Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines. New York: Quill, 2003.
Some associate learning and teaching literature with an English Lit requirement to read boring books they didn’t understand and being embarrassed by a teacher berating them for not seeing the significance of some obscure symbol. To top things off, the kid who seems to do best is someone they know to bullshit their way through everything (that kid is probably a professor now). So when Thomas Foster promises “a lively and entertaining guide” to reading literature (it says to right on the cover of the book), he faces a skeptical audience even among book lovers.
Foster delivers on the promise. His tone is light, sometimes humorous. His style is conversational. He resorts to only on technical term and it refers to a concept that runs through the whole book so the reader will have no trouble getting it.
What makes reading the book fun is that Foster has such fun reading and thinking about what he has read. He doesn’t want people to stop enjoying what they read to start analyzing. He wants them to keep enjoying novels, stories and poems for the interest, entertainment and beauty they way they always have. Keep the old fun and add to it the enjoyments of understanding a work in relation to the rest of literature.
This is the main point of the book (and that technical term, intertextuality): a book, story, poem, or play is part of the total body of literature and by asking ourselves how it relates to other things we’ve read, using both our intellect and our emotions, we can have a full understanding and enjoyment of it. Each chapter after the first discusses things that appear in literature, such as sex, violence, weather and allusions to other works.
The idea isn’t to give you a bunch of discrete things a reader should always be looking for and doing; Foster wants to enrich readers, not burden them. Instead, each is an example of different recurring themes in literature (intertextuality says it’s all connected) allowing a few concepts to be applied to many different things.
This conceptual focus makes the book easy to grasp. The reader doesn’t have to figure out how to read like a professor by wading through a bunch of dusty old books someone thinks is great. Foster shows how readers (and he as a professor) can get more out of reading whatever they want.
That kid who bullshitted his way to a high grade in your English Lit class is probably a professor now. Fortunately, Professor Foster isn’t he.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query fun. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query fun. Sort by date Show all posts
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Thursday, April 19, 2012
The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont (234) & The Revenge of Kali-Ra by K. K. Beck (235)
Malmont,
Paul. The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown. New
York: Simon
& Schuster, 2011.
Beck,
K. K. The Revenge of Kali-Ra.
Paul Malmont clearly loves pulps.
The
Chinatown Cloud Peril is one of the most fun books I’ve ever read. He revisits this territory in The Astounding, the Amazing and the Unknown.
Astounding
places fictional versions of science
fiction authors in a scientific mystery
adventure
some of them might have been glad to write.
Some of the characters are pulp authors who appeared in Peril (Robert
Heinlein, L.
Ron Hubbard, Walter
Gibson, and Lester
Dent, a fellow Missourian). Others are authors of the era when the old
pulps gave way to comics and sci-fi magazines (Isaac
Asimov, L.
Sprague de Camp, and editor John
Campbell).
A group of science fiction
writers, most of them scientist and engineers as well, are working for the Navy
to turn crazy ideas into reality in a proto-DARPA. They’re not producing a lot of results and
their leader, former Naval officer Heinlein, is feeling the pressure. They stumble upon the suggestion that
inventor Nikola
Tesla accidentally created a superweapon at Wardenclyffe, which is why the
tower he built there came down. Their
search for answers leads them on a twisting trail from the underground rivers
of New York to the heights of the General
Electric hierarchy. Red herrings about and these clever authors
don’t catch on to the biggest one in the book.
The character development is
interesting, too. Heinlein is feeling
left out of opportunities to make a real difference, but eventually gets an
inkling that his stories can make a difference.
The seeds of Scientology
are planted in Hubbard. I think the
strongest character development occurs in the fictional Asimov. He goes through something like a conventional
coming-of-age story. He starts as a
frightened youth, faces his fears and becomes a man. In addition, is a loner struggling in his marriage
who finds a way to bring his wife into partnership with him, having a passion
for her that matched the passion he had for his work. That is good stuff; it adds depth to a story
that is mostly and-then-and-then suspense.
For the geeks (that includes
me), there are appearances by fictional versions of many other people. Authors include Nowell
Page of The Spider, Hugh
Cave, aka Justin
Case, and Kurt
Vonnegut as an Easter egg. Actor Jimmy
Stewart lends his skill as a pilot.
Mystic and rocket scientist Jack
Parsons could spin off a weird tale of his own. Even Manhattan
Project physicists Robert
Oppenheimer, Julian
Schwinger, and Richard
Feynman make an appearance.
While I’m writing about an
homage to pulps, I’d like to mention The
Revenge of Kali-Ra by K. K. Beck. I
wrote a review of it that got lost in a hard drive crash (even so, I named it
one of the best
books I read in 2010). The story
focuses on fictional pulp stories featuring the villainous vixen of the title,
which may no longer be public domain and may be valuable because of a proposed
movie base on them. The scent of money
is in the air, bad characters pick up the scent, decent people are caught up in
the events, and mayhem ensues. Kali-Ra isn’t as good as Astounding, but it’s a fun read. Beck includes clips from ersatz Kali-Ra tales
that are full of the type of florid language one might expect, even hope for,
in pulp.
Paul Malmont also wrote The Chinatown
Death Cloud Peril.
If you’re interested in this
book, you may also be interested in
Google
Friday, January 22, 2010
Late Night Showdown
I’ve wanted to write about the late night television shows for a while. I’d better get to it before the lineup changes.
I’ll refer to the host instead of the show. For many of use, they’re nearly synonymous and the hosts clearly have a lot to do with the tone and flavor of the show.
7 (because there aren’t 10 on the list). Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel is last on my list because I watch him least. I get poor reception of the nearest ABC affiliate. What I’ve seen suggests that he is good, but he doesn’t stand out from the crowd.
6. Carson Daly
I like the new format of Daly’s show. I think it suits him better than the traditional talk show format. I rarely stay up that late, so I rarely see his show. It’s like a little slice of MTV from the days before it was dominated by horrible reality shows.
5. Craig Ferguson
Ferguson is delightfully daft. He’s not for everyone and not always for me.
4. Jay Leno
Back in Leno’s Tonight Show days, I’d watch Letterman’s monologue and opening material. I might have switched over later if Leno had a more interesting guest.
When Leno started at 9:00 (central time), I was a little excited about seeing something new, a late night style show that came on before my bedtime. I was disappointed that Leno did the same old thing with seemingly less energy. Considering that NBC brings me some version of Law and Order or Dateline almost every night, I shouldn’t be surprised.
3. Jimmy Fallon
Fallon is the Minnie Pearl of late night. He is just so happy to be there. He is enthusiastic about everything and his excitement draws me in. He has loads of fun and is fun to watch.
