May 2011
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
« Apr		Jun »
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Monthly Archives: May 2011

Prose & Poetry Update

May 31, 2011

Memorial Day has come and gone, but we remember those who gave the last full measure of devotion on behalf of America. Inspired by those memories, this week’s Update includes two poems that would not be were it not for those who died fighting WWI. In 1915 the London Spectator published “In Flanders Fields,” written by Major John McCrae, a surgeon attached to Canada’s 1st Field Artillery Brigade. Its closing isn’t what one might expect from a combat surgeon, especially when viewed through lenses created by films such as M.A.S.H., A Bridge Too Far, and Apocalypse Now. Rather than simply lamenting lost lives, Major McCrae challenges future generations to continue fighting so as to honor the memory of those who sacrificed themselves in battle. In response to this, Moina Michael penned “We Shall Never Forget.” We shall never forget the sacrifice our brave military men and women made on our behalf. Neither shall we forget to pick up “from failing hands” “the torch” and “hold it high.” “In Flanders Fields” In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the

Arnold Bennett Clobbers Poe — Lawsuit Pending

May 31, 2011

By Mike Gray

Arnold Bennett Clobbers Poe — Lawsuit Pending

By Mike Gray Arnold Bennett’s lifespan straddled the divide between the 19th and 20th centuries. A prolific novelist, at one time he was as well-known—and almost as popular—as Charles Dickens. His wit was apt to swerve in unexpected directions, as for example in the following dispraise of Edgar Allan Poe which Bennett published fast on the heels of the Poe Centenary of 1909: The great Edgar Allan Poe celebration has passed off, and no one has been seriously hurt by the terrific display of fireworks. Some of the set pieces were pretty fair; for example, Mr. G. B. Shaw’s in the Nation and Prof. C. H. Herford’s in the Manchester Guardian. On the whole, however, the enthusiasm was too much in the nature of mere good form. If only we could have a celebration of Omar Khayyam, Tennyson, Gilbert White, or the inventor of Bridge, the difference between new and manufactured enthusiasm would be apparent. We have spent several happy weeks in conceitedly explaining to that barbaric race, the Americans, that in Poe they have never appreciated their luck. Yet we ourselves have never understood Poe. And we never shall understand Poe. It is immensely to our credit that, owing

Shooting Ourselves in the Foot: Bad Immigration Policy Is Leading to the Gradual Destruction of America’s Culture

May 30, 2011

By Mike Gray

Shooting Ourselves in the Foot: Bad Immigration Policy Is Leading to the Gradual Destruction of America’s Culture

By Mike Gray The combination of intended and unintended consequences, and legal and illegal immigration, is transforming American society. — Mark R. Levin American laborers stand to be the biggest losers when “immigration” is allowed to proceed unchecked, but in a bitterly ironic development labor unions stand to win big from it. Mark Levin explains: The unions view the large influx of both legal and illegal immigrants as a new source of political clout that favors their allies in the Democratic Party and potentially adds membership to their own dwindling numbers. They came to the same realization as historian Samuel Lubell, who noted that the voting-age children of the first great migration constituted “the big-city masses furnished the votes which re-elected Roosevelt again and again—and, in the process, ended the traditional Republican majority in this country.” And there can be no doubt, as a practical matter, that the Statist’s benefits-for-votes promises is an attractive albeit destructive enticement. Thus, like so many other non-political things in American culture, the mere act of admitting new citizens has become politicized beyond all reason: The Statist tolerates the illegal alien’s violations of working, wage, and

Parker’s Final Bow a Graceful One

May 28, 2011

By Warren Moore

Sixkill, by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, now available). Review by Warren Moore When Robert B. Parker died in January, 2010, he left behind a few finished manuscripts, including two for his franchise character, Spenser. Sixkill, the fortieth and last of his completed Spenser novels, hit the bookstores earlier this month, and while it isn’t a farewell on the level of John D. MacDonald’s final Travis McGee novel, neither is it the sort of cardboard tombstone Richard S. Prather left for Shell Scott. The set-up for the novel is simple enough. Jumbo Nelson is an actor who combines the looks of the late Chris Farley with the offscreen charm of tertiary syphilis. He has a sexual encounter with a young woman who ends up dead. The question, however, is whether the death was accidental or homicide. Boston Police Captain Martin Quirk has his doubts, and asks Spenser to look into it. Along the way, Spenser uncovers a variety of behind-the-scenes activities and threats, which he faces with his usual wit, aplomb, and toughness. Although Hawk doesn’t appear in the story, other familiar characters abound, such as Henry Cimoli, the aforementioned Quirk, various members of Spenser’s hard-boiled auxiliary/Justice League, and of course,

