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December 18th, 2009 | Filed under: News, The Written WorldAmongst a few things, 2009 for me will be the year of the lists. Becoming familiar with any community of interest requires information, and the best way to “inscribe oneself” into a narrative is first of all through the opinion of others. Over time we can question those bias and change ourselves, but for now these opinions are a basic and useful starting point. Here are a few reading lists for 2009. I may add some more eventually. For now they contain enough recommendations to keep me busy for the upcoming year.
The Millions: A Year in Reading 2009 Blake Butler’s list on <HTMLGIANT>: 25 Important Books of the 00s Online Degrees: 50 Best Literature Blogs Emerging Writers Network: 2009 Holiday Gift Suggestions Anna Clark’s list on Isak: Choose Books: Complete Gift Guide Daily Beast’s: Our Favorite Books of 2009 Blake Butler’s 2009 Reading Summary: 106.2 Books in 2009
December 2nd, 2009 | Filed under: NewsIt’s difficult to find anything humorous or ironic in Switzerland’s decision to change their constitution to ban the construction of new minarets in any of their cantons. Crooked Timber has an intelligent insight. But overall it’s an appalling and worrying precedent. It’s targeted discrimination against a religious minority. As Doug Saunders in the Globe & Mail observes, “Even as European human-rights courts began attempts to block the Swiss amendment Monday, extremist politicians across Europe were examining their countries’ laws to see if a similar referendum could be accomplished.” Emboldening bigots and re-writing the facts of religious behaviour (there are only 4 minarets now in Switzerland, and none of the communities espouse sharia law) is worrisome. Using laws for your own insecurity is shown historically to never work.
November 30th, 2009 | Filed under: News, PhilosophyneInteresting turn of events. I mentioned recently a post about eBook anxiety, which ended with the author Adam Robinson saying tongue-in-cheek he wanted to seclude himself in the Heimat of Heidegger somewhere online. As sometimes happens, he had a drive-by shot of lulz in the comments when someone asked why bother reading such a Nazi et al. This prompted an other post where the reasonable question was asked, should we read writers we find objectionable? How do you separate artist from their creations and influence? It’s the old problem of authorial intent, but the length and detail of the comments on that post are noteworthy.
November 27th, 2009 | Filed under: The Written WorldIt’s all around us this market changing world of ours. Or is it?
A couple of hundred years ago our dear forebears of English went ice cold thick banana-whips (to quote Douglas Adams) when Parliament forgot to renew the monopoly of the Stationer’s Company and people were able to print whatever they jolly well liked. We imagine our own times are unique for upturns in publishing output, but that’s misleading. Instead, we keep recycling the same business models — it’s only the tactics and technologies that change.
November 11th, 2009 | Filed under: News, The Written WorldYesterday the Guardian reprinted from its archives an original note from 1958 about Pasternak’s refusal to leave the Soviet Union to receive his Nobel Prize. It’s terrific newspapers take the time to sometimes show their historicity (even if a lot of it is pre-conceived).
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