of learned women were positive, the…
Matrim Cauthon
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13
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1 answer
Should Go Set a Watchman be read as a prequel, or an early draft?
It was established in this question that Go Set a Watchman should be read after To Kill A Mockingbird. However, in the comments, LaurenIpsum pointed out that a better question might be "Should Go Set a Watchman be considered a prequel or a first…
Benjamin
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13
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Why do Jem and Scout call their father Atticus?
My question is not why they call their father Atticus as much as why he lets them do this, and what this says about their characters.
Where I come from--and, I think, in 1930s Alabama--it is not common to let kids call their parents by their first…
CHEESE
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