Ok, this post is not about fiction -- unfortunately.
But, as we are learning hour by hour, President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration has caused chaos, not just at airports and other points of entry into the U.S., but around the world.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
The Novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" is Increasingly Relevant
The photo above, taken at my local bookstore, reminded me of several earlier posts that, to be fair, should have received more attention than they did.
Back in October, when the recent U.S. presidential contest was in progress, there was this one: The Rise of Hitler and the Current U.S. Election. (Please click on that link to read the full posting.)
Friday, January 27, 2017
Could I Be a Guest Lecturer For Kathleen Rooney's Course?
Perusing Literary Hub the other day, I was immediately attracted to a headline reading: "To Love New York City is to Walk New York City."
And, one might add, to write about one's walks.
After all, that's what my novella "Manhattan Morning" is all about. My protagonist, Dan Morrison, with time on his hands, decides to walk from the Warwick Hotel at the corner of 6th Ave. and 54th St. down to just beyond Grand Central Terminal in order to buy a ticket for a bus that will take him to the airport the next morning. That's a distance of about 13 blocks.
As he walks, Dan is assailed by the sights and sounds of the city, which bring to mind a variety of topics thanks to a process known as associative thinking. Ducking into St. Patrick's for a respite turns out to be anything but as the interior of a church brings to mind an incident Dan would like to put behind him, but still finds troubling. Eventually, he has an unexpected encounter with a woman at lunch in Grand Central that gets him thinking about his future and his values.
You can read a free illustrated edition of "Manhattan Morning" by clicking on the name of the book.
And, one might add, to write about one's walks.
After all, that's what my novella "Manhattan Morning" is all about. My protagonist, Dan Morrison, with time on his hands, decides to walk from the Warwick Hotel at the corner of 6th Ave. and 54th St. down to just beyond Grand Central Terminal in order to buy a ticket for a bus that will take him to the airport the next morning. That's a distance of about 13 blocks.
As he walks, Dan is assailed by the sights and sounds of the city, which bring to mind a variety of topics thanks to a process known as associative thinking. Ducking into St. Patrick's for a respite turns out to be anything but as the interior of a church brings to mind an incident Dan would like to put behind him, but still finds troubling. Eventually, he has an unexpected encounter with a woman at lunch in Grand Central that gets him thinking about his future and his values.
You can read a free illustrated edition of "Manhattan Morning" by clicking on the name of the book.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
A Book to Read After Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan Quartet
If you have read and enjoyed one or more books of Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan Quartet -- it starts with "My Brilliant Friend" -- you might also like to read "Eva Sleeps" by Francesca Melandri.
The books of both authors were originally written in Italian, but the English translations are of high quality.
Whereas Ferrante's four novels examine slices of Italian post-World War II history and society from the point of view of blue-collar southern Italians, often looking north, Melandri's book covers much the same time period, but from a different perspective. "Eva Sleeps" is set deep in the history of an alpine Italian province known as Alto Adige that was once part of Austria, when it was known as South Tyrol. There, except for a brief period when Hitler essentially ruled Italy, the residents -- mostly German speaking -- look south, often warily if not with outright hostility.
The books of both authors were originally written in Italian, but the English translations are of high quality.
Whereas Ferrante's four novels examine slices of Italian post-World War II history and society from the point of view of blue-collar southern Italians, often looking north, Melandri's book covers much the same time period, but from a different perspective. "Eva Sleeps" is set deep in the history of an alpine Italian province known as Alto Adige that was once part of Austria, when it was known as South Tyrol. There, except for a brief period when Hitler essentially ruled Italy, the residents -- mostly German speaking -- look south, often warily if not with outright hostility.
Monday, January 23, 2017
More Themes of Young Adult Fiction
I've written several posts about Young Adult (YA) fiction, in large part because it is one of the fastest if not the fastest growing category of books in print -- at a time when most categories are flat or declining.
What's in these books? Well, just about everything and especially, it seems, crest-of-the-wave social topics. If you are young, you want to be with it, right?
What's in these books? Well, just about everything and especially, it seems, crest-of-the-wave social topics. If you are young, you want to be with it, right?
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Next for Fiction: Trigger Warnings and Safe Pages?
I recently read an article on Literary Hub entitled "On the Use of Sensitivity Readers in Publishing" and it got me thinking: will we soon see novels with trigger warnings appearing at certain interior points, directing readers to "safe pages" within the book, where they can rest and suck on lollipops, certain that they won't encounter any micro aggressions before cautiously proceeding.
"Identity" is where it's at these days, in politics as well as in culture, and woe be it to anyone who offends, even inadvertently, a marginalized group to which they don't belong. What is a marginalized group? Well, pretty much any group other than white males, it seems.
