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Posts from the ‘News and Notes’ Category

Jun 1

to-kill-a-mockingbird
7 Comments

5 Famous Authors & Their Controversies

If there’s one thing literary types like, it’s a good controversy.

Don’t let the literary world fool you—they may snub their nose at celebrity gossip, but replace “Paris Hilton” with “Jonathan Franzen,” and suddenly their ears perk up.

I find it interesting that, out of the first 43 books I’ve read and researched from the Time list, the large majority of the novels—or at least the authors—have been through some type of small controversy at some point.

Noticing that trend, I put together some of the more memorable “controversies” or rumors—some of which still linger today.

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May 16

harper_lee
33 Comments

Harper Lee Lays The Smack Down

I’ve always been shocked to find out that some school districts and libraries have actually banned To Kill A Mockingbird. How ridiculous is that?

I’ve expressed my opinions about banned books on the blog before, so I won’t go back into all that. But, today, I’ll let Harper Lee give her opinion on the matter.

In 1966, the Hanover County School Board in Virginia removed all copies of To Kill A Mockingbird from their libraries. They believed the book to be “immoral.”

Harper Lee responded by writing the following letter to the Richmond News Leader, which, in turn, published it. The fund she mentions at the bottom of this letter gave away free copies of the book to any child who wanted one. That’s awesome.

I love this letter! (source: Letters of Note and Understanding To Kill A Mockingbird):

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May 15

jane-eyre-book-cover
22 Comments

Comparing Wide Sargasso Sea To Jane Eyre

As I mentioned in my preview of Wide Sargasso Sea, this novel by Jean Rhys is written as a prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s classic, Jane Eyre.

Now, here’s a sad admission: I’ve never read Jane Eyre. Can you believe that insanity?

Most of you guys thought that my lameness in not having read Jane Eyre wouldn’t affect my understanding of Wide Sargasso Sea–especially with the stories being written by two different authors. Would it help to know a little more background on these characters? Probably. But a good story is a good story, right?

All that said, and fully admitting that I haven’t read Jane Eyre, I thought I’d do my best to compare the two books today, using my initial thoughts about Wide Sargasso Sea as my guide.

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May 8

kurt_vonnegut
10 Comments

Famous Authors Who Pimped Products

Look, if I ever make it big, like commercial-worthy big, I’ll be totally fine with endorsing a product that I actually use–that is after I poop myself for being commercial-worthy big. I doubt that will ever happen. 

There’s a certain temptation with a lot of writers/artists to “stay true” to themselves by not turning their art into something commercial. It’s kind of like the indie band who refuses to sign with a major label. Anyway, The Awl put together this eye-opening list (with videos) of famous authors who appeared in commercials to endorse product. Some are quite surprising.

For instance, did you know that…

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May 7

548px-Francis_Scott_Fitzgerald_1937_June_4_(1)_(photo_by_Carl_van_Vechten)
9 Comments

Gatsby’s Final Passage: As Written by F. Scott

I don’t have a lot to say today, so I’ll let the photo below explain today’s post.

I’ve mentioned before that The Great Gatsby is my favorite book. Though I’ve yet to re-read it as part of this list, I’ll occasionally post about it. When I saw this photo, I knew I had to write about it here.

The following is the final passage of The Great Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s handwriting (credit to Roger Ebert’s blog).  I’ve also included it in plain type below the photo in case you haven’t read the book.

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Apr 24

under_the_volcano-1
4 Comments

Under The Volcano On Film

Malcolm Lowry, author of Under The Volcano, was the stereotypical great writer–alcoholism, relationship issues, early and unfortunate death.

The coroner called Lowry’s passing a “death by misadventure”–he was thought to have overdosed on a lethal mixture of sleeping pills and alcohol. At 47, he died young, with a brilliant career behind him and a full life still ahead of him.

In 1976, the National Film Board of Canada put together a documentary called Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry. It explores his “death by misadventure” and looks back at his life, with passages from Under The Volcano read by Richard Burton. The film was Oscar nominated, and you can watch the whole thing here.

Oh, but that’s not all!

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Apr 11

Essay Guidelines
13 Comments

Lolita’s Cover Reimagined

Lolita, at its core, is about the sexual abuse of a child. That’s why, for me, it was such a difficult book to read.

Complicating matters is the novel’s cover, which usually has some type of suggestive image of a young girl. Not exactly material you want to carry around in public.

And the covers also seemed to miss the mark on the book’s theme–which was more about a creepy old pervert than a suggestive young girl. Many recent covers of the novels seemed to take their inspiration more from Stanley Kubrick’s outlandish film, rather than Nabokov’s book.

So recently, I stumbled across this as-yet-unreleased book called Recovering Lolita, which gave 60 world-class designers the opportunity to redesign the cover of this classic novel. And let’s be honest: This book’s cover desperately needs new eyes and a fresh look.

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Apr 9

hugobed
15 Comments

The Bedrooms of Great Writers

Let’s be honest: To some degree, we’re all voyeurs.

Admit it. If you knew J.K. Rowling lived down the street from you, wouldn’t you linger a little bit as you drove past her house–maybe just to catch a glimpse of her writing her next novel in her gold-laced hammock held up by diamond-crusted ropes?

Take it a step further. What if you could see into the bedrooms of your favorite authors? That’s kind of weird, I know. But since Apartment Therapy has already done all the hard work, you don’t have to be a creepy stalker! Check this out.

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Mar 28

humbert
16 Comments

How Fictional Characters Might Actually Look

This is fascinating. A guy named Brian Davis uses law enforcement composite sketch software to create images of what fictional characters from famous novels might look like.

Users submit characters, with relevant passages that describe those characters, and he creates a composite drawing. And to be honest, it’s eery how closely they resemble the images I have in my head.

Below are some characters from novels relevant to this blog, with passages describing them below each picture.

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Mar 27

shawshankredemption
18 Comments

Six Prison Novels Worth Your Time

I’m not sure why, but I’ve always been drawn to stories about prison and prison life. Shawshank Redemption is, hands down, my favorite flick. Plus, any documentary about prison life–usually on National Geographic or Discovery or some channel like that–is guaranteed to hold my attention for awhile.

But, for whatever reason, I haven’t read that many novels about prison. I realized this while reading Falconer, which in my estimation is a pretty authentic look at prison life, from the standpoint of a guy who murdered his brother.

What are some other well-received novels about prison?

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