Giersbach, Walter. "Gothc Revival." Bewilderingstories.com
Submitted by R. Stuhr
Writer and contributer to the Book Review blog Walter Giersbach '61 recently published a piece of online short fiction at Bewilderingstories.com. Giersbach writes that his story, "Gothic Revival," began as half-hour exercise and "continued into seeing beauty in the grotesque and the grotesque in beauty." Read this from start to finish--and in that order.
Giersbach has also published other stories at Bewilderingstories.com including, "Cable Window," "Number 11," "Laura Lard Takes No Prisoners," and "The Iceberg." To read more about Walter Giersbach '61, visit his blog, Allotropic Lucubrations and check out his reviews in this blog.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Macbeth and Race: a New Publication by Scott Newstok '95
Newstok, Scott and Ayanna Thompson, editors. Weyward Macbeth: Intersections of Race and Performance. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
Submitted By R. Stuhr
Essays in this book takes an interdisciplinary look at the ways Shakespeare's Macbeth has been interpreted in American drama, poetry, film, music, history, politics, acting, and directing.
Soon to be available at the Grinnell College Libraries
Other books by Scott Newstok '95
Kenneth Burke on Shakespeare. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2007
Burling 3rd Floor PR2976 .B79 2007
Quoting Death in Early Modern England: The Poetics of Epitaphs Beyond the Tomb. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009
Burling 3rd Floor PR428.D4 N49 2009
Submitted By R. Stuhr
Essays in this book takes an interdisciplinary look at the ways Shakespeare's Macbeth has been interpreted in American drama, poetry, film, music, history, politics, acting, and directing.
Soon to be available at the Grinnell College Libraries
Other books by Scott Newstok '95
Kenneth Burke on Shakespeare. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2007
Burling 3rd Floor PR2976 .B79 2007
Quoting Death in Early Modern England: The Poetics of Epitaphs Beyond the Tomb. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009
Burling 3rd Floor PR428.D4 N49 2009
Asia Wheeling packs books for their ten month tour of Asia by plane, train, and bicycle
Friends of Grinnell College may know AsiaWheeling co-founder Woody Schneider, or at least his father, Mark Schneider (Physics Department). Woody departed on Monday, January 4 with co-founder Scott Norton--first stop Indonesia. For information about their ten month long itinerary as well as a full list of what they are taking along, visit their blog (linked above). Some of their support team--stationed through out greater Asia, may also be familiar to Grinnellians. They include Malaysia Bureau Chief Smita Sharma, a recent and much missed graduate, Laos Bureau Chief Stewart Motta, and Siberian Bureau Chief Helen Stuhr-Rommereim (both, like Woody, connected to the college through their parents); Grinnell faculty member David Campbell is also a consultant for AsiaWheeling.
Scott recently sent out a post listing the books they were taking along, and what could be more appropriate than posting these here at the Book Review site? So, if you are planning a ten month trip primarily by bicycle what books would you take with you?
Woody is taking:
Nick Danziger’s Danziger’s Travels: Beyond Forbidden Frontiers. New York: Vintage Books, 1987
Micheal Chabon’s Gentleman of the Road. New York: Ballentine Books, 2007
Burling Library First Floor/Smith Memorial PS3553.H15 G46 2007
Scott is taking:
Edward W. Said's Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1994
Burling First Floor DS12 .S24 2003
David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries. New York: Viking, 2009
Burling Library First Floor/Smith Memorial GV1044 .B97 2009
Niall Ferguson's The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000
Burling 2nd Floor HJ235 .F47 2001
Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson's Central Asia Phrasebook. Hawthorne, Vic: Lonely Planet, 1998.
Luxe Travel Guides for Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Laos & Cambodia, Phuket
Bon Voyage and Safe Travels Woody and Scott
Submtted by Rebecca Stuhr
Scott recently sent out a post listing the books they were taking along, and what could be more appropriate than posting these here at the Book Review site? So, if you are planning a ten month trip primarily by bicycle what books would you take with you?
