George Saunders delivered a little publicized convocation at Syracuse University this year. His main advice to the class of 2013 — be kind. “And so, a prediction, and my heartfelt wish for you: as you get older, your self will diminish and you will grow in love. YOU will gradually be replaced by LOVE,” he said.
Kill Them With Kindness
Iran Boycotts Rushdie… Again
Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa has come back to haunt Salman Rushdie once again. Iran is threatening to boycott the Frankfurt Book Fair because Rushdie was invited to give the keynote speech. You could also read our essay on how Rushdie passed the time while in hiding.
●
●
Common Consciousness Changed
"For good or evil, we are a single people: the more we become conscious of this, the less difficult and long will be humanity's progress towards justice and peace." The inimitable Primo Levi on the spiritual value of science and its ability to bring people together.
Woot Twilight Parody
Today only at Woot, a Stephenie Meyer parody qua flashlight advert: “I was just watching you sleep. Isn’t that dark and brooding and romantic?” Edward brooded darkly.
●
●
A Girl Is a Fully-Formed Thing
“The things I do not want to write about become the things I write about.” Year in Reading alumnus Eimear McBride talks to The Guardian on the occasion of her second novel's arrival. The Lesser Bohemians follows upon her hugely successful debut, A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing, which we reviewed back when it came out in the U.S.
Shades of Censorship
“I was absolutely horrified. Wouldn’t have known if not for a Russian reader who read both editions. Publisher in total breach of contract.” The Guardian reports that author VE Schwab was “devastated” to learn scenes from her fantasy series Shades of Magic have been excised from Russian translations for featuring queer characters. See also: a consideration of the commercial viability of LGBTQ lit.
●
●
Jim Crace’s Last Novel
Author Jim Crace reflects on his final book in Abu Dhabi's The National: “The thing is, I’ve written an appalling amount of books. ... The writing life doesn’t last forever. I am fit and well, and there are plenty of other things to do that I’m excited about, which are incompatible with spending most of my life shut up in a room. So that’s what I’m going to do, write a final book, and that will be it.”
●
●
Feeding Minds and Mouths
“For kids to be well-read, they need to be well-fed.” The New York Times reports on the trend of U.S. libraries providing summer meals to children.
●
●