“Wretches, Speak Evil of Me”: Goethe and Schiller’s Xenions (1896 edition)
One of the most elaborate works of literary insult ever written.
From The Public Domain Review
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Wander the web like a shoreline.
Something new washes up every time: pages from all kinds of people, made with all kinds of tools. Beachcomb shows you what it found, then gets out of the way.
Pick a few topics
Louis Pope Gratacap, A Curator in Lost Worlds
Arguably the first work of fiction to feature a *Tyrannosaurus rex*, Louis Pope Gratacap’s *The New Northland* (1915) is at once kaleidoscopic, mischievous, fascinating — and exhausting. Richard Fallon explores this “lost world” novel, finding a work as interested in cutting-edge science as it was…
From The Public Domain Review
Silence
And then, there is the silence. The silence when you've just finished a book. It's a weird silence, not a silence as far as sound goes. Roadwork is still roaring by the window, the fan is still humming slowly, the dog is still munching on its kibbles. But a silence of the mind. The characters have…
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How to turn any eBook into an audio book
A couple of my best friends are getting pretty old. One has lost most of his sight so he can’t read very well. He can read with one eye if the words are about 4 inches from his face but he can’t spend too much time doing this. He also cannot hear great so volume needs to be sort of high for him to…
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Another literary scam
This keeps happening to me and, I suspect, to anyone who’s written a book that’s gotten some notice. This email that I received last week is about the fifth one of its type I got, all touting a “book club” that authors are invited to participate in. The author is first flattered by a description ……
From Kagi Small Web
Danse Macabre
My recent detour into Japanese detective fiction and the captivating mysteries of locked-room whodunits reminded me of popular BBC series Jonathan Creek. The show ran for three seasons between 1997–99. It returned with season 4 and 5 in 2003 and 2014 respectively. […]
From Kagi Small Web
Welcome to Wordorigins.org
Detail of Bayeux Tapestry: Norman cavalry attacking an English fort. Image by Myrabella, 2013, licensed under Creative Commons. And we’re on Bluesky and Mastodon too. You can also follow the site on Mastodon and on Bluesky. I am no longer posting on the site formerly known as Twitter. Latest posts:…
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That's this stretch.
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