Woody is taking:
Nick Danziger’s Danziger’s Travels: Beyond Forbidden Frontiers. New York: Vintage Books, 1987
Micheal Chabon’s Gentleman of the Road. New York: Ballentine Books, 2007
Burling Library First Floor/Smith Memorial PS3553.H15 G46 2007
Scott is taking:
Edward W. Said's Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1994
Burling First Floor DS12 .S24 2003
David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries. New York: Viking, 2009
Burling Library First Floor/Smith Memorial GV1044 .B97 2009
Niall Ferguson's The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000
Burling 2nd Floor HJ235 .F47 2001
Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson's Central Asia Phrasebook. Hawthorne, Vic: Lonely Planet, 1998.
Luxe Travel Guides for Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Laos & Cambodia, Phuket
Bon Voyage and Safe Travels Woody and Scott
Submtted by Rebecca Stuhr
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Martin Stuhr-Rommereim read over the Winter Break ...
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic Press, 2009.
Martin couldn't put down this sequal to Collins' Hunger Games (2008), a novel which Martin also highly recomends. The heroine and hero of the first novel, after surviving their society's brutal ritual ordeal, find that they have consequences to face as their story continues in Catching Fire.
Kim, Yong. The Long Road Home: Testimony of a North Korean Camp Survivor. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. The title is descriptive. Kim tells the story of his life, the events leading to his imprisonment, and his escape.
Burling 2nd Floor HV9815.6 .K56 2009 .
Martin couldn't put down this sequal to Collins' Hunger Games (2008), a novel which Martin also highly recomends. The heroine and hero of the first novel, after surviving their society's brutal ritual ordeal, find that they have consequences to face as their story continues in Catching Fire.
Kim, Yong. The Long Road Home: Testimony of a North Korean Camp Survivor. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. The title is descriptive. Kim tells the story of his life, the events leading to his imprisonment, and his escape.
Burling 2nd Floor HV9815.6 .K56 2009 .
Sister Pelagia and the Black Monk
Akunin, Boris. Sister Pelagia and the Black Monk. New York: Random House, 2008.
Submitted by Mark Schneider
I greatly enjoyed Boris Akunin's second novel in the Sister Pelagia
trilogy: Sister Pelagia and the Black Monk. Set roughly a century and
a half ago in Russia, the not-your-average nun Sister Pelagia, who has
a penchant for solving mysteries, takes on the task of unraveling the
peculiar deaths and hauntings at the remote monastery at New Ararat.
Sister Pelagia does so without the blessings of Bishop Mitrofanii, but
only after several other investigators sent by the bishop have died or
gone mad at the hands of the spectral Black Monk, and after the Bishop
himself has collapsed from shock and grief at the unfolding
catastrophe. Sister Pelagia risks her life and excommunication to
find out whether the culprit is evil spirit, criminal mastermind, or
madman. If you like mystery writers such as Tony Hillerman or Randy
Wayne White, where the novel is as much about culture and history as
figuring out whodunit, you'll love Akunin's novels, and the Black Monk
is probably my favorite among them.
The Grinnell College Libraries are well stocked with books by Boris Akunin (Akunin, B. (Boris)), but all but one are in Russian. The one is The Winter Queen. Burling 3rd Floor PG3478.K78 A9713 2003.
Submitted by Mark Schneider
I greatly enjoyed Boris Akunin's second novel in the Sister Pelagia
trilogy: Sister Pelagia and the Black Monk. Set roughly a century and
a half ago in Russia, the not-your-average nun Sister Pelagia, who has
a penchant for solving mysteries, takes on the task of unraveling the
peculiar deaths and hauntings at the remote monastery at New Ararat.
Sister Pelagia does so without the blessings of Bishop Mitrofanii, but
only after several other investigators sent by the bishop have died or
gone mad at the hands of the spectral Black Monk, and after the Bishop
himself has collapsed from shock and grief at the unfolding
catastrophe. Sister Pelagia risks her life and excommunication to
find out whether the culprit is evil spirit, criminal mastermind, or
madman. If you like mystery writers such as Tony Hillerman or Randy
Wayne White, where the novel is as much about culture and history as
figuring out whodunit, you'll love Akunin's novels, and the Black Monk
is probably my favorite among them.
The Grinnell College Libraries are well stocked with books by Boris Akunin (Akunin, B. (Boris)), but all but one are in Russian. The one is The Winter Queen. Burling 3rd Floor PG3478.K78 A9713 2003.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
The Writer as Migrant
Jin, Ha. The Writer as Migrant. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
R. Stuhr
In three essays, Ha Jin explores the fate and blessings of the immigrant writer. In "The Spokesman and the Tribe," Ha Jin recounts his early conviction, that through his poetry, he could speak for the people he left behind in China. Because he has left behind his compatriots he can not truly represent them. Perhaps, through the work that is the result of his talent and creativity, he may find his way back to his country. Ha Jin looks at the experiences and creative work of Solzhenitsyn and Lin Yutang to make his point. Solzhenitsyn and Lin Yutang left their countries as respected and honored writers, and attempted to represent their countries abroad. But, Ha Jin writes, [e]ven the most socially conscious writers like Solzhenitsyn and Lin Yutang could be accepted by their peoples only on the grounds that they had written lasting literary works. Their social function in their lifetimes have been largely forgotten...a writer's first responsibility is to write well" (28). Ha Jin emphasizes that writers should chronicle and shape history, should take a moral stand and speak out against injustice, but only through their art. The "battlefield" is on the page.
In hise second essay, "The Language of Betrayal," Ha Jin looks at the writings of Polish writer in exile, Joseph Conrad, and multilingual, Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov. Although Nabokov first wrote in Russian, much of what he wrote is in English. Conrad wrote only in English. Ha Jin considers the necessity of writing in the language of exile and what the writer gains and loses through this necessity. Conrad was first rejected and then much later embraced by the writers in his native country. He was repeatedly asked to justify his choice of language. Ha Jin finds that though Conrad suffered because of his choice to write in English, he opened the doors for many exiled and immigrant writers to choose to write in the language of their adopted countries. Ha Jin also finds that writers such as Conrad and Nabokov bring something new to the language though their lack of familiarity with idiom and conversational style may also hamper them. Ha Jin admires Conrad's intensely poetic prose and Nabokov's use of humor in his prose. Although some of have said that it is impossible to write humorously in an adopted language, Nabokov, writes Ha Jin, seemed "as if he . . . squinted at the words he inscribed on paper to see what extra pleasure he could extract from them. He seized every opportunity to turn self-consciousness into delightful art" (51). Ha Jin urges writers in exile to find their place in their adopted language even if what they write cannot be translated into their native language. Writers may choose loyalty to their art over loyalty to their native language.
Finally, in his third essay, Ha Jin considers whether the expatriot can ever return home again; whether a writer, once exiled, can in fact ever have a true home. Looking at the works of authors such as Kundera, Cafavy, Naipaul, Rølvaag, and Sebald, Ha Jin again emphasizes the importance of language, the loss of fluency, the changes that make the once familiar unrecognizable. While one must maintain, and possibly cannot avoid maintaining the past as part of one's identity as an individual and as a writer and artist, "homeland" may not be the writer's country of origin, but instead be where the writers makes a home.
Burling Library 1st Floor, Smith Memorial PS 3560.I6 Z46 2008.
Other works by novelist, poet, and short story writer, Ha Jin including Between Silences: A Voice from China, Waiting, and A Free Life.
R. Stuhr
In three essays, Ha Jin explores the fate and blessings of the immigrant writer. In "The Spokesman and the Tribe," Ha Jin recounts his early conviction, that through his poetry, he could speak for the people he left behind in China. Because he has left behind his compatriots he can not truly represent them. Perhaps, through the work that is the result of his talent and creativity, he may find his way back to his country. Ha Jin looks at the experiences and creative work of Solzhenitsyn and Lin Yutang to make his point. Solzhenitsyn and Lin Yutang left their countries as respected and honored writers, and attempted to represent their countries abroad. But, Ha Jin writes, [e]ven the most socially conscious writers like Solzhenitsyn and Lin Yutang could be accepted by their peoples only on the grounds that they had written lasting literary works. Their social function in their lifetimes have been largely forgotten...a writer's first responsibility is to write well" (28). Ha Jin emphasizes that writers should chronicle and shape history, should take a moral stand and speak out against injustice, but only through their art. The "battlefield" is on the page.
