Category: Literary Essays
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Agatha Christie’s first post-mortem
Stephen McWilliamsDublin, Ireland Aficionados of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple could do worse than read Carla Valentine’s Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie.1 In the book’s introduction, we’re reminded that Christie, the “Queen of Crime,” remains the world’s all-time bestselling novelist, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Valentine describes Christie’s dedication to…
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“These late eclipses … portend no good to us” – Shakespeare
Edward TaborBethesda, Maryland, United States Introduction Eclipses of the sun or moon were powerful images used by William Shakespeare in ten of his plays and poems.1 Shakespeare’s characters believed that eclipses were under the control of evil forces, that eclipses could predict the fall of governments, and noted how people blamed their weaknesses and failures…
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John Berryman, poetry, and addiction
Alan BleakleyPlymouth, United Kingdom “Starts again always in Henry’s ears / The little cough somewhere, an odour, a chime,” writes American poet John Berryman (1914–1972) in “Dream Song 29.”1 From a life of heavy drinking that served to mask the pain of chronic depression arose the legacy of his Dream Songs, told from the perspective…
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Why did Shakespeare never mention tobacco?
Edward TaborBethesda, Maryland, United States Tobacco was used in Elizabethan England to treat diseases and injuries, as well as for relaxation and social interactions. Why, then, did Shakespeare never mention tobacco in any of his plays, or even refer to its use? Tobacco grew only in the Americas before Columbus’ voyages. When Europeans first arrived…
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Isaac Disraeli: Curiosities of Literature and other publications
Benjamin Disraeli (1766–1848), the famous prime minister of England, described his father Isaac as a great disappointment to his parents. He was a “difficult and rather morose child … pale and pensive, with large dark brown eyes, and flowing hair…timid, susceptible, lost in reverie, fond of solitude, and seeking no better company than a book.”…
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Nathaniel Hawthorne: Medical
Although Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was not a physician, his writings often concern themselves with medicine and disease. His childhood was shadowed by illness. He injured his leg at age nine and had a long period of recovery and convalescence, being confined indoors for nearly two years. This period of immobility, often cited as the genesis…
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Mark Twain (1835-1910): Medical
Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens, is remembered predominantly for creating Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, the two boys whose adventures have delighted generations of readers. He rose from humble beginnings to being considered one of the funniest people of his time. Twain was a premature baby, not expected to live. When he turned four, his…
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Serendipity
JMS PearceHull, England Serendipity has featured as an important factor in many discoveries and investigations in both medicine and science. Artists too, often refer to happy accidents that appear in their paintings. Amongst many well known medical examples of serendipity are: Fleming’s discovery of penicillin; Wilhelm Röntgen’s observations while studying cathode rays that the X-rays…
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George Gissing: The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
At the end of the nineteenth century, George Gissing (1857–1903) was one of the three most important English novelists of his time. Born in the north of England, he studied at the precursor of the University of Manchester, fell in love with a young prostitute, and began stealing from fellow students to support her. He…
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Till Eulenspiegel: The mischievous trickster
Like Don Quixote, Till Eulenspiegel is a literary character who has never ceased to entertain generations of readers. He was first featured in medieval stories in which he ridiculed the foolishness and hypocrisy of the wealthy nobles, clergy, merchants, and in particular the impostor physicians and quacks. He is believed to have been born around…