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Recent Examples of exemplumIn 2013, the Italian playwright Stefano Massini turned this exemplum into The Lehman Trilogy, an epic five-hour play that was adapted and condensed last year by the director Sam Mendes and playwright Ben Power for the National Theatre in London.—Sarah Churchwell, The New York Review of Books, 11 June 2019
Faustian parables unlock more interesting connotations when considered not in terms of politics, but of art.
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Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Jan. 2026
In the parable of the cave, in the Republic, Plato compares human beings to cave dwellers who never see the sun, but perceive everything by shadowy firelight.
The recently released fourth outing of Netflix’s massively popular Regency romance — adapted from Julia Quinn’s best-selling book series — is a twist on the Grimm brothers’ fable.
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Carly Thomas,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Jan. 2026
Later novels routinely took inspiration from family members or former or current lovers; the 1980 novel that baffled Frank Kermode is a dreamlike fable about a man guiltily trying to have an extramarital affair.
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Christopher Tayler,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
An hour in McIntyre’s company is a warm, convivial whirlwind of enthusiasm, jokes and anecdotes.
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Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026
Even the oldest maxim about cab drivers and bell hops giving share prices was tested by relating an anecdote about comments in his village pub from locals and complete strangers firing questions at him and a fellow gold trader about the gold price.
Their position ignored the Ukrainian perspective on the issue, thus excluding Ukrainians as the affected party from understanding and communicating current and historical narratives.
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Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
In-line guidance did little to change that narrative, which has been hurting the stock.