Rohan Maitzen
@rohanmaitzen.bsky.social
English prof at King's / Dalhousie (mostly Victorian lit, detective fiction), critic, blogger at 'Novel Readings'. Essays and reviews in the TLS, LRC, Q&Q, CNQ, LARB, etc. It's pronounced "Rowan." She / her. Halifax, NS. http://rohanmaitzen.com
An optimistic dystopia, a romance of the past, a cautionary tale? thoughts on Ian McEwan's What We Can Know
A Vigorous Life: Ian McEwan, What We Can Know
It is a wonder that a poem, let alone an unread poem, could have such a vigorous life in the culture–and its story still had decades to run before the present day. In the late twenty-first ce…
rohanmaitzen.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:34 AM
An optimistic dystopia, a romance of the past, a cautionary tale? thoughts on Ian McEwan's What We Can Know
Happy Caturday. I love looking down from my book and seeing this cozy kitty snoozling peacefully.
November 29, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Happy Caturday. I love looking down from my book and seeing this cozy kitty snoozling peacefully.
Reposted by Rohan Maitzen
today! think of all the money you’ll save
coming at you this Saturday! plus some more surprises you’ll have to be there to see
November 29, 2025 at 12:16 PM
today! think of all the money you’ll save
Reading a gloomy thread about students who won’t or can’t read or learn and then thinking about the conferences I’ve been having with my students who are writing essays on David Copperfield. Anecdotes are not data and these are upper year majors but they seem generally keen and engaged.
November 29, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Reading a gloomy thread about students who won’t or can’t read or learn and then thinking about the conferences I’ve been having with my students who are writing essays on David Copperfield. Anecdotes are not data and these are upper year majors but they seem generally keen and engaged.
Watercolour practice: summer evening, Spanish Banks
November 29, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Watercolour practice: summer evening, Spanish Banks
“Better than the other guy” was never a great reason to vote for someone and boy do I wish the guy we got was better.
November 28, 2025 at 2:00 AM
“Better than the other guy” was never a great reason to vote for someone and boy do I wish the guy we got was better.
We both need this quiet time tonight.
November 28, 2025 at 12:34 AM
We both need this quiet time tonight.
Try physio for several years off and on without improvement to pain and eventually get referred to specialist. Wait a long time. See specialist. Get referral for ultrasound. Wait a year. Get ultrasound. See specialist who prescribes . . . physio. 😒
November 27, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Try physio for several years off and on without improvement to pain and eventually get referred to specialist. Wait a long time. See specialist. Get referral for ultrasound. Wait a year. Get ultrasound. See specialist who prescribes . . . physio. 😒
I love Bookmark but sometimes the folks at the counter are chatting SO LOUDLY in that small space that it is impossible for me to concentrate on the words in the books I'm trying to browse.
November 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I love Bookmark but sometimes the folks at the counter are chatting SO LOUDLY in that small space that it is impossible for me to concentrate on the words in the books I'm trying to browse.
We had our last class discussion of David Copperfield today and as I was packing up I felt a bit sad wondering if it’s the last time I’ll teach it. I’m not that many years from retirement, I don’t teach this course every year, and I usually rotate the books on the reading list.
November 27, 2025 at 2:08 AM
We had our last class discussion of David Copperfield today and as I was packing up I felt a bit sad wondering if it’s the last time I’ll teach it. I’m not that many years from retirement, I don’t teach this course every year, and I usually rotate the books on the reading list.
Now I'm re-watching Scott and Bailey and it is very good, as I'd remembered.
November 26, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Now I'm re-watching Scott and Bailey and it is very good, as I'd remembered.
Fred getting into the holiday spirit. 🙂🐈⬛
November 24, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Fred getting into the holiday spirit. 🙂🐈⬛
After class today I heard two students walking down the hall talking about how much they like Traddles so I feel good about that. (We haven't even really talked about him, so this is an authentic part of their experience of David Copperfield!) The kids are OK etc.
November 24, 2025 at 5:53 PM
After class today I heard two students walking down the hall talking about how much they like Traddles so I feel good about that. (We haven't even really talked about him, so this is an authentic part of their experience of David Copperfield!) The kids are OK etc.