2. David Letterman
Letterman is the king of late night. In my opinion, he has been the best for a long time.
Letterman is a famous curmudgeon, but he can be a sweet guy. He is often aloof, but often fatherly, warm of flirtatious. He makes a living through mirth, yet shows his anger. He makes a show of the off-putting elements of his character, but has a very loyal staff, which suggests he is very loyal to them.
Letterman is a man. He is not everyman. He is a unique man, full of flaws and contradiction that are his own, who through hard work and luck gained what he still sees as the privilege to make a very good living doing what he loves to do. What could be more appealing than that?
1. Conan O’Brien
Letterman is the king of late night, but O’Brien is its future. That is what I thought until recently he still can be if NBC gets its head on straight and invests in the future of its brand (and the personal brands it helped build) instead of grasping at a expedient solutions.
I think O’Brien will put on a good show wherever he lands, though he might initially suffer from a move to another show. Whatever network nabs O’Brien will be better off for it. In the long term, NBC will deservedly suffer for the loss.
I’ll refer to the host instead of the show. For many of use, they’re nearly synonymous and the hosts clearly have a lot to do with the tone and flavor of the show.
7 (because there aren’t 10 on the list). Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel is last on my list because I watch him least. I get poor reception of the nearest ABC affiliate. What I’ve seen suggests that he is good, but he doesn’t stand out from the crowd.
6. Carson Daly
I like the new format of Daly’s show. I think it suits him better than the traditional talk show format. I rarely stay up that late, so I rarely see his show. It’s like a little slice of MTV from the days before it was dominated by horrible reality shows.
5. Craig Ferguson
Ferguson is delightfully daft. He’s not for everyone and not always for me.
4. Jay Leno
Back in Leno’s Tonight Show days, I’d watch Letterman’s monologue and opening material. I might have switched over later if Leno had a more interesting guest.
When Leno started at 9:00 (central time), I was a little excited about seeing something new, a late night style show that came on before my bedtime. I was disappointed that Leno did the same old thing with seemingly less energy. Considering that NBC brings me some version of Law and Order or Dateline almost every night, I shouldn’t be surprised.
3. Jimmy Fallon
Fallon is the Minnie Pearl of late night. He is just so happy to be there. He is enthusiastic about everything and his excitement draws me in. He has loads of fun and is fun to watch.
2. David Letterman
Letterman is the king of late night. In my opinion, he has been the best for a long time.
Letterman is a famous curmudgeon, but he can be a sweet guy. He is often aloof, but often fatherly, warm of flirtatious. He makes a living through mirth, yet shows his anger. He makes a show of the off-putting elements of his character, but has a very loyal staff, which suggests he is very loyal to them.
Letterman is a man. He is not everyman. He is a unique man, full of flaws and contradiction that are his own, who through hard work and luck gained what he still sees as the privilege to make a very good living doing what he loves to do. What could be more appealing than that?
1. Conan O’Brien
Letterman is the king of late night, but O’Brien is its future. That is what I thought until recently he still can be if NBC gets its head on straight and invests in the future of its brand (and the personal brands it helped build) instead of grasping at a expedient solutions.
I think O’Brien will put on a good show wherever he lands, though he might initially suffer from a move to another show. Whatever network nabs O’Brien will be better off for it. In the long term, NBC will deservedly suffer for the loss.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
The Introvert's Way by Sophia Dembling
Blogger Sophia
Dembling writes about her life as an introvert.
This subject carries over into her book The
Introvert’s Way.
Dembling tries to sort out what introversion is. It is not simply the
opposite of extroversion,
nor is it shyness.
It is not antisocial
or pathological.
Introversion and extroversion are different ways in which the brains of people
operate. There is much that is positive in the introverted way, even if western—and
particularly American—culture
has a preference for traits associated with extroverts.
Admittedly, introverts can come across as aloof, timid, or
too intense.
Dembling describes how introverts are simply responding to the world in ways
that suit our (yes, I’m an introvert) sensitivity to stimuli, energy, and way
of thinking. When we withdraw, we’re simply tired or overstimulated, not angry or shy. We
can seem intense because we like making deeper connections
and we are passionate
about our interests. Dembling suggest that introverts can combat misperceptions
by first accepting themselves as they are and then gently explaining it to
others.
Another thing that introverts tend to do that can drive extrovert up
the wall is we think and act slowly. My longsuffering wife has learned to give
me plenty of advanced notice when an important decision is needed from me or us
as a couple. This may be why introverts shine in e-mail, texting,
and social
media (some of us old-timers still write letters
on occasion). The media allow us to think and respond at our own pace.
Dembling also addresses the misconception that introverts don’t have fun. We do.
Sometimes we even have fun at parties or social gatherings, especially with a
small group of close friends
or family.
Introverts generally like quiet, slow-paced activities. Extroverts probably
look at us and think we’re not doing anything.
Each chapter is written as a short essay. In addition to dealing with
the issues already mentioned, Dembling writes about how she and other
introverts deal with things we tend to hate, like parties and small talk. She
takes a middle ground somewhere between don’t be bullied by (well-meaning)
extorverts and suck it up because these things are part of life. To have the
peaceful life introverts want along with the social life they want (and they do
want one), they have to strike a balance, and Dembling suggests some ways that
balance can be made.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont
Malmont, Paul. The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006.
There is trouble in Chinatown. The war god that sets faction against faction in Asia stretches a tentacle across the world to stir plots and revenge in America. Heroes rise to meet this menace, very unlikely heroes: writers.
Malmont takes real life writers of pulp magazines, who he clearly regards with great respect and affection, and puts fictional versions of them in the middle of the kind of adventure they may have written. Some of these writers were legends in their time, but may be little know today. For instance, the main characters are Walter Gibson, who wrote The Shadow as Maxwell Grant, and Lester Dent, who penned Doc Savage as Kenneth Robeson. Other names may be more familiar to modern readers of genre fiction, especially L. Ron Hubbard and Robert Heinlein. H. P. Lovecraft plays a brief but pivotal role in a creepy way suited to his weird tales. Several lesser know pulp writers play lesser roles in the story.
I enjoyed these intrusions of biography into the wild fiction. I don’t think anyone would need to be a fan of pulps to enjoy the book. If someone enjoys adventure stories, he’ll probably enjoy this one. The characters sometimes discuss what might be real, if improbable, and what is pulp, a good yarn. Malmont puts the pulp first.
Malmont achieves the right balance of fact and fiction by throwing out the balance. It’s fiction first. The reality is informative and fun, but Malmont makes it work double duty. It is biography and history, but it also helps the reader connect to the characters and their world, which does much to serve the fictional story.
