Fiction — Paul Cantor Complete Work

Frankenstein Book & Films

Titus & Paul Cantor discuss Frankenstein on its 200th an.--the novel, its history on the stage in the 19th c., & various movie adaptations in the 20th c. We talk about the genius of Mary Shelley & the rarity of a new myth being created by a single person under the historical spotlight! We talk about Enlightenment, Romantic poetry, & how new technologies of communication provoke nostalgic storytelling. Podcast

Fiction, Science Fiction, Romanticism, ACFVirginiaJuly 18, 2024Science Fiction, Romanticism, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

Paradise Lost

Milton’s Paradise Lost as an attempt to synthesize the Biblical and classical accounts of the Creation. Lecture

Fiction, Myths of Creation, Poetry, Great BooksVirginiaJune 10, 2024Myths and Creation, Paradise Lost

Samuel Beckett's Trilogy

Samuel Beckett’s Trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable) treated as a gnostic creation myth, in which what is created is the book itself, by a mysterious god or gods, who, like the Romantic demiurges, cannot create a decent world for their creatures. Accepting Nietzsche’s idea of the Death of God, Beckett creates a story in which the novelist dies midway, leaving his characters to fend for themselves in the absurd world he leaves behind him. Lecture

Fiction, Myths of CreationVirginiaJune 10, 2024Myths and Creation

Frankenstein

Paul Cantor analyzes and explains Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in this lecture series on 19th century Literature and Science. Lectures

Elizabeth Gaskell Wives & Daughters

Paul Cantor analyzes and explains Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives & Daughters in this lecture series from Science and Literature course. Lecture

H.G. Wells's Island of Dr. Moreau Lectures

Paul Cantor analyzes and explains H.G. Wells’s Island of Dr. Moreau in this lecture series on 19th century Literature and Science. Lecture

H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds Lectures

Paul Cantor analyzes and explains H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds in this lecture series on 19th century Literature and Science. Lecture

Joseph Conrad The Secret Agent

Paul Cantor analyzes and explains Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent in this lecture series from Science and Literature course. Lecture

The Invisible Man and the Invisible Hand: H.G. Wells’s Critique of Capitalism

The Invisible Man provides a vehicle for exploring a larger set of economic and political problems that preoccupied him throughout his career. Essay

Literature and Liberty

Paul Cantor discusses works of literature that can teach us about liberty. Conversation

Aristocracy in America: Huckleberry Finn and the Democratic Art of the Imposture

Huckleberry Finn is a dark and deeply unnerving work. It is filled with a seemingly endless parade of con artists, impostors, vigilantes, lynch mobs, and other practitioners of fraud and deception or cruelty and inhumanity. Essay

FictionVirginiaMay 10, 2020American Dream, Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn

Frankenstein at 200

Frankenstein can teach us a valuable lesson about culture—the way that high art grows out of and can in turn influence commercial culture, even the mass media. Essay

FictionVirginiaMay 8, 2020Fiction, Frankenstein, Popular Culture, Romanticism, Mary Shelley, Film

Aristocracy in America

Huckleberry Finn shows that a nation devoted to fresh starts will also invite false starts and upstarts. Book Review

FictionVirginiaApril 30, 2020Book Review

A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma

Jonathan Swift was one of the most secretive men who ever lived, the Howard Hughes of 18th-century Britain. Given how well-known his name is today, it comes as a surprise to learn that most of his writings were initially published anonymously. Book Review

FictionVirginiaApril 30, 2020Book Review, Jonathan Swift

Ink-Stained Genius

Writing a biography of Charles Dickens is not an enviable task. It is much like trying to paint a portrait of Rembrandt—the Dutchman already did such a good job himself. Book Review

FictionVirginiaApril 30, 2020Book Review, Charles Dickens, Fiction