Han Li in A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: Patience and Risk
An ordinary beginning in A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality opens a question about ambition, caution, and the value of staying in the game.
Read the essayThe reading desk
Every book leaves
a little something.
Four starting points. Read in any order.
The Little Prince and the Work of Attention
A familiar book invites a less familiar question: what changes when we give something sustained attention?
Read the essayThe Old Man and the Sea: When Effort Is Not Enough
Hemingway’s fisherman gives us a way to distinguish the value of an effort from the result it brings home.
Read the essayWhy Make Room for Different Kinds of Books?
Web novels and short literary works ask for different kinds of attention. A reading life can make room for both.
Read the essay