The best thing about the book is that it is fun. It’s a thriller that thrills. It’s a twisty tale that doesn’t try to throw the reader, but sweep them along.
There is trouble in Chinatown. The war god that sets faction against faction in Asia stretches a tentacle across the world to stir plots and revenge in America. Heroes rise to meet this menace, very unlikely heroes: writers.
Malmont takes real life writers of pulp magazines, who he clearly regards with great respect and affection, and puts fictional versions of them in the middle of the kind of adventure they may have written. Some of these writers were legends in their time, but may be little know today. For instance, the main characters are Walter Gibson, who wrote The Shadow as Maxwell Grant, and Lester Dent, who penned Doc Savage as Kenneth Robeson. Other names may be more familiar to modern readers of genre fiction, especially L. Ron Hubbard and Robert Heinlein. H. P. Lovecraft plays a brief but pivotal role in a creepy way suited to his weird tales. Several lesser know pulp writers play lesser roles in the story.
I enjoyed these intrusions of biography into the wild fiction. I don’t think anyone would need to be a fan of pulps to enjoy the book. If someone enjoys adventure stories, he’ll probably enjoy this one. The characters sometimes discuss what might be real, if improbable, and what is pulp, a good yarn. Malmont puts the pulp first.
Malmont achieves the right balance of fact and fiction by throwing out the balance. It’s fiction first. The reality is informative and fun, but Malmont makes it work double duty. It is biography and history, but it also helps the reader connect to the characters and their world, which does much to serve the fictional story.
The best thing about the book is that it is fun. It’s a thriller that thrills. It’s a twisty tale that doesn’t try to throw the reader, but sweep them along.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
What I Read (End)
Date: November 27, 2008
Title: His Excellency
Author: Joseph J. Ellis
Thoughts: A readable and balanced biography of a great man.
Date: December 25, 2008
Title: The Spirit
Author: Darwyn Cooke
Thoughts: Great, fun detective stories.
Date: December 28, 2008
Title: Wisdom from the Batcave
Author: Cory A Friedman
Thoughts: A fun way to look at serious ethics.
Date: January 3, 2009
Title: Blink
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Thoughts: The good, the bad and the hope of snap judgments.
Date: January 5, 2009
Title: The Unfinished Game
Author: Keith Devlin
Thoughts: It’s comforting that someone as smart as Pascal had trouble grasping probabilities, though he was handicapped by having to invent the idea first.
Keith Devlin also coauthored The Numbers behind NUMB3RS.
Date: January 15, 2009
Title: The Water Room
Author: Christopher Fowler
Thoughts: An interesting and enjoyable detective story, but he main draw to me was the underground rivers of London.
Date: January 22, 2009
Title: The Joy of Supernatural Thinking
Author: Bill Bright
Thoughts: A very challenging book.
Date: January 31, 2009
Title: The Big Necessity
Author: Rose George
Thoughts: It’s amazing how many people could have better lives if they could just dispose of their shit, and how hard it seems to be to accomplish it.
Date: February 24, 2009
Title: Why Good Things Happen to Good People
Author: Stephen Post & Jill Neimark
Thoughts:
“The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will be watered himself” (Proverbs 11:25).
Date: March 1, 2009
Title: How to Write Mysteries
Author: Shannon OCork
Thoughts: Lots of good ideas. Now to put them to use.
Date: March 17, 2009
Title: The Emotional Energy Factor
Author: Mira Kirshenbaum
Thoughts: “Worry never comes up with good ideas. It never yields comfort. It never brings your ship to any safe harbor” (quote from the book).
Date: March 26, 2009
Title: Mastering Fiction Writing
Author: Kit Reed
Thoughts: “You’re going to have to write a lot of crap in your life before you write anything good, so you might as well get started” (quote from the book).
Books I Want to Write
Goal Setting that Works
A hardboiled, science fiction crime story
The Prodigal
Phin
Other parts of What I Read:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,
Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,
Part 11, Part 12
Title: His Excellency
Author: Joseph J. Ellis
Thoughts: A readable and balanced biography of a great man.
Date: December 25, 2008
Title: The Spirit
Author: Darwyn Cooke
Thoughts: Great, fun detective stories.
Date: December 28, 2008
Title: Wisdom from the Batcave
Author: Cory A Friedman
Thoughts: A fun way to look at serious ethics.
Date: January 3, 2009
Title: Blink
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Thoughts: The good, the bad and the hope of snap judgments.
Date: January 5, 2009
Title: The Unfinished Game
Author: Keith Devlin
Thoughts: It’s comforting that someone as smart as Pascal had trouble grasping probabilities, though he was handicapped by having to invent the idea first.
Keith Devlin also coauthored The Numbers behind NUMB3RS.
Date: January 15, 2009
Title: The Water Room
Author: Christopher Fowler
Thoughts: An interesting and enjoyable detective story, but he main draw to me was the underground rivers of London.
Date: January 22, 2009
Title: The Joy of Supernatural Thinking
Author: Bill Bright
Thoughts: A very challenging book.
Date: January 31, 2009
Title: The Big Necessity
Author: Rose George
Thoughts: It’s amazing how many people could have better lives if they could just dispose of their shit, and how hard it seems to be to accomplish it.
Date: February 24, 2009
Title: Why Good Things Happen to Good People
Author: Stephen Post & Jill Neimark
Thoughts:
“The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will be watered himself” (Proverbs 11:25).
Date: March 1, 2009
Title: How to Write Mysteries
Author: Shannon OCork
Thoughts: Lots of good ideas. Now to put them to use.
Date: March 17, 2009
Title: The Emotional Energy Factor
Author: Mira Kirshenbaum
Thoughts: “Worry never comes up with good ideas. It never yields comfort. It never brings your ship to any safe harbor” (quote from the book).
Date: March 26, 2009
Title: Mastering Fiction Writing
Author: Kit Reed
Thoughts: “You’re going to have to write a lot of crap in your life before you write anything good, so you might as well get started” (quote from the book).
Books I Want to Write
Goal Setting that Works
A hardboiled, science fiction crime story
The Prodigal
Phin
Other parts of What I Read:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,
Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,
Part 11, Part 12
Saturday, November 15, 2014
The Peerless Peer by Philip Jose Farmer
I usually review nonfiction
books on this blog (a likely cause of no one reading it). Sometimes I read a fiction book
that I enjoy so much, I comment on it anyway.
The Peerless Peer is such a
book. Philip
Jose Farmer brings together Sherlock
Holmes and Tarzan
in the heart of Africa.
