American Literary Tourism

"We should question the authenticity of exotic locales that have been tailored to suit American appetites.” …

“Americans are famously reluctant when it comes to reading literature in translation. Only 3% of the books published annually in the United States are translations."…

"While contemporary books may take us to distant places, most of those available are written in English, and penned by writers who live in the English-speaking world. Americans don’t want to be readers of world literature. They want to be literary tourists.”

“This trend has less to do with language than it does with writers’ amenability to act as a tour guide for American readers as they traverse cultural divides. … It’s typically assumed that the reader lacks prior knowledge, so guidebook-like hand-holding is built into the form and narrative of the story.”

“English language writers … treat readers as strangers in a strange land, and the result is world literature that starts to feel like tourism.”

“Slang, jargon, and non-English words must be cushioned in context or explained outright. Descriptions of the setting resemble stage directions, just concrete enough for readers to get their bearings.”

From: policymic.com

How do you know that you are a writer?

"Do you ever find yourself in the middle of a conversation when it suddenly feels like you’re floating above yourself, watching the whole thing unfold? Has that resulted in an awkward pause, as your interlocutor becomes increasingly irate at your obvious lack of attention or respect for what they have to say? Maybe you’ve failed to be entirely in the moment, even in intimate situations, because you’re thinking to yourself, “This is it!” How am I going to describe this later!?” Believe me, this can backfire very quickly. Having a deep and consistent appreciation for the process of life — even when it tosses you around — and a desire to accurately portray that process in language is a sign that writing is the creative outlet for you."

5 more telltale signs that you are a writer, from: policymic.com

Writers are born, not made

“The world goes on creating newer things. Literature is a creation, not theory. The law of nature is to create new things. To neglect creation is to go against nature. In literature a writer goes with an experiment in thought, subject, language, style and so on. Every creator should create new things in a way understandable to the readers whose nature of perceiving things and level of cognition changes in accordance with several social facets. Every creative change brings happiness to man."

"Literature is an endeavour of searching the space of sentiment and feeling. The feeling and sentiment connects one person with another. Science and technology can never and in no age can ignore the feeling and sensibility of the creator. The heartless science and technology can never challenge this truth of a creation."

Some people may argue that literary creation as an outcome of continual endeavour. Creation is essentially an outcome of inherent ingenuity. The living creation cannot be created by an endeavour. Inherent ingenuity is the must. A writer is born not made."

From: mediaforfreedom.com

Reading immunizes against depression

As kids and teenages go back to school, depression linked to change of environment and new challenges might kick in. Putting on headphones and locking yourself in a cocoon won't help. Reading might:

"Teenagers who devote more time to reading books are far less likely to suffer from depression than their peers who listen to music."

..."researchers recognise[d] large association between exposure to music and depression", and "that reading was associated with less likelihood of depression. This is worth emphasising because overall in the US, reading books is decreasing, while nearly all other forms of media use are increasing".

More: http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?newsid=236001&catname=Health



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Literature creates better leaders

"Literature gives students a much more realistic view of what’s involved in leading” than many business books on leadership... Literature lets you see leaders and others from the inside. You share the sense of what they’re thinking and feeling. In real life, you’re usually at some distance and things are prepared, polished. With literature, you can see the whole messy collection of things that happen inside our heads.”

"Students ... react to characters in the book as if they’re real people. There’s a much deeper engagement in the actual material. It’s not about whether the debits and credits add up. They’re making comments about who they are and what they care about, and how they feel about the world that differs from their fellow students. It also reflects the student’s own character and judgment.”

"Reading literature, and discussing complex issues with others, “teaches that people who are intelligent can see things differently ... and this happens in organizations, too; you need to be open and listen to these differences.” Leaders have to recognize their biases and blind spots."

From: http://www.google.com/gwt/x?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.google.com%2Fnews%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26fd%3DR%26usg%3DAFQjCNFMHiqGOcK_xFliMteOk3Xa2KII6A%26url%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fnews.harvard.edu%2Fgazette%2Fstory%2F2013%2F08%2Ftruth-in-fiction%2F



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Agents of Change, WikiJustice, The Black Vault, and The Fifth Internationale.
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Literature irrigates the desert of life

"Literature adds to reality, enriches necessary competences that daily life provides and it irrigates the deserts that our life has already become.

