Tag Archives: entertainment

Capital Punishment as Entertainment in England, 1649-1868

The King’s head was held up to the crowd. The spectators, some who had watched in approval and some in dismay, were quickly dispersed by officials, but a few sought grisly souvenirs of the event rushing forward to dip their … Continue reading

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Novelists and their Sadistic Public

The entirely random selection below is of the first incident of gratuitous violence in the eight novels cited. All of them are nasty, indeed, sadistic. The question, which will remain unanswered, is whether the novelist writing this sort of thing is … Continue reading

Posted in Literature, Philosophy | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments