I’m starting a D&D campaign this weekend. What should be the name of our adventuring party?
My advice would be to let the name evolve from the campaign. One of my helpers told me about a party who specialized in really violent ambushes who came to call themselves The Rude Awakening. It made everything more epic to have the name come from specific memories.
Alas, I have no magic powers, but I do have helpers who make it possible for me to answer as many questions as I can. There’s a magic wall at CNN (bit.ly/magic-wall) that I might be related to, but I haven’t found proof of that yet.
Has the Scarlet Letter an alchemist symbolism, Pearl being the symbol of the philosopher’s stone?
Pearl is certainly transformative, but Hawthorne does such a remarkable job imbuing the child with the liveliness of an unfettered child that imagining her as a stone is difficult. And yet… Hawthorne had friends who’d read widely in Hindu and Buddhist works, and might have been familiar with Chintamani, a wish-giving jewel sometimes referred to as a pearl.
I am going to the job market next academic year – Do you have any advice? (I need to complete my PhD thesis before that.)
It’s quite different for different fields and careers. The best I can recommend in general is to a) pretend you’re the executive assistant to an early career person with great promise, so sending applications becomes a simple & efficient office task and b) make use of BC’s Career Center (bit.ly/BC-career) early and often.
Is the “Scarlett Letter” the best novel ever written in Boston and North America?
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (O’Neill Library, PS 1868 .A1) is certainly a classic worthy of reading and re-reading! I hesitate to apply labels like “best” to any art because there isn’t objective criteria for making that definitive a claim, but it’s certainly in a class of literature for which superlatives are regularly used.
Norman Mailer was a major 20th Century author, journalist, and filmmaker who published novels, biographies, and other nonfiction, and won several prizes, including multiple Pulitzers. He courted controversy, with violent views on masculinity, his own violent behavior, and an unsuccessful run for mayor of New York on a platform of making the city the 51st state. His best known novel is The Naked and the Dead, published in 1948, about his experiences in WWII in the Philippines. You can find his novels and critical writing about him in O’Neill Library at call number PS3525.A4152 on level 4.
at what point would you know that a career in science isn’t right for you?
It can be helpful to ask what you find exciting about a science career, and if it connects with your talents and goals. The Career Center (bit.ly/BC-career) is also a great place to help you answer these questions.
Remind me that reading for pleasure is a gift! Any recs for historical fic?
Reading for pleasure really is a gift! I spoke with my library helpers and they put together a list of historical fiction recommendations for you to enjoy:
-Artifice by Sharon Cameron -Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon -The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro -Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore -The Women by Kristin Hannah -The Huntress, by Kate Quinn (Partially set in Boston!) -The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan -A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith -The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley -Babel by R.F. Kuang -The Binding by Bridget Collins -The Night Watch by Sarah Waters -The Pretender by Jo Harkin -Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell -Since I lived in Chicago for a while, I am partial to “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. Also, I enjoy the writing of David Grann. They are both journalists, so it is very easy reading–perfect for summer. -The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer -Playworld by Adam Ross -The Bull From The Sea by Mary Renault -Nuestra Señora De La Noche/ Our Lady of the Night by Mayra Santos-Febres -Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel -Bernard Cornwell’s series of Richard Sharpe novels is fantastic if action and adventure in the Napoleonic wars appeals to you -Delayed Rays of a Star by Amanda Lee Koe -Sarah MacLean’s Hell’s Belles Series (Romance + Victorian Era) -The Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian -The Parisian by Isabella Hammad -You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue -Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier -Anything by Bernard Cornwell
Are there any books currently banned by the US govt? and why
There are no books currently banned by the United States government on a federal/national level. However, the American Library Association does keep track of bans and challenges on the school/district/state level, which you can find here: https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data.
Hi, is there somewhere I can find a list of all past commencement speakers?
I don’t know of a list, but the University Archives are held by Burns Library — I bet they could help you find some names! You might also what to check with the Office of University Commencement to see if they have records of past speakers: https://bit.ly/bc-commencement
BC highly regards Tip O’Neill because he was a graduate who had a very distinguished career in state and national politics, including US Representative for Cambridge and Boston for sixteen terms and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987. There are numerous anecdotes of people who called his office and were surprised to hear him answer. He is also remembered as someone who listened and addressed his constituents’ problems as best as he could. BC has honored him many times, and he attended the opening of this library in 1981. I recommend visiting the Burns Library Reading Room to see an exhibit of items from his life and career.