...the importance of reading should not be abandoned. Reading novels, magazines and other literary work gives you a broader perspective of viewing things, improves skill, instills knowledge and makes you aware of different facets of life. Reading is a tonic for enhancing your creativity, resounding motivation and the finest form of information base. It lays the foundation of an enriched life and adds ‘life’ to the ‘living'".

From: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-letter-display.asp?xfile=data/letters/2013/August/letters_August66.xml&section=letters



Books by SpyWriter Jack King:
Agents of Change, WikiJustice, The Black Vault, and The Fifth Internationale.
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Literature has responsibilities

"Literature has the responsibility of showing the disease of the society to the society."

"A writer imagines the pain and sufferings of others as his own and experiences them while writing."

"Writings do not end just on paper.  Besides beauty, the writings should search for truth.  It is only when an author opens all his five senses, will he be able to touch the pain in the society.  Literature should revolutionize and awaken those who are in slumber." 

"An author should be able to keep his pain and sufferings aside and touch the pulse of the society by realizing his responsibility."

More: http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=183894



Books by SpyWriter Jack King:
Agents of Change, WikiJustice, The Black Vault, and The Fifth Internationale.
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Judge books, not authors

“A text must be something that can be read and evaluated without reference to the existence or otherwise of a person whose name and surname appear on the cover.” Because the author, “after writing a book, is no longer the same as he was before, and therefore is no longer the author of that book". “I believe that this ought not to be the exception but the rule, if literature really was a serious experience.” 

Rather than the study of individuals, the critic should study works or collectives: “I am more and more convinced that literature is made up of works, genres, schools, discussions, problems, collective work in order to solve certain problems, and not of the individual personalities of authors. Of course authors exist and are necessary, but the study of literature author by author seems to me to be less and less the right way forward."

-Italo Calvino



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Literature: a collective mind

As "changes among nations occur with the advent of time ... literature is the best medium to interpret these changes. It inculcates changes in our lives imperceptibility."

“After reading a masterpiece of literature, apparently we remain the same but we are inwardly changed and this is the fundamental function of literature".

"Literature is a reflection of collective mind of any nation."

From: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013%5C08%5C04%5Cstory_4-8-2013_pg7_9



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On the woes that have befallen our country

On the "woes that have befallen our country on the social, legal, moral and even political arenas, and the role of literature in creating awareness and helping curb these evils and misdeeds":

"That the eacher is the dispenser of morality in society is undisputed. Literature teachers are expected, through poetry, novels, short stories and oral literature, to inculcate positive morality into young minds. It is these youngsters that later grow into entrepreneurs, politicians, teachers and other members of society."

Sadly, "We teachers no longer indulge learners in the journey of discovery of the intricacies of literature. Instead we take a short cut by relying on guide books and concentrating on the completion of the syllabus. The best the learners can do is to regurgitate what has been passed down to them. We are doing the nation a disservice."

"I believe morality cannot be attained through legal restrictions but through the inculcation of moral consciousness in individuals, which leads to social responsibility."

From: http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/weekend/Failure-in-society-can-be-traced-back-to-the-literature-teacher/-/1220/1935282/-/uf2703z/-/index.html



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Readers vs Non-Readers

"The world is divided between readers and non-readers – and the difference between the two is enormous and unbridgeable.

Readers absorb; non-readers broadcast.

Readers know stuff; non-readers are running on empty.

Readers are curious; non-readers aren't.

Readers are obsessed with the world beyond themselves; non-readers are self-obsessed.

Reading, like any addiction, has its problems. Once you discover that the best books are better company than most people, you can lose patience with the company of most people. To be caught without a book or a paper in a queue, at an airport or on a train, is extreme agony.The cure for the addiction, though, is easy – always have a book or paper on you; and do your best to minimise your time in the company of boring people – themselves almost always non-readers."

From: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/harrymount/100070190/the-world-is-divided-between-interesting-readers-and-boring-non-readers/



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Serious Writers Read

"A lot of people want to improve their writing skills, both professionally and personally. In order to achieve that, a key ingredient is often ignored: Reading.

Generally, there are two things that writers recommend to others who want to improve: more writing, and reading.

More writing is an obvious one, since practice makes perfect. But writing in a vacuum won't do us much good. Reading exposes us to other styles, other voices, other forms, and other genres of writing. Importantly, it exposes us to writing that's better than our own and helps us to improve.

Since reading is something we learn to do when we first start school, it's easy to think we've got it sorted out and we don't need to work on this skill anymore. Or, that we don't need to exercise our reading muscles anymore."

