Lead Igloo | Stories, Philosophy, Opinion
On Precious and why stories need to be told
Lee Daniels’ critically lauded film Precious is, in an Aristotelian framework, a comedy.
It is about the rise in fortune of a lower class individual who the audience finds sympathetic – and it has a happy ending [had Aristotle's commentary on Comedy survived we'd no doubt have more to work with, but that's about the best we've got].
Of course, [...]
A note on Ezra Pound & Japan
For reasons that will become clearer (to myself) at a later date, I am reading Ezra Pound & Japan, a collection edited by Sanehide Kodama.
Ezra Pound & Japan collects over fifty years of correspondence between Pound and various Japanese poets and editors. The latter parts of the book also contains Ezra’s actual contributions to Japanese [...]
Walls and apricots
Once upon a time, there was a wall. The building of it was one of the biggest undertakings in human history. The story of this wall defined a nation, running through it both metaphorically and literally.
Once upon a time, there were people who, from a distance, watched a great wall rise, fall, and rise again. [...]
A further thought regarding e-readers, pertaining particularly to newspapers
Is it cynical of me to think that mainstream media outlets are pushing the e-reader’s cause so that they can continue to have control of ‘the news’?
In Rupert Murdoch’s speech about blocking News Corp’s online content from those who don’t subscribe, the thing that struck me was his comment that papers would survive by giving [...]
As easy on the eyes as paper – On books and e-readers
E-readers are the way of the reading future, seemingly whether we like it or not. But are digital books an attempt to fix a reading experience that isn’t broken?
I once worked in an art museum where my primary role was to stop people from touching the works. Of course, it didn’t say it like that [...]
Hope in 2010
My obligatory end of year post. I’m a blogger now, so when in e-Rome…
The Australian literary scene is, for now, still quite traditional. Traditional meaning that people still buy books, lit journals continue to appear each quarter, every town worth putting on the map has a writers’ festival and, most importantly, there is still a [...]
Being human
This past fortnight has been one of extremes. Last week, I was so busy I frequently lost track of time. This week, I am doing almost nothing and I continue to struggle to comprehend that it is only Thursday. This mix has had an unusual effect on me – I am uninspired, unmotivated and disinterested. [...]
Law and Order in Civilisation
Civilisation is a word that gives us a sense of modernising, climbing to loftier heights and moving forward. But there is no concrete evidence to suggest that we are, or ever have. The invention of electricity, penicillin and certain artistic works are not evidence enough, and are nullified by things like nuclear energy, waste, the [...]
Story. Telling.
I have, of late, been questioning my motivations as a writer. This does not stem from an existential crisis – which, in itself, is unusual for me – or a particularly harsh rejection note, but rather the way I have been looking at writing and writers, and at what I have been reading. This, no [...]
But he did it…
Executive Summary: This post is about copying.
I once read that writing is problem solving. This is certainly one way to look at it and while I don’t think it’s wise to think of writing only as problem solving, it is important to keep in mind.
Lots of problems arise when you write. Writing something, a word [...]