Moments with Father Aillil

May 28, 2011

By Mike Gray

By Mike Gray Here are just a few of the memorable moments found in Lars Walker‘s Father Aillil saga. From Erling’s Word: “You’re saying you’re dead?” I put in. He looked at me as if he’d forgotten my existence. “Of course I’m dead,” he said. “You mean you didn’t know? The last thing I ever saw on earth was the welcome spectacle of your back heading down the road and away from the monastery, before I fell into the apoplectic fit that killed me. You may add to your catalogue of sins the occasion of a good man’s death.” — Then was a time. The arrows rained on us until our shields were hedgehogs’ backs. One man after another screamed and lay screaming until the arrows finished him, for we were too busy to help. Aki’s men attacked on all sides, and we thrust at them with spears, and when one went down another took his place, and if he warded well with his shield he got in close to the parapet and we had to discourage him with axes and swords. I had thought my shield light at first. Now it weighed like an anvil, and my axe like

Q & A with Lars Walker, Author of the Father Aillil Series

May 28, 2011

By Mike Gray

Q & A with Lars Walker, Author of the Father Aillil Series

By Mike Gray Lars Walker has kindly consented to answer a few questions about his continuing saga of the adventures of an Irish priest among those tenth-century sea wolves, the Vikings: Q: What prompted you to write West Oversea? A. I’ve been a Viking enthusiast since I was a small boy (it has something to do with being bad at sports before video games were invented). I’ve spent a lot of time over the years with a wonderful old book called Heimskringla, the sagas of the kings of Norway. There’s a secondary character in that book who began to impress me more and more – Erling Skjalgsson of Sola, who was the most powerful man in southwestern Norway for most of his life, and at times the most powerful man in the country. The more I studied his life, and related it to what I’d learned about the times and the culture, the more I realized this was a man who was way ahead of his time, and who has been unjustly neglected – or even libeled – by the historians, though recently he’s started coming into his own again. Q: The American Culture weblog concerns itself primarily with issues

Books Reviewed: The Saga of Father Aillil

May 28, 2011

By Mike Gray

Books Reviewed: The Saga of Father Aillil

By Mike Gray “Norway is great because we’re wolves in a world of sheep!” The calendar says it has been nearly a thousand years since the advent of Christ. But for Father Aillil, the priest of a recently converted Viking lord, the news of the “White Christ” is only now penetrating into Norse culture — and it’s meeting considerable resistance. Erling’s Word (1997) Collected in The Year of the Warrior (2000) “I think you’re as fair as a summer morning with the sun rising over Lough Erne. The grass is dewy and fat, so a man could live on it, and the flowers open their mouths and praise God with a song of sweet odor, and the birds raise a hymn they learned from Solomon two thousand years since, and have passed on in secret to their children ever after. And far across the water you can see swans swimming, and the sunrise tints them pink, and the breeze is so mild and gentle it’s like the hand of your mother on your forehead when you’re a child, and sick, and she fears to lose you.” Father Aillil hasn’t always been a priest. He is pretty much minding his own

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Study Says Only 1.4% of Population Homosexual

May 27, 2011

By Mike D'Virgilio

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Study Says Only 1.4% of Population Homosexual

A scientific study commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has found that only 1.4 percent of people are homosexual. I suppose that that must surprise you. The first thing I thought of when I read Michael Medved’s article about the study was how different the facts are from what the contemporary culture tells us. When watching television, after all, it seems as if 50 percent of the population is homosexual. It’s evident that a tiny minority of Americans have enormous power in Hollywood, the entertainment capital of the world. Similarly, our cultural elites in media and education unanimously profess to believe that sexual orientation is not a choice but as innate as skin color; that has indeed become the dominant cultural message about this issue. In light of such an onslaught, is it any wonder that so many young people are reported as struggling with their sexuality? I have an example. My daughter grew up with a friend, a boy, who danced with her for the nine years she was involved in a local park district dance company. They even had a bit of a romantic involvement early in

Why We Are Doomed

May 24, 2011

By Lars Walker

By Lars Walker I’ve been waiting to see a response from other social conservatives to the recent Gallup Poll which reports that Americans now favor “gay” marriage by a percentage of 53% to 45%. This year’s nine-percentage-point increase in support for same-sex marriage is the largest year-to-year shift yet measured over this time period. Two-thirds of Americans were opposed to legalized same-sex marriage in 1996, with 27% in favor. By 2004, support had risen to 42% and, despite some fluctuations from year to year, stayed at roughly that level through last year. I haven’t seen much yet along those lines, so I’ll say something myself. I don’t expect to convince anyone of anything (I rarely do), and it goes without saying I’ll be compared to a Nazi, but I’ll do it anyway, because it’s been on my mind. First of all, I’m not entirely convinced by the figures. My experience is that people with liberal views are generally oversampled in such polls. But that doesn’t alter the fact that, beyond question, acceptance of homosexuality has been growing rapidly among Americans. Among young people, it’s barely an issue anymore. Barring some major critical event, like a movement of the Holy Spirit

