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In "Hard to Be a God", are "Sergei Kozhin", "George Lenny", "Sabine Kruger" real historical references?
The main character's internal monolog at one point reads:
You just want to kill. Yes, I do. And are you capable of it?
... the only thing I regret is killing her in vain. So they've almost taught me. But that's bad. That's dangerous. Remember…
Peter Shor
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What does "Catholic privilege" mean in Pym's Excellent Women?
The narrator of Barbara Pym's Excellent Women is Mildred Lathburn, a clergyman's daughter in 1950s London. Here, Mildred's Welsh cleaning lady, Mrs. Morris, is complaining half-humorously about the High Anglican tendencies of their vicar, who wears…
verbose
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Where can I take a deeper dive into Jane Austen's vocabulary?
I'm translating some Jane Austen into Latin, and I'm wondering whether there's a resource that would allow me to do a deeper dive into the nuances of the vocabulary she uses, especially the words that we still use but that meant something different…
Faustus
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Short story that poked fun at certain authority figures (presidents or prime ministers) via implications of incompetence
I would like to identify a comedic book that was recommended to me some time ago.
I don't remember much, but here is a brief description:
The title may have contained a person's name... If memory serves it may have even been a title containing…
Lockjaw
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Why is Regulus Black a seeker?
In Chapter Ten of the Deathly Hallows, we're told that Regulus Black is a seeker for the Slytherin team.
Is there any symbolism behind Regulus Black's Quidditch position?
I got the idea for this question when reading Elizabeth Strand's article where…
user111
9
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Meaning of "the way they used to use up old women, in Russia, sweeping dirt" in "The Handmaid's Tale"
I think of my mother, sweeping up deadly toxins; the way they used to use up old women, in Russia, sweeping dirt. Only this dirt will kill her.
What does this mean?
Alexander
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Who is the 'pale Titan-woman' in Swinburne's 'Ave atque Vale'?
For those fond of intertextual references, 'Ave atque Vale' by Algernon Charles Swinburne, an English poet's lament for the French poet Charles Baudelaire, is something of a goldmine, being absolutely overflowing with references and allusions to…
Tom Hosker
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Title and author for SF short story about giving Shakespeare an F?
There was a science fiction story where some academics developed a technology that would let them bring a person from the past into the present. Various candidates were discussed and dismissed before Shakespeare was selected as universal to cross…
Christos Hayward
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"There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings" — where does this Dostoyevsky quote come from?
I read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning and he quoted Fyodor Dostoevsky as follows:
Dostoevski said once, "There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings."
What is the original source of this quote? Is it from a…
Steven Creech
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Where does the word "diegesis" come from, and to what elements of a story, specifically, does it refer?
I've noticed that the word "diegesis" is an important term when discussing literature and literary value. Where does it come from, and what does it mean?
user80
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Why do the translators of "Social Justice in Islam" strongly hint at its controversiality, without mentioning what's controversial?
I recently started reading the book, "Social Justice in Islam." This is a book by Sayyid Qutb, translated into English by John B. Hardie, commissioned by the Near Eastern Translation Program. There's not really any good references to any of these…
user80
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Who wrote the short story "Quietly"?
About 20 yrs ago I briefly possessed a collection of science fiction short stories by various authors.
It began with a story titled Quietly.
It was about a girl named Quietly who is being raised by her father.
After only reading the first page or…
Mia Akbulut
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What book did I read if not "The Dark Tower"?
Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" is receiving a bit of press recently due to the upcoming movie.
I'd always believed I'd read this book, but it bears no resemblance to the one I remember having read about 30 years ago! So now I'm questioning what…
user1436
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In Homer's Odyssey, how can the one-eyed Cyclops have multiple brows?
When Odysseus meets the Cyclops, the text never explicitly states that he has only a single eye. However, the unfolding action in which Odysseus and his crew blind the Cyclops by pushing a stake into one eye implies that there is only one eye to…
Matt Thrower
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Why is there so much stream of consciousness in Ulysses?
I'm about halfway through Ulysses. What's sustained me through this famously difficult novel is the quality of the prose and characterisation. However, I was struck by the thought that what makes it "difficult" is the sheet volume of internal,…
Matt Thrower
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