The History of Literature Podcast
@holpod.bsky.social
A podcast for lovers of literature since 2015. Find us at historyofliterature.com.
"Somewhere or other, may be far or near;
With just a wall, a hedge, between;
With just the last leaves of the dying year
Fallen on a turf grown green."
– Christina Rossetti #botd
#books #poetry #literature #christinarossetti
With just a wall, a hedge, between;
With just the last leaves of the dying year
Fallen on a turf grown green."
– Christina Rossetti #botd
#books #poetry #literature #christinarossetti
December 5, 2025 at 1:30 PM
"Somewhere or other, may be far or near;
With just a wall, a hedge, between;
With just the last leaves of the dying year
Fallen on a turf grown green."
– Christina Rossetti #botd
#books #poetry #literature #christinarossetti
With just a wall, a hedge, between;
With just the last leaves of the dying year
Fallen on a turf grown green."
– Christina Rossetti #botd
#books #poetry #literature #christinarossetti
"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language."
– Rainer Maria Rilke
#botd #books #literature
– Rainer Maria Rilke
#botd #books #literature
December 4, 2025 at 3:57 PM
"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language."
– Rainer Maria Rilke
#botd #books #literature
– Rainer Maria Rilke
#botd #books #literature
"Read, read, read, read, my unlearned reader!"
– Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy
b. November 24, 1713
#books #novels #reading @jackewilson.bsky.social
– Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy
b. November 24, 1713
#books #novels #reading @jackewilson.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
"Read, read, read, read, my unlearned reader!"
– Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy
b. November 24, 1713
#books #novels #reading @jackewilson.bsky.social
– Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy
b. November 24, 1713
#books #novels #reading @jackewilson.bsky.social
"The thing which seemed to her best, she wanted to justify by the completest knowledge; and not to live in a pretended admission of rules which were never acted on."
– George Eliot (Nov. 22, 1819)
#books #literature #novelists @jackewilson.bsky.social
– George Eliot (Nov. 22, 1819)
#books #literature #novelists @jackewilson.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 1:39 PM
"The thing which seemed to her best, she wanted to justify by the completest knowledge; and not to live in a pretended admission of rules which were never acted on."
– George Eliot (Nov. 22, 1819)
#books #literature #novelists @jackewilson.bsky.social
– George Eliot (Nov. 22, 1819)
#books #literature #novelists @jackewilson.bsky.social
"I know also," said Candide, "that we must cultivate our garden."
– Voltaire #botd
#books #booksky #literature #satire
– Voltaire #botd
#books #booksky #literature #satire
November 21, 2025 at 1:06 PM
"I know also," said Candide, "that we must cultivate our garden."
– Voltaire #botd
#books #booksky #literature #satire
– Voltaire #botd
#books #booksky #literature #satire
“I don't want to write for adults. I want to write for readers who can perform miracles. Only children perform miracles when they read.”
― Astrid Lindgren #botd
#books #childrensbook
― Astrid Lindgren #botd
#books #childrensbook
November 14, 2025 at 12:33 PM
“I don't want to write for adults. I want to write for readers who can perform miracles. Only children perform miracles when they read.”
― Astrid Lindgren #botd
#books #childrensbook
― Astrid Lindgren #botd
#books #childrensbook
"Much the same inducements and alarms cast the die for any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it."
– Robert Louis Stevenson #botd #books #literature
– Robert Louis Stevenson #botd #books #literature
November 13, 2025 at 1:40 PM
"Much the same inducements and alarms cast the die for any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it."
– Robert Louis Stevenson #botd #books #literature
– Robert Louis Stevenson #botd #books #literature
"What I enjoy in a narrative is not directly its content or even its structure, but rather the abrasions I impose upon the fine surface: I read on, I skip, I look up, I dip in again."
–Roland Barthes #botd
#books #literature #writing #reading
–Roland Barthes #botd
#books #literature #writing #reading
November 12, 2025 at 2:13 PM
"What I enjoy in a narrative is not directly its content or even its structure, but rather the abrasions I impose upon the fine surface: I read on, I skip, I look up, I dip in again."
–Roland Barthes #botd
#books #literature #writing #reading
–Roland Barthes #botd
#books #literature #writing #reading
"A spirited courage is required to triumph over the impediments that the indolence of nature as well as the cowardice of the heart oppose to our instruction." – Friedrich Schiller #botd
#books #literature #history #philosophy
#books #literature #history #philosophy
November 10, 2025 at 3:32 PM
"A spirited courage is required to triumph over the impediments that the indolence of nature as well as the cowardice of the heart oppose to our instruction." – Friedrich Schiller #botd
#books #literature #history #philosophy
#books #literature #history #philosophy
"Below, hills and wooded mountain slopes shut the region in with white walls, constantly narrower and narrower, nearer and nearer, always more contracting."
– Jonas Lie, The Family at Gilje
#botd #books #norwegianliterature
– Jonas Lie, The Family at Gilje
#botd #books #norwegianliterature
November 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
"Below, hills and wooded mountain slopes shut the region in with white walls, constantly narrower and narrower, nearer and nearer, always more contracting."
– Jonas Lie, The Family at Gilje
#botd #books #norwegianliterature
– Jonas Lie, The Family at Gilje
#botd #books #norwegianliterature
"When shrieked
The bleak November winds, and smote the woods,
And the brown fields were herbless, and the shades,
That met above the merry rivulet,
Were spoiled, I sought, I loved them still; they seemed
Like old companions in adversity."
– William Cullen Bryant, "A Winter Piece" #botd #poetry
The bleak November winds, and smote the woods,
And the brown fields were herbless, and the shades,
That met above the merry rivulet,
Were spoiled, I sought, I loved them still; they seemed
Like old companions in adversity."
