"The year is roughly 1746. The initiation has begun.
The master places a piece of paper in front of the candidate and orders him to put on a pair of eyeglasses. “Read,” the master commands. The candidate squints, but it’s an impossible task. The page is blank.
The candidate is told not to panic; there is hope for his vision to improve. The master wipes the candidate’s eyes with a cloth and orders preparation for the surgery to commence. He selects a pair of tweezers from the table. The other members in attendance raise their candles.
The master starts plucking hairs from the candidate’s eyebrow. This is a ritualistic procedure; no flesh is cut. But these are “symbolic actions out of which none are without meaning,” the master assures the candidate. The candidate places his hand on the master’s amulet. Try reading again, the master says, replacing the first page with another. This page is filled with handwritten text. Congratulations, brother, the members say. Now you can see."
The breaking of the copiale cipher:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/11/ff-the-manuscript/all/
Presidents are chosen, but not elected. The Black Vault. www.SPYWRITER.com
16/11/2012
12/11/2012
Writers for Change
"present critical situation has pushed the society in a state of uncertainty ... in such a situation, the writers could play a key-role to encourage the society through their pen."
"Writers should endeavour to change the society and resist the temptation to be sucked into the melee of literary mediocrity."
"literature is the mirror of society. It reflects the ever changing society. Consequently, literature evolves in tandem with the dynamics of society. ... Therefore, if society has sunk into the abyss of mediocrity, literature will just capture that."
SOURCES:
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=181592
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Letters/Writers+must+not+only+reflect+society/-/440806/1615264/-/4bu6umz/-/index.html
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Letters/If+Kenyan+literature+is+mediocre+blame+it+on+our+banal+society/-/440806/1612480/-/6yhuamz/-/index.html
Books of Change by Jack King: www.SpyWriter.com
"Writers should endeavour to change the society and resist the temptation to be sucked into the melee of literary mediocrity."
"literature is the mirror of society. It reflects the ever changing society. Consequently, literature evolves in tandem with the dynamics of society. ... Therefore, if society has sunk into the abyss of mediocrity, literature will just capture that."
SOURCES:
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=181592
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Letters/Writers+must+not+only+reflect+society/-/440806/1615264/-/4bu6umz/-/index.html
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Letters/If+Kenyan+literature+is+mediocre+blame+it+on+our+banal+society/-/440806/1612480/-/6yhuamz/-/index.html
Books of Change by Jack King: www.SpyWriter.com
Wordless Literary Critics
"Literary criticism has to be borne out of genuine efforts of having reading a work and understanding it...
However, most criticism of literary works is the handiwork of "cut and paste critics", who pick up a few passages from the work and depend on hearsay and opinions of those who have not read the work fully and understood its implications...
...the chances of literature flourishing to its fullest is bleak until such time that criticism is true and unbiased. "It is imperative that there is creative criticism that points to the follies and foibles of an author and not criticism for the sake of it..."
More: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Criticism-should-not-be-a-cut-copy-paste-work-Moily/articleshow/17187929.cms
Jack King Novels: www.SpyWriter.com
However, most criticism of literary works is the handiwork of "cut and paste critics", who pick up a few passages from the work and depend on hearsay and opinions of those who have not read the work fully and understood its implications...
...the chances of literature flourishing to its fullest is bleak until such time that criticism is true and unbiased. "It is imperative that there is creative criticism that points to the follies and foibles of an author and not criticism for the sake of it..."
More: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Criticism-should-not-be-a-cut-copy-paste-work-Moily/articleshow/17187929.cms
Jack King Novels: www.SpyWriter.com
09/11/2012
The end of espionage thriller?
Can't find a decent espionage thriller these days? Don't blame it on Perestroika. Blame it on not reading SpyWriter Jack King:
"The end of the Cold War created a problem for espionage thriller writers and moviemakers. They faced loss of a built-in backstory needing no explanation, a whole set of strong but realistic motivations for extreme behavior, a pre-fab cast of bad guys, and weighty, global stakes underlying all the action. Perestroika left a generation of writers searching for new conflicts and settings and plot devices.
Today I think the growth of surveillance technology will increasingly create a similar problem for fiction writers. It’s a staple of thrillers and science fiction to have the hero on the run—hounded by the government, evading the police—either because the hero is mistaken as someone bad or because the government is evil. And the government baddies use every technology at their disposal to locate and track their target, while the hero uses tricks and hacks to escape detection.
But the whole cat and mouse game is starting to look kind of problematic, because it’s getting harder to sustain a plausible “man on the run” scenario in the face of surveillance technology.
I like a good airport thriller or science fiction read, and for several years I’ve noticed this problem cropping up: it’s the near future (or later), the hero or heroine is on the run, and I find myself thinking, oh please, if they really had all the advanced technologies featured in this story, they’d certainly have more impressive surveillance capability! We may have more than that ourselves in couple years the way things are going."
From: http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-national-security/will-increasing-surveillance-change-fiction
Presidents are chosen, but not elected. The Black Vault. www.SPYWRITER.com
"The end of the Cold War created a problem for espionage thriller writers and moviemakers. They faced loss of a built-in backstory needing no explanation, a whole set of strong but realistic motivations for extreme behavior, a pre-fab cast of bad guys, and weighty, global stakes underlying all the action. Perestroika left a generation of writers searching for new conflicts and settings and plot devices.
