Category Archives: LITERATURE

LITERATURE: Change of Face

I forgot where I’d picked up the link this morning, but this article in The Evening Standard (U.K.) News just about did me in.  Evidently school libraries are refusing gifts of classic literature because "today’s pupils find them too ‘difficult’ … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: The Pleasure of the Text – Updated

A thought:  In Barthes’ likening reading to an orgasmic sensation, in his cajoling the reader to seek more from text, I wonder what his thoughts would be on the involvement of all the senses required by new media methods of … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: The Pleasure of the Text – Maybe…

Slowly working my way through this, reading every word but not quite understanding it.  But long ago I realized that this is going to have to be read many times to get the benefit of Barthes’ words.  They’re not bliss … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Shop At Home Binge

Okay, so the sun is shining, the birds are singing, early dawn saw clouds running across the morning sky and an e-mail check showed another overstock.com sale. Sixteen more books due in, at a cost of $3.12 each including shipping.  … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: At Swim-Two-Birds – Skimming

Yes, I’m at that point.  Halfway through and it’s gotten to me.  While I’m awed by the skill and intrigued by the methods, I’m just not into the story(ies) enough to deep-read this one right now.  It’s a personal thing; … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Glimmer Train #55 – Relationships

The next selection also has illness and death as themes.  Footsteps by Yunny Chen involves a relationship between a man and a woman; long-lived, married, and in the way of this, still secretive about feelings.  There is a difference between … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Glimmer Train #55 – Human Nature

All of Me, by Erika Krouse is a story about change, physical, mental and emotional.  A man is recuperating from a heart transplant operation.  A knock on his door one door bring with it a young woman who claims that … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Glimmer Train #55 – A Couple Selections

Not reading this one in the traditional manner–front to back; skipping around to what appeals at the time. Sightseeing, by Rattawut Lapcharoensap, is a short story that seems to contain all the necessary elements of method to make a story … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: A Kiss in Space

A few of my framing customers have upon occasion given me gifts of appreciation and Saturday, one gave me this book of the poems of Mary Jo Salter.  This 1999 collection is an exceptional one that encompasses so many moods … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: At Swim-Two-Birds – Character and Voice

What is amazing about this book is the skill with which O’Brien changes voice in this three-ring circus.  Especially with what he throws at us.  Here is a short bit from the first person pov narrator, a university student: Biographical … Continue reading Continue reading

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NEW MEDIA & LITERATURE: A Confession

Here’s what I said: This brings me to another train of thought–why some of us don’t particularly go wild over hyperfiction.  But that post is still festering in my mind, wanting to heal itself before I rip open the wound … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE & NEW MEDIA: At Swim-Two-Birds – Weaving

It should be obvious by now that I’m not exactly enthralled with this novel–though I am in awe of the workmanship.  Kind of like a Polish (or any other, really) traditional costume that is breathtaking in it’s brilliance of design … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Prairie Schooner 79/2 – Finale

Kind of liked this one: People Always Going To by Lee Martin.  First person narrator, a man who’s just sort of a regular guy, going along with his wife to a seer because she wants to check in on her … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Prairie Schooner 79/2 – Personal Preference

The first–and longest–story in this issue is Wilde in Omaha by Ron Hansen.  Unfortunately, I only got a few pages into it because personally, I don’t like fiction based on reality.  I know, all fiction is based on reality, but … Continue reading Continue reading

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WRITING & LITERATURE: Glimmer Train # 54 -Lit Journal Luck

As a backup to my previous posting about submissions, Glimmer Train (one of my favorite publications, by the way, because they’re devoted to short story form) Issue #54:  Of the 12 published authors in this issue, 5 of them appear … Continue reading Continue reading

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