Let's take a look at five unconventional ways to become better writers by changing the way we read":

http://www.lifehacker.co.in/life/Become-a-Better-Writer-by-Learning-to-Be-a-Skilled-Reader-First/articleshow/21123846.cms



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Writing Sheds Light on Mental Illness

"I have often analyzed how mental illness can be tracked, discovered, and understood through the written word. Let’s take a break from science and take a look at literature. The analysis of writings opens a door to explore alternative methods of understanding individuals suffering from manic-depressive disorder.

"Through a thorough examination of writings, we can look at specific mental states of individuals, which in turn may inform those looking for answers, or symptoms of bipolar minds, which often times get NOS (Not Otherwise Specified) as a diagnosis.  The medical field continues to evolve in their understanding of the intricate, often mysterious behaviors of manic-depressive individuals.  A look at reoccurring themes and stylistic techniques may reveal affected writers share a commonality in their writings.  An exploration of the works may help find a way for society to better understand individuals suffering from mental disease, and discover those not yet diagnosed with manic-depression.

"Throughout history there have been writers and poets that suffer from manic depression.  If we take a close look at the writings of these renowned writers we find a link to mental illness and the English language. An examination of their stylistic techniques, diction, metaphor, simile and expression manifest their mental illness which can help discover how mental illness can be learned outside of science, engineering, and neurology."

More: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/manic-depression/2013/07/17/the-groundbreaking-link-between-mental-illness-and-literature-emily-dickinson-william-wordsworth-and-samuel-taylor-coleridge/



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Alcohol in the writing life

"Alcohol is often a strong current in the writing life"...

"Why do writers drink? The answer might be “for the same reasons as everyone else”. The evidence from Alcoholics Anonymous is that writers do drink, but then so do cobblers, surgeons and street sweepers. Alcoholics are not all creative, sensitive and intelligent, though there is often a self-pitying grandiosity which persuades the boozer that he is uniquely blessed, or cursed, by thin skin. 

"But if writers are no more likely to be alcoholics, they will more commonly write about it. And the justifications, evasions and fabulations of the serious drinker find a parallel in the creative act of the writer, whose livelihood depends on the creative reshaping of reality, the juggling of dreams and the generation of alternative realities. 

"The challenge for the writer who tries to write while drunk, rather than simply rewarding himself with a drink when the day’s work is done, is that the same chemical relaxation afforded by alcohol quickly destroys any sense of the rhythm of a sentence."

From: http://m.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/scotland/alcohol-the-source-and-scourge-of-literary-talent-1-3000742



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Novels define morality

"Now, in the modern age, the novel is the way we discover what we really believe.  If we tell a story, and it seems true and the characters seem real, and the resolution is correct, we are able to say that we are certain, or more certain than before about what we think is true.

The novel in the modern age is the answer or the response to a line in Camus’ notebook, which is, “That wild human longing for clarity….”  It is this wild longing that the novel satisfies, and as long as it does that, and as along as a novelist is honest about what it is like to be human, it will not only survive, but thrive.

It will become the method by which we judge our morality."

From: http://www.salon.com/2013/07/16/author_craig_nova_the_novel_is_the_way_we_discover_what_we_really_believe/



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Reading and writing prerequisites of future leaders

"As a reflection of many adults, many children nowadays prefer everything to be easy and instant. So parents play a big role in encouraging children to love reading. The role of the school curriculum is also equally important. Regretfully, our educational curriculum today also weighs less on reading and writing"...

"reading and writing were two inseparable skills that children needed to develop, as both skills greatly influenced the development of other soft skills needed in adulthood, such as leadership and the ability to express opinion. "Not only will they be instilled with the value of virtues from the stories they read, reading and writing skills prepare children to be ready to face society, to bravely express their opinions and be less [passive]. I believe, those are some of the qualities required for our future leaders"...

More: http://www.thejakartapost.com/bali-daily/2013-05-23/authors-urged-write-better-children-s-books.html



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Conspiracy Theory vs Official Lies

"The CIA’s campaign to popularize the term ‘conspiracy theory’ and make conspiracy belief a target of ridicule and hostility must be credited, unfortunately, with being one of the most successful propaganda initiatives of all time.” 

"Recent studies by psychologists and social scientists in the US and UK suggest that contrary to mainstream media stereotypes, those labeled “conspiracy theorists” appear to be saner than those who accept the official versions of contested events.

