Ackroyd is not a professor of English language and literature; he is a writer, albeit an award winning one. This book kind of reads like a PhD dissertation, though. I'll be alternating this book with chapters of Stephen J. Gould's last book, which I have almost finished. Next on the list is the Borges biography.
Thu Jun 16 2005 18:31 Albion:
I started reading Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination by Peter Ackroyd. He follows various themes such as spirals, melancholy, interlacement, in English literature, art, music, etc., from the very beginnings to the present day. This is all very interesting. When he tries to claim origins for these themes, however, I think he is reaching. For example, the theme of trees, considered in the first chapter. Does he really believe that every tree in an English painting, the Robin Hood legend, every branching pattern in a piece of music originates in some kind of cellular memory of the Druids? I think that's a stretch.
I didn't feel all that great the whole morning, so I came home and went to bed and when I woke up I really was sick. I am going to Enrichment Night anyhow though. I need to get out of my shell and attend social functions as long as I can so that I don't become some sort of poor me whiner huddled in a corner waiting to die. It's almost time for me to put Gretel out so that I can leave. Thu Jun 16 2005 18:39 The Week Is Over:
Well, I made it through this week. I think I can already tell which students are going to pass the class and which won't. I have one girl who is repeating the class who had Brenda Freney before. When I had her write the practice test, she left off every ending of every verb and had just pitiful paragraph development. When I conferenced with her about it, she said, "Oh, Ms. Freney told me that too!" Well, if she'd been told that before (possibly over and over all semester) why doesn't she DO something about it? Today in class she fell asleep.
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