Month: February 2022

Dostoevsky and Flaubert should be studied together as progenitors of the modern novel. The end of 2021 witnessed an unusual literary event: the bicentennials of two geniuses of modern fiction. They were arguably the leading novelists of their respective countries: the Russian Fyodor Dostoevsky (November 11) and the Frenchman Gustave Flaubert (December 12). No conclusive biographical evidence exists that Dostoevsky ever read Madame Bovary (1857) or anything else by Flaubert. The reverse is certainly true: … John G. Rodden-The Master of Petersburg and the Martyr of StyleRead more

Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition by Patricia S. Churchland; Norton, 226 pp., $27.95 The War For Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World by Jamil Zaki; Crown, 261 pp., $27 These two new books give lucid, stimulating accounts of recent discoveries in neuroscience and psychology. Both authors aim to challenge antiquated views of the brain and human behavior. In so doing, they help us think through perennial debates about the sources of morality and … Sissela Bok – What Makes Us BetterRead more