I realize I may be taking the wrong message away from the Thursday Night Murder Club but it does seem like moving into a retirement community is a good way to make friends and have a lively social life. 😆
November 23, 2025 at 10:43 PM
I realize I may be taking the wrong message away from the Thursday Night Murder Club but it does seem like moving into a retirement community is a good way to make friends and have a lively social life. 😆
Reposted by Rohan Maitzen
Happy Birthday George Eliot!
“All honour & reverence to the divine beauty of form! Let us cultivate it to the utmost in men, women, & children—in our gardens and in our houses. But let us love that other beauty too, which lies in no secret of proportion, but in the secret of deep human sympathy.”
“All honour & reverence to the divine beauty of form! Let us cultivate it to the utmost in men, women, & children—in our gardens and in our houses. But let us love that other beauty too, which lies in no secret of proportion, but in the secret of deep human sympathy.”
November 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Happy Birthday George Eliot!
“All honour & reverence to the divine beauty of form! Let us cultivate it to the utmost in men, women, & children—in our gardens and in our houses. But let us love that other beauty too, which lies in no secret of proportion, but in the secret of deep human sympathy.”
“All honour & reverence to the divine beauty of form! Let us cultivate it to the utmost in men, women, & children—in our gardens and in our houses. But let us love that other beauty too, which lies in no secret of proportion, but in the secret of deep human sympathy.”
Is McEwan making a sly dig at Rachel Cusk? 🙃
November 21, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Is McEwan making a sly dig at Rachel Cusk? 🙃
She keeps going and sitting under the piano and watching me with her baleful green eyes. I can't tell if she is trying to lure me in to play or scare me off so I won't. 😆🐈⬛
November 20, 2025 at 9:21 PM
She keeps going and sitting under the piano and watching me with her baleful green eyes. I can't tell if she is trying to lure me in to play or scare me off so I won't. 😆🐈⬛
Oh no Outlook & Teams are down so I can't go to my 11:30 meeting. 🙃
November 20, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Oh no Outlook & Teams are down so I can't go to my 11:30 meeting. 🙃
Dora is feeling poorly and it is making me sad in spite of myself. Darn you, Dickens, and your absolute genius for pathos!
November 20, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Dora is feeling poorly and it is making me sad in spite of myself. Darn you, Dickens, and your absolute genius for pathos!
Reposted by Rohan Maitzen
November 20th is Universal Children’s Day, a day that promotes the welfare of children. Check out Marjorie Stone’s article from 62.4 where she discusses Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s advocacy for the suffering children of the Victorian working-class.⬇️
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
November 20, 2025 at 2:05 PM
November 20th is Universal Children’s Day, a day that promotes the welfare of children. Check out Marjorie Stone’s article from 62.4 where she discusses Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s advocacy for the suffering children of the Victorian working-class.⬇️
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
If you can, it's a good time to make a donation.
Home
Feed Nova Scotia supports food banks and meal programs across the province while advocating for solutions to sustainable change.
feednovascotia.ca
November 19, 2025 at 11:37 PM
If you can, it's a good time to make a donation.
Putting aside The Empusium for now. I loved Drive Your Plow so much! but I can't seem to get any traction with this one. Is it because I haven't read Mann?
November 19, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Putting aside The Empusium for now. I loved Drive Your Plow so much! but I can't seem to get any traction with this one. Is it because I haven't read Mann?
"Look, now there's a cat on your cat puzzle!" - Fred, thinking she's pretty funny.
November 18, 2025 at 11:05 PM
"Look, now there's a cat on your cat puzzle!" - Fred, thinking she's pretty funny.
Who was it on here that I recall raving about Marlen Haushofer’s The Wall? Maybe @ds228.bsky.social ? (Just wondering about picking it up: it looks interesting!)
November 18, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Who was it on here that I recall raving about Marlen Haushofer’s The Wall? Maybe @ds228.bsky.social ? (Just wondering about picking it up: it looks interesting!)
I guess Task was good but it was so violent and also I felt like I’d basically seen it before - different details but actually quite formulaic.
November 18, 2025 at 12:49 AM
I guess Task was good but it was so violent and also I felt like I’d basically seen it before - different details but actually quite formulaic.