People (or corporate entities, which are people for tax reasons i guess) often mistake the elements of some piece of entertainment or art, to be the things that make it good or enjoyable in themselves. This song is popular, they think, so lets make a song using the same sounds and it will also be …
The next batch of words
I've been a bit stuck for the past few days, but the next scene has come to me. Thanks muse! Now I feel the floodgates will open again soon... Sometimes I feel like (given my limited experience writing novels) the first 20 or 30% of writing is pulling things out of thin air. Then the …
Doers and preservers
I just listened to the section in Crime and Punishment featuring the talk about Raskolnikov's article. (very minor spoilers) The article talks about what Raskolnikov calls 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' people, and their differences. The ordinary people, he says, are happy to be ruled and told what to do, and have not many exciting or interesting …
150 years old and still kicking
I've been listening to Crime and Punishment, and am amazed how well it holds up. Whenever I open a classic I'm expecting it to be a bit of work, but this one isn't. Somehow, 150 years later, it is still a tense, tight read. How many more years will people still be reading this book? …
Too many words
I'm still reading 1Q84. It is very long. About 1200 pages long. And I wonder, how many of these words are really necessary? He likes to describe the preparation of food, and describe jazz and classical music, and describe all kinds of things the characters are doing or seeing at a level of detail that …
Jonas David 