Literature | The Hanslick Girls

March 12, 2018

Give Your Faults: Madeleine L’Engle’s “Time Quintet” Series

Dania’s mind was racing at high-octane speed as she exited the theater. Visions of dark matter swirling around Storm Reid as she vaulted through otherworldly planets merged with her acute vision of what she had envisioned when reading the same scene on the page. It was a close approximation, though not perfect. She would do her best, in the coming weeks, not to lose her original vision of the novel.

“Holy cow,” Gwen said, gripping her coat as they passed though the front door of the building. “That was weird.”

February 26, 2018

Beyond Binary Choice: Sally Potter’s “Orlando”

As soon as the scroll of credits began across the blackened screen, Eleanor and Dania heard a sound from Gwen they had never heard before: genuine giddiness.

“Ohhhhhh it’s so weird!” Gwen squealed, clutching her knees. She leaned back into the cushion of the couch. “I have so many thoughts. So many. There are so many angles to take! The transgender reading, the cultural shift reading, the adaptation reading…”

Gwen proceeded to list several alternate readings under which the film could be understood, while Dania and Eleanor, who had been lobbing apprehensive looks at each other during the film’s entire duration, sent one final silent glance to each other.

February 19, 2018

Desire To See: Hedy Weiss’ “Pass Over” Review

PART OF CHICAGO THEATRE WEEK 2018

“I’ve always left “Ragtime” infused with renewed optimism…This time I felt quite sad. That’s a perfectly legitimate thing to wish might happen to an audience in the theater, and Bowling is a very capable and often-compelling director of musicals; I am just not convinced it is fair to this piece.”

Gwen stopped on that line in Chris Jones’ review of Ragtime at the Marriott. She considered what the context of that criticism really was – Jones’ disappointment that a musical that typically left him hopeful was given a less optimistic makeover.

January 22, 2018

Where We Were: Barack Obama’s “Dreams From My Father”

It had been – yet again – a vitriolic week of news coverage. It was enough to keep Dania away from social media for a time. “It’s for my health,” she explained in her Facebook post. Besides, she thought, I wanted to read more in 2018 anyway.

So when Gwen suggested that she read “Dreams From My Father,” Barack Obama’s 1995 memoir about his search for his heritage, Dania was hesitant.

“Gwen, I’m getting off-line to get away from politics,” she said. “I know Obama is bae, but I just…don’t, right now.”

Category / Literature