Literature and the Love of Life

presented by Dr Kelp

2005-06-30

Airport Test Passed

I'm flying a lot these days and I have to pass the airport bookshop a couple of times per week. Yesterday I managed to walk past, walk back and browse and then walk out again without buying a book. I think this deserves an award or something. Now that I have passed the test once I should be able to do it again.

On the downside (or should I say upside) I went away for a weekend with my family and found a truly EXCELLENT second hand bookshop in one of our small provincial towns (Thames). The kind owner even kept the shop open for an hour longer just for me. I purchased about 20 books from the areas of NZ humor, philosophy, education, history etc. And the great thing was that they only cost me $80.

So alas I failed the Second Hand Bookshop Test

Does anyone else out there have this same problem? Please say Yes!!!!

Regards

DK

2005-06-16

Mea Culpa

I'll own up. It was me that you saw at the airport bookstore today! My resolution to buy no new books is disintegrating rapidly. I purchased a copy of Staus Anxiety by Alain De Botton. I managed to read a quarter of it during my flight home. It reads well and examines the historical perspective of status anxiety. The good (or bad) thing is that we all suffer it to some degree. Has anyone else read the book? I have not got to the solutions yet, so I'll have to keep taking the Valium/Librium etc

Kind Regards

DK

http://www.viralexpress.com/newuser.php?ref=drkelp

2005-06-15

The Ideal Woman

I have just found my ideal woman in literature. Her name is Christy, a character in a novel by Juliette Mead:

From Intimate Strangers p13 describing Christy Moore McCarthy.

I did of course say my ideal woman in literature. I have my own ideal woman that I have been married to for over 28 years - though her bent is towards science...

Regards to all

DK

http://www.drkelp.com/electrum

2005-06-12

Atonement

I have just finished an excellent novel by Ian McEwan called Atonement. Its a well written novel and is one of those "I couldn't put it down" type of books. Basically the story revolves over a young girls intepretations (misinterpretations) of something she sees occurring between her older sister and a family fiend/retainer. The story follows the life time journey of the young girl to atone for her story and the damage done. I am still mulling over the ending. I won't give any spoilers but it is on Kelps recommended reads list.

Kind Regards

DK

http://www.drkelp.com/electrum

2005-06-09

Note for Bloggers

Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted;
nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed,
and some few to be chewed and digested:
that is, some books are to be read only in parts,
others to be read, but not curiously, and some few
to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. 
~ Francis Bacon ~

Do you have your own blog? If not click on the Register Free button above.

If yes - do you advertise it? The sites in the left hand menu are sites that accept blogs and will send hits through. I know because I've been in the programs for years.

The weekend starts in 4 hours - yipee

DK

http://www.drkelp.com/electrum

2005-06-08

A New Quote

A new quote for you dear reader

"The secret of art is its inimitability. The power of its influence depends on the whole body of the previous experience of a person, on the wealth of his associations, on elusive changes in his mood, on a chance glance, word, or touch - on all that constitutes the individuality, the beauty of the transient and the power of the inimitable".

 Leonid I. Ponomarev

We all come to literature wearing lenses tinted by our own personal life journey. We can even read a book and then sometime afterwards re-read it and think, "why didn't I see that the first time?"

The flow between life and literature is dynamic and thats what makes the two so compatible.

Happy reading

DK

http://www.drkelp.com/electrum

2005-06-07

The Theoretical Reader

I have just come across a real doozie of a quote: "For some critics, readers are abstract or hypothetical entities, and even these are of various sorts". This is from the austere Johns Hopkins Dictionary of Literary Criticism (under Reader Response Theory). Talk about setting up a straw man/woman/person etc. Readers as hypothetical entities! what a load of bovine ------ material. I read therefore I am. But I will make an exception. I am a hypothetical reader of literary criticism.

Unfortunately I broke my pledge about buying more books yesterday and got 5 more (eBooks as it happens so maybe they don't count!)

Enjoy Life

DK

http://www.drkelp.com/electrum (a list of good sites to promote your blog on)

2005-06-06

Emotional Response

"A person crying over a book does not usually concern himself with the means the author used to achieve this effect. He can, of course, at a later date read a critical work, twice as thick, on the book that has impressed him so. This all, however, will resemble an autopsy, a thing necessary for specialists but extremely unpleasant for most people. Marcus Aurelius wrote that 'to despise songs and dances, it is sufficient to decompose them into their component elements'. "

Quoted from Leonid I. Ponomarev

This quote backs up what I was saying a few days ago about analyzing literature and losing the enjoyment. Its a lot like eating food. When I go to a restuarant I don't nalayze the menu, I enjoy the reality of the menu: the food.

Have a great day

DK

http://www.drkelp.com/electrum

2005-06-05

A Good Read

I have just finished reading Lord of the Rings ny J R Tolkien. Even though I'm a New Zealander I decided not to watch the movies until I had read the book. Took me 6 months but I have done it. What a great book. Started the First movie a couple of nights ago and I can see why they won the Oscars for the series. fantasy is not really a genre that I enjoy, but LOTR was so good.

Have a great day

DK

http://www.drkelp.com/electrum

Free eBooks: http://www.angelfire.com/md/haematology

2005-06-03

My Favourite Writers

Its the ideal day for blog writing. Overcast, windy and cold. But I' nice and warm huddled over my PC. JUst thought I'd make a short list of some of my favourite authors:

Virginia Woolf - all time favourite

John Fowles

C K Stead

Bill Bryson - one of the funniest writers on earth - as a keen hiker I particulalry enjoyed A Walk in the Woods.

Jane Austen, Honore de Balzac, Thomas Carlyle, J J Rousseau, Margaret Atwood, Frank Sargeson and myriads of others.

I'm always looking for new authors so feel free to add your favourites.

DK

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