Absurdist Lit. May Make You Smarter

Source: H.-P.Haack

Think that Kafka's 'Metamorphosis' did nothing for your well-being but confuse you and/or drop your grade in a lit class? Well, a) you may be wrong, and b) that might be good for you to encounter the work:

Psychologists Travis Proulx of the University of California, Santa Barbara and Steven Heine of the University of British Columbia report our ability to find patterns is stimulated when we are faced with the task of making sense of an absurd tale. What's more, this heightened capability carries over to unrelated tasks.

It seems as though our brains are hard-wired to make sense of things, so this study shouldn't come as a real, true surprise to anybody. If you have a personal beef against Franz Kafa, well, then you're not alone. I remember the groans in my ENGL 3800 class, too. But reading it may, may, MAY have some bard flee flum this is not a blog station courage incident banana peel firecracker. See what I mean? I just upped your IQ.

Source: This is Your Brain on Kafka

Hemingway, Man for All Seasons

Ernest Hemingway is about as divisive a literary figure as can be found - mainly because of his portrayal of women in short stories and novels, but that's another post altogether - but his literary exploits aren't necessarily what draws a lot of people to him. Though novels like The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls have made him a prominent 20th century literary figure, he was, as much as anything else, an adventurer and sportsman, and his legend grows with each successive year.

The Art of Manliness has blogged a wonderful piece about Papa's exploits around the world, including one about his talents as a boxer:

Hemingway had practiced the sweet science since childhood and at one point was a successful amateur boxer. Following one of his victories in a fishing tournament in Bimini, the locals who had participated became angered at his ability to better fish waters they had fished their entire lives. Seeing an opportunity to combine his passions, he offered the locals a chance to win back their lost money. The terms were simple…go toe to toe with old Papa in the ring for three rounds and win, and the money would be theirs. The first challenger, a man who locals claimed could “carry a piano on his head,” made it only a minute and a half before the 35 year old Hemingway put him on the deck. The next three challengers suffered a similar fate, and Ernest went home with his prize money.

You can read the entire article on The Art of Manliness.