There was a total lunar eclipse last night. It was cloudy here, so I missed it.
It is exceedingly rare for an eclipse to fall on the solstice, or so I'm told, the last time being about 370 years ago.
That fact reminded me of the short story "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury. OK, not exactly, but you get the idea. Follow the links to find a copy of the short story. (I used to hate the short film in grade school, but now that I'm older, I find the deeper meaning in both the film and the short story.)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Patron Saint
I've looked into it, and there is, apparently, no patron saint of reading.
There is a patron saint for writers, St. Francis de Sales. Which kind of makes sense if you think about it; there would be no reason to venerate the act of reading when the upper castes completely controlled the dissemination of information up until the invention of moveable print in about 1440. Technology changed all that, right up to the 1960's and Catholic Mass being allowed to be held in languages other than Latin. That continuum continues to change, with consequences up to this very day.
I therefore have no choice but to proclaim a patron saint for this very website.
Meet Mr. Henry Bemis.
He loved to read. Dickens. George Bernard Shaw. Browning, Shelley, Keats. Shakespeare. You name it.
It was his love, and it was his undoing.
You can read the original here.
Good day, fellow readers.
There is a patron saint for writers, St. Francis de Sales. Which kind of makes sense if you think about it; there would be no reason to venerate the act of reading when the upper castes completely controlled the dissemination of information up until the invention of moveable print in about 1440. Technology changed all that, right up to the 1960's and Catholic Mass being allowed to be held in languages other than Latin. That continuum continues to change, with consequences up to this very day.
I therefore have no choice but to proclaim a patron saint for this very website.
Meet Mr. Henry Bemis.
He loved to read. Dickens. George Bernard Shaw. Browning, Shelley, Keats. Shakespeare. You name it.
It was his love, and it was his undoing.
You can read the original here.
Good day, fellow readers.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Quote of the Week
"I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun. I put them on and went out of the room."
-Philip Marlowe, Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
-Philip Marlowe, Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
Friday, December 17, 2010
John Kennedy Toole
Today is John Kennedy Toole's birthday. He was born on this date in 1937.
Sadly, Toole committed suicide in 1969 and was never a published author in his own lifetime.
Years later, his mother found his manuscript for A Confederacy of Dunces and managed to get it published. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981, 12 years after the author's death. I've heard it is very, very funny. It is currently on my shelf waiting to be read.
Sadly, Toole committed suicide in 1969 and was never a published author in his own lifetime.
Years later, his mother found his manuscript for A Confederacy of Dunces and managed to get it published. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981, 12 years after the author's death. I've heard it is very, very funny. It is currently on my shelf waiting to be read.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
NPR on the Future of Books and Reading
Philip K. Dick
Besides being Arthur Clarke's birthday, December 16 is also notable as Philip K. Dick's birthday.
The prolific Dick authored hundreds of novels and short stories over his lifetime; readers of this blog know I consider him a new favorite of mine, having recently read VALIS, UBIK, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Man in the High Castle.
There are many of his novels currently on my bedside table waiting to be read; I will likely start A Scanner Darkly or The Galactic Pot Healer next. I'd like to read the short story The Electric Ant if I can get my hands on it.
Dick died on March 2, 1982.
The movie Blade Runner was based on his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and released in June 1982; he has since enjoyed a fame in death that he only began to appreciate in life, with story credits for the movies Total Recall, Minority Report, Screamers, Paycheck and next year's The Adjustment Bureau to his credit.
The prolific Dick authored hundreds of novels and short stories over his lifetime; readers of this blog know I consider him a new favorite of mine, having recently read VALIS, UBIK, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Man in the High Castle.
There are many of his novels currently on my bedside table waiting to be read; I will likely start A Scanner Darkly or The Galactic Pot Healer next. I'd like to read the short story The Electric Ant if I can get my hands on it.
Dick died on March 2, 1982.
The movie Blade Runner was based on his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and released in June 1982; he has since enjoyed a fame in death that he only began to appreciate in life, with story credits for the movies Total Recall, Minority Report, Screamers, Paycheck and next year's The Adjustment Bureau to his credit.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
NPR on the Future of Books, Part 1 and 2
NPR has been running a series this week on the future of books. It is pretty impressive and if you haven't heard it on-air, you should check it out online.
Part 1 was yesterday, and it dealt with the future of bricks-and-mortar bookstores.
Today was Part 2, and it looks at the future of multi-platform books and young adult literature.
I will continue to post links this week, as time allows.
Part 1 was yesterday, and it dealt with the future of bricks-and-mortar bookstores.
Today was Part 2, and it looks at the future of multi-platform books and young adult literature.
I will continue to post links this week, as time allows.
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