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Feeling Alienated and Crushed by Blind Authority
Not me, I hasten to add. I’m talking about the works of the renowned Franz Kafka, one of the 20th century’s greatest writers. To have your name turned into an adjective – now that’s an achievement! (Of course, if you’re a bad actor, it can also work the opposite way.) I’ve been re-reading a book Read more
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Happy Easter
Hager Books window display (2176 West 41st Ave., Kerrisdale, Vancouver, Canada) To all my readers and fans, have a wonderful Easter celebration! Read more
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Story Ideas I Didn’t Pursue to the Bitter End
I’ve long been a fan of the great 20th century English novelist/playwright/essayist, Somerset Maugham, especially his short stories, most of which I’ve managed to read thanks to a Penguin edition of his collected works (one of the few that’s not managed to survive our many moves). For my first public-speaking effort in junior high school, Read more
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Portal Fantasy 2 – Alice vs. Jules
In my last post I wrote about portal fantasy, specifically the two famous works of Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I concluded that Carroll was likely the first author to employ the use of portal fantasy in modern literature (a period I consider to be post-1800). Many came afterwards, of Read more
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Portal Fantasy 1 – Was Alice the First?
I recently came across a compilation of the 100 best fantasy books of all time, assembled by a panel of contemporary fantasy authors for Time magazine. It’s a tremendous compendium, the books listed in chronological order, starting with The Arabian Nights (9th century) and ending with Woven in Moonlight by the American/Bolivian writer, Isabel Ibañez Read more
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Cartoons
The other day I was discussing cartoons with my ten-year old grandson. To my surprise, he told me his favorite cartoons are from The Far Side series, especially the one where Col. Sanders reaches Heaven, only to discover that God is not what/who he expected: I’m delighted to discover that he and I share such Read more
