As the core office is situated on a college campus, we have, ever so often, heard variations of this unfortunate conversation: Timmy: “How’d you do on the paper, Josh?” Josh: “I did alright. You?” Timmy: “Oh you know, just a 98. I’m surprised though. I started the book yesterday, watched TV until 1am. Wrote it […]
March 23, 2015 at 10:30 am
The ease of publishing one’s writing online, in conjunction with the pleasure reading of popular fiction, may have changed our perception of the literary canon, says Arthur Krystal of The Chronicle Review. He fears a loss of appreciation for its greatness as new artists turn out works that will never have the same resonance as, say, a Shakespearean sonnet or a Homerian epic.
March 18, 2015 at 10:46 am
To current and former Core students, Dante’s Inferno brings to mind images of a nine-tiered Hell filled with sinners of various sorts. CC102 students, studious as they are, know the nine circles and their inhabitants like the back of their hands. Reporting by the Onion, though, indicates that Dante’s descriptions are out-of-date: recent years have […]
February 24, 2015 at 1:29 pm
Look, we’re readers in the Core. We’re readers of big books, huge ones, even. But there’s a certain point when the book goes on too long. We’ve all been there: Crime and Punishment. Perhaps you’re thinking, “maybe I should read that canonical novel!” I’m going to stop you right there. Emphasis mine. Luckily, this is […]
January 5, 2015 at 12:01 pm
Homer is known to CC 101 students as the author of the Odyssey, but surprisingly enough, not much more is known about his life story. A recent article published in the National Geographic suggests that Homer wasn’t a person, but a tradition.
January 5, 2015 at 10:48 am
The taxi service Uber is taking Boston by force. With its mixed reviews in the media, riders wonder about their drivers as well as what services are offered outside Beantown. Lucky for us at the Core office, Professor Hamill left a copy of the New Yorker open to an article providing Uber reviews for Charon, […]
December 1, 2014 at 1:19 pm
Pericles’ famous funeral oration honoring fallen soldiers in The Pelopponesian War is an ode to Athens. He proclaims the glories of the state in great depth and detail, and calls on the families of the dead to remain steadfast in their patriotism. One of the Athenian virtues he praises is that of the informed democratic […]
November 24, 2014 at 1:52 pm
Wendy Doniger’s War and Peace in the Bhagavad Gita is possibly best described as a biography of the Bhagavad Gita. She explores the book’s history and the somewhat contradictory way an epic call to battle has come to be something of a pacifist icon. The Gita incorporates into its seven hundred verses many different sorts of insights, which […]
November 17, 2014 at 3:21 pm
Biologist Edward O. Wilson has spent his life studying evolutionary biology, writing books, and winning Pulitzer prizes, among other things. He is still going strong at 85 years old, and recently published “The Meaning of Human Existence,” a book intended to explain and convince the general public of the scientific theory of evolution. Drawing […]
November 5, 2014 at 12:04 pm
Vegetarianism and veganism have been on the rise in recent years, and adherents often cite consideration of animal rights as a motivation. But what if they heard that plants can also feel pain? It is already well-known that plants respond to external stimuli such as sunlight, air quality, and other basic factors, but a mysterious […]
