July 2011
24 posts
Mrs Miniver (1940) by Jan Struther →
Apparently something that happens on this blog now is that I post beautiful nostalgic things to read. This Mrs. Miniver post is a footnote to my paper diary fetish previously described. The whole book is linked above; scroll down to read a small scrap from “The New Engagement Book,” or just give yourself over to the charms of embattled Englishness and read it all.
A taste:
An...
People Who Write on Paper →
One of my favorite Mrs. Miniver pieces— also incidentally one of my favorite pieces of writing ever— is, I think, the very first, in which Mrs. Miniver goes to buy a new diary for a new year. I’ve tried to use computer calendars but it turns out that I need to see the month bleeding ink through the page, and I need to cross things out, draw hearts around them, bedeck them with...
Briallen in the Yale English Department →
Jesus & the Gays: Dueling Gospel Choirs in the... →
“The conventional — and erroneous — perception of the gay-marriage issue is that it pits secular forces against religious ones.”
The gay rights movement is a struggle for the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement, which means it is also a struggle over the past and future of religion in American public life.
On Friendship: When Friends Break Up →
Twice in my life I’ve lost close friends who were in the process of breaking up. Both times this happened before the break-up proper, in last-gasp moments when the friends were tossing multiple friendships overboard, seemingly in an attempt to save or survive the sinking ship. The article above is optimistic, but in my experience it’s not always possible to “navigate”...
You've Got to be Carefully Taught →
This is the world I grew up in: the world of Northwest hate groups, where pro-slavery men speak for God, where men are made for philosophy and women for childbearing. (See Inside Higher Ed’s story on “classical Christian colleges” above.) The NYT did an indulgent piece on New St. Andrews a few years ago describing it as quaint and retro, but this article lets you glimpse...
Race, redemption, shame, and maybe mercy. →
Though the mercy is not likely; see this story on Bombingham above.
I love the way Diane McWhorter remembers— witnesses— testifies— advocates— with such unresigned calm. It’s surprisingly gentle considering the weight of the history. If there is still a George Wallace Community College in Selma, and there is, there should still be a Chris McNair studio in...
Briallen on Obama in 2008 →
Briallen on Grace →
Briallen on Harry Potter →
Briallen on Glee →
Briallen on the Coming Apocalypse →
Briallen on a Gay Sex Scandal →
Charlotte Vane in the Chronicle of Higher... →
Cloudland Revisited: Briallen on Barbara Stanwyck →
Briallen Soulstirring on Dan Savage's Blog: A... →
Briallen Soulstirring at the University Church in... →
Briallen Soulstirring at the University Church in... →
Briallen on James Baldwin →
Briallen on Denzel Washington →
Briallen on the Princeton Homepage →
Briallen in the Daily Princetonian →
Briallen on the Huffington Post →