Which brings me back to sensitivity reading, which Lit Hub to its credit admits is a somewhat problematical activity. Is political and cultural correctness compatible with free literary expression and the role it has traditionally played in intellectual life?
The Lit Hub article gives three views on sensitivity reading: that of a writer, that of a sensitivity reader and that of a publisher. Sadly, no effort appears to have been made to determine what the reading public thinks about this.
Is that important? I don't know, but one could argue that a failure of certain elites to pay much attention to what was happening on the ground in significant areas of the country led to the election of Donald Trump -- for better or for worse. And one thing Trump repeatedly dismissed during his campaign was political correctness.
"Identity" is where it's at these days, in politics as well as in culture, and woe be it to anyone who offends, even inadvertently, a marginalized group to which they don't belong. What is a marginalized group? Well, pretty much any group other than white males, it seems.
Which brings me back to sensitivity reading, which Lit Hub to its credit admits is a somewhat problematical activity. Is political and cultural correctness compatible with free literary expression and the role it has traditionally played in intellectual life?
The Lit Hub article gives three views on sensitivity reading: that of a writer, that of a sensitivity reader and that of a publisher. Sadly, no effort appears to have been made to determine what the reading public thinks about this.
Is that important? I don't know, but one could argue that a failure of certain elites to pay much attention to what was happening on the ground in significant areas of the country led to the election of Donald Trump -- for better or for worse. And one thing Trump repeatedly dismissed during his campaign was political correctness.
Friday, January 20, 2017
Most Debut Novelists Would Die For This -- Maybe
There are many, many novels written and not much space in The New York Times to review them. A debut novelist would just about die to get in there.
So how, one wonders, does a woman named Emily Fridlund get her first book, "History of Wolves," reviewed twice in the NYT over the course of three days -- and lengthy reviews at that, each with a picture of the author? Do the journalists who write the daily paper talk to those who put out the Sunday edition? It appears not.
Hopefully, Ms Fridlund takes the view that anything said about her and her book is good publicity as long as the names are spelled correctly because the two reviews are not exactly in agreement.
On Thursday, Jan. 5, Jennifer Senior found "History of Wolves" disappointing. Fridlund withholds critical information from readers, leading them to believe they will be rewarded with something dramatic. "Those thunderheads massing on the horizon let loose only a weak drizzle."
She also finds part of the story "disorienting" and "strained."
In conclusion, Senior quotes the book's main protagonist, Linda, as saying: "It's not what you think but what you do that matters." Fridlund, she says, "might have taken this to heart in a slightly different way. All the ideas in the world can't make a great novel. It's what you do with them that matters."
If Ms Fridlund was left a little downhearted by that assessment, the second review, by Megan, Hustad, which appeared in the Jan. 8 Sunday book review section, turned out better.
She called the book "an artful story of sexual awakening and identity formation" that eventually turns more stomach-churning.
The overall result, Hustad said, "is a novel of ideas that reads like smart pulp, a page-turner of craft and calibration."
Well, which is it? One could consult other reviewers, of course, but many (such as other authors) are too conflicted to be particularly objective. Or just take the plunge and maybe write one's own review.
So how, one wonders, does a woman named Emily Fridlund get her first book, "History of Wolves," reviewed twice in the NYT over the course of three days -- and lengthy reviews at that, each with a picture of the author? Do the journalists who write the daily paper talk to those who put out the Sunday edition? It appears not.
Hopefully, Ms Fridlund takes the view that anything said about her and her book is good publicity as long as the names are spelled correctly because the two reviews are not exactly in agreement.
On Thursday, Jan. 5, Jennifer Senior found "History of Wolves" disappointing. Fridlund withholds critical information from readers, leading them to believe they will be rewarded with something dramatic. "Those thunderheads massing on the horizon let loose only a weak drizzle."
She also finds part of the story "disorienting" and "strained."
In conclusion, Senior quotes the book's main protagonist, Linda, as saying: "It's not what you think but what you do that matters." Fridlund, she says, "might have taken this to heart in a slightly different way. All the ideas in the world can't make a great novel. It's what you do with them that matters."
If Ms Fridlund was left a little downhearted by that assessment, the second review, by Megan, Hustad, which appeared in the Jan. 8 Sunday book review section, turned out better.
She called the book "an artful story of sexual awakening and identity formation" that eventually turns more stomach-churning.
The overall result, Hustad said, "is a novel of ideas that reads like smart pulp, a page-turner of craft and calibration."
Well, which is it? One could consult other reviewers, of course, but many (such as other authors) are too conflicted to be particularly objective. Or just take the plunge and maybe write one's own review.
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