D. J. Reddall
Bio
I write because my time is limited and my imagination is not.
Achievements (19)
Stories (909)
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My Pedantic Dragon. Runner-Up in Writers Challenge.
“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.” Stephen King, On Writing It is both exciting and daunting to experiment with writing fiction when one has spent many years teaching other humans to analyze and interpret it. There is a gulf between the gourmand and the chef, the critic and the playwright, the connoisseur and the musician. I tripped on the way across said gulf.
By D. J. Reddall2 years ago in Writers
Infernal Insight. Top Story - September 2023.
I feel like something of a fraud teaching Dante’s Inferno for two reasons: 1. I must rely upon an English translation to do so effectively. I can tell a bolgia from a boulder and contrapasso from contraception, but my Italian is primitive at best. 2. I do not take the metaphysical or theological foundations of Dante’s work very seriously, insofar as I have a fraught relationship with Catholicism and remain obstinately agnostic. In spite of these considerations, I have continued to guide students through a translation of this astonishing text for many years as part of an introductory course in Comparative Literature. I think it would be irresponsible to ignore Dante's work in such a context, given its enormous historical and artistic significance. In the process, my understanding of moral and ethical matters has undergone a radical transformation. I have come to see betrayal as the most dreadful of transgressions, and to recognize that contemporary culture actually promotes and rewards the traitor at every turn.
By D. J. Reddall3 years ago in BookClub
Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark". Runner-Up in Critique Challenge.
One of the most powerful parts of this play appears when its protagonist decides to pretend to be mad, the better to find out who others truly are. Ask anyone odd: the other humans will reveal themselves when you act strangely in their company. You will learn many, bitter lessons.
By D. J. Reddall3 years ago in Critique
Strange Doctor
She was doing what she could despite the ambient weirdness. A student approached her and asked, “So, like, Miss Peata? Is it okay if I call you that? I don’t want to seem all, like, passive aggressive or whatever… so like, what if the main character is like, just drunk or whatever? Would that, like, be a good answer on the quiz?”
By D. J. Reddall3 years ago in Fiction
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Larry David sets his misanthropic muse free in an ingenious, incendiary way in this show. He blends wild improvisation with the careful construction of ethical conundrums to make us laugh first at him and his extraordinary and variegated supporting cast and then at ourselves. Satirical spite sustains this program's power.
By D. J. Reddall3 years ago in Critique
Seinfeld
The moral logic of this show about nothing is perfect, which explains why so many found the finale frustrating. In an absurd world where greed, lust and unbridled enthusiasm guide four silly friends through myriad misadventures that blend Jerry’s Socratic sarcasm with Larry David’s smirking misanthropy, laughing justice ultimately rules.
By D. J. Reddall3 years ago in Critique
Uncle, Whence Laughter?. Runner-Up in Mythmaker Challenge.
The other children orbited Gunther like mocking moons. He had always moved and spoken slowly and clumsily. Sensing his vulnerability, his peers made an elaborate sport of teasing, deriding and ridiculing the poor lad.
By D. J. Reddall3 years ago in Fiction
Winter Warriors
In September of 2022, I had a very strange experience: I was teaching a class and I suddenly lost my balance and bounced off the white board at the front of the room like an insect ricocheting off of a windshield. I recovered my equilibrium, finished the lecture and made my way (rather unsteadily) to the Emergency Room. Given the fact that the pandemic was still in progress, I was not surprised to wait seven hours for some medical attention. I am Canadian, and therefore I am grateful that patience is the only cost of treatment. During my wait, a fellow human who was clearly suffering from an acute psychological malady of some kind made several attempts to disrobe in the waiting area. Each time, a security guard, who appeared to know him by name, gently admonished him to desist. For the purposes of this tale, I will call him Jake. After I was admitted, I was given a series of tests, in the course of which I asked a physician to contact the department for which I teach, to let my students know that I would not be released in time to teach classes the following morning. I also asked her about Jake. “Oh, Jake!” she replied, “He’s a regular here. Did he get his pants off this time?” Human beings can adapt to virtually any circumstances, no matter how strange; they can also become rooted in communities under the most unusual conditions.
By D. J. Reddall3 years ago in Unbalanced