Pets’ Antics Provide a Path to the Divine

May 24, 2011

By Daniel Crandall

Pets’ Antics Provide a Path to the Divine

By Daniel P. Crandall G.K. Chesterton wrote, “If anybody chooses to say that I have founded all my social philosophy on the antics of a baby, I am quite satisfied to bow and smile.” The God Dog Connection is Marti Healy’s “bow and smile” as she shares numerous tales about how her pets’ antics enrich her life and deepen her faith. I met Marti Healy one afternoon while exploring downtown Aiken, a town near the Savannah River in South Carolina. I happened upon the Aiken Visitor Center, which on that particular day hosted the author. As I sat chatting with Ms. Healy about reading, writing, and living in the South, I noticed a book, on the table between us, with “Dog” in the title. Upon first glance, I thought it read “Good Dog Connection.” After looking more closely, I chuckled to myself at how I had misread the title. Perhaps it was a case of seeing what I wanted to see, for I certainly believe God is good. In a similar fashion, when I think about past pets’ behavior, it may be that I only saw what I wanted to, never going beyond the surface antics. Marti Healy’s stories provide

Prose & Poetry Update

May 24, 2011

By Daniel Crandall

This week’s issue begins and ends with G.K. Chesterton. Up first, the “Prophet of Common Sense” on Art, Literature and accepting the status quo: “The beautification of the world is not a work of nature, but a work of art, then it involves an artist.” – Illustrated London News, 9-18-09 “By a curious confusion, many modern critics have passed from the proposition that a masterpiece may be unpopular to the other proposition that unless it is unpopular it cannot be a masterpiece.” – On Detective Novels, Generally Speaking “And all over the world, the old literature, the popular literature, is the same. It consists of very dignified sorrow and very undignified fun. Its sad tales are of broken hearts; its happy tales are of broken heads.” – Charles Dickens “The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do not say.” – Daily News, 4-22-05 “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” – The Everlasting Man, 1925 Short Fiction The Disadvantage of Having Two Heads written & illustrated by G.K. Chesterton “A little boy once looked

Loren D. Estleman’s “Retro:” The Sincerest Form of Hard-Boiled

May 23, 2011

By Lars Walker

By Lars Walker With apologies to Dashiell Hammett fans (after all, I am one myself), I think the archetypal hard-boiled private eye will always be Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. Every hard-boiled shamus to this day—and likely far into the future—has to touch his cap, one way or another, to that tall Californian in the trench coat. Even if “he” is a she, even if the writer updates the concept by giving him computer skilz, endowing him with a regular girlfriend, or moving his office to an airplane cockpit. Even if he doesn’t smoke and doesn’t drink, has adopted Buddhism, and treats his body like a temple. Loren D. Estleman bucks that trend. He flatters, sincerely, by imitation. His Detroit P.I., Amos Walker, could be Marlowe’s love child, or maybe Marlowe was cryogenically frozen. Amos Walker wears a hat (or did in the early books of the series, though he admits here that he doesn’t own a trench coat). He smokes and refuses to worry about it, and drinks with enthusiasm. His office, in a seedy building downtown, is exactly like Marlowe’s as far as I can tell, except for the view. The result makes for a very comfortable read for

Page 1 of 4

1 2 3 4 »

The American Culture

Twitter Feed!

Archive

Blogroll

Monthly Archives: May 2011

Prose & Poetry Update

Arnold Bennett Clobbers Poe — Lawsuit Pending

Shooting Ourselves in the Foot: Bad Immigration Policy Is Leading to the Gradual Destruction of America’s Culture

Parker’s Final Bow a Graceful One

Moments with Father Aillil

Q & A with Lars Walker, Author of the Father Aillil Series

Books Reviewed: The Saga of Father Aillil

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Study Says Only 1.4% of Population Homosexual

Why We Are Doomed

Pets’ Antics Provide a Path to the Divine

Prose & Poetry Update

Loren D. Estleman’s “Retro:” The Sincerest Form of Hard-Boiled

Newswire

Search The American Culture

Recent Comments

Sections

Twitter Feed!

Archive

Tags

Blogroll

Monthly Archives: May 2011

Newswire

Search The American Culture

Recent Comments

Sections