Author: Jay Ruud

Parable of the Talents Octavia E. Butler (1998) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/3-12.jpg’ attachment=313′ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Three Tennysons/Half Shakespeare[/av_image] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] “Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a… Continue reading Parable of the Talents

The Way Back Gavin O’Connor (2020) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Tennyson-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’77’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] What with the movie theaters closed for business and all y’all sheltering in place, it’s a little more difficult to post movie reviews. But a number of films, cut short in their wide theater releases, are being… Continue reading The Way Back

Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel (2009) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Shakespeare-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’76’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Ruud Rating 4 Shakespeares [/av_image] Like a lot of people, my concept of Thomas More, or I suppose I should say “Saint Thomas More,” has been shaped by two major texts. The first, his famous literary text Utopia,… Continue reading Wolf Hall

Emma. Autumn de Wilde (2020) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/3-12.jpg’ attachment=313′ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Three Tennysons/Half Shakespeare[/av_image] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] When I first heard there was a new version of Emma coming out, I admit to being a little bit skeptical. Didn’t we just have one of those? But that was just… Continue reading Emma.

The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 James Fenimore Cooper (1826) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Tennyson-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’77’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] In my ongoing quest to read in my retirement a slew of books I neglected to read in my youth, I pulled this classic novel off my shelf a few… Continue reading The Last of the Mohicans