Today I think the growth of surveillance technology will increasingly create a similar problem for fiction writers. It’s a staple of thrillers and science fiction to have the hero on the run—hounded by the government, evading the police—either because the hero is mistaken as someone bad or because the government is evil. And the government baddies use every technology at their disposal to locate and track their target, while the hero uses tricks and hacks to escape detection.
But the whole cat and mouse game is starting to look kind of problematic, because it’s getting harder to sustain a plausible “man on the run” scenario in the face of surveillance technology.
I like a good airport thriller or science fiction read, and for several years I’ve noticed this problem cropping up: it’s the near future (or later), the hero or heroine is on the run, and I find myself thinking, oh please, if they really had all the advanced technologies featured in this story, they’d certainly have more impressive surveillance capability! We may have more than that ourselves in couple years the way things are going."
From: http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-national-security/will-increasing-surveillance-change-fiction
Presidents are chosen, but not elected. The Black Vault. www.SPYWRITER.com
Be a better man by reading women
"If men read so little fiction, and so little of what they do read is written by women, does this account for some of what so many of us women see as emotional ignorance, and men's inability to express their feelings or to attempt to understand ours?
The men whom I most appreciate have high levels of emotional intelligence and sensibility, they listen, contribute and empathise, they embrace difference and are prepared for their own vulnerability. And they all read fiction written by and about women.
It's well known that in old age women fare better than men, and single women fare very much better than men who, either by choice or bereavement, live alone. Men suffer higher rates of depression, are more socially isolated, less able to ask for and accept help. Henry David Thoreau's observation that ''most men live lives of quiet desperation'' is never more true than in relation to ageing men.
As we age our individual circumstances affect the quality of our lives: health, wealth or the lack of it, housing, mobility and family background all play a part. But, as the recently released Australian study of ageing so clearly demonstrates, attitude is everything and so often men's social and emotional lives are paralysed in age while women's flourish.
So, could men benefit from reading women's fiction? I'd say without a doubt that men's relationships with women would benefit profoundly. And would they live more sociable, contented and emotionally rewarding lives in old age? I don't know the answer to that but I think it's a fascinating question."
More: http://m.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/what-men-want-is-available--if-they-read-more-womens-fiction-20121108-290me.html
Presidents are chosen, but not elected. The Black Vault. www.SPYWRITER.com
The men whom I most appreciate have high levels of emotional intelligence and sensibility, they listen, contribute and empathise, they embrace difference and are prepared for their own vulnerability. And they all read fiction written by and about women.
It's well known that in old age women fare better than men, and single women fare very much better than men who, either by choice or bereavement, live alone. Men suffer higher rates of depression, are more socially isolated, less able to ask for and accept help. Henry David Thoreau's observation that ''most men live lives of quiet desperation'' is never more true than in relation to ageing men.
As we age our individual circumstances affect the quality of our lives: health, wealth or the lack of it, housing, mobility and family background all play a part. But, as the recently released Australian study of ageing so clearly demonstrates, attitude is everything and so often men's social and emotional lives are paralysed in age while women's flourish.
So, could men benefit from reading women's fiction? I'd say without a doubt that men's relationships with women would benefit profoundly. And would they live more sociable, contented and emotionally rewarding lives in old age? I don't know the answer to that but I think it's a fascinating question."
More: http://m.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/what-men-want-is-available--if-they-read-more-womens-fiction-20121108-290me.html
Presidents are chosen, but not elected. The Black Vault. www.SPYWRITER.com
02/11/2012
A writing workshop in every neighborhood
"Cubans enjoy one of the richest and most deeply embedded literary cultures in the world, according to researchers at the Universities of Manchester and Nottingham.
According to the researchers, the richness of Cuba’s tradition is typified by the Havana Book Fair held each year in the capital and then across the country.
“It shows how literature and culture are deeply embedded into Cuban culture: within every neighbourhood there’s a writing workshop and a ‘Casa de Cultura’.
... “the Cuban model is something we should be emulating in the West"
FROM: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=8987
Join Me: Facebook, WWW, Goodreads, Twitter
According to the researchers, the richness of Cuba’s tradition is typified by the Havana Book Fair held each year in the capital and then across the country.
“It shows how literature and culture are deeply embedded into Cuban culture: within every neighbourhood there’s a writing workshop and a ‘Casa de Cultura’.
... “the Cuban model is something we should be emulating in the West"
FROM: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=8987
Join Me: Facebook, WWW, Goodreads, Twitter
Reading lies deep withing us
"Books allow readers to escape to foreign lands, go on death-defying adventures and experience unusual lives. This Saturday is National Book Lover’s Day in honor of these books and the people who enjoy them."
“Reading exposes us to things. It allows us to attempt to understand things and expand our perception of the world. It allows us to see things in different ways, through the eyes of different people,” said Cameron Leader-Picone, assistant professor of English. “It also taps into something deep within us: our desire to understand and learn more about ourselves.”
FROM: http://www.kstatecollegian.com/2012/11/02/national-book-lovers-day-celebrates-literature-joy-of-reading/
“Reading exposes us to things. It allows us to attempt to understand things and expand our perception of the world. It allows us to see things in different ways, through the eyes of different people,” said Cameron Leader-Picone, assistant professor of English. “It also taps into something deep within us: our desire to understand and learn more about ourselves.”
FROM: http://www.kstatecollegian.com/2012/11/02/national-book-lovers-day-celebrates-literature-joy-of-reading/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)