"My life, which I had at first expected to be very short, now seemed likely to be very very long; and it gave me great joy to think of the infernal displeasure that would cause my enemies." - Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (22/23 October 1844 — 26 March 1923) was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the nickname "The Divine Sarah". - Wikipedia
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Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Monday, 30 January 2012
A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
"Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth."
" Professor Otto Lidenbrock, a rather eccentric geologist, stumbles across ancient runes in a book from the twelfth-century one day. The runes are written ancient Icelandic and once deciphered reveals that to be written by a famous fifteenth-century explorer, Arne Saknussemm, who was declared a heretic. Once the runes are eventually translated, they read:
Go down into the crater of Snaefells Yocul which the shadow of Scartaris caresses before the calends of July, O audacious traveller, and you will reach the centre of the Earth. I did it. Arne Saknussemm. – p. 25
So off Professor Lidenbrock goes, taking (or rather dragging) along his very reluctant nephew, Axel." - madbibliophile review
"One of the oldest themes in storytelling deals with a trip to the
underworld—a plot of such universal appeal that it has even been
given a name: katabasis literature, from the Greek word
signifying descent...Give credit to Jules Verne for taking this
ancient plot and finding a completely new
basis for it—namely the scientific journey
into the underworld." - conceptual fiction review
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Comic Adaptation
Radio Drama
" Professor Otto Lidenbrock, a rather eccentric geologist, stumbles across ancient runes in a book from the twelfth-century one day. The runes are written ancient Icelandic and once deciphered reveals that to be written by a famous fifteenth-century explorer, Arne Saknussemm, who was declared a heretic. Once the runes are eventually translated, they read:
So off Professor Lidenbrock goes, taking (or rather dragging) along his very reluctant nephew, Axel." - madbibliophile review
"One of the oldest themes in storytelling deals with a trip to the
underworld—a plot of such universal appeal that it has even been
given a name: katabasis literature, from the Greek word
signifying descent...Give credit to Jules Verne for taking this
ancient plot and finding a completely new
basis for it—namely the scientific journey
into the underworld." - conceptual fiction review
Read It!
Comic Adaptation
Radio Drama
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians by Woislav M. Petrovitch
"This beautiful, illustrated book recounts the many heroes and legends of Serbian folklore. Beginning with a historical overview of the country's key characters, themes, and superstitions, it also includes prose translations of many Serbian folk ballads. A treat for fans of mythology and fairy tales, and a glimpse into the poetic soul of a country little known to most westerners.
WOISLAV M. PETROVITCH (1885?-1934) was an attach to the Serbian Royal Legation to the Court of St. James's, and a translator. He also wrote Serbia: Her People, History and Aspirations and Key to the Serbian Conversation Grammar." - Googlebooks
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WOISLAV M. PETROVITCH (1885?-1934) was an attach to the Serbian Royal Legation to the Court of St. James's, and a translator. He also wrote Serbia: Her People, History and Aspirations and Key to the Serbian Conversation Grammar." - Googlebooks
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Thursday, 26 January 2012
Beowulf
Beowulf got ready,
donned his war-gear, indifferent to death;
his mighty, hand-forged, fine-webbed mail
would soon meet with the menace underwater.
It would keep the bone-cage of his body safe
- Beowulf 1442-1446
Tv Tropes Page
An informal (and hilarious) recap
The original can be found here. A free translation is available, but personally I prefer the Seamus Heaney one, that I have quoted above.
A note on translation.
A reading by Michael Drout, Professor of English at Wheaton College in Massachusetts.
TL;DR: Read it!
donned his war-gear, indifferent to death;
his mighty, hand-forged, fine-webbed mail
would soon meet with the menace underwater.
It would keep the bone-cage of his body safe
- Beowulf 1442-1446
Tv Tropes Page
An informal (and hilarious) recap
The original can be found here. A free translation is available, but personally I prefer the Seamus Heaney one, that I have quoted above.
A note on translation.
A reading by Michael Drout, Professor of English at Wheaton College in Massachusetts.
TL;DR: Read it!
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates
First published in the October 1940 issue of Astounding Science-Fiction, this short story was the basis for the classic movie 'The Day The Earth Stood Still'
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Read it!