"The authors [of a new online study] were surprised to discover that it is now more conventional to leave so-called conspiracist comments than conventionalist ones... In other words, among people who comment on news articles, those who disbelieve government accounts of such events as 9/11 and the JFK assassination outnumber believers by more than two to one. That means it is the pro-conspiracy commenters who are expressing what is now the conventional wisdom, while the anti-conspiracy commenters are becoming a small, beleaguered minority."

Read More: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/07/12/313399/conspiracy-theorists-vs-govt-dupes/



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Oxygen for the Mind

"Today our children don’t read works of imagination and the results are what we see today. Children or students who don’t ask questions in class but just take in everything the teachers feed them. Because we don’t learn to think, that is why we have students and workers who just copy and paste everything.

"Reading should not end after class or when the teacher leaves the classroom. Both parents and teachers should encourage children to read. Buying them books to read is one thing and making sure they read them is another.

"It’s high time we parents realised the big mistake we are making by taking our children to school but not encouraging them to read.

"...children and young people need good books, funny books, emotional books, fantasy books, books that enable them to think and see in new ways.

“If you live without oxygen, you suffocate. And books are the oxygen of the mind, even in these days of the internet."

From: http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=56634



SpyWriter Jack King, the author of:
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Reading Fiction Leads to Sophisticated Thinking and Greater Creativity

"Are you uncomfortable with ambiguity? It’s a common condition, but a highly problematic one. The compulsion to quell that unease can inspire snap judgments, rigid thinking, and bad decision-making.Fortunately, new research suggests a simple anecdote for this affliction: Read more literary fiction."

"So how does literature induce this ease with the unknown?"

Researchers have the answer:

“Exposure to literature,” the researchers write in the Creativity Research Journal,“may offer a (way for people) to become more likely to open their minds."

“The thinking a person engages in while reading fiction does not necessarily lead him or her to a decision,” they note. This, they observe, decreases the reader’s need to come to a definitive conclusion.

“Furthermore,” they add, “while reading, the reader can stimulate the thinking styles even of people he or she might personally dislike. One can think along and even feel along with Humbert Humbert in Lolita, no matter how offensive one finds this character.

"This double release—of thinking through events without concerns for urgency and permanence, and thinking in ways that are different than one’s own—may produce effects of opening the mind."

From: http://www.psmag.com/blogs/news-blog/reading-literature-opens-minds-60021/



SpyWriter Jack King, the author of:
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A Place Only Deep Reading Can Take Us

"To understand why we should be concerned about how young people read, and not just whether they’re reading at all, it helps to know something about the way the ability to read evolved. ... Unlike the ability to understand and produce spoken language, which under normal circumstances will unfold according to a program dictated by our genes, the ability to read must be painstakingly acquired by each individual.

"The “reading circuits” we construct are recruited from structures in the brain that evolved for other purposes—and these circuits can be feeble or they can be robust, depending on how often and how vigorously we use them.

"The deep reader, protected from distractions and attuned to the nuances of language, enters a state that psychologist Victor Nell, in a study of the psychology of pleasure reading,likens to a hypnotic trance. Nell found that when readers are enjoying the experience the most, the pace of their reading actually slows. The combination of fast, fluent decoding of words and slow, unhurried progress on the page gives deep readers time to enrich their reading with reflection, analysis, and their own memories and opinions. It gives them time to establish an intimate relationship with the author, the two of them engaged in an extended and ardent conversation like people falling in love.

This is not reading as many young people are coming to know it. Their reading is pragmatic and instrumental: the difference between what literary critic Frank Kermodecalls “carnal reading” and “spiritual reading.” If we allow our offspring to believe that carnal reading is all there is—if we don’t open the door to spiritual reading, through an early insistence on discipline and practice—we will have cheated them of an enjoyable, even ecstatic experience they would not otherwise encounter. And we will have deprived them of an elevating and enlightening experience that will enlarge them as people. Observing young people’s attachment to digital devices, some progressive educators and permissive parents talk about needing to “meet kids where they are,” molding instruction around their onscreen habits. This is mistaken. We need, rather, to show them someplace they’ve never been, a place only deep reading can take them."

More: http://ideas.time.com/2013/06/03/why-we-should-read-literature/



SpyWriter Jack King, the author of:
Agents of Change, WikiJustice, The Black Vault, and The Fifth Internationale.
Books by Jack King:


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