Holmes and Watson
are on a mission to retrieve a formula that could change the course of World War I
by destroying all the fish and chips. Along the way, Holmes sorts out certain
points of the Greystoke
family history that are “wrong” in the sensational jungle king novels of Edgar
Rice Burroughs.
Farmer throws in cameos and name-dropping of a host of popular and pulp
heroes. On their first two, back-to-back airplane flights, Holmes and Watson
have the mixed blessings of being piloted by G-8 (possibly The Spider)
and The Shadow.
They obviously meet Tarzan, and unexpectedly meet the daughter of Allan Quatermain.
Along the way, they interact with Henry
Merrivale and Gideon Fell.
As a player of The
Game, Farmer describes how Watson’s previously unpublished manuscript came
to him through a chain of provenance that included Lord Peter
Wimsey.
If you’re looking for a short, fun, pulpy, nostalgic novel, this will
do. It is fun.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Comic Book Nation by Bradford W. Wright
As you would expect from a medium that has survived decades, comic
books have changed with time to adapt to changes in culture. In Comic
Book Nation, Bradford
W. Wright describes that history
from the birth of comics as a new medium in the 1930s through the 1990s. Though the
book was published a decade ago, it still provides a good perspective on where
comics are. He mentions the advent of electronic publishing at the close of the
book. I think it is fair to say that electronic publishing
and distribution has not radically changed comics, though there may be
potential for that in recent developments in the business
of self-publishing comics electronically.
Bradford is an academic historian. Comic
Book Nation is intended to be a cultural history of comics. Of course,
Bradford can’t help but cover some the same ground that other writers cover,
though this book predates many of the more academic or journalistic books on
the subject. Some publishers, creators, and titles are just too important and
influential not to mention. Even so, he tries to stick to his purpose and show
how the times were reflected in comics.
I think it is fair to say that comics, and popular media generally,
reflect cultures more than they influence them. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t
be popular. This reflection isn’t always simplistic, even in comics. Comics
writers and artists, like other producers of popular media, tried to address
the concerns and interests of their audiences, sometimes realistically,
sometimes idealistically, and sometimes with cynicism.
Of course, it was Superman who
sparked the immense popularity of superhero
comics, and comics generally. That popularity spawned imitators, as it does
today. The early Superman, created by Cleveland high
school students Jerry Siegel
and Joe
Shuster, was a reformer. He battled gangsters and crooked politicians. He
was a New Dealer.
Many comics supported New Deal policies
to address the Great
Depression.
Superheroes made the transition to World War II
with ease. Writers had to address why the costumed crusaders weren’t enlisting
or bringing the war to a swift end. They must have succeeded, because superhero
titles were very popular, even among American
soldiers. Comics were pro-war, and many costumed heroes were battling foreign
menaces, especially the Nazis, even before
America entered the war.
Superhero titles floundered after the war, but other genres did well.
Comics generally supported American policies of intervention in smaller nations
and containment of Communism. The
medium reflected the post-war hopefulness that there could be peace and
international cooperation with America leading as a benevolent superpower.
The post-war years had troubles, too. People feared the misuse and
spread of nuclear weapons. The Korean War
was a doubtful venture that many felt lacked the clear and good purpose of
World War II. This applied to Viet Nam, too,
where the additional problems of guerilla warfare challenged notions of
heroism.
Comic books faced other challenges. The excesses of crime
and horror
comics brought about industry-operated censorship. Television
competed for the time and money of children.
Much of the latter part of the book shows how the comics industry found
a way to survive these problems. The 1960s introduced a
resurgence of creativity and superheroes, especially the flawed fantasy men of Stan Lee’s Marvel Comics.
New models of distribution were introduced in the 1980s. Electronic
media has the potential to reinvigorate comics.
Because my adolescence was in the 1980s, I’d like to mention a few
things about it. Unlike some comics historians, Bradford spends a fair amount
of time on that decade, especially in a book that covers more than 60 years. He
provides a pretty good description of how Frank Miller
and Alan
Moore challenged the superhero model and brought a lot of new interest to
it. If anything, Miller and Moore were too influential. A lot of comics are
still derivative of their best works.
Imitation of success is common in comics, and too often the imitators do
not have the skill or understanding of the masters.
What I’d really like to mention is that Bradford acknowledges John Byrne’s
contribution. Byrne was a very popular writer and artist in the 1980s. He did
some pretty good stuff, too. He also indulged in excesses that presaged the
excesses of the 1990s, but at least he did it with a self-aware wink. Byrne
brought fun back to comics. Then as now, I like comics with a good dose of fun.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Wright, Bradford W. Comic Book
nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. Baltimore, MD:
Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2001.
Google
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Stealing Plots
I previously wrote about “stealing”
characters. In that essay, I described
several characters
from popular fiction
and how they might be seen as variations on the same character template. I suggested that a writer
can modify and reimagine existing characters to create new ones. Actually, I think that is probably how most
characters are born, even if the authors aren’t consciously aware of it.
Similarly, plots
can be “stolen.” Some have suggested
that there are a very limited number of plots, so in a sense all writers are
stealing from a small pool. On the other
hand, there is a lot more to a story than just the plot, so it may not
matter. Let me illustrate the idea with
some examples.
A Christmas Carol is one of the most
popular, and I think one of the best, ghost
stories ever written. Charles
Dickens’ novella was first published in 1843. The story has been adapted to the stage (including opera),
many films,
radio,
television
(my wife and I are fond of the 1984 version with George C.
Scott as Scrooge),
comic
books, and numerous pastiches.
The plot is well known. Ebenezer
Scrooge begins as a miser. On a certain Christmas Eve,
he is confronted by the ghost of his former business
partner and three spirits who represent Christmases past,
present and future. The visions they show
him convince Scrooge that his single-minded pursuit of money
has deprived him of life. He awakes
Christmas morning as a new man committed to relating
to his fellow man and putting his money to use.
Let’s reverse Scrooge. Make him
an extremely generous person instead of a miser. In that case, he might be something like George Bailey. Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart,
was the generous man at the heart of It’s a Wonderful Life. His dream is to travel the world. Instead, he delays his dream again and again
to help his neighbors,
his brother,
and eventually his own wife
and children. It comes to a head when a mistake by his uncle
brings imminent ruin to the savings and loan George runs. Faced with ruin,
George sees himself as an utter failure.
He contemplates suicide in hopes that his insurance policy will rescue
his family
from financial ruin.
