Book Talk

[dotinthesky]

I've come up with a game that involves history books. The rules are as follow:

1) Pick a non-fiction book to read, preferably about a person or period centuries ago. (If you want a real challenge, start with the Egyptians.) In my case, I picked Bill Bryson's brilliant biography of Shakespeare.

2) After you've read it, find a way to move chronologically forward in world history through a subject raised somewhere in the book. I chose King James of Scotland since he came into power halfway through Shakespeare's life.

3) Keep doing this until you reach present day.

After King James I, I was re-directed to the Americas, the colony of Jamestown, John Smith and Pocahontas (the first modern celebrity, in my opinion). My next book will be on the first African slaves brought to the east coast colonies.

The Guardian's most recent books podcast is on the future of Science Fiction. They mentioned how Ursula K. Le Guin had a problem reviewing Margaret Atwood's most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, because Atwood refuses to label her distopian fiction "science fiction" (she calls it instead "speculative fiction".) Something to do, it seems, with Atwood's fear of being shoved into the sci-fi ghetto. I love both Le Guin and Atwood and hope they don't get into any Dynasty-style cat fights that might lead to a balcony fall.

One of the podcast's speakers predicted that 2010 will be the year Paranormal Romance novels like Twilight lose their popularity to Epic Fantasy (thank god.) HBO is currently filming a series based on George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels, which made me think Avatar's style and success truly is the face of what's to come. The Guardian's Saturday Review also had a small article on Avatar and a recent accusation of plagiarism aimed at it from Russian sci-fi writers. But, the article said, the person with the biggest claim against Cameron is Ursula K. Le Guin (there she is again), whose novel The Word for World Is Forest is uncannily similar to the film. I hear an echo from the time reviewers said Le Guin should take J.K. Rowling to the courts for lifting so much stuff from her Earthsea novels.

Today, I'm finishing off Stephen King's latest novel Under the Dome, meeting a friend at the Museum of Childhood and then going for a swim which will hopefully fix my back.

Comments

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

Here is some evidence that Avatar was plagiarised...
(Not that I care, I thought it was superb anyway.)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed it too. It was like a great fantasy page-turner brought to the big screen - the kind that doesn't have any literary pretentions but is nevertheless a treat to read.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I just followed your link... that's so sad. Pocahontas never had anything with John Smith in reality - she was about 8 or something when he met her and when she was older she married one of the colonists that worked with him. Yes they were friends, and she saved his life twice, but that's about it. I haven't seen the Disney film so cant' comment on that, but I'm going to take a guess that Cameron's version is a million times superior.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Thank you - it seems to have relieved the tension somewhat! I hope you all had a good time! Did you go dancing afterwards?

[millionreasons.livejournal.com]

You could conceivably do the game with fiction too: read a book published in 1929, then one in 1930, '31 etc etc.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Yes, or read one set in the past - Tudor England for example in Wolf Hall - then move forward through other novels set in progressive time periods. The fun is endless! :-P

[izzybees]

There is a Museum of Childhood in London, too? I went to the one in Edinburgh, which is thoroughly creepy.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

This one has its creepy bits - especially the old Victorian dolls - but it's mostly just fun and ohhh-tastic. Plus, there are lots of freeby toys to play with. My friend had her two-year-old with her and we had lots of fun with him.

[sallypointzero.livejournal.com]

Aww---*pines to play*
--at the risk of sacriledge ---* i'm not reading fiction any more* : 6

i've GOT to learn so much information about computers and the art BUsiness and website design, css........

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Well that's OK cause the game is with non-fiction! Get ready... set... go!

[blu-bear.livejournal.com]

I think all the 'J. k. Rowling stole from Ursula LeGuin' stuff is nonsense. There have been many writers who have written similar stories as other writers repeatedly throughout history, and probably many stories about young children with magical abilities. It's the way Rowling wrote her books that made her so famous. She simply wrote them in a brilliant way that captured the heart of most of the world, whereas LeGuin wrote differently.

How many times has Romeo and Juliet be written throughout history? Probably thousands, and no one complains about that.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Oh I agree! That stirring is the sort of things critics like to do in the hopes of getting a bit of drama out of it.

[idioticpoet.livejournal.com]

that's a neat idea.