Reading Gizmo

I saw this on Facebook, and thought it very appropriate to show on my blog, it would either be the greatest thing in the world, or really annoying to get used to.

North and South

Hey, sorry I've been away, year twelve lives up to its name, free moments are hard to come by. However, I recently did manage to both read the book and watch the series North and South.
As a book first off, I loved it, the story is brilliant in how each character, whether major or minor, plays an intricate and crucial role in the story's plot,  however, I will admit, I think I liked the ending in the TV minnie series better.

The entire series was well acted and entertaining, and remained faithful to the book in most key areas. Though the ending was changed for the seres, I found immensely powerful and well done, perhaps one of the best romantic scenes I've ever seen. It's not often that a film production rivals it's book, but this series definitely did it well.

Often I find seres done on old classics either too modern in that they are unfaithful to the book, or quite accurate but not visually interesting, but I think this series balanced it quite well. Therefore, if you like old fashioned romances, like Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice, I highly recommend both the book and the seres.

Quick Link

You know how some places are designed to feed off the weakness of literary obsessives? Please enjoy -
http://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com

I am so pleased! This weak I finally finished Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, an eight part classic novel that's taken me four-five months to read.

This book is a heavy read, I needed frequent breaks as I went through, I even stopped to read White Horse, The Grimstones and The Female of the Species in between. But looking back on it, it is an incredibly detailed documentary of human interaction and emotion, with some massive drama and suspense. However despite  being called Anna Karenina for a while it seemed that Levin, a farmer character, was centre of the book rather than her. Much of the book was centred on his farming or courting or questions, though most of the characters were explained, he was especially privileged. But all the characters were so detailed in their thoughts and feelings, you could see the faults virtues in them too completely to idolise any of them, or hate most of them (there were a few exceptions on this point for me). All in all I'm very glad I'm done - now I can watch the movies.

Writer's or Reader's Nails

I found this and thought it was the most wonderful thing I had ever seen. I barely look after my nails at all but I tried this twice. They didn't work nearly as well as this but I  might try again some day.

Purposes of Writing

A while back I met an astute woman named Amiee who was doing work on a documentary. We talked about writing in romance books and then the purpose of writing in general. I came to realise that a lot of people look at it is as pure escapism, and some writers only write to get away from this world. If that's the case then is there no other point to writing?

I know from some of the wonderful people in my life and from my own experiences with writing that many people know literature is far richer than that, so this made me want to share what other purposes I believe story telling has held, throughout history and in times today, and what in particular I use to give my writing (I hope) value.

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reading and writing stories has always been imperative in the development of morals in youth. Fables and fairy stories, though sometimes grizzly, were often intended that way to teach a lesson. Example: in Sleeping Beauty originally she was raped and only woke from her deep sleep after giving birth. Not the happiest story, but it was there to teach young girls that they can't always afford to be innocent and must be careful and aware of the world around them, they can not spend their youth 'asleep.'

These are the skills we're taught in school. Finding these messages are important to our cultural development. When we look at some texts we search for themes, messages and motifs. What is the author trying to say?

In my own work I try to communicate questions I have about this world and bring my readers around to question some of the things they might have taken for granted, but in other matters I also use them as tools for myself and my own development, and I hope that by doing so I'm creating further tools for others. I look at exploring new character types, and different methods of being, to gain an understanding of how other humans might think and to explore how I myself as a person would like to develop. I try not to live through my characters or make any single character exactly like myself because I want to explore aspects of personality that I don't or haven't explored in the real world.

For that reason, though I love escapism and the sheer beauty and pleasure that comes from reading and writing, I hope most people realise that such things only scratch the surface of what writing can do.

Reading Warnings

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Whenever I'm uncertain about what to post next on this blog I always remember something fantastic I found elsewhere, and presto! 

All writers know that to write you have to read, and the more you pay attention to what you read and the more you absorb and use to cultivate your mind, the better your writing will become. Personally, I love the train, my 55 minute commute is great for reading!

I recently, at the advice of my wonderful teacher, read White Horse, fantastic book, and I most certainly recommend it, for ideas on women, humanity, post apocalyptic ideas and for anyone looking at wring examples that use the flash back, flash forward techniques, analepsis and prolepsis.

Also, no writer could ever be their best without looking at classical writing. By that I primarily mean the Odyssey and its kind. I'm re-reading it now for Classics, and it truly is one of the greatest pieces of story work ever, and imperative to understanding modern work. Remember, JK Rowling studied classics!

Anyway, that aside, reading is fun! Especially when you're lost to reality. 

Happy reading!