Shelley, Bigsby, Porter, Verne

Since my last post, I've read two issues of The New Yorker, three issues of Eclectic Reading, an issue of The Economist, an issue of The New Scientist, and an issue of The Globe.

I also read a biography of Mary Shelley which was about context and work rather than life. I was disappointed, but as the author pointed out, there are lots of other biographies out there.I then read a biography of Katherine Ann Porter. What was most interesting there was the fact that she mythologized her own life. It was already so tumultuous is seems pointless to gild the lily, but that is what she did. I also read a biography of Jules Verne, whose main characteristic was a bourgeois-class way of life. Finally, I read a wonderful discussion of the representation of the Holocaust in literature, by Christopher Bigsby. It was subtle, and thoughtful.