Show notes
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