– William Cullen Bryant, "A Winter Piece" #botd #poetry
November 4, 2025 at 1:06 PM
"The wind is rising! . . . We must try to live!
The huge air opens and shuts my book: the wave
Dares to explode out of the rocks in reeking
Spray. Fly away, my sun-bewildered pages!
Break, waves!"
– Paul Valéry, "The Graveyard by the Sea" #botd
#poetry #books #literature
The huge air opens and shuts my book: the wave
Dares to explode out of the rocks in reeking
Spray. Fly away, my sun-bewildered pages!
Break, waves!"
– Paul Valéry, "The Graveyard by the Sea" #botd
#poetry #books #literature
October 30, 2025 at 1:26 PM
"The wind is rising! . . . We must try to live!
The huge air opens and shuts my book: the wave
Dares to explode out of the rocks in reeking
Spray. Fly away, my sun-bewildered pages!
Break, waves!"
– Paul Valéry, "The Graveyard by the Sea" #botd
#poetry #books #literature
The huge air opens and shuts my book: the wave
Dares to explode out of the rocks in reeking
Spray. Fly away, my sun-bewildered pages!
Break, waves!"
– Paul Valéry, "The Graveyard by the Sea" #botd
#poetry #books #literature
"It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time."
– James Boswell
#botd #books #booksky #writing #biography
– James Boswell
#botd #books #booksky #writing #biography
October 29, 2025 at 2:08 PM
"It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time."
– James Boswell
#botd #books #booksky #writing #biography
– James Boswell
#botd #books #booksky #writing #biography
"We are faithful
only to the imagination. What the
imagination
seizes
as beauty must be truth. What holds you
to what you see of me is
that grasp alone."
– Denise Levertov, "Everything that Acts is Actual" #botd
#poetry #literature #books
only to the imagination. What the
imagination
seizes
as beauty must be truth. What holds you
to what you see of me is
that grasp alone."
– Denise Levertov, "Everything that Acts is Actual" #botd
#poetry #literature #books
October 24, 2025 at 11:52 AM
"We are faithful
only to the imagination. What the
imagination
seizes
as beauty must be truth. What holds you
to what you see of me is
that grasp alone."
– Denise Levertov, "Everything that Acts is Actual" #botd
#poetry #literature #books
only to the imagination. What the
imagination
seizes
as beauty must be truth. What holds you
to what you see of me is
that grasp alone."
– Denise Levertov, "Everything that Acts is Actual" #botd
#poetry #literature #books
In today's Episode 743, @jackewilson.bsky.social discusses Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, which lands at #11 on his list of the Greatest Books of All Time. #books #greatbooks #dostoeyvsky
October 23, 2025 at 1:06 PM
In today's Episode 743, @jackewilson.bsky.social discusses Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, which lands at #11 on his list of the Greatest Books of All Time. #books #greatbooks #dostoeyvsky
“Half of what we do, or try to be, amounts to blueprints for the future that we try to imagine.” – Doris Lessing #botd
#books #literature #novels
#books #literature #novels
October 22, 2025 at 12:14 PM
“Half of what we do, or try to be, amounts to blueprints for the future that we try to imagine.” – Doris Lessing #botd
#books #literature #novels
#books #literature #novels
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” – Ursula K. Le Guin #botd
#books #booksofearthsea #novels
#books #booksofearthsea #novels
October 21, 2025 at 5:38 PM
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” – Ursula K. Le Guin #botd
#books #booksofearthsea #novels
#books #booksofearthsea #novels
"For the time being, dreams left him cold, no matter how humble they were." – Nathanael West
#botd #books #literature
#botd #books #literature
October 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
"For the time being, dreams left him cold, no matter how humble they were." – Nathanael West
#botd #books #literature
#botd #books #literature
"Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!" – Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
#botd #books #plays #writing #literature
#botd #books #plays #writing #literature
October 17, 2025 at 11:34 AM
"Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!" – Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
#botd #books #plays #writing #literature
#botd #books #plays #writing #literature
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
#botd #books #literature #plays #oscarwilde
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
#botd #books #literature #plays #oscarwilde
October 16, 2025 at 9:33 PM
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
#botd #books #literature #plays #oscarwilde
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
#botd #books #literature #plays #oscarwilde
“There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.” – P.G. Wodehouse #botd
#books #booksky #literature #friendship
#books #booksky #literature #friendship
October 15, 2025 at 5:55 PM
“There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.” – P.G. Wodehouse #botd
#books #booksky #literature #friendship
#books #booksky #literature #friendship
"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade." – Italo Calvino
#botd #literature #books #booksky
#botd #literature #books #booksky
October 15, 2025 at 5:48 PM
"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade." – Italo Calvino
#botd #literature #books #booksky
#botd #literature #books #booksky
"Rosemary Fell was not exactly beautiful. No, you couldn’t have called her beautiful. Pretty? Well, if you took her to pieces.... But why be so cruel as to take anyone to pieces?"
– Katherine Mansfield, "A Cup of Tea"
#botd #books #booksky #literature
– Katherine Mansfield, "A Cup of Tea"
#botd #books #booksky #literature
October 14, 2025 at 1:10 PM
"Rosemary Fell was not exactly beautiful. No, you couldn’t have called her beautiful. Pretty? Well, if you took her to pieces.... But why be so cruel as to take anyone to pieces?"
– Katherine Mansfield, "A Cup of Tea"
#botd #books #booksky #literature
– Katherine Mansfield, "A Cup of Tea"
#botd #books #booksky #literature