L’Archidiable Belphegor
Alexandra Grinevski, illustration for Machiavelli’s L’Archidiable Belphegor, from the collection of Richard Sica
On the Hunter
Separating fact from fiction in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' By Corey Levitan (Las Vegas Review-Journal) That author Hunter S. Thompson and his friend, attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta, visited Las Vegas in 1971 is a fact. There are photographs and witnesses. But what exactly happened, and how much of it resembles the book forever entwining Thompson's name with Las Vegas? To commemorate the fifth anniversary of Thompson's death on Saturday, we attempted to separate the fact from the fiction…
Through the Looking-Glass! Theme of Chess
Whereas the first book - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - has the pack of cards as a theme, the book - Through the Looking-Glass - is based on a game of chess, played on a giant chessboard with fields for squares. Most main characters met in the story are represented by a chess piece, with Alice herself being a pawn. However, the moves described in the 'chess problem' cannot be carried out legally due to a move where white does…
Living backwards
. Wool and Water - Chapter V SHE caught the shawl as she spoke, and looked about for the owner: in another moment the White Queen came running wildly through the wood, with both arms stretched out wide, as if she were flying, and Alice very civilly went to meet her with the shawl. "I'm very glad I happened to be in the way," Alice said, as she helped her to put on her shawl again. The White Queen only…