At this point, he receives a spiritual visit like Ebenezer. In this case it is a single spirit, an angel
named Clarence. Like the Christmas ghosts, Clarence shows
George a vision. This is also an
inversion of Dickens’ tale. Instead of
showing him a history
of missed opportunities and blindness to the needs of others, Clarence reveals
an alternate world in which George and his generous acts did not exist. His brother is dead. His wife is a frightened spinster (it’s hard
to believe Donna
Reed would have been overlooked by the marriageable
men of Bedford
Falls even holed up in the library with her glasses on). The people are mired in poverty because
he hadn’t been there to fight for access to credit
so they could build homes and businesses.
The town is under the thumb of the miserly landlord Mr. Potter,
himself a type of unreformed Scrooge.
Like Scrooge, George is changed by his vision. He sees that his life is worth something and
that his sacrifices bought him a lot of love. In the end, returned from his walk in the
dark alternate universe, that love is displayed by a return of generosity from
his many friends that saves him.
These beloved stories don’t have the same plot. However, one is a variation or alteration of
the plot of the other. This plot
archetype doesn’t have to be so serious.
Topper, either the book by Thorne Smith
or the movie
starring Cary
Grant, is an example of this plot played
for laughs. Cosmo Topper
is a banker. He is bored with his job. He is somewhat alienated from his wife who clings
to respectability. He has money and
status, even what might have been considered a good marriage in a time when
such relationships were as much about business as love, but he has no fun and
it is wearing on him.
The ghosts are a piece of work, too.
George
and Marion
Kerby are a wealthy
couple who die in a car accident.
Instead of shuffling off to the afterlife, they find themselves stuck on
earth. They have never done something
substantive, either good or bad, in their entirely frivolous lives. They decide to fix the situation by helping
their old friend Topper.
In this case, all the major characters are a type of Scrooge. Topper has let his job, money, and status
keep him from a life of fun and serious connection. The Kerbys had so little meaningful
connection to other people that they neither helped nor harmed another soul. Even Topper’s wife Clara has
sacrificed intimacy in her marriage to focus on social climbing.
So Topper is visited by spirits like Scrooge and Bailey. Instead of taking a serious look at life, it
is presents a screwball comedy. The Kerbys drag Topper into all kind of
risqué situations he would normally not get into. Misunderstandings abound and Topper is
embarrassed repeatedly. The ghosts are have
good intentions, but they are not very competent. Topper feigns irritation at the hijinks, but
in his heart is having a ball and doesn’t want the haunting to end. Clara feels humiliated by all the trouble
Topper is getting into, but fear of losing him to a wild life reminds her of
how much she loves him.
Through a series of screwy events, the characters undergo a
Scrooge-like change. The Toppers loosen
up and rekindle their love. They
discover that their intimacy as a couple is more important than jobs, wealth or
status, though they don’t have to completely give up those things. The Kerbys take responsibility for themselves
and their actions. They finally put
Topper’s needs ahead of their own and do something substantively good, opening
the doors of heaven.
You can probably see that these stories are related by more than
similarities in plot. They have a common
theme. All of these stories are about connecting to
others in relationships. Bailey is a
little different from the others in that he starts out blind to all the good
that has resulted from his seemingly humble touching of the lives of
others. Scrooge, the Toppers and the
Kerbys are isolated for various reasons, mostly of their own making, and need
to discover that relating to others is the main thing.
Google
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
This Year I Will... by M. J. Ryan
Many of us make New Year’s resolutions,
but few of us keep them. There is less interest on the statistics of
other goals, but
it seems likely that resolutions are hard to keep whenever we make them. Self-help author and
consultant M.
J. Ryan would like to change that sorry state of affairs. Her book This Year I Will… has advice on how to
turn goals into action and dreams into reality.
Ryan makes the important point that much of our behavior is habitual.
We have repeated behaviors so many times that we unthinkingly return to them
when we encounter the stimulus that triggers them. To complicate the matter,
our behaviors fill a need or solve a problem. If they hadn’t they wouldn’t have
become ingrained habits.
You don’t have to delve into you half-remembered childhood to change
behavior, though. You just need to identify the underlying need or problem and
find other means of dealing with them. Ideally, the new behaviors will also
help you meet your goals instead of getting in the way.
I suppose I have made it sound easy.
It is not, and Ryan does not promise quick fixes. In fact, she warns her
readers they will face internal resistance to change. There are parts of brain,
power emotional parts that exert a lot of control over us, that see change as a
threat and will not easily leave the familiar path. Ryan offers advice on how
to handle this, and even how to get our emotional brain to help us instead of
hinder our change.
The book is organized into short chapters. Ryan suggests you can go
directly to the parts you need and return to the other parts later, or when
they seem more useful. Instead of being a book you read through once, she wants
This Year I Will… to be a reference
you can return to when you need fresh ideas or a refresher on techniques you’ve
used before. Some of the subjects that
stood out to me were
- concentrate on “what” instead of “why,”
- dealing with doubt,
- taking action,
- focusing on one or a few changes at a time,
- taking one step at a time (though sometimes we need a big goal to motivate us),
- track your progress (I’m a believer in this),
- have a Plan B (and C, and D…),
- tips for effective visualization,
- performance review, and
- remember to have fun.
There is more than that. The book is not a collection of unrelated
mini-chapters. Though the book isn’t necessarily made to be read linearly, I
found that later chapters tend to build on earlier ones. There is also a subtle
shift from an almost wholly practical to a somewhat philosophical view. You’re
not just doing a better job of setting and achieving goals. The goals you
achieve and the habits you form shape and define your life.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Ryan, M. J. This Year I Will…:
How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True.
New York: MJF, 2006.
Google
Friday, April 17, 2009
What I Read
Back at the end of 2004, I received from my wife a small journal in which to record the book I’d read and a few notes on them. I didn’t record in this journal every book I read since, but I’ve recorded those that seemed especially noteworthy or interesting to me at the time.
I’ll be reproducing that journal here, in a web-enhanced version. You might think of these notes as micro-reviews. I hope you find them useful and interesting.
Date: February 15, 2005
Title: Zig: The Autobiography of Zig Ziglar Author: Zig Ziglar
Thoughts: I enjoyed See You at the Top and Over the Top. I’m encouraged that he learned this over time and overcame setbacks—some surprisingly recent. I hope soon to put aside being a “wandering generality” and start living the life God made for me.
Date: February 17, 2005
Title: No Plot? Not Problem! A Low Stress-High Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days Author: Chris Baty
Thoughts: I’m not sure I’ll undertake this challenge. I do need a kick in the pants to jumpstart my creativity. I hardly do anything anymore simply for the joy of doing it. I need to get some fun back in my life and do some thing I like doing.
