“I war-gamed out everything. My biggest fear was that somebody tries to play out my book and finds out it won’t work.” At The New York Times, Alexandra Alter writes about the new Minecraft novel by Max Brooks, author of World War Z: “In the process, he may have also created a strange new entertainment category, one that hovers somewhere between fan fiction, role-playing games and literature — a novel set in a game, that can itself be played within the game.” And while we’re on the topic of games, let’s also talk about geekdom and race.
Novelcraft
Nerd Jeopardy Happened and Our Correspondent Was There
Presenting the second installment of our Tumblr’s newest feature, #LitBeat, which offers coverage of literary events.
●
●
Hollywood and the Brontes
USA Today suggests that Hollywood’s love affair with Jane Austen is ebbing and, with film versions of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights on the way, the bigwigs have moved on to the Brontes.
●
●
Boys in Zinc
Granta has published translated writing from Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich. She writes: “In 1986 I had decided not to write about war again. For a long time after I finished my book War’s Unwomanly Face I couldn’t bear to see a child with a bleeding nose. I suppose each of us has a measure of protection against pain; mine had been exhausted. Two events changed my mind.” Find out more about Alexievich here.
An Interview With Helen DeWitt
Helen DeWitt talks to Bookforum about the origins of her long (as in really long!)-awaited second novel, Lightning Rods.
Bolaño: Required Reading
Chile’s official tourism website is running a series on “what to read before, after or during your trip to Chile.” Their most recent selection? Why, the work of Roberto Bolaño, of course. You might find our Bolaño Syllabus to be of help here, too.
●
●
Discussing The Worm
“Magic I think for me is kind of personal. Like, as soon as magic is in play, then I am given permission to imagine a different world, one in which magic things might happen—one where maybe I get some magic to wield if I’m lucky. Where cool stuff might happen at any given moment, cool stuff you wouldn’t even guess at. And for as long as the story holds, I’m kind of living in that world.” John Darnielle talks with Colin Winette about E.R. Eddison‘s The Worm Ouroboros, reading high fantasy and writing Wolf in White Van.
Rails both Real and Metaphorical
“America has always been built—and continues to be built—by those the establishment keeps invisible.” Public Books runs the sixth installment of its “An Engineer Reads a Novel” series, this time taking on Colson Whitehead‘s Underground Railroad and John Henry Days. We also recently reviewed the former, which has been blessed by both Oprah Winfrey and President Obama.
●
●