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From Cthulhu to Yeats: Some Of Our Favorite Songs Inspired By Literature
The Cure (Photo via)
Morrissey taught us that Keats and Yeats are on our sides, Syd Barrett set James Joyce’s poem V from Chamber Music to, well, music (Stevie Nicks did something similar with Edgar Allen Poe’s “Annabel Lee”), and heavy metal vocalists are obsessed with Victorian horror.
Literature and music go together like cheddar cheese and grape jelly – er, okay, maybe that’s just my weird proclivity. Let’s say peanut butter and grape jelly! Read on for some of our favorite literary bedfellows.
Posted by Carrie Jo Tucker
Books You Avoided Reading In High School (But Really Should Read Now)
Still, if growing up has taught me anything, it's that those books assigned to us in high school actually were worth reading. And now that you're, presumably, able to read for pleasure, I recommend reading (or maybe re-reading if you were studious and actually did your work) the following books. You can enjoy them now as they should have been enjoyed years ago since you won't be quizzed at the end of the month on what colour shirt the main character was wearing in Chapter 7.
Posted by Maria Vicente
Breathing Life Into Clay: Famous Golems in Literature
Michael Chabon wrote that the myth of the golem endures because it mirrors the creative act itself. While there are many legends about what makes a golem go, they usually involve a learned practitioner of faith, a lot of chanting, a lump of clay and a word. As Chabon puts it, it is not the act of breathing life into the lifeless that makes the story of the golem so interesting, but the element of danger in bringing something to life.
If the danger of creation intrigues you, then you might dig these books where men give life to clay.
Posted by Brady Dale
Swissted’s Mike Joyce on Inspiration, Influences, and Punk Rock History
We asked Mike Joyce, the creative force behind Swissted, the awesome new book of rock and roll posters remixed in Swiss Modernist style, to share some of the people, places, and things that shaped him into the punk fan he is today.
Posted by Mike Joyce
Why We Adore Book Series
We’re no strangers to book series. There have been numerous series to capture our hearts: The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz, Anne of Green Gables. However, the books I’m talking about today are part of a different category of serialized books. These are the books that you spent many weekend hours trying to collect, searching for that one you were missing, hoping to finish a complete set.
These books don’t need to be read in a specified order. Sure they’re numbered, but only to hook us collectors and make us feel incomplete if the books on our shelf don’t follow the perfect sequence. No, each title is a new adventure with familiar characters and they create a certain kind of charm that we still can’t resist.
Posted by Maria Vicente
Batman & Kerouac: Brothers From Another Mother
One is the Dark Knight, a vigilante hero that fights to bring sanity to his world and peace to his life. After watching the brutal murder of his parents, Bruce Wayne made the decision to dedicate his life to bringing the scum and insanity that had taken over his home of Gotham City to justice. Along with Robin, the Boy Wonder, he operates in darkness and calls himself The Batman.
Posted by David Goodman