Date: March 1, 2005
Title: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living Author: Dale Carnegie
Thoughts: “Therefore, do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father know you need all these things” (Matthew 6:31-32).
Date: March 3, 2005
Title: Independent Consulting
Author: David Kintler with Bob Adams
Thoughts: This is one of the books I read while preparing to start a consulting and training business.
Date: March 7, 2005
Title: Forever Ruined for the Ordinary Author: Joy Dawson
Thoughts: I read this book quickly, but there is much in it I’d like to ponder.
I’ll be reproducing that journal here, in a web-enhanced version. You might think of these notes as micro-reviews. I hope you find them useful and interesting.
Date: February 15, 2005
Title: Zig: The Autobiography of Zig Ziglar Author: Zig Ziglar
Thoughts: I enjoyed See You at the Top and Over the Top. I’m encouraged that he learned this over time and overcame setbacks—some surprisingly recent. I hope soon to put aside being a “wandering generality” and start living the life God made for me.
Date: February 17, 2005
Title: No Plot? Not Problem! A Low Stress-High Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days Author: Chris Baty
Thoughts: I’m not sure I’ll undertake this challenge. I do need a kick in the pants to jumpstart my creativity. I hardly do anything anymore simply for the joy of doing it. I need to get some fun back in my life and do some thing I like doing.
Date: March 1, 2005
Title: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living Author: Dale Carnegie
Thoughts: “Therefore, do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father know you need all these things” (Matthew 6:31-32).
Date: March 3, 2005
Title: Independent Consulting
Author: David Kintler with Bob Adams
Thoughts: This is one of the books I read while preparing to start a consulting and training business.
Date: March 7, 2005
Title: Forever Ruined for the Ordinary Author: Joy Dawson
Thoughts: I read this book quickly, but there is much in it I’d like to ponder.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis
I wrote this for a class in public administration back in 1997. You can tell it’s for a class because it’s longer than the reviews I’d normally write for this blog. I have the sense from reading it that the assignment must have involve answering particular questions about the book. I got an A-. The hyperlinks are added, but I haven’t changed it otherwise from what I wrote the first time.
Bennis, Warren. On Becoming a Leader. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1994.
Bennis’ premise is that leadership comes out of the state of being of the leader. Leadership starts with a leader’s capacity for self-invention, to shape himself with learning and reflection as opposed to being shaped by circumstances. In Bennis’ words, “No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders.”
Bennis’ process of self-invention begins with self-knowledge. He proposes four lessons to gaining self-knowledge. First, “you are your own best teacher”; learning is essential. Second is to accept responsibility for your own education. Third, “you can learn anything you want to learn.” Finally, reflection is necessary to develop understanding and a leader must question his experience to learn. Leaders innovate and learn from experience without fear of mistakes. According to Bennis’ definition, a leader is someone in the front, doing things others have not done.
A leader must add knowledge of the world to self-knowledge. Bennis says that a leader should learn about the world through participation rather than reaction. One learns by trying to change something as well as experiencing it as it is. The conscious learner seeks broad experience, learns from others and from mistakes.
A leader must trust his instincts. Bennis uses Emerson’s term “blessed impulse.” Blessed impulse is a tool for making decisions in a world to complex to be completely understood.
Leaders must deploy themselves. By this Bennis means a leader must practice self-expression. Deploying oneself is offset against being deployed by others or the voices of others on one’s head.
Leaders must “get people on their side.” Bennis prescribes constancy, congruity of words and action, reliability and integrity.
Bennis also speaks more generally about the characteristics and roles of leaders. These are similar to what might be found in other books on leadership.
Bennis calls the organization the primary form in American society. He challenges leaders to shape their organizations, and shape society, to make them work in a rapidly changing world. He encourages executives to empower junior leaders in their organizations to teach them leadership through experience.
Throughout, Bennis uses the experience of twelve leaders gleaned from interviews. Bennis includes a brief biography of each leader at the end.
At first, it seems that Bennis says that one becomes a leader by being a leader. This is what he says, but he does not leave the reader hanging. Bennis’ perspective is what is unique about the book. Leadership is the expression of the character, qualities, values and personality of a leader. His is not a direct call for us to become leaders, but for us to become ourselves. Leadership will follow.
This may be a difficult lesson. Buyers of books on leadership are probably more interested in learning the skills of leadership and management to help them in their current situations. Bennis says express yourself. If you are doing what you think you ought to do, if others deploy you, you will not be a leader. Self-expression may take you to something different.
The first step to leadership is self-knowledge. A useful tool is self-evaluation, what Bennis calls “tests and measures.” Bennis offers a set of four tests—really four statements. One could apply the tests with pencil and paper, making lists in response to each statement. Of all the tools and suggestions in the book, this set of tests is the most clear and immediately applicable. A reader wanting to apply Bennis’ lessons would do well to start here.
Little else can be used immediately. Changes in point of view and lifestyle take time. One might argue that only a few Bennis’ suggested activities are specific to developing leadership. To me, much of it sounds fun and interesting. That is the point Bennis is trying to make: leadership comes out of broad experience, education, perspective, desire, mastery of one’s discipline and synthesis of ideas.
My own experience validates this. I am as proud of my single published poem as I am of my accomplishments as an engineer or public servant. The skills and abilities exercised by writing are different from those exercised by engineering. I am persuaded that, though seemingly unrelated, one improves the other in me.
Bennis’ somewhat artificial distinction between managers and leaders is a shortcoming. He makes a manager sound like something one would not want to be. He list skills and characteristics developed from the “education” of a leader and the “training” of a manager. All seemingly undesirable things are on the manager side. On might argue tat several management skills, like deduction and common sense, would be useful to a leader.
Most of the interviews are businessmen, but some come from public service agencies and professions. In may seem that businessmen are more susceptible to “surrendering to the context”—the bottom line, the corporate culture, the style of a boss to be pleased—but public service leaders must face their own context. A public servant may readily accept his organization’s view of the way things should be or done, what is important and who to involve without ever considering his own vision, ability and desire.
It may be more important for public section leadership to use self-expression. While a business leader may have the satisfaction of bringing a product to market, making a profit, even gaining notoriety, a public leader may never see his vision achieved. A public leaders’ satisfaction may have to come from living the life he wants to live.
A particular item addressed by Bennis that may be of use to one in public service is getting people on your side. A public leader may have little to rely on besides his integrity and “voice”—an ability to change the climate of his organization and shape it to work more effectively. As important as it is, Bennis can offer little on the subject except constancy, congruity, reliability and integrity. He says to be someone others might follow. He offers no lessons on persuasion, though if persuasion can be taught, it may be of little benefit to those who lake those characteristics.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Tested by Time by James L. Garlow
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Developing the Leader Within by John C. Maxwell
The Difference Maker by John C. Maxwell
Winning with People by John C. Maxwell
Bennis, Warren. On Becoming a Leader. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1994.
