There’s no rule about how to organize your own book collection, but National Public Radio listeners had some interesting suggestions: Continue reading
Tag Archives: books
Are you guys digging the new poem theme? It’s getting a lot of hits!
“Thursday’s child has far to go…” What exactly does the poem mean by this? It’s mysterious. But, I’ve tried to put together some “far to go” lit and entertainment links to match the theme.
Last week, during my son Jack’s visit, we spent a lot of time in bookstores.
I grudgingly admit to scouring the wastelands of Borders for carrion (as I’ve done before) but we also visited a few bookstores at historic sites like Gettysburg and Harper’s Ferry. Below is my latest book score, and my newest reading list:
You’ve come a long way, baby! I mean … um … ladies.
Women have made a lot of progress over the past century, particularly in the Western world. Western readers in the 21st Century have a low tolerance for the sort of overt sexism that readers of previous eras — and in broad stretches of the map even today — would simply take for granted. This puts a lot of pressure on writers of historical fiction and fantasy set in a fictional past. How can we tell a story with female characters which won’t offend (or worse, bore) modern readers, but which also doesn’t seem hokey in its chronological context?
Well, there are at least four approaches to this dilemma…
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From W. H. Auden’s review of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Return of the King, in the 22 January 1956 edition of the New York Times:
I rarely remember a book about which I have had such violent arguments. Nobody seems to have a moderate opinion: either, like myself, people find it a masterpiece of its genre or they cannot abide it, and among the hostile there are some, I must confess, for whose literary judgment I have great respect.
A few of these may have been put off by the first forty pages of the first chapter of the first volume in which the daily life of the hobbits is described; this is light comedy and light comedy is not Mr. Tolkien’s forte. In most cases, however, the objection must go far deeper. I can only suppose that some people object to Heroic Quests and Imaginary Worlds on principle; such, they feel, cannot be anything but light “escapist” reading. That a man like Mr. Tolkien, the English philologist who teaches at Oxford, should lavish such incredible pains upon a genre which is, for them, trifling by definition, is, therefore, very shocking.
From the classic novel True Grit
There has been a lot of buzz lately about the implosion of Borders, with two executives recently resigning and banks offering the troubled company lenient terms for repaying its debt.
In response, Barnes & Nobles executives are offering a sadly typical, false free-market argument against the “special terms.” Continue reading
An assertion we often read on book trade blogs is that the process of selecting a book for representation and publication is subjective. I have to confess that this idea raises major red flags for me, not necessarily as an author, but as writing professional who has worked as both a writer and an editor.
Over at Booktryst, Stephen Gertz discusses the treasures found in a 19th Century ledger book for the London – Seven Oaks coach line.
For lovers of history and writers of historical fiction, it’s a very interesting read that gives insight into the small details that bring a sense of reality to stories set outside of the here and now.
Happy Friday, loyal readers and visitors future loyal readers!
It has been a crazy week, from figuring out that Dan Brown is lately more popular than the Bible to learning that the Hulk is now a literary critic. My favorite Lit Crit Hulk observation: “HULK KNOW IT PASSE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT TWILIGHT FRANCHISE, BUT HULK STILL WANT TO SMASH EVERY GROWNUP HULK SEE ON TRAIN READING THAT CRAP.”
(Hello, Xbox? Wii? Marvel Superheroes vs. Twilight characters, please.)
So, a crazy week, but you know what’s not crazy? Checking out this week’s links from publishing industry pros: