BOOKS – WRITING – HUMOR – ABSURD
#takeaway keys from the book “BECOMING a WRITER” by Dorothea Brande (first published in 1934, currently republished) Dorothea Brande was teaching a creative writing course. Her focus was: a) the imaginative power of the writer’s mind; b) the belief that “genius can be taught.” John Gardner wrote a foreword for this book. I used his humorous phrase as the title for this post. PART I #1 The Four Difficulties No...
/absurdist comedy/ Day 6 The Terrace The last suspect on my list was the glorious Mrs. Vegas, but I decided to let things slide because: a) I found my real Sobekneferu-queen, b) my job as a private investigator was done, and c) I had to rush back to secure my money. I went to inspect the stone mentioned by Arcadio because I promised myself to check each clue before announcing...
We need criminals. Before you grab a fistful of rocks to haul at me, hear me out first. I’m not one and have never willingly partaken in crime… (Well, apart from that one time as a little kid, when mum caught me stealing some ice cream from the refrigerator). Why fridge doors choose to creak so loudly at night, I’ll never quite understand. Might as well use a loudspeaker while...
Today’s post is about Chaim Potok’s book, The Chosen, which I consider an excellent read as well as great studying material – for all of us: writers, booklovers, nerdy teenagers, religious folks, even conscious non-believers. I have to admit, I fell in love with this novel when I read an introduction by Shalom Auslander, where he said (the very first words before you open chapter 1): Dear God, I hated...
/absurdist comedy/ Day 5 The Investigation I wanted to bang my head against the door, then growl till I was blue in the face, as I often did in my grandma’s house. I remember she said to the neighbors it was a healthy sign in a growing wee boy. Our neighbors prophesied me a great criminal future — the death on the desolate Fleur Moor or in a Mind Disorder...
You can be too rich and too thin, but you can never be too well read or too curious about the world. Tim Gunn Three books from the past. Or goodbye, February: Let’s start with the largest book on the list – Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea, and The Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith. Are you aware that the octopus is the closest alien you can meet on...
/absurdist comedy/ Day 4 The Crime I was still clutching my favorite pillow between my legs when I got the feeling that something was wrong. The sense of the air being displaced, the excitement in my nerve endings, the wander of breathing in a solid mass of danger, the sound of thunder and lightning — all that had passed through me, surprising in its spontaneity. I didn’t want to believe I...
Sharing my interview, posted on Literary Titan. 1. The Pearl Territory follows the survivors of the Earth that seek a life outside their restrictive colony and may find it on an enigmatic planet. What was the inspiration for the setup of this compelling novel? I would prefer to call them the chosen survivors because most of them (advanced and primitive) left the Earth before the gamma-ray hit it. Their escape...