Bennis’ premise is that leadership comes out of the state of being of the leader. Leadership starts with a leader’s capacity for self-invention, to shape himself with learning and reflection as opposed to being shaped by circumstances. In Bennis’ words, “No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders.”
Bennis’ process of self-invention begins with self-knowledge. He proposes four lessons to gaining self-knowledge. First, “you are your own best teacher”; learning is essential. Second is to accept responsibility for your own education. Third, “you can learn anything you want to learn.” Finally, reflection is necessary to develop understanding and a leader must question his experience to learn. Leaders innovate and learn from experience without fear of mistakes. According to Bennis’ definition, a leader is someone in the front, doing things others have not done.
A leader must add knowledge of the world to self-knowledge. Bennis says that a leader should learn about the world through participation rather than reaction. One learns by trying to change something as well as experiencing it as it is. The conscious learner seeks broad experience, learns from others and from mistakes.
A leader must trust his instincts. Bennis uses Emerson’s term “blessed impulse.” Blessed impulse is a tool for making decisions in a world to complex to be completely understood.
Leaders must deploy themselves. By this Bennis means a leader must practice self-expression. Deploying oneself is offset against being deployed by others or the voices of others on one’s head.
Leaders must “get people on their side.” Bennis prescribes constancy, congruity of words and action, reliability and integrity.
Bennis also speaks more generally about the characteristics and roles of leaders. These are similar to what might be found in other books on leadership.
Bennis calls the organization the primary form in American society. He challenges leaders to shape their organizations, and shape society, to make them work in a rapidly changing world. He encourages executives to empower junior leaders in their organizations to teach them leadership through experience.
Throughout, Bennis uses the experience of twelve leaders gleaned from interviews. Bennis includes a brief biography of each leader at the end.
At first, it seems that Bennis says that one becomes a leader by being a leader. This is what he says, but he does not leave the reader hanging. Bennis’ perspective is what is unique about the book. Leadership is the expression of the character, qualities, values and personality of a leader. His is not a direct call for us to become leaders, but for us to become ourselves. Leadership will follow.
This may be a difficult lesson. Buyers of books on leadership are probably more interested in learning the skills of leadership and management to help them in their current situations. Bennis says express yourself. If you are doing what you think you ought to do, if others deploy you, you will not be a leader. Self-expression may take you to something different.
The first step to leadership is self-knowledge. A useful tool is self-evaluation, what Bennis calls “tests and measures.” Bennis offers a set of four tests—really four statements. One could apply the tests with pencil and paper, making lists in response to each statement. Of all the tools and suggestions in the book, this set of tests is the most clear and immediately applicable. A reader wanting to apply Bennis’ lessons would do well to start here.
Little else can be used immediately. Changes in point of view and lifestyle take time. One might argue that only a few Bennis’ suggested activities are specific to developing leadership. To me, much of it sounds fun and interesting. That is the point Bennis is trying to make: leadership comes out of broad experience, education, perspective, desire, mastery of one’s discipline and synthesis of ideas.
My own experience validates this. I am as proud of my single published poem as I am of my accomplishments as an engineer or public servant. The skills and abilities exercised by writing are different from those exercised by engineering. I am persuaded that, though seemingly unrelated, one improves the other in me.
Bennis’ somewhat artificial distinction between managers and leaders is a shortcoming. He makes a manager sound like something one would not want to be. He list skills and characteristics developed from the “education” of a leader and the “training” of a manager. All seemingly undesirable things are on the manager side. On might argue tat several management skills, like deduction and common sense, would be useful to a leader.
Most of the interviews are businessmen, but some come from public service agencies and professions. In may seem that businessmen are more susceptible to “surrendering to the context”—the bottom line, the corporate culture, the style of a boss to be pleased—but public service leaders must face their own context. A public servant may readily accept his organization’s view of the way things should be or done, what is important and who to involve without ever considering his own vision, ability and desire.
It may be more important for public section leadership to use self-expression. While a business leader may have the satisfaction of bringing a product to market, making a profit, even gaining notoriety, a public leader may never see his vision achieved. A public leaders’ satisfaction may have to come from living the life he wants to live.
A particular item addressed by Bennis that may be of use to one in public service is getting people on your side. A public leader may have little to rely on besides his integrity and “voice”—an ability to change the climate of his organization and shape it to work more effectively. As important as it is, Bennis can offer little on the subject except constancy, congruity, reliability and integrity. He says to be someone others might follow. He offers no lessons on persuasion, though if persuasion can be taught, it may be of little benefit to those who lake those characteristics.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Tested by Time by James L. Garlow
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Developing the Leader Within by John C. Maxwell
The Difference Maker by John C. Maxwell
Winning with People by John C. Maxwell
Monday, July 19, 2010
How to Write Horror Fiction by William F. Nolan
Nolan, William F. How to Write Horror Fiction. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest, 1990.
William F. Nolan (author of Logan’s Run and other horror tales) takes a conversational, even light, tone in How to Write Horror Fiction. For Nolan, a good scare is good fun.
Nolan begins the book with his on introduction to horror stories and a discussion of why people read them or see horror movies. People get a thrill and a sense of relief from facing death and overcoming it, even if only vicariously. Maybe especially vicariously.
The book focuses on the particulars of writing horror. Nolan discusses at length what works in horror stories. He illustrates this through examples drawn from a number of authors. He also provides a step-by-step discussion of horror elements by working through one of his own stories. The book contains general tips for writers, but it doesn’t talk as much about the general mechanics and practices of writing.
He has some tips for breaking into the horror market. The upside is there is a lot of demand for horror and places for new writers to break in. The down side is that those open segments of the market pay poorly if they pay at all. Though not well paying, many of the lower market periodicals are serious about quality and finding good new authors, so writing for them can be a good place to build a portfolio while building skill. Film and television can be a lucrative market for writers, though it is hard to get into (after gaining success as a writer elsewhere, most likely after having book optioned for adaption to film).
Some of the references are dated, as one might expect from a book that is almost 20 years old. However, Nolan includes an appendix that lists a number of horror anthologies. Most are probably out of print by now, but also probably cheaply available as a used books. For someone looking to read good horror stories, or to develop a sense of what works as a writer, these books will still be good.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
What I Read (11)
Date: February 3, 2008
Title: Changing for Good Author: James O. Prochaska, John C. Norcross & Carlo C. DiClemente
Thoughts: I would like to make some changes in my life. I thought I might end bad health habits or passivity. Now I see I have issues with distress. I know a lot of my problem behavior is rooted in distress. That may be a good place to start.
