Posts from — January 2005

“As in the world of literature, sometimes hockey’s not pretty.” — Margaret Atwood

Check out the video of Margaret Atwood’s tips on how to stop a puck from this week’s episode of The Monday Report. I can’t think of much better than seeing Margaret in goalie gear as she says: “I don’t like to hotdog, but if the puck carrier’s really putting lumber on it, then Momma can get nasty!”

If this piques your interest in the connections between hockey and literature, check out Richard Harrison’s book Hero of the Play or the anthology ICE: New Writing on Hockey. In April, I’ll be giving a paper on Harrison’s work at a conference called “Canada’s Game? Critical Perspectives on Ice Hockey and Identity.“ If only I could bring Margaret along with me….

Note: you can now find the video clip of Atwood on the Back Issues page of the Monday Report website. Look for the segment in the week of January 31, 2005.

Until fairly recently, Britain had an amazingly vital autodidact culture, where a large minority of the working classes passionately pursued classic literature, philosophy, and music. They were denied the educational privileges that Professor Smith enjoyed, but they knew that the “great books” that she derided would emancipate the workers.

The Classics in the Slums by Jonathan Rose is a great article that ties into a number of the readings I’ve been giving to my students in English 086. I’m looking forward to reading Rose’s book The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes.