It is always pleasant when someone you love recommends a book for you. I told Erin that I was in the mood for something short and light, and she advised me that maybe a children’s book would be appropriate for the end of the summer. I have picked up a novel by a first time writer, Joanne Owen, who has written Puppet Master. Here is the description on the back:

When Milena meets the charismatic Puppet Master and his menacing proteges, the twins Zdenko and Zdenka, in Prague’s Old Town Square she has no idea quite how much her life is about to change. In a story rich in the traditions of circus and theatre, myth mingles with the mystery of a missing heiress, Milena’s mother, and her daughter’s magical legacy is revealed.

How cool does that sound? I know that I’m intrigued and it’s a short 200 pages, so should be just the right thing to pass a few days. Cheers.

Miss Erin gifted me with a book recently, a collection of short stories by South American writer Francisco Coloane, Tierra Del Fuego. We were browsing at the Crapters the other day and Miss Erin playfully hid a book behind her back and turned to me, “You’re going to hate me for showing you this.” [ Reason being that we both should not purchase books for one because we have so much already to read and the second because we cannot afford it. ] She shows me the back of the book where the following is written:

Long arms, arms like rivers, are necessary to fully embrace Francisco Coloane. Or perhaps it’s necessary to be a squall of wind, gusting over him beard and all. Otherwise, take a seat across the table from him and analyze the question, study him deeply; you will surely end by drinking a bottle of wine with Francisco and happily postponing the matter to some later date. – Pablo Neruda

Now I don’t know about you but I tend to trust authors implicitly. Authors I enjoy who recommend other authors or mention authors that have influenced their own writings become mandatory reading for me. I have discovered so many wonderful authors as a result of writers who mention other writers or works that they find fascinating for one reason or another. I think that one of my favorite discoveries was through Graham Greene who recommended Patricia Highsmith’s collection of short stories as he wrote of her: “Highsmith is a poet of apprehension.” I recently wrote a paper on Patricia Highsmith and my relationship with Erin began with Patricia, so I owe Graham quite a bit.

So feel free to share stories or commentaries on authors you’ve discovered through blurbs. I think that for the most part, authors usually have a good sense of what is good literature and what is great. Here’s hoping Pablo, if your taste in literature is anything close to your style of writing and poetry, I nothing but good times ahead of me. Cheers.

Erin = Amazing. Petulant.

George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.

The rights of the author are often overlooked for the sake of the reader. For those unaware George R.R. Martin is the best selling author of A Song of Ice and Fire (Fantasy Series). What Tolkien was to generations past, he is to ours. Ask anyone who reads heavy fantasy of an epic nature and George R.R. Martin’s name will inevitably pop up, along side Steven Erikson, Terry Brooks, & R.A. Salvatore to name a few. A long running argument on various bulletin boards, discussion forums, and coffee houses focuses on what the author owes the reader, specifically George R.R. Martin. Martin has released only 4 of his books in a series that is projected to be at 5 or 6. Martin on average has released each subsequent book in the series at 4 or 5 year intervals. This frustrates many of his fans because Martin keeps an active blog [ Which I urge you to check out. ] Martin actively tours, blogs, writes short stories, etc, and according to certain critics anything short of writing the next book in the series is betrayal, and this is apparently unacceptable. While I often am frustrated by the length of time that each book takes for the next release, I also understand that he’s a fellow human being and has a life on his own. He doesn’t owe the reader anything, it is our privilege to read works that he shares with the world. 

As Erin put it: “What have you written lately?” 

Neil Gaiman recently responded to a question on his blog which tackles this issue. Enjoy and try to keep in mind Mr. Gaiman’s advice: “George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.” 

Also, Neil Gaiman is one of the most hilarious and fun twitterers(is that right?) to follow, enjoy and follow him @neilhimself. 

Richard Price

I just picked up Richard Price’s Lush Life, and I’m not sure what to classify this book as. Fiction, Literature, Thriller, Mystery? If his name sounds familiar it is because he helped co-write The Wire as well as having written several other novels and their subsequent film screenplay adaptations (Clockers & Freedomland). I was in the bookstore this afternoon with Kari and Erin and they were buying books so I felt obligated to pick up something as well, but I also wanted to read something different. Lately I’ve been reading far too much Literature (Capital L – – academia), sometimes that can get to be a bit rough. I am still not sure what this falls under, is it an airport read? Who knows? Will review shortly, cheers.

Erin

ERIN, ERIN, ERIN, ERIN! BLOG ABOUT ERIN, ERIN IN MY BLOG, IN ALL CAPS IN IMPROPER ENGLISH, ERIN IN MY BLOG IN A LONG SENTENCE WITH LOTS OF COMMAS, ERIN, ERIN, ERIN…………..my blog…………AND ERIN!!!!

Bookstore Adventures

Just returned from a delightful visit to the bookstore. Met up with Erin and Emi and had a wonderful time, a perfect way to enjoy the pleasant labour day weather we’re having, sitting out and enjoying the breeze.

Picked up a new book which I’m excited about reading.