Date: March 1, 2008
Title: The Physics of Superheroes
Author: James Kakalios
Thoughts: A fund way to brush up on physics I don’t think about every day. I enjoyed the tidbits of comics history.
Date: March 30, 2008
Title: The Once and Future King Author: T. H. White
Thoughts: Sometimes funny, even silly, though very tragic and sad.
There is original sin and men are depraved, as the Bible teaches. God is doing good always and seeking people to join Him. The world needs people who will faithfully try.
Date: April 3, 2008
Title: The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril
Author: Paul Malmont
Thoughts: This was the most fun book I’ve read in quite a while.
Date: April 8, 2008
Title: Gratitude: Affirming the Good Things in Life
Author: Melody Beattie
Thoughts: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life” (quote from the book).
Date: April 27, 2008
Title: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Author: Michael Chabon
Thoughts: I heard a lot about this book being about comics and popular culture. It is more about identity. The superheroes and their alter egos are escaping the conventional to be their true selves, as the characters in the book are striving to be.
Date: May 25, 2008
Title: God Wants You to be Rich
Author: Paul Zane Pilzer
Thoughts: For some time I’ve shared the thought that the goodness of God results in abundant providence. I’m interested in the concept that technology unlocks supply for our limitless (ever changing) demand.
Other parts of What I Read:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,
Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10
Title: Changing for Good Author: James O. Prochaska, John C. Norcross & Carlo C. DiClemente
Thoughts: I would like to make some changes in my life. I thought I might end bad health habits or passivity. Now I see I have issues with distress. I know a lot of my problem behavior is rooted in distress. That may be a good place to start.
Date: March 1, 2008
Title: The Physics of Superheroes
Author: James Kakalios
Thoughts: A fund way to brush up on physics I don’t think about every day. I enjoyed the tidbits of comics history.
Date: March 30, 2008
Title: The Once and Future King Author: T. H. White
Thoughts: Sometimes funny, even silly, though very tragic and sad.
There is original sin and men are depraved, as the Bible teaches. God is doing good always and seeking people to join Him. The world needs people who will faithfully try.
Date: April 3, 2008
Title: The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril
Author: Paul Malmont
Thoughts: This was the most fun book I’ve read in quite a while.
Date: April 8, 2008
Title: Gratitude: Affirming the Good Things in Life
Author: Melody Beattie
Thoughts: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life” (quote from the book).
Date: April 27, 2008
Title: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Author: Michael Chabon
Thoughts: I heard a lot about this book being about comics and popular culture. It is more about identity. The superheroes and their alter egos are escaping the conventional to be their true selves, as the characters in the book are striving to be.
Date: May 25, 2008
Title: God Wants You to be Rich
Author: Paul Zane Pilzer
Thoughts: For some time I’ve shared the thought that the goodness of God results in abundant providence. I’m interested in the concept that technology unlocks supply for our limitless (ever changing) demand.
Other parts of What I Read:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,
Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Halloween Links
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios
Kakalios, J. The Physics of Superheroes. New York: Gotham Books, 2005.
The Physics of Superheroes is a fun introduction to physics. Kakalios is a physics professor at the University of Minnesota, and childhood comic book fan, who created a freshman physics class that used examples from comic books to illustrate physics principles rather than traditional examples.
This book is not a physics textbook. For one thing, it is very light on math. Calculus was a prerequisite to the physics classes I took in college, but you can follow this book with no more math than a high school student would know. If higher math is necessary for a thorough understanding, Kakalios provides a general concept and moves on. This is a book for the nonspecialist.
Though written for a nontechnical audience, the book covers the range of physics you would find in an undergraduate physics curriculum. It moves from classical mechanics to thermodynamics to quantum mechanics. It demonstrates how seemingly esoteric and strange physical phenomena, particularly in the realm of quantum mechanics, make possible the technology that is all around us.
What makes the book entertaining is the use of comic books as sources of illustrations. Much of what is in comics is more fantasy than physics. Kakalios allows a “miracle exception” to explain the superheroes’ powers, but from their examines their feats form the point of view of solid science. Sometimes the comics get the science right.
Judging from the tone of the book, it seems that Kakalios has an affection for comic books. Though the main subject is physics, a secondary subject is the history of comics and some of their major characters. The comics fan will find something to enjoy as well as those seeking an approachable introduction to physics. Maybe it can bridge the gap between those with the button down collars and those in the Black Adam tee shirts.
This book shares something with more academic texts, namely footnotes. Kakalios’ footnotes deal more with the comics than the physics; he deals with the physics in the main text, but sometimes an explanatory note about the comics’ characters is helpful to the uninitiated. Some footnotes are tongue-in-cheek comments that lighten the tone of the more serious segments.
Order this book here
The Physics of Superheroes is a fun introduction to physics. Kakalios is a physics professor at the University of Minnesota, and childhood comic book fan, who created a freshman physics class that used examples from comic books to illustrate physics principles rather than traditional examples.
This book is not a physics textbook. For one thing, it is very light on math. Calculus was a prerequisite to the physics classes I took in college, but you can follow this book with no more math than a high school student would know. If higher math is necessary for a thorough understanding, Kakalios provides a general concept and moves on. This is a book for the nonspecialist.
Though written for a nontechnical audience, the book covers the range of physics you would find in an undergraduate physics curriculum. It moves from classical mechanics to thermodynamics to quantum mechanics. It demonstrates how seemingly esoteric and strange physical phenomena, particularly in the realm of quantum mechanics, make possible the technology that is all around us.
What makes the book entertaining is the use of comic books as sources of illustrations. Much of what is in comics is more fantasy than physics. Kakalios allows a “miracle exception” to explain the superheroes’ powers, but from their examines their feats form the point of view of solid science. Sometimes the comics get the science right.
Judging from the tone of the book, it seems that Kakalios has an affection for comic books. Though the main subject is physics, a secondary subject is the history of comics and some of their major characters. The comics fan will find something to enjoy as well as those seeking an approachable introduction to physics. Maybe it can bridge the gap between those with the button down collars and those in the Black Adam tee shirts.
This book shares something with more academic texts, namely footnotes. Kakalios’ footnotes deal more with the comics than the physics; he deals with the physics in the main text, but sometimes an explanatory note about the comics’ characters is helpful to the uninitiated. Some footnotes are tongue-in-cheek comments that lighten the tone of the more serious segments.
Order this book here
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