Benjamin McEvoy

Essays on writing, reading, and life

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15 Lessons Learnt about Reading, Readers & Life from 2020

January 3, 2021 By Ben McEvoy

2020 was my deepest reading year to date. The year I got the most out of the great books, considered the most, and felt the most connected to the wellspring of humanity. Here are 15 lessons I’ve learnt: Most people want to have read something, rather than actually read it. I noticed this in myself […]

Filed Under: Books, Education, Hardcore Literature, Lifestyle

Shakespeare’s Sonnets Podcast

January 3, 2021 By Ben McEvoy

Reading Shakespeare’s sonnets in sequence across a span of many weeks, ranking your favourites, then attempting to possess the best by memory is one of the greatest literary joys a book-lover can pursue. So today we’re kicking off the new year with a discussion on how to read the sonnets, why read the sonnets, and […]

Filed Under: Books, Hardcore Literature, Podcast, Shakespeare

Reading and Life Goals for 2021

December 27, 2020 By Ben McEvoy

2020 was a crazy year. But let’s look to 2021 and set some aspirational reading and living goals. Good reading is good living, and how you read your books (indeed, what books you read) transfers to every other part of your life. We’re talking about book clubs, reading plans, goals, roles, mantras, personal manifestos, breathing, […]

Filed Under: Books, Hardcore Literature, Lifestyle, Podcast

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray Podcast

December 13, 2020 By Ben McEvoy

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is endlessly reread-able, beautiful, enduring, haunting, and, despite Wilde’s contentions and theory of art, is an eminently moral book. In today’s episode of Hardcore Literature, we’re talking about the history of this great work, the censorship trial and Wilde’s imprisonment.  We’re doing a close analysis, Talmudic style, of the […]

Filed Under: Books, Hardcore Literature, Podcast

Hardcore Literature Podcast Now Available On Spotify

December 6, 2020 By Ben McEvoy

Thank you to everyone sending in kind words about the show. I’m truly blessed to have such intelligent, kind, lovers of literature for a listenership. After a few requests, I sought to get Hardcore Literature up on Spotify as well as iTunes, so you can listen to it there now. Listen to Hardcore Literature on […]

Filed Under: Hardcore Literature, Podcast

How to Embrace Your Positive Non-Toxic Masculinity

December 5, 2020 By Ben McEvoy

The new-norm is a degenerate culture that praises mediocrity and refuses to embrace the good God that is manifest inside us. Look to what the masses sedate themselves with. Look to what the mainstream praises and holds up as aspirational. And there you will find the real toxicity: Netflix-and-Chill Following orders without question Neglecting your […]

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Should You Really Go To Oxford University?

December 4, 2020 By Ben McEvoy

It’s been a positively overwhelming week. We’re just a few days away from the Oxford and Cambridge interviews starting (all online this year). I feel everyone’s excitement and nervousness. But whether you’re awaiting your interview, waiting for your answer back from interview, or didn’t get an invite this year, I wanted to talk a little […]

Filed Under: Education

Poetry is Death and Past Life Regression (A Theory of Poetry)

November 28, 2020 By Ben McEvoy

Why do some lines of poetry move us more than others? Why do seemingly innocuous lines, lines that many might glide over, lines unsavoured by the mass of men, so enrapture us? Why did this line, from the third stanza of Keats’ ‘To Autumn’, inspire tears in me late last night, compelling me to reread […]

Filed Under: Books, Poetry

How to Study English in Your First Term of University

November 25, 2020 By Ben McEvoy

This is my advice to First Year English students studying in their first term at University. This is everything I would have done differently. If I could go back in time and get the most out of my English degree as possible, this is how I would structure my time, how I would approach my […]

Filed Under: Books, Education, Videos

Reviewing My 7 Book Reading Goals for 2020

November 24, 2020 By Ben McEvoy

As we near the end of a strange, tumultuous year, I’m looking back on the goals I set for my reading this time last year. Did I hit them? Did you hit your book reading goals? I’ve put timestamps to the different goals below the video. Reviewing My 7 Book Reading Goals for 2020  […]

Filed Under: Books, Videos

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Benjamin McEvoy

I write essays on great books, elite education, practical mindset tips, and living a healthy, happy lifestyle. I'm here to help you live a meaningful life.

Top Posts & Pages

  • How to Read the Complete Works of Shakespeare in a Year (Recommended Reading Order)
    How to Read the Complete Works of Shakespeare in a Year (Recommended Reading Order)
  • How to Read Anna Karenina (10 Tips for Tackling Tolstoy)
    How to Read Anna Karenina (10 Tips for Tackling Tolstoy)
  • How to Read Crime and Punishment (10 Tips for Digesting Dostoyevsky)
    How to Read Crime and Punishment (10 Tips for Digesting Dostoyevsky)
  • How to Get an Oxford University English Literature Education for Free
    How to Get an Oxford University English Literature Education for Free
  • 10 Lessons Learned from Man and His Symbols by Carl G. Jung (Book Review)
    10 Lessons Learned from Man and His Symbols by Carl G. Jung (Book Review)
  • How to Join the Hardcore Literature Book Club
    How to Join the Hardcore Literature Book Club
  • What Is Sublime? A Super Quick Introduction in the Context of Romantic Poetry
    What Is Sublime? A Super Quick Introduction in the Context of Romantic Poetry
  • 'La Belle Dame sans Merci' by John Keats: Poetry Reading (Video)
    'La Belle Dame sans Merci' by John Keats: Poetry Reading (Video)
  • Which Translation of Anna Karenina is the Best? Pevear & Volokhonsky vs Constance Garnett vs Aylmer and Louise Maude
    Which Translation of Anna Karenina is the Best? Pevear & Volokhonsky vs Constance Garnett vs Aylmer and Louise Maude
  • The Jim Morrison Reading List: How To Read Like A Rockstar
    The Jim Morrison Reading List: How To Read Like A Rockstar

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