-Today seemed pretty nice, though I didn't have chance to make it outside to experience it in person until after 11:00 PM tonight.
-While doing some research earlier this evening I happened to come across a blog called Lords of the Blog. It seems that the contributors to this blog are Peers and that it is updated on a relatively regular basis. I was somewhat surprised to find such a blog, I know I would have a hard time imagining that Canadian or American Senators participating in such a venture.
The blog links to a number of blogs of other British politicians, including the mayor of London, and former Conservative MP, Boris Johnson. I am much less surprised to see that Boris Johnson has a blog, though I was surprised to see how frequently he posts. I would have imagined that being the Mayor of a major European city would have slowed his blogging down to nothing more than a trickle, though this doesn't seem to be the case.
-Several moments prior to coming upon the previously mentioned blogs, I happened to be looking through the House of Lords Hansard from March 22, 2004 when I came across the following quote from Lord Peston
"in the committees that I have chaired or been a member of, that we proceed by consensus. I have never chaired a committee in which I have allowed a vote. Of course, I do not believe in votes anyway, I believe in reason."
I was a little surprised to learn that Lord Peston was a Labour peer, and that he is a life peer rather than a hereditary peer.
-A few minutes ago I had to make a late night trip to the grocery store to pick up some Fisherman's Friend throat lozenges. Based on the degree that this first was has given me I am starting to wonder why I didn't make the the trip earlier today. Unfortunately, I am not really starting to feel out of it. I guess I should probably try to get some sleep soon.
-A few days ago I started reading Alligator by Lisa Moore (I found this author profile by an acquaintance of mine). So far, which is about 100 pages, I am quite impressed. It has kind of put me in the mood to read more Newfoundland fiction. As I have Percy Janes' House of Hate and Michael Winter's The Big Why I should be set for some time, if this the reading path I chose to take. An alternate path would be to acquire the third book in Evenlyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy, Unconditional Surrender, and finish that set of books off.
Blog-off
Cameron: 32
Neil: 1
Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sunday, October 26, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 239
-Today has been slightly overcast, but nothing particularly bad. I just hope that any rain holds off long enough for me to make it to the library tonight without too much hassle.
-Because our last turkey was so successful we decided to try another, which is cooking right now. While the last turkey was stuffed and accompanied by a rather full spread, this one will be a little more bare bones with just a few vegetables and some mashed potatoes. Hopefully things turn out well, otherwise we will have about 12 pounds of sub-par turkey to get through in the next week.
-A few days ago I was looking around the apartment for something easy to read and I happened to come upon Advanced Calculus of Murder by Erik Rosenthal. After a quick examination I learned that the book was a murder mystery written by a math professor about a crime solving sessional lecturer (and part-time private investigator). What was particularly fun about the book was the way in which the university life was treated. Based on my experiences, many elements included in the book rang true (though as it was written in a time before email and the internet there are a few aspects of university life that don't work quite the same way today). Anyway, if you are interested in books about crime-solving mathematicians written by mathematicians I would recommend that you check this one out.
-I managed to spend a few hours on both Friday and Saturday evening at the library. Amazingly, the place wasn't deserted. I guess Dalhousie student like to study. It is still a bit of a toss up whether or not I will try to head in tonight. Instead of heading in I may just try to stay at home and work on a few things, though I tend to be more focused while in my carrel. The prison like conditions don't give me much to focus on other than school work.
-I have to give my first lectures tomorrow. Hopefully I have spent my time preparing the right content. I guess I will find out how things go tomorrow morning.
Amazingly, much the time I have spent preparing has been focused on content, not the creation of topical jokes. I think I have spent more time thinking about creation of jokes for the lectures than actually working on any such material. If nothing comes effortlessly tonight the students may just have to go without such content for the next few days.
-Because our last turkey was so successful we decided to try another, which is cooking right now. While the last turkey was stuffed and accompanied by a rather full spread, this one will be a little more bare bones with just a few vegetables and some mashed potatoes. Hopefully things turn out well, otherwise we will have about 12 pounds of sub-par turkey to get through in the next week.
-A few days ago I was looking around the apartment for something easy to read and I happened to come upon Advanced Calculus of Murder by Erik Rosenthal. After a quick examination I learned that the book was a murder mystery written by a math professor about a crime solving sessional lecturer (and part-time private investigator). What was particularly fun about the book was the way in which the university life was treated. Based on my experiences, many elements included in the book rang true (though as it was written in a time before email and the internet there are a few aspects of university life that don't work quite the same way today). Anyway, if you are interested in books about crime-solving mathematicians written by mathematicians I would recommend that you check this one out.
-I managed to spend a few hours on both Friday and Saturday evening at the library. Amazingly, the place wasn't deserted. I guess Dalhousie student like to study. It is still a bit of a toss up whether or not I will try to head in tonight. Instead of heading in I may just try to stay at home and work on a few things, though I tend to be more focused while in my carrel. The prison like conditions don't give me much to focus on other than school work.
-I have to give my first lectures tomorrow. Hopefully I have spent my time preparing the right content. I guess I will find out how things go tomorrow morning.
Amazingly, much the time I have spent preparing has been focused on content, not the creation of topical jokes. I think I have spent more time thinking about creation of jokes for the lectures than actually working on any such material. If nothing comes effortlessly tonight the students may just have to go without such content for the next few days.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Fiction vs. literature
Earlier this week I happened to find myself in a bookstore. While in the bookstore I noticed that along one wall they had a section that they called 'Fiction.' Across from this section was a section called 'Literature.' That they had two such categories was striking, if not because many people wouldn't differentiate between the two classes, but because it would likely be a nightmare to organize/classify.
