*** Interesting Articles -- September/October

CharlasClub Read 2013

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*** Interesting Articles -- September/October

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1detailmuse
Ago 31, 2013, 10:38 pm

Please spread the word about interesting things you find on the Internet by posting links here to articles, images, etc., that catch your attention.

I had reason recently to view this medieval helpdesk video again and thought it worthy of a fresh airing in case some haven't seen it. It also made me realize that new technologies seem to be getting less confounding (a good thing).

2VivienneR
Sep 1, 2013, 12:00 am

The link is hilarious. Thanks for sharing.

3lilisin
Sep 1, 2013, 12:16 am

Very well done. Very funny.

4NanaCC
Sep 1, 2013, 7:08 am

That was very funny. :)

5rebeccanyc
Sep 2, 2013, 10:43 am

Yes, very funny!

6SassyLassy
Sep 6, 2013, 12:58 pm

fmgee posted this for the Canadian Bookworms group and I thought I would repost it here:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/09/05/the-healing-power-of-books/

7lilisin
Sep 6, 2013, 1:48 pm

It's interesting but I'm not very convinced as to its efficacy nor as to how it actually functions. I feel the article gives all hypothesis and a few sections of procedure but no results.

And more and more, I'm convinced that many people are just too dense to understand what you're even giving them.

For fun last night I decided to watch the Leonardo diCaprio version of The Man in the Iron Mask since I'm reading the book. (Terrible movie by the way.) As I always like to do (I punish myself) after I watch a movie, I go to IMDB afterwards to read reviews and comments from other viewers. There is absolutely no subtlety in this movie and yet there are still things viewers aren't understanding. One girl thought all the musketeers had died during the tramatic shooting scene and when the smoke cleared out it was either a) they were ghosts or b) they had come back to life due to the power of the legend of the musketeers.

No book is going to remedy her "situation".

9NanaCC
Sep 15, 2013, 7:25 pm

I had zero interest in reading the book, so it is probably unfair of me to say that the rubbish heap is where it belongs? ... but....

A shame that recycling isn't an option.

10avidmom
Sep 15, 2013, 8:22 pm

>8 Nickelini: Hysterical!!!

11avidmom
Sep 15, 2013, 8:24 pm

12RidgewayGirl
Editado: Sep 16, 2013, 2:07 am

If you think about it, for that single regrettable moment, Fifty Shades of Grey isn't a book you'd want to buy secondhand, even if you did want to read it.

Here's a review of the book, full of gifs.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215

13lilisin
Sep 16, 2013, 2:57 am

I never read Fifty Shades and I never will but that was a remarkable review! And the inclusion of gifs was brilliant.

Actually, this was my first time looking at Goodreads in a long time and it has come a long way. It's almost strange to see how different it is from LT that has stayed fairly traditional.

----

On a non book related note, a man creates a series of photographs inserting tourist knickknacks in the place of the actual tourist attraction. Quite whimsical and lovely. Put a big smile on my face.

http://blog.flickr.net/en/2013/09/13/witty-souvenirs-replace-wonders-of-the-worl...

14rebeccanyc
Sep 16, 2013, 7:34 am

I thought this was a charming article about a man who sells books outside a housing project in NYC. My favorite line was where he tells the neighborhood drug dealers:

“But when the dealers try to stand near my tables, I say, ‘Look man, I don’t bother your hustle, so don’t bother mine — you standing here is going to affect my sales,’ ” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/nyregion/maitre-d-for-the-mind.html

15rebeccanyc
Sep 16, 2013, 7:37 am

This has nothing to do with books, except that it's a book review from the NY Review of Books, but I found it unbelievably scary that jellyfish are taking over the oceans; with all the things in the world to worry about, I didn't need another one.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/sep/26/jellyfish-theyre-taking-ove...

16Mr.Durick
Sep 16, 2013, 5:05 pm

The New York Times on Peter Ackroyd, a prolific and sometimes good writer.

Robert

17Nickelini
Sep 16, 2013, 5:29 pm

#16 - thanks for that. I have love-hate feelings over Ackroyd. I keep buying his books though.

18RidgewayGirl
Sep 19, 2013, 11:41 am

So the Booker Prize is expanding to allow Americans, among others, to compete. I listened to a brief discussion on the BBC. British publishers are angry.

http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-announces-global-expansio...

19rebeccanyc
Sep 19, 2013, 3:15 pm

An article about the discovery of the real woman who wrote The Bondswoman's Narrative, from today's New York Times.

20RidgewayGirl
Editado: Sep 27, 2013, 3:00 am

I do wonder when authors say deliberately provocative things like David Gilmour does here, whether they're trying to be all special and super-intelligent (like David Franzen or V.S. Naipaul) or whether they're just grumpy old guys.

http://www.randomhouse.ca/hazlitt/blog/david-gilmour-building-strong-stomachs

And then there's the ranty but interesting rebuttal from an English professor.

http://www.dispositio.net/archives/1688

21VivienneR
Sep 27, 2013, 12:07 pm

#20 - Great choice RidgewayGirl. At the beginning I could hardly believe that Gilmour is teaching. I hope he didn't get the job based on Film Club where he taught his son through movies. Cute but pretty basic. I thought the book was relying on his name. In this case, I have to agree with the "ranty" rebuttal.

22AnnieMod
Oct 2, 2013, 7:01 pm

David Bowie's favorite books - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10347410/David-Bowie-reveals...
Some surprises in the list :)

23avidmom
Oct 2, 2013, 8:49 pm

>22 AnnieMod: Thanks for sharing that AnnieMod!

