Lit Bits: September 2007 Archives

Aaah, the monstrous fiction class has subsumed the blog. So it goes.  But the literary world scribbles on.  Today we have Zoe Williams, in Guardian, smacking down V.S. Naipaul.

In book form, VS Naipaul's new-blossoming cantankerousness sounds quite droll. It will be quicker if I paraphrase. Jane Austen? Sucked. Anthony Powell? Bilge. Evelyn Waugh? Rubbish. Here is a person, you think, who has lived a long time in maybe a rather close atmosphere and has decided to open a window and enjoy himself. But then he went on the Today programme and, through the power of radio, revealed that this is not a person enjoying himself after all.

Williams also manages to work the term "sodding" into the article, which should be appreciated all by itself.

The Amazon region of Brazil apparently has quite a literary scene and you probably don't know that.

Meanwhile, in Wyoming, some people have nothing better to do than try to ban award-winning books.

And then there was my weekend...back up on the North Shore of Lake Superior again, this time a bit further up with a look at the fall colors just inland.



Above: Grand Marais, Minnesota, view from Artist Point. Note the low water level of Lake Superior, exposing rock previously underwater. Lake Superior is in the midst of the lowest water levels in over 80 years.


Another view of low water at Artist Point.





Above: Two views of fall color at Moose Mountain, in Lutsen, Minnesota on the North Shore of Lake Superior.

James Frey got a new book deal. And yes, this time he's going to try actually calling it fiction. And as no publicity is bad publicity, some of the original fraud will definitely benefit the promotion of this book.  Also with AP here.

In other news. the study of literature is heading downhill fast in France, where students look to sociology or economics as their preferred areas of focus. "Xavier Darcos said that France was in danger of becoming a nation of unemployed sociologists unable to master speech or thought."  Beware the unemployed sociologists!

Literature for Kossacks does Borges, here.

I enjoy the Lee Goldberg blog, and this week he contemplates the common writer predicament: he thinks he sucks.

It's not an advantage that can continue forever; with the longevity of Narnia, and the potential longevity of Potter, the bookshelves will be well stocked with English fantasy for years to come.  Kids will want the old standards, and they will want new stories too, which Americans and Canadians and New Zealanders and Australians and Irish should be happy to provide.

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The always rewarding "Literature for Kossacks" series over at Daily Kos has a wonderful write-up on Emily Dickinson, here.

Found this recent article on Bookslut - why do MFA programs ask students to specialize in a genre? Good question. My program emphasizes multi-genre writing, but in the end asks for a thesis in only one.   Maybe we know that most people are good at basically one genre and suck in everything else?  Maybe forcing students to specialize weeds out less serious candidates? My answer is that MFA programs are easier to administer when people are assigned specific literary roles, but I like to write fiction, so as usual I'm pulling that out of my ass.

The New Pages blog wonders if many of these literary anthologies that call for submissions are legit.

Google is trying to weasel out of responsibility for its decision to self-censor in China by arguing that censorship should be considered a barrier to trade--and therefore be part of international agreements that regulate trade.   While Google's point isn't without merit--using trade structures could be one way to combat censorship--the idea of taking freedom of speech and making it a trade issue rather than a fundamental issue of civil rights seems ominous to me.

Boys do better in reading when they have female teachers? Weird.

Off in my world, I spent the weekend up on Minnesota's North Shore. Beautiful day, and we even stopped for pie...



Above: Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior, Minnesota.



Above: view of Minnesota's North Shore (Lake Superior).