Paul Auster’s latest novel, Man In The Dark, a story about a father who lives with his daughter and grand-daughter, both dealing with relationship trauma, set against a post 9/11 world as he struggles to deal with his growing insomnia. Looks to be a sad read, but I’ve been reading lots of sad stories lately and enjoying all of them. But I guess this is one of the reasons we read: tragedy, pain, drama, suffering, etc… all of these subjects are important to us, we can empathise and relate to such issues. We’re attracted to those around us who also share the same world we inhabit, a world filled with all of these melancholy subjects. That’s not to say that the world is lacking in positive subjects, of course there is love, happiness, joy, but these are only given value because of those darker subjects that we so often encounter.

Will review the book soon, as it is a fairly short read at 180 pages. Cheers.

You Still Can’t Write About Muhammad

Offensive Editorial Cartoon on Free Speech

Asra Q. Nomani writes in The Wall Street Journal on Sherry Jones’s new historical novel, “The Jewel of Medina” about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad. Random House has pulled the book for fears of a political and extremist nature. In a statement, Random House said: “We stand firmly by our responsibility to support our authors and the free discussion of ideas, even those that may be construed as offensive by some. However, a publisher must weigh that responsibility against others that it also bears, and in this instance we decided, after much deliberation, to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House Inc, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the book.” Over at the Guardian, you can read more about the controversy.

Erin and I were discussing this earlier today and we sorted out on our own that this is obviously a very complicated issue. On the one hand you have many different people, bloggers, writers, publishers, etc, making judgements of a critical and editorial nature, some without having ever read the piece of fiction in question.

Should Ms. Jones be aware of sensitive nature of this type of fiction and its subject matter; without a doubt she should realize that this type of writing, especially in the post 9/11 climate in which we live, will result in many controversial views.

I personally feel though that she has every right(write 😉 to release fiction of this nature. Just as Random House has every right to pull the book. Now, just because I believe Random House has the right to pull this book from their shelves and not go through with the publishing, I also believe that they handled this poorly. I’m thinking someone over at Random House should have seen this coming and if they knew of the sensitive nature of this type of writing and the possibility of negative feedback from enraged people, they should have early on not offered her this deal and the money. To go back on this deal after so much time has passed is in poor taste.

Erin made mention of the fact that many people would take some offense at a person outside of the Islamic culture writing about such a sensitive issue. For those unaware, there is a scripture somewhere in the Koran that prohibits the criticism of Muhammad.

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From Wiki:

Criticism of Muhammad is often equated with blasphemy, which is punishable by death in some Muslim-majority or Islamic states. This is because the Muslim belief is that Muhammad is the messenger of God himself, and that his actions were willed by God.^{[citation needed]}Many Muslims believe that to reject and criticise Muhammad is to reject and criticise God.^{[citation needed]}

The most notorious recent case of a critic condemned to death is that of Salman Rushdie, who wrote a novel (The Satanic Verses), satirizing Muhammad as a cynical schemer and his wives as prostitutes. In 1989 Rushdie was condemned to death in a fatwa issued by Iran’s theocratic leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Rushdie had to go into hiding for years.

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The only excerpt from the book floating around on the blogosphere is as follows:

“the pain of consummation soon melted away. Muhammad was so gentle. I hardly felt the scorpion’s sting. To be in his arms, skin to skin, was the bliss I had longed for all my life.”

I guess what is considered offensive or sacrilegious is up to an individuals interpretation of what constitutes criticism or blasphemy. While I understand that there are certain types of issues and subject matters that are sensitive and if they are handled in the wrong way, they may incite anger, frustration, and in extreme cases hatred and/or violence, I believe in free speech and that people should be allowed to express themselves in what ever way they choose. I’m prepared to accept that with this my own beliefs and values may be questioned, and/or ridiculed.

It is why I’ve posted the cartoon up above. I find it to be in poor taste, this is true, but I believe in the right to post such a thing.

“You cleaned out my D.H. Lawrence section!”

Went to the bookstore yesterday and picked up some books, most of them for myself, a few for Miss Erin. Picked up “A Writer’s Diary by Virginia Woolf ed. Leonard Woolf – extracts from the Complete Diaries.” Also, picked up the “Common Reader – Virginia Woolf by Virginia Woolf”, but Miss Erin has informed me that she already owns that copy, so bonus for me.

D.H. Lawrence & Family

While at the bookstore, I saw a nice assortment of D.H. Lawrence and as Annie my bookstore owner/friend exclaimed to me, “You cleaned out my D.H. Lawrence section!” And that I DID!

• Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
• John Thomas and Lady Jane by D.H. Lawrence
• The Portable D.H. Lawrence by D.H. Lawrence ed. Diana Trilling
• Aaron’s Rod by D.H. Lawrence
• England, My England and Other Stories by D.H. Lawrence
• The Woman Who Rode Away and Other Stories by D.H. Lawrence
• Collected Short Stories Volume III by D.H. Lawrence

I have been wanting to get into his work for some time. I just finished a short story, “The Prussian Officer” from the Portable D.H. Lawrence and his writing fascinates me. Erin insists that much of his work is quite misogynistic as she’s read some essays from Virginia Woolf claiming such things. I am not discounting such essays or views of Mr. Lawrence, but I’ll have to read more to come to a conclusion about such a thing, still too early on in my readings.

Erin

Erin.