24avidmom
Oct 3, 2013, 12:10 am

25rebeccanyc
Oct 4, 2013, 7:53 am

Scientists discover that reading literary fiction makes you more empathetic, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/i-know-how-youre-feeling-i-read-chekhov.

26StevenTX
Oct 7, 2013, 11:36 pm

For those who read or are planning to read 419 by Will Ferguson, here is a 20-minute video news feature on the impact of oil on the Niger River delta in Nigeria.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2013/oct/07/niger-delta-nige...

27RidgewayGirl
Oct 8, 2013, 7:37 am

Wouldn't David Bowie fit in well here?

28wandering_star
Oct 8, 2013, 9:03 am

LOVE the review of 50 Shades... thanks for posting RidgewayGirl!

29mkboylan
Oct 8, 2013, 10:52 pm

oh brother - I hadn't seen the Help Desk!

30rebeccanyc
Oct 9, 2013, 11:05 am

Thanks for that link, Steven. Will have to check it out when I have more time.

31Mr.Durick
Oct 9, 2013, 6:02 pm

From this review we can learn a lot about Isaac Newton, but do we learn whether we might want to read the book?

Robert

32RidgewayGirl
Oct 10, 2013, 9:21 am

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2013/

I'm just so pleased about this. Her short stories are understated perfection.

33VivienneR
Oct 10, 2013, 11:43 am

Great news! Alice Munro has long been one of my favourite writers. Thanks for posting.

35mkboylan
Editado: Oct 10, 2013, 11:41 pm

I especially love that they put a bench by it. I love these little libraries. I want one, then I want to have a tag on my LT page for books put in free library.

36RidgewayGirl
Editado: Oct 12, 2013, 11:19 am

37avidmom
Oct 12, 2013, 12:07 pm

LOL!!!!

38Nickelini
Oct 12, 2013, 12:54 pm

that's hilarious

39mkboylan
Oct 12, 2013, 2:47 pm

Holy moly that is SO funny!

40mkboylan
Oct 13, 2013, 1:00 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/12/health-benefits-reading_n_4081258.html?...

Nothing you didn't know but still fun and nice references.

41VivienneR
Oct 14, 2013, 2:26 am

Although it stands to reason I hadn't heard before that reading improves depression. I imagine the subject matter is important. Good article to spread around. Thanks Merrikay.

#36, 38: i knew Nickelini would like that collection. Sparks must have a say in his book cover design.

42wandering_star
Oct 15, 2013, 8:16 pm

http://www.theguardian.com/books/interactive/2013/oct/15/booker-prize-judge-deci... - each year's Booker Prize decision explained by one of that year's judges. What I've noticed so far? Several of the judges say that the discussion process doesn't change anyone's mind about whether a book is any good or not. (Why would it, I suppose).

43RidgewayGirl
Oct 16, 2013, 3:23 am

Thanks for the link, wandering_star. Of course I turned to 2011 first thing -- I found the interview with Susan Hill disingenuous. She'd given interviews before the prize was given talking about "readability", yet here she claims it was all a misunderstanding about an off-the-cuff remark. Curious.

44timjones
Editado: Oct 19, 2013, 6:13 am

I recently interviewed the remarkable American poet Melissa Green (student and friend of Walcott and Brodsky) for my blog about her memoir The Linen Way and her poetry: http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/10/an-interview-with-melissa-green.html

45avidmom
Oct 20, 2013, 9:54 pm

I'm very apprehensive about the movie version of The Book Thief, one of my all-time favorite books, but getting "a huge standing ovation" at its world premiere seems promising. The casting of Geoffrey Rush as "Papa" is perfect, IMHO.
http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/can-20ths-under-the-radar-entry-the-book-thief-s...

46NanaCC
Oct 20, 2013, 10:58 pm

>45 avidmom: I loved that book. I really hope that the movie stays true to the story.

47Mr.Durick
Oct 21, 2013, 1:24 am

The trailer has held my interest.

Robert

49rebeccanyc
Oct 24, 2013, 8:32 am

An article in the New York Times about an online Emily Dickinson archive and what it reveals.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/books/enigmatic-dickinson-revealed-online.html

50Nickelini
Oct 26, 2013, 5:36 pm

"How Amazon and Goodreads could lose their best readers" here: http://www.salon.com/2013/10/23/how_amazon_and_goodreads_could_lose_their_best_r...

51ljbwell
Oct 27, 2013, 11:30 am

>45 avidmom: - the initial trailer didn't have Death in it at all, which made me even more dubious. I later read assurances that Death would most certainly be in it. Fingers crossed they do it justice.

On a bizarre note, I bring you:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/books/a-library-of-classics-edited-for-the-tee...

I thought The NYT had been the victim of picking up an article from somewhere like The Onion, but a look at amazon.com, and, well, no, it's for real. Wuthering Heights becomes a 'weather primer' in board book form? Moby Dick diluted into 'an ocean primer'? Lovely graphic design, but really??? (My sarcastic comment re: Romeo & Juliet as a counting primer - a count from 2 to 1 at the end must raise some awkward issues).

52avidmom
Oct 29, 2013, 6:43 pm

I love what he says about books being a great invention and aesthetically pleasing :)

http://www.theartsdesk.com/books/10-questions-alexander-mccall-smith?page=0,0