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
The Octopus: A Story of California by Frank Norris
The first part of a planned but uncompleted trilogy, The Epic of Wheat. It describes the raising of wheat in California, and conflicts between the wheat growers and a railway company. Norris was inspired by the role of the Southern Pacific Railroad in events surrounding the Mussel Slough Tragedy - Wikipedia
"Norris's antagonists are not cardboard heavies but conflicted, complex characters, who often resort to blaming the very system they thrive in...Nor are the novel's farmers always long-suffering victims, but often headstrong and ill-tempered figures, whose pride precipitates violence." - Zola in San Francisco
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Monday, 23 January 2012
Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing Of The Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome
"A humorous account of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford." - Wikipedia
"You can never rouse Harris. There is no poetry about Harris- no wild yearning for the unattainable. Harris never "weeps, he knows not why." If Harris's eyes fill with tears, you can bet it is because Harris has been eating raw onions, or has put too much Worcester over his chop.
If you were to stand at night by the sea-shore with Harris, and say:
"Hark! do you not hear? Is it but the mermaids singing deep below the waving waters; or sad spirits, chanting dirges for white corpses held by seaweed?" Harris would take you by the arm, and say:
"I know what it is, old man; you've got a chill. Now you come along with me. I know a place round the corner here, where you can get a drop of the finest Scotch whisky you ever tasted- put you right in less than no time."
Harris always does know a place round the corner where you can get something brilliant in the drinking line. I believe that if you met Harris up in Paradise (supposing such a thing likely), he would immediately greet you with:
"So glad you've come, old fellow; I've found a nice place round the corner here, where you can get some really first-class nectar." - Three Men In A Boat
Read it!
Audio book
"You can never rouse Harris. There is no poetry about Harris- no wild yearning for the unattainable. Harris never "weeps, he knows not why." If Harris's eyes fill with tears, you can bet it is because Harris has been eating raw onions, or has put too much Worcester over his chop.
If you were to stand at night by the sea-shore with Harris, and say:
"Hark! do you not hear? Is it but the mermaids singing deep below the waving waters; or sad spirits, chanting dirges for white corpses held by seaweed?" Harris would take you by the arm, and say:
"I know what it is, old man; you've got a chill. Now you come along with me. I know a place round the corner here, where you can get a drop of the finest Scotch whisky you ever tasted- put you right in less than no time."
Harris always does know a place round the corner where you can get something brilliant in the drinking line. I believe that if you met Harris up in Paradise (supposing such a thing likely), he would immediately greet you with:
"So glad you've come, old fellow; I've found a nice place round the corner here, where you can get some really first-class nectar." - Three Men In A Boat
Read it!
Audio book
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Collections of Nothing by William Davies King
The University of Chicago Press Free ebook of the Month
"What makes this book, bred of a midlife crisis, extraordinary is the way King weaves his autobiography into the account of his collection, deftly demonstrating that the two stories are essentially one.… His hard-won self-awareness gives his disclosures an intensity that will likely resonate with all readers, even those whose collections of nothing contain nothing at all."—New Yorker
"King’s book is short but dense, encompassing in 163 pages an autobiography, a self-psychoanalysis, an apologia, and an initial finding aid to his collection. He enjoys wordplay: puns, chiasmus, unexpected and creative repetition. His sentences can act like linguistic traps, making you linger to puzzle them out. They give the sense of someone trapped by his own hyper-creativity" - bookslut.com review
Read it!
(free only until January 31st. 2012)
"What makes this book, bred of a midlife crisis, extraordinary is the way King weaves his autobiography into the account of his collection, deftly demonstrating that the two stories are essentially one.… His hard-won self-awareness gives his disclosures an intensity that will likely resonate with all readers, even those whose collections of nothing contain nothing at all."—New Yorker
"King’s book is short but dense, encompassing in 163 pages an autobiography, a self-psychoanalysis, an apologia, and an initial finding aid to his collection. He enjoys wordplay: puns, chiasmus, unexpected and creative repetition. His sentences can act like linguistic traps, making you linger to puzzle them out. They give the sense of someone trapped by his own hyper-creativity" - bookslut.com review
Read it!
(free only until January 31st. 2012)
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
Spirited Elizabeth Bennet matches wits and wiles of the heart with the arrogant Mr. Darcy in this entertaining portrait of matrimonial rites and rivalries in Regency England.
"This is the important point to remember about classic literature--the reason why it even became classic in the first place: classic works can be read simply because they're enjoyable to read, simply because when truth and insight are added to fiendish complexity of plot and a strong capacity for wit, the results are rarely dry fodder for academics." -About.com review
Read it!
Listen to it!
Spirited Elizabeth Bennet matches wits and wiles of the heart with the arrogant Mr. Darcy in this entertaining portrait of matrimonial rites and rivalries in Regency England.
"This is the important point to remember about classic literature--the reason why it even became classic in the first place: classic works can be read simply because they're enjoyable to read, simply because when truth and insight are added to fiendish complexity of plot and a strong capacity for wit, the results are rarely dry fodder for academics." -About.com review
Read it!
Listen to it!
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