Susan: 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.
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.
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.
from which there is no exit, at least until the end of the semester, when I am no longer required to write an entire short story each week...I salvage my humble lit blog by offering the cutest thing I have seen in some time, a Prairie Dog at the Minnesota Zoo. I enjoyed a lazy, sunny afternoon there today, as the swan boats paddled by, the Prairie Dogs screeched in occasional shock, and the tigers snoozed till dinner.
Here in Minnesota, summer floods the landscape to such a degree that any hint of winter is thoroughly erased. But then, wisps of cool air find their way south, and we all know what's coming. Just a touch of cool tonight, down to 39 degrees. But only a few weeks ago I wandered the eden that is Carver Park Reserve, just southwest of the Twin Cities. I'll head down there in a couple of weeks to see the fall colors, but for now, let's just enjoy this fleeting summer memory.
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.
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.
Amazon is gearing up an eBook initiative, including a $500 eBook reader and a proprietary content format. As we prepare to be underwhelmed, PC World has the first take. The idea of an eBook has always intrigued me, but years and years have gone by, and it's generally gone nowhere. Sony already has one of these literary gadgets, and a quick look at it here tells me it's not designed by someone who really loves books. It's a cold, grey, fragile-looking tablet. My dream for an ebook reader: waterproof, durable, opens and lays out like a book, color screen, 30 hours of battery life, backlit for evening reading without a light, notes capability, wi-fi access & internet browsing, ability to add notes to word docs for editing, and availability of every book in print via some sort of online store. An eBook Apple might have come up with.
Update: more on the Amazon launch here. Looks like Penguin is one of their big content providers; Penguin of course has Penguin Classics, which would include lots of material out of copyright. Given the digital rights management issues around music, likely to be similar or worse with books, it wouldn't surprise me if Amazon continued previous ebook efforts to emphasize a lot of non-copyright content.
Update: more on the Amazon launch here. Looks like Penguin is one of their big content providers; Penguin of course has Penguin Classics, which would include lots of material out of copyright. Given the digital rights management issues around music, likely to be similar or worse with books, it wouldn't surprise me if Amazon continued previous ebook efforts to emphasize a lot of non-copyright content.
This New York Times review reminds us that if you haven't thought of something new to write about, you just aren't thinking hard enough:
The narrator of "An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England" is an accidental firebug "with blood and soot on his hands." He committed the unspeakable crime of burning down Emily Dickinson's house. Thus he threw Amherst, Mass., into turmoil, not only because he violated the legacy of the college town's cherished literary Belle but also because he killed "two of its loafered citizens" in the process.
One of the greatest children's authors of the 20th century, Madeline L'Engle, passed away today at the age of 88. Her books, including "A Wrinkle in Time", were imaginative, disturbing, inspiring, and at times bewildering, in a good way. She lived the life most writers aspire to, writing wonderful things and seeing them widely read.
An Australian wonders about the loss of respect for her nation's literature for children in the face of English authors such as JK Rowling, the again-revived Narnia tales, and Lord of the Rings. The Rowling juggernaut is certainly present throughout the English-speaking world, and perhaps is pushing local literatures aside, for now. Or, perhaps, Rowling's books are making new readers for all sorts of children's books. In any case, the home of the mother tongue is also the home of castles and knights and queens and pageantry, and the symbols of the British Isles reverberate throughout its former empire. So the British children's author does have a certain advantage in the fantasy department. Rowling lives in Edinburgh, and if you've ever been there, you know that half the town looks like Hogwarts.
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.
registry mech
The always rewarding "Literature for Kossacks" series over at Daily Kos has a wonderful write-up on Emily Dickinson, here.
The Guardian is wondering why nobody has bothered to make academic writing more exciting. I suppose they're right. How about a new take on the typical biology research paper:
The 1918 flu killed millions worldwide. In the course of this paper, we will examine the spread of the pandemic, as well as the intimate details of the life of Ms. Glendeen Rockhopper, the former secretary of a famed flu scientist who had a series of torrid affairs and climbed Mt. Everest with her poodle, Mr. Fancy.
The 1918 flu killed millions worldwide. In the course of this paper, we will examine the spread of the pandemic, as well as the intimate details of the life of Ms. Glendeen Rockhopper, the former secretary of a famed flu scientist who had a series of torrid affairs and climbed Mt. Everest with her poodle, Mr. Fancy.
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).
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).
That old question of "how do you choose a college" used to be answered by what was nearby, or where had dad gone, or who had the niftiest football team. Now, students pour through US News and World Report and stress about going to a university ranked a few notches below their comfort level. Over at Altercation Siva V. is tearing down the whole idea of the US News rankings rather effectively.
Whether you attend Northwestern University (ranked No. 14 by the 2007 U.S. News survey) or the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (ranked No. 38), you will use a biology textbook by Neil A. Campbell and Jane B. Reece. Your professors will all have degrees from one of the 100 or so outstanding graduate schools in the world. Most will have degrees from one of the 10 best graduate programs in their fields. They will all have learned the same research techniques as those at MIT and Stanford.My college is near the bottom of the nationally ranked liberal arts colleges. Numerous graduates of my college currently hold teaching positions at ivy league universities. 'Nuff said.
