classic fiction

Art & Culture: Dakota and the American Dream by Sameer Garach

December 29, 2019 admin 0

Inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Dakota and the American Dream (Mare Press) by Sameer Garach is set in modern times and takes aim at the classic idea of the American Dream in the context of Corporate America. When ten-year-old Dakota becomes bored sitting next to his mother on a park bench, he drifts off into a dream reminiscent of the real world and populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures who echo the […]

Fiction: Dracula Unmasked: A Journey Through Time by Pamela J. Rauch

December 1, 2019 admin 0

  When I sat down to write my Dracula story, my goal was to offer readers something different.” — Pamela J. Rauch What if someone wrote a tale about Dracula that was different from the rest? A vampire story that cuts through the Hollywood glitz of the contemporary vampire tale. Pamela J. Rauch, invites readers into the ethereal realm of otherworldly creatures in her new book, <i>Dracula Unmasked: A Journey Through Time</i> (Richlife). Vlad Dracula […]

Gone with the Wind Mansion Goes on the Block

August 9, 2019 admin 0

The Georgia mansion Margaret Mitchell told David Selznick was the living embodiment of Ashley Wilkes’ plantation home when she wrote Gone With the Wind recently sold at auction. Twelve Oaks is 10,000 square feet with 12 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms and a dozen fireplaces. Just the sort of place one would imagine Scarlett O’Hara swanning around in in Mitchell’s enduring 1936 classic Gone With the Wind. From Top Ten Real Estate Deals: When Selznick International Pictures […]

One Hundred Years of Solitude Heads to Spanish Netflix

March 10, 2019 Linda L. Richards 0

One can’t help but wonder what Gabriel García Márquez would be thinking about the fact that his classic novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, will go into production as a Spanish-language series. García Márquez, who died in 2014 at the age of 87, had always declined offers when Hollywood came knocking.   The series will be filmed in the author’s native Colombia and his sons, Rodrigo Garcia and Gonzalo García Barcha will act as executive […]

Gal Gadot to Star in adaptation of Death on the Nile

September 29, 2018 Linda L. Richards 0

The next Kenneth Branagh-directed adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel will be 1937’s Death on the Nile. Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman, Justice League) has been tapped to star and the project is moving full steam ahead with release planned for late 2019. The production follows on the oh so successful heels of 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express which grossed $352.8 million worldwide. The book-length version of Death on the Nile was published in 1937, […]

Jane Austen and the Law

April 30, 2018 admin 0

Since Jane Austen’s Emma was first cited in 1978, Jane Austen and her work — sometimes together, sometimes separately — have been mentioned many, many time in legal decisions? Why? Writing on Medium, Matthew H. Birkhold, professor of law, literature, and culture and author of the forthcoming book, Characters before Copyright (Oxford University Press) asks: Why Do So Many Judges Cite Jane Austen in Legal Decisions? Though it’s not something I’d ever thought about before, […]

All-Star Cast Will Elevate Dolittle Film

April 2, 2018 admin 0

Hugh Lofting’s The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle came out in 1922. As Wikipedia notes, “It is nearly five times as long as its predecessor and the writing style is pitched at a more mature audience. The scope of the novel is vast; it is divided into six parts and the illustrations are also more sophisticated. It won the Newbery Medal for 1923.” Those who have been waiting for the film version don’t need to be […]

Film Version of L’Engle’s Classic Book Disappoints

March 7, 2018 admin 0

  Reviews are coming in for the Ava DuVernay directed adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle’s Newberry Award-winning novel of the same name. Sadly the reviews of the film version are fairly consistent. Most everyone says the film is beautiful and the casting was interesting and thoughtful but that the story suffers under too much Hollywood CGI-fueled pyrotechnics. From Deadline Hollywood: It’s tough capturing movie magic in a bottle despite a $100 million-plus […]

First Look: Handmaid’s Tale Season Two

January 14, 2018 admin 0

You still have to wait a while to see season two of the Golden Globe-winning series The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the seminal book by Margaret Atwood. But you don’t have to wait at all for an official sneak peek at what the Hulu series has in store. It’s below.   

Seven-Year-Old Finds King Arthur’s Sword

September 6, 2017 admin 0

The sword seven-year-old Matilda Jones found in a Cornish lake is most likely not the one King Arthur deep-sixed after the Battle of Camlann, but it certainly provided one young adventurer with some good stories. From The Sheffield Star:   A Doncaster schoolgirl will have quite a story to tell when she returns to the classroom – after discovering a sword in the same lake King Arthur’s legendary Excalibur was thrown. Matilda Jones, aged seven, […]