Search Engine Term of the [Insert Time Period]
I love it when I get hits from really cool search engine terms. It’s rare, but it happens, and I felt I had to share this one: harold bloom is full of shit Amen!
Category: Writing
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 (all the way)
Yes, the second half is as good as the first. You Should Read This Book.
Cell (quick review)
Cell is a recent-ish novel by Stephen King, in which cellphones cause people to go mad, and pretty quickly cause the downfall of human civilization. It is dedicated to George Romero and Richard Matheson, and that’s what it reads like: somewhere between scary, hilarious and thoughtful. It asks interesting questions …
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 …
In Appreciation of David and Leigh Eddings
I was quite shocked to read that fantasy writer David Eddings died a couple of weeks ago. (Sometimes the internet is just useless for news.) He and his wife, who died in 2007, wrote several books that were absolutely central to my youth and my development as a writer. The …
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 …