Karen Carlson

And do not call the tortoise unworthy because she is not something else. - Walt Whitman
(find me at Blue Sky)

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"It must be borne in mind that my design is not to write histories, but lives."
Thoughts on reading Plutarch's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴: 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴.
https://t.co/VhXmpFe4O9

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"...a single volume to be read by the general reader for pleasure and to gain the wisdom that so many have sought in studying this war."
Thoughts on reading Donald Kagan's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘢𝘳
https://t.co/21OeySWmCd

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"This story is told by the Persians themselves."
Thoughts on reading Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones' book 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.
https://t.co/Js063e2jMa

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

@michelleebrock I don't know what 'the American spirit' is, let alone what it was in 1851. I do think he leaves a lot open to interpretation, which allows a variety of viewpoints to claim it as their own.

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"God keep me from ever completing anything."
A few thoughts on my first read of 𝘔𝘰𝘣𝘺 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘬.
https://t.co/yYluUBKHZs

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"[B]y reason of my exile, I had leisure to observe affairs more closely..."
Thoughts on reading Thucydides, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘢𝘳.
https://t.co/IQF3WBoqUi

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"The night gardener once asked me if I knew how citrus trees died:"
Thoughts on reading Benjamin Labatut's fictional account of the practice of the double-edged sword, science: 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘞𝘦 𝘊𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.
https://t.co/b1RGzFeDq4

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

“That is amazing. Absolutely nothing has changed, yet everything is different.”
Thoughts on reading David M. Rubin's short story collection, 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. From the everyday to the extraordinary, a great read.
https://t.co/80Je44c1SI

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"This book aims to show that there is much more to equations than the simple tools they seem to be."
Thoughts on reading Robert Crease's book 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. Lots to enjoy, even if you skip over the complicated parts (as I did).
https://t.co/f13IQwRjFI

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"Brilliant idea! We could write a book about this! Write a book about writing a book about this! Bad idea."
A few comments about my experience reading the novel 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 by Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff: not easy but fun.
https://t.co/HTc6BWhXj1

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

“How you use this book will depend on who you are and what you want to learn about close reading.”
Thoughts on reading 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺, Dan Sinykin, Johanna Winant, eds.
https://t.co/r89NYAlEhI

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

@prof_g Aha - you found my braid! At one point I was calling his work a braided essay, which got me started, ended up including a bunch of (irrelevant to the book) links to braid videos. I still don't see what they're used for, other than pretty pretty diagrams, but that's fine ;)

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"I had to keep going. I had to save Betsy."
My interpretation of/meditation on/conversation with Robert Long Foreman's chapbook, 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘴𝘺, about his heroic rescue of an errant pug. And other things.
https://t.co/PdlV96u5D4

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"The Zendians do not tell stories."
Thoughts on reading Jake Weber's novel 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘡𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢: 𝘈 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦-𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺.
https://t.co/NaILe0WqKe

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

Exploring Greek mythology, Part 2: Greek Tragedy
Though written 2500 years ago, some of these plays are surprisingly relevant to the present. Not to mention entertaining.
https://t.co/IEEblR7gnx

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

Exploring Greek mythology, Part 1: The Epic Cycle
There's a whole universe going on before, during, and after the Iliad and the Odyssey. But it mostly disappeared over time...
https://t.co/TcaEzH0oqJ

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

"Herodotus of Halicarnassus here presents his research so that human events do not fade with time."
Thoughts on reading Herodotus, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 (it's way more fun than it sounds!)
https://t.co/izs2ds04Qh

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

Shaking Things Up A Little: My reading plan for the next few months
https://t.co/lMmW4lWeEP

[Karen Carlson @sloopie72]

BASS 2025 Wrap-up: Finding the Funny, And Much More
Closing out #BestAmericanShortStories2025 – with thanks to editors Nicole Lamy and Celeste Ng, and the twenty writers who put themselves on the page.
https://t.co/tHgjpxOehn