A Farewell To Arms is about as positive as Hemingway is going to get. Frederic Henry is the American protagonist wounded while serving as an ambulance driver. A lieutenant in the Italian army, he lets us see World War I through his eyes.
I actually read this novella a few years back, in preparation for teaching it to my ninth grade students. I have an Audible version, narrated by the great Donald Sutherland, may he rest in peace.
If you’ve been conscious at all the last 10 years or so, it’s been pretty tough in American politics. Outright assassinations, attempted assassinations, and the type of conflict that could turn violent at any time. Many people think they cannot have a conversation across the political aisle, so to speak, without harming or ending friendships, and even family relationships. We’ve all experienced the tension here; no one we know has been free of its effects.
Ken Burns and Lynn Novick once again give us compelling entry into one of the makers of the American century in the documentary Hemingway. The writer Ernest Hemingway lived alongside the avatar of the same, through some of the most consequential times in history.
The gala which precedes the tournament is not a ball, but exhibition tennis, which featured legends Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter, and 2022 women’s champion Ashleigh Barty. Long-time OFB readers will know how much seeing Federer again means to me.
In the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus feeds the 5000 people, walks on the water, and has a conversation with the leaders and the people about the covenant with Abraham and Moses, and his place in all that. As seems to be usual, Jesus is inviting us to see beyond signs to a spiritual reality in Him.
Just hours ago as of this writing, Mike Tomlin, head coach of the venerable Pittsburgh Steelers for the last 19 years, resigned. He coached them to a Super Bowl championship after the 2008 season, and represented the AFC in the Super Bowl after the 2010 season.
Hook, the absolutely star-studded film directed by Stephen Spielberg, has received mixed reviews from critics since its release in 1991. I still can’t figure out why. One could have given the Academy Award for Best Actor to Dustin Hoffman, and Best Supporting Actor to Robin Williams.
“Best Of Both Worlds,” part 1 was the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode that concluded its third season, and its heart — the capture of Jean-Luc Picard by the Borg, and his transformation into “Locutus” — is resolved in Season 4’s opening part 2. But the next episode, “Family,” in essence is the third part of the episode, and deserves to be remembered as such.