Ever spent the whole day reading The Hunger Games and then found yourself paranoid that a tribute was following you? Don’t worry; you aren’t crazy. Turns out that reading a really gripping novel can cause our brains to believe we are in the body of the protagonist, and this effect can last for days after reading according to a scientific study.
You are Katniss
Margaret Atwood and Philipp Meyer Headed to the TV Screen
Here’s a double-shot of television news: Darren Aronofsky is said to be developing Margaret Atwood’s MaddAdam for HBO, and AMC has ordered an adaptation of Philipp Meyer’s The Son (which has been holding steady on our Top Ten).
●
●
The Lives of Women
The Feminine Mystique turns fifty this month, and to mark the anniversary, Noah Berlatsky wonders how Agnes Grey, an Anne Bronte novel, illustrates and critiques the arguments made in the book.
The Colonized Space of Language
Recommended Reading: Iona Sharma writes about language as a colonized space, with its own history, politics, and tradition.
●
●
What’s the point?
“What’s the point of reading literature?” Electric Literature shares a video that offers a compelling 4-point answer.
●
●
2 comments:
Add Your Comment: Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Grading Died Today
“The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor. Don’t let this dissuade you from revising again and again, which can really improve a piece of writing.” Albert Camus, creative writing instructor.
●
●
The Factchecker
A closer look at the unraveling of Jonah Lehrer.
●
●
Rhyme and Reason
Want a book blurb from Margaret Atwood? Expect a poem instead. Atwood has retired from the blurbing business and now declines in rhyming verse. "But now I am aging; my brain is all shrunk,/And my adjective store is depleted;/My hair's getting stringy, I walk as though drunk;/ As a quotester I'm nigh-on defeated." Pair with our essays on the blurbing blunder: a history of blurbs, blurbs as publicity stunts, and the fundamental question — to blurb or not to blurb?
On the New New Orleanians
Why, yes, I will link to anything Nathaniel Rich writes about New Orleans. You should appreciate the consistency.
●
●
So that’s why I had a whale of a time reading ‘MOBY DICK’ and gained a hundred tons…
I’m reading Donna Tartt’s ‘The Secret History.’ Should I take precautions?