Greetings! As a literature teacher, I enjoy few things more than sharing great stories with people. Now, with autumn fast approaching (*pumps fist wildly*), here’s a list of books that I discovered for the first time this summer – some old, some new; some great, some not-so-great… Whether you agree with my reviews or thinkContinue reading “What I’ve Been Reading This Summer: 7 Book Reviews”
Author Archives: jeshuahayden
What I’ve Been Watching This Summer: 7 Movie Reviews
Greetings, friends! It’s been a while since I’ve posted content. Life has been WILD this summer, and with the school year kicking into gear, I haven’t had much time recently to write. However, I’ve got some exciting ideas for a future blog series, and I plan to start fleshing them out as soon as IContinue reading “What I’ve Been Watching This Summer: 7 Movie Reviews”
To Love the World Again: A Literary Analysis of Only God Was Above Us
“Only God was above us!” Those words, which are visible on a newspaper headline adorning the cover of Vampire Weekend’s fifth album, were spoken by a survivor of one of the strangest disasters in aviation history.1 On April 28, 1988, the passengers of Aloha Airlines Flight 243 watched in horror as their airplane’s ceiling wasContinue reading “To Love the World Again: A Literary Analysis of Only God Was Above Us“
Sounds of Springtime: A Literary Analysis of Father of the Bride
I didn’t want it to be a cool photograph of the earth in space; I wanted it to have a little bit of that tension of being Mother Nature, the planet we live on, but also something border-line uncomfortable with the raw digital whiteness surrounding it. This was how Ezra Koenig described the cover ofContinue reading “Sounds of Springtime: A Literary Analysis of Father of the Bride“
Dark Night of the Soul: A Literary Analysis of Modern Vampires of the City
In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov, there’s a scene where two brothers, Ivan and Alyosha, are discussing religion in a tavern. Ivan is a skeptic, and he objects to God’s goodness on account of the world’s suffering. According to Ivan, the future “harmony” that believers long for, where all sorrows will be consoled andContinue reading “Dark Night of the Soul: A Literary Analysis of Modern Vampires of the City“
Encountering Opposition: A Literary Analysis of Contra
When we are young, our relationship to the world can aptly be described as a kind of infatuation. Like a kid with a crush, we’re carried away by the thrill of discovery, convinced that the object of our love can do no wrong. Yet as we grow older, we all experience a “loss of innocence”Continue reading “Encountering Opposition: A Literary Analysis of Contra“
Wide-Eyed Wonderment: A Literary Analysis of Vampire Weekend
Take a moment and think back to your childhood, adolescence, and/or young adulthood. How did life look from those perspectives? Everyone’s upbringing is unique, and some people are forced to grow up much too fast. However, for many of us, these years were characterized by the thrill of discovery. There was eagerness to map theContinue reading “Wide-Eyed Wonderment: A Literary Analysis of Vampire Weekend“
Introducing My Vampire Weekend Series
Nine months ago, when my wife and I packed our belongings and moved from West Michigan to Chicagoland, I did something I’d never done before: Alone in the U-Haul, I listened to four albums in a row by the same band, start to finish. Typically, when I’m on the road, I like to mix thingsContinue reading “Introducing My Vampire Weekend Series”
Into the Wild: An Invitation to My 2024 Artistic Journey
Two days ago, I braved icy winds and traveled by train and foot to the Music Box Theater in north Chicago, eager to watch Andrew Haigh’s new film, All of Us Strangers. It’s a bizarre, lyrical, and devastating story, impossible to categorize and easily one of my favorite films of the year. I expect I’llContinue reading “Into the Wild: An Invitation to My 2024 Artistic Journey”
Here Be Dragons: My Favorite Stories and Songs of 2023
Well, it’s that time of year again! Everywhere you turn, art nerds are shouting their lists of favorite books, music, and movies discovered in 2023 from the proverbial rooftops. Why, you may ask, would we bother doing this? I can’t speak for every list-maker out there, but I’ve got two motives. First, the act ofContinue reading “Here Be Dragons: My Favorite Stories and Songs of 2023”
Words for Wayfarers 