In hise second essay, "The Language of Betrayal," Ha Jin looks at the writings of Polish writer in exile, Joseph Conrad, and multilingual, Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov. Although Nabokov first wrote in Russian, much of what he wrote is in English. Conrad wrote only in English. Ha Jin considers the necessity of writing in the language of exile and what the writer gains and loses through this necessity. Conrad was first rejected and then much later embraced by the writers in his native country. He was repeatedly asked to justify his choice of language. Ha Jin finds that though Conrad suffered because of his choice to write in English, he opened the doors for many exiled and immigrant writers to choose to write in the language of their adopted countries. Ha Jin also finds that writers such as Conrad and Nabokov bring something new to the language though their lack of familiarity with idiom and conversational style may also hamper them. Ha Jin admires Conrad's intensely poetic prose and Nabokov's use of humor in his prose. Although some of have said that it is impossible to write humorously in an adopted language, Nabokov, writes Ha Jin, seemed "as if he . . . squinted at the words he inscribed on paper to see what extra pleasure he could extract from them. He seized every opportunity to turn self-consciousness into delightful art" (51). Ha Jin urges writers in exile to find their place in their adopted language even if what they write cannot be translated into their native language. Writers may choose loyalty to their art over loyalty to their native language.
Finally, in his third essay, Ha Jin considers whether the expatriot can ever return home again; whether a writer, once exiled, can in fact ever have a true home. Looking at the works of authors such as Kundera, Cafavy, Naipaul, Rølvaag, and Sebald, Ha Jin again emphasizes the importance of language, the loss of fluency, the changes that make the once familiar unrecognizable. While one must maintain, and possibly cannot avoid maintaining the past as part of one's identity as an individual and as a writer and artist, "homeland" may not be the writer's country of origin, but instead be where the writers makes a home.
Burling Library 1st Floor, Smith Memorial PS 3560.I6 Z46 2008.
Other works by novelist, poet, and short story writer, Ha Jin including Between Silences: A Voice from China, Waiting, and A Free Life.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Ring out the new year? or greet it respectfully with the first rays of light
Simon Winchester writes about his regret over the slow spread of Celtic New Year's madness across the globe in his Wall Street Journal article, "The Case Against the New Year."
He blames this spread on clocks, Scots, and poets, namely, Burns and Tennyson. Whether we have Burns and Tennyson to blame for drinking too much and eating the wrong kinds of food on New Year's Eve, these poems are still worth reading today. Being a sentimental person living far away from family, I like to sing "Auld Lang Syne" (and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for that matter) and shed some tears as I tak a cup o' kindness.
Tennyson mourns the death of his friends and imagines a new year that can do away with "ancient forms of party strife" and bring in "sweeter manners, and purer laws," "false pride in place and blood," and "narrowing lust of gold," and that may bring "a thousand years of peace." I don't think that there are many of us who wouldn't wish these same things.
I never thought that a Wall Street Journal article would lead me to poetry, so, maybe we can imagine some of these seeming impossibilities.
Burns's "Auld Lang Syne"
And for auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne,
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' auld lang syne.
And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
We twa hae run about the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn,
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right guid willy waught,
For auld lang syne.
And Tennyson's "Ring Out, Wild Bells" from his In Memoriam
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night--
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new--,
Ring happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land--
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
submitted by Rebecca Stuhr
Find Robert Burns and Alfred Lord Tennyson at Burling Library
He blames this spread on clocks, Scots, and poets, namely, Burns and Tennyson. Whether we have Burns and Tennyson to blame for drinking too much and eating the wrong kinds of food on New Year's Eve, these poems are still worth reading today. Being a sentimental person living far away from family, I like to sing "Auld Lang Syne" (and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for that matter) and shed some tears as I tak a cup o' kindness.
