Tell me what you love… (Part Two: Nonfiction)

(You can read part one here.) The real world is a fascinating place, and a good work of nonfiction can draw me in as much as any novel – if it’s beautifully written and true to the human spirit, that is. (I have decided to include autobiographies here, though some …

Tell me what you love… (Part One: Novels)

I wanted to write about some of my favourite books, and start the post with the idea that by knowing what someone loves, you learn something about them as a person… and then Verena stole my idea. And it’s hard to do something about it when you’re part of the …

Star Maker (halfway)

I’m currently halfway through Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. If the other half of this book is as fascinating and deep as the first half, this book will be added to my list of Books Everyone Should Read. Not a page has gone by that hasn’t impressed me. I think …

Harold Bloom and the Death of Art

“Poetry fettered fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed, or flourish, in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish!” – William Blake Let’s start with this: an excellent article by Stephen King on Harry Potter and reading in modern society. [Warning: do not read it if …

A Response on Literature and Stephen King

I came across this in a recent blog post: Along with Harold Bloom you may be astonished and dismayed to know that Stephen King was given the National Book Foundation’s annual award for “distinguished contribution” in 2003. (‘Dumbing down American readers’, Boston Globe Op-ed, September 24, 2003. Found on their …