I came across so many interesting articles this week that it’s hard to limit my list. Here are some of my favorites. On the Centennial of Iris Murdoch’s Birth, Remembering a 20th-Century Giant The intensity of Murdoch’s gaze, boring into you from the dust jackets of her many novels, seemed a promise of the books’ […]
Here are some of the articles that got me thinking over the past week. On Impact Stephen King experienced (celebrated doesn’t seem like the appropriate word) an anniversary last week: 20 years since the automobile accident that nearly killed him. He wrote this article for The New Yorker a year after the accident. The Weird,
These are some of the literature-related articles from around the web that caught my eye over the past week. Quartzy HALF OF ALL TRANSLATED BOOKS IN THE US COME FROM JUST NINE COUNTRIES This one caught my eye because I’m trying to read more books translated from other languages this year. The good news:
Here are some of the articles about the world of literature that caught my eye recently. The New York Review of Books “Truth, Beauty, and Oliver Sacks” Simon Callow reviews Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales by Oliver Sacks, the second posthumous collection of Sacks’s essays, most of which were published in
Here’s a short entry for this busy holiday week. In Fiction, It Was the Year of the Woman An interesting look at the bulk of novels published this year: They didn’t launch any franchises — no “girl”-titled blockbusters and probably no future Jennifer Lawrence vehicles — but collectively, they dominated a shrunken literary ecosystem. Each
Five Writing Tips from Tana French I usually stay away from tips aimed specifically at writers, but I found some of French’s tips here useful for readers as well as writers, especially what she has to say about characters: There’s no such thing as ‘men’ or ‘women.’ There’s only the individual character you’re writing… .
Can Going to a Museum Help Your Heart Condition? In a New Trial, Doctors Are Prescribing Art. Art museums offer quite a few side benefits for visitors—from a venue for classes, lectures, film screenings and concerts to a place to grab a meal, conduct academic research or shop for reliably odd presents in the gift
8 Tips For Overcoming ’Reader’s Block’ I can’t remember ever encountering reader’s block. My own problem is usually the opposite: other life duties that prevent me from spending as much time as I’d like to spend reading. Nevertheless, Emily Petsko asserts: “Reader’s block” is a well-documented problem, and even avid readers occasionally suffer from it.
THE SIMPLE JOY OF REREADING TO BREAK A READING SLUMP Julia Rittenberg has a confession to make: I used to have a great deal of anxiety around keeping up with others’ reading paces. Social media heightened my awareness of reading habits, and worries that my own were woefully behind. I would be unable to choose
OCTAVIA BUTLER AND AMERICA AS ONLY BLACK WOMEN SEE IT It is a rare writer who can use sci-fi not simply to chart an escape from reality, but as a pointed reflection of the most minute and magnified experiences that frame and determine the lives of those who live in black skin. Octavia E. Butler