Tennyson mourns the death of his friends and imagines a new year that can do away with "ancient forms of party strife" and bring in "sweeter manners, and purer laws," "false pride in place and blood," and "narrowing lust of gold," and that may bring "a thousand years of peace." I don't think that there are many of us who wouldn't wish these same things.
I never thought that a Wall Street Journal article would lead me to poetry, so, maybe we can imagine some of these seeming impossibilities.
Burns's "Auld Lang Syne"
And for auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne,
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' auld lang syne.
And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
We twa hae run about the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn,
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right guid willy waught,
For auld lang syne.
And Tennyson's "Ring Out, Wild Bells" from his In Memoriam
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night--
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new--,
Ring happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land--
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
submitted by Rebecca Stuhr
Find Robert Burns and Alfred Lord Tennyson at Burling Library
Friday, December 25, 2009
The e-book, the e-reader, and the future of reading
The Christian Science Monitor presents a few perspectives on reading with e-readers.
The e-book, the e-reader, and the future of reading by Matthew Shaer
Do we really want to curl up with an e-book? by CSM editor, John Yemma
The second link is to an editorial, a circumspect, the first explores some of the pros and cons, but concludes with:
The e-book, the e-reader, and the future of reading by Matthew Shaer
Do we really want to curl up with an e-book? by CSM editor, John Yemma
The second link is to an editorial, a circumspect, the first explores some of the pros and cons, but concludes with:
"Even the most dedicated futurists agree that the adoption of e-reading will follow a slow curve, expanding outward from a cadre of early adopters to the public at large.
“I think we’re in the very early stages of assembling a tool kit that will enable a tremendous amount of experimentation,” says Mike Shatzkin, CEO of The Idea Logical Company, a consulting firm. “It will be many years before we figure out what the new book forms will be and what impact they’ll have on the way people think and behave.”
In the meantime, readers may inhabit a happy middle ground"
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Shoveling Snow With Buddha - A poem by Billy Collins - American Poems
Shoveling Snow With Buddha - A poem by Billy Collins - American Poems
click on the link and enjoy this poem from Billy Collins' book of poetry:
Collins, Billy. Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems. New York: Random House, 2001.
Burling 3rd Floor PS3553.O47478 S25 2001
To enjoy more poetry by Collins: http://cat.lib.grinnell.edu/search/a?SEARCH=collins+billy&sortdropdown=-
click on the link and enjoy this poem from Billy Collins' book of poetry:
Collins, Billy. Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems. New York: Random House, 2001.
Burling 3rd Floor PS3553.O47478 S25 2001
To enjoy more poetry by Collins: http://cat.lib.grinnell.edu/search/a?SEARCH=collins+billy&sortdropdown=-
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The Artemis Fowl Series
Eoin Colfer. The Artemis Fowl Series
Beth Bohstedt, Access Services Manager at Grinnell College Libraries is reading and recommends the Artemis Fowl Series.
The Seventh Dwarf (book 0 in the series, published for World Book Day) 2004
Artemis Fowl 2001
The Arctic Incident 2002
The Eternity Code 2003
Opal Deception 2005
The Lost Colony 2006
The Time Paradox 2008
The Atlantis Complex 2010
For more about Eoin Colfer and his books, go to Fantastic Fiction or Literature Resource Center
Beth Bohstedt, Access Services Manager at Grinnell College Libraries is reading and recommends the Artemis Fowl Series.
The Seventh Dwarf (book 0 in the series, published for World Book Day) 2004
Artemis Fowl 2001
The Arctic Incident 2002
The Eternity Code 2003
Opal Deception 2005
The Lost Colony 2006
The Time Paradox 2008
The Atlantis Complex 2010
For more about Eoin Colfer and his books, go to Fantastic Fiction or Literature Resource Center
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