John Steinbeck | Mockingbird

Looking Inward, East of Eden: How a Soul Feels Its Worth

by Lynn MacDougall on Dec 20, 2012 • 4 Comments

I think this is the best-known story in the world because it is everybody’s story. I think it is the symbol story of the human soul … the greatest terror a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears.

My past two weeks, per usual, have been spent with several college students, weeping, ranting, emoting. A constant theme is the irrational fear of not being loved, of being rejected and then…being alone…forever. One student has such deep-rooted anxiety about being alone that she has panic attacks unless someone, anyone, is…

Books / Everyday / Literature / Theology

Looking Inward, East of Eden: The Old Story of Unspectacular Evil

by Mockingbird on Dec 6, 2012 • 1 Comment

Yet another profound look into a chronicled book-for-the-ages from Lynn MacDougall. This is part one of a new series:

“A child may ask, ‘What is the world’s story about?’ And a grown man or woman may wonder, ‘What way will the world go? How does it end and, while we’re at it, what’s the story about?”

I’m in my second reading of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. The first foray into this work was motivated by Mumford and Son’s “Timshel,” a reference to the story. Late nights reading, bent pages, pens and highlighters later, I’m fairly sure my family was ready to…

Interviews / News / TV

An Interview with the Writers of LOST

by Todd Brewer on May 17, 2010 • 2 Comments

A few MB-related highlights from a recent New York Times interview with LOST writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. If you are interested in the show at all, the interview is worth the full read.

On their literary influences:“One of the things that we completely own is that in many ways “Lost” is a mash-up/remix of our favorite stories, whether that’s Bible stories from Sunday school or “Narnia” or “Star Wars” or the writings of John Steinbeck. Carlton and I both had to take philosophy classes when we were in college, and we talk about philosophy, so when certain ideas…