R. A. Montgomery 1936 – 2014
Rest of the obituary: http://www.cyoa.com/pages/r-a-montgomery-1936-2014
17 Brilliant Short Novels You Can Read in a Sitting | Electric Literature.
This week author Ian McEwan expressed his love of short novels, saying “very few [long] novels earn their length.” Certainly it seems like a novel has to be a minimum of 500 pages to win a major literary award these days, and many genre novels have ballooned to absurd sizes.
Child of God
The rest of the article at: http://electricliterature.com/17-brilliant-short-novels-you-can-read-in-a-sitting/
Some of these brilliant short novels include Child of God by Cormac McCarthy, The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin and The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien.
Things are always grainiest before they turn completely ablative.
Filed under capitalism, Cartoon
It is the first weekend of the month and time again for a new word to live by. This is a word or phrase not currently in use in the U.S. English lexicon, but might need to be considered. Other words, such as obsurd, crumpify, subsus, flib, congressed, and others, can be found by clicking on the tags below. Today’s New Word is a compounding of three words: Auto, Body, and Experience. Without further chattering, Auto Body Experience is the new word / phrase for this month:
Auto, n. an object, such as a car or truck that propels itself by way of an engine.
Body, n. the physical structure of a plant, animal, or human, dead or alive.
Experience, n. a specific instance of personally undergoing, encountering, or observing something.
Auto Body Experience, n. The total of what happens when you experience a wreck while you are in your own car. It similar to but not the same as an out-of-body experience. With an Auto Body Experience, there is often a jolt of unreality, particularly if you get hit from behind and are at first confused as to what is happening.
Whether you see it coming or not, whether it involves other cars, or only your car, you, and a stationary object — such as a guard rail after you and your car have started spinning on a thin sheet of ice — there is nothing quite like an Auto Body Experience.
And then there is all the paperwork.
Filed under new word, New words to live by
Do You Really Know All The 12 English Tenses?.
Sixteen chances to get things right … or wrong.
Give it a try at: http://www.playbuzz.com/shira10/do-you-know-all-12-english-tenses
Filed under grammar
Map: The book that best represents each state – Vox.
We always love a good map. The below map might just seem to be another riff on “which book is most popular in each state” or something similar. But it’s actually much more interesting than that.
Take a look: http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/10/17/6988649/literary-map-the-books-that-best-represent-each-state-united-states
The map is called The Literary United States, and it aims to plot out the “best books for every state.” It’s not based on research or polls or statistics. Instead, it was compiled by writers for BK Mag. Fortunately, they have great taste.
A literary map of the U.S.
For instance, BK Mag chooses Zora Neale Hurston’s masterpiece Their Eyes Were Watching God to represent Florida. The novel is set in the Sunshine State, which makes it an obvious choice. The book selections, though, have to do with more than just setting.
The rest of the article at: http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/10/17/6988649/literary-map-the-books-that-best-represent-each-state-united-states
Filed under literary map of the U.S., map
Can't get into highbrow novels? Ditch them, says Nick Hornby – Telegraph.
When struggling through a classic novel, many have found honour in persevering to the end.
But it appears it might be better just to give up quickly.
Nick Hornby, the bestselling novelist, has argued readers should put down difficult books immediately if they are not enjoying them.
Battling through them, he said, would only condition people to believe reading is a chore, leaving a “sense of duty” about something you “should do”.
Instead, Hornby argued, reading should be seen more like television or the cinema, and only undertaken as something people “want to do”.
Speaking at the Cheltenham Literary Festival, about his new novel Funny Girl, Hornby argued even children should not be compelled to read books they do not want to, saying setting targets of books they “should” read is counterproductive.
Hornby, the author of Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About A Boy, said: “I’m passionate about reading and what reading can do for you, but I don’t want anyone to tell you what you should read.
Read the rest of the article at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/11141627/Cant-get-into-highbrow-novels-Ditch-them-says-Nick-Hornby.html
[Editor’s note: Thank you to Ashlie for the link to the article.]
Filed under reading
The Top 100 Star Trek Episodes Of All Time!.
Star Trek gave us six TV series, spanning over 700 episodes, because it’s such a rich universe. And a Federation starship is the perfect vehicle to tell unforgettable stories. But which Star Trek stories are the best? To find out, we painstakingly compiled the 100 greatest Trek episodes, from any of the series.
What makes for a great Star Trek episode? Obviously, the fun quotient has to be high, and there need to be awesome character moments. But I’d argue that a really notable Trek story explores some ideas, or some ethical quandaries, in a way that sticks with you after you’re done watching. If one thing has defined Trek throughout its run, it’s that.
So here’s our list of the 100 best Star Trek episodes. Please let us know which episodes we missed, or ranked incorrectly!
Warning: some spoilers below, although we try not to give away all the plot twists.
The rest of the article: http://io9.com/the-top-100-star-trek-episodes-of-all-time-1641565699?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
[Blog editor’s note: While I’m not sure I agree with the ranking in all cases here (Who would?), the fact that many episodes of the original Star Trek made it onto this list and even the number in the top twenty, shows the writing level of the original series.]
Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone
The 10 Best Episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' (as Ranked by IMDb) | Fox News Magazine.
But where is “Walking Distance”? It should be on this list.
It’s hard to choose a favorite episode of “The Twilight Zone.” Just when you think you’ve narrowed it down, you catch a classic rerun on late-night TV that makes you rethink your top choice. Heck, it’s been 55 years since the show premiered on CBS (October 2, 1959 to be exact) and we still can’t choose a favorite.
Maybe that’s because every episode was so different from the last. Sure, they all started nearly the same — with creator Rod Serling welcoming us to his otherworldly dimension — but each proved to be wonderfully weird in its own unique way. One week, we’d be treated to a macabre murder mystery, and the next, a spooky science fiction story. And more often than not, each teleplay contained an underlying moral message or a twist ending that kept our minds racing long after the episode’s end.
It’s no wonder we can’t choose a number one!
The folks over at IMDb, on the other hand, don’t seem to share our problem. They’ve handily ranked every single episode from best to worst based on the ratings of their users. And you know what? It’s kind of hard to argue with their results.
To see the list, go to: http://magazine.foxnews.com/celebrity/10-best-episodes-twilight-zone-ranked-imdb
But where is “Walking Distance”? It should be on this list.
There once was a man from Spokane /
who dated a woman named Diane. /
What they did they all say /
would take your breath away /
and still to this day has been banned.
Filed under poetry by author
Booker's Blog 