When I asked a staff member how the books were classified she suggested that there really wasn't much of a hard and fast protocol. Classics and award winners always went in the literature section while romance and thrillers were always placed in the fiction section. The middle was, she freely admitted, a bit of a grey area.
The use of the terms 'fiction' and 'literature' in this context are very value laden. Clearly 'fiction' is a step down from literature. To shop in such a section in a store that also has a 'Literature' section might be taken as an indication that you either have poor taste or aren't much of a reader. It is conceivable to me that many may actively chose not to shop in this particular section of the store because of the message they fear it will send. On the other hand, there are some that might see shopping in the 'literature' section to be pretentious and elitist, particularly when it so clearly differentiated from popular fiction (though I imagine that this would be a smaller segment in such a bookstore).
I guess what I find surprising is that a bookstore would be so willing to risk losing sales either because of the desire of a reader not to be seen in the 'fiction' section or because a customer just doesn't know that the book they are looking for happens to be on the other side of the store.
The following are a few of the authors from the fiction section:
Joel Hynes
Bernice Morgan
Douglas Coupland
The following are a few of the authors from the literature section:
Jane Austen
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Miriam Toews
When I asked a staff member how the books were classified she suggested that there really wasn't much of a hard and fast protocol. Classics and award winners always went in the literature section while romance and thrillers were always placed in the fiction section. The middle was, she freely admitted, a bit of a grey area.
The use of the terms 'fiction' and 'literature' in this context are very value laden. Clearly 'fiction' is a step down from literature. To shop in such a section in a store that also has a 'Literature' section might be taken as an indication that you either have poor taste or aren't much of a reader. It is conceivable to me that many may actively chose not to shop in this particular section of the store because of the message they fear it will send. On the other hand, there are some that might see shopping in the 'literature' section to be pretentious and elitist, particularly when it so clearly differentiated from popular fiction (though I imagine that this would be a smaller segment in such a bookstore).
I guess what I find surprising is that a bookstore would be so willing to risk losing sales either because of the desire of a reader not to be seen in the 'fiction' section or because a customer just doesn't know that the book they are looking for happens to be on the other side of the store.
The following are a few of the authors from the fiction section:
Joel Hynes
Bernice Morgan
Douglas Coupland
The following are a few of the authors from the literature section:
Jane Austen
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Miriam Toews
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Not a paperback writer
Like most days, this morning I read the daily installment of the Writer’s Almanac. Each day literary or historical events and authors (whose birthday it is) receive a brief write-up. In today’s edition, Alice McDermott’s life was the subject of one of the brief biographical sketches. At one point McDermott is quoted as having said that “In fiction you have to be fairly specific. And I know how Irish-Americans in the New York area talk, what kind of couches they buy, and what kind of plastic slipcovers they put on the couches. ... But I'm more interested in what's going on in their heads than what's going on their couches."
What struck me about this statement is that there is not an equivalent group about which I have a similar understanding (particularly when it comes to the ability to re-create speech patterns). It also struck me that in many cases this understanding of a particular culture or group would be particularly important in many forms of fiction. When I think about some of the more effective fiction I have read it is precisely for this reason that it is effective, the characters inhabit a place that is made real by the author understanding of their circumstances. Obviously, in some instances, such as with fantasy or science fiction, the understanding of the place comes from the inherent connection that the author has to the creation of the realm about which he or she is writing.
Moreover, I realized that I can’t differentiate between characters, or more accurately ensure that they have unique and identifiable voices. If I attempted to write a piece of fiction with several characters they would all speak with the same bland voice. An example of dialog might be:
“Hello” said John.
“Hi” responded Dave.
“How are you today?” asked John inquisitively.
And on and on it would go until I reached some arbitrary page or word count. Trudging through this would be a painful, pleasure-less process that might only be endured by family members and those that seek pain as a form of pleasure (and whether there are any individuals who accomplish this end through the reading of bad writing is questionable at best).
I guess this means that, along with ‘doctor’ and a few others, ‘fiction writer’ should be stricken from my list of available or potential careers.
What struck me about this statement is that there is not an equivalent group about which I have a similar understanding (particularly when it comes to the ability to re-create speech patterns). It also struck me that in many cases this understanding of a particular culture or group would be particularly important in many forms of fiction. When I think about some of the more effective fiction I have read it is precisely for this reason that it is effective, the characters inhabit a place that is made real by the author understanding of their circumstances. Obviously, in some instances, such as with fantasy or science fiction, the understanding of the place comes from the inherent connection that the author has to the creation of the realm about which he or she is writing.
Moreover, I realized that I can’t differentiate between characters, or more accurately ensure that they have unique and identifiable voices. If I attempted to write a piece of fiction with several characters they would all speak with the same bland voice. An example of dialog might be:
“Hello” said John.
“Hi” responded Dave.
“How are you today?” asked John inquisitively.
And on and on it would go until I reached some arbitrary page or word count. Trudging through this would be a painful, pleasure-less process that might only be endured by family members and those that seek pain as a form of pleasure (and whether there are any individuals who accomplish this end through the reading of bad writing is questionable at best).
I guess this means that, along with ‘doctor’ and a few others, ‘fiction writer’ should be stricken from my list of available or potential careers.
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