Posts filed under ‘OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS’
HARUKI MURAKAMI: HIS EARLY EFFORTS
This Japanese author writes the type of story I love to read. His tales describe a mundane Japanese life, but include an element of fantasy and unreality.
I have read a great deal of his work, beginning with Kafka on the Shore, then journeying into his beyond and past works; a career with efforts I have never found disappointing. Wind/Pinball were his first attempt at writing. If only I could have reached this level in my first attempt, or for that matter my last. I feel there is something that exists in writing which defies explanation. These stories are a prime example.
Please read this work. For if you are a first-time Murakami reader you will become addicted to his style. If you are already an addict to his work, you will see the beginning of a voice destined for greatness.
Kurt Vonnegut – ‘So It Goes’
When you read the last line of this article, you should know that Dresden was bombed by the British. No matter who did the bombing, war is hell.
Today in Literature presents Kurt Vonnegut – ‘So It Goes’, and other stories about the great books, writers, characters, and events in literary history.
Source: Kurt Vonnegut – ‘So It Goes’
SCIENCE FICTION AND ROMANCE
WAR OF THE WORLDS
For my blog, I don’t write long pieces. I want to make my point and hold my readers’ attention. (Notice I use the plural, perhaps wishful thinking.) Not boring those reading my words.
This may gain your attention. The entry following this discusses a story of haunting romance, a story captivating me most of my life, along with classic science fiction.
I seldom watch movies more than once, but there are exceptions. Every chance I get I watch War of the Worlds – the original starring Gene Barry. For those who may have missed it, he also appeared for a moment at the end of the remake starring Tom Cruise. In some respects the remake has details reflecting H. G. Wells’ classic novel closer to the original movie. Let me discuss these comments in more detail.
The original, made in the 1950’s, scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. The way the suspense builds is magnificent. Unfortunately, after multiple viewings, I have found some incidents which make little sense. For one, when to original ship lands it is too hot to approach, yet when Gene Barry, and his almost girlfriend use the wooden farm and another ship lands destroying part of the house, the structure does not catch fire. Also, for the act which finally results in the death of the Martians is that they venture into a new world without any protective gear. Would a civilization traveling through space take that chance? Maybe, if you enjoy something, you should not revisit it multiple time, and keeping the love alive.
Now for the remake starring Tom Cruise. The weaknesses are strong, yet also keep true to the book.
If you watch the movie you may remember when Cruise and his daughter are trapped in a cellar with a character played by Tim Robbins. I could wrong about it being Robbins. I’ve been wrong before. I believe the character Robbins represents is a minister who is killed by the protagonist in the book. This act of murder is hinted strongly in the movie. But before this event, Robbins tells Cruise the belief is that the Martian machines were buried on the Earth a million years ago. I should mention that the Martians come to Earth by way of lightning strikes to power up their machines. Here comes the ‘give me a break’. It’s like burying a Model T, and in the meantime, your society develops spacecraft able to travel twice the speed of light. Yet, to save your civilization, you use the Model T. Don’t you think that the Martians would have used technology which currently existed?
To the remakes credit, they do depict the Martian’s machines closer in the book than what the original movie. But overall, I feel the original movie is the best.
Now onto the romance.
SUICIDE BOMBERS: WHY DO THEY EXIST?
As predicted, here I go off subject, but current events force me to speak.
I’ve been considering this piece for some time. The recent outrage in Paris has spurred me on to put pencil to paper and fingers to keyboard.
My thinking on this article began by considering the Japanese kamikaze pilot, of course, the current wave of suicide bombers followed. The Japanese were also known for their fanatical charges with little hope of success. I’m a World War II nut and am fairly certain I relate facts. The Japanese culture, at that time, was that suicide was preferred rather than accept defeat. That is why, with the dropping of the atomic bombs, lives on both sides were saved.
On a side note, I once read an article about the birth of the Japanese kamikaze idea. The concept was suggested by a Japanese soldier. I don’t remember if he was a pilot, but probably was. Then, during the 1990’s, someone recognized this same individual sitting on a park bench. Apparently the suggestion of self-sacrifice was not followed by action. I mention this, for I feel the idea of self-destruction is instilled in the weak with no future, and through manipulation, no choice.
I remember learning that during World War II, the American public could not understand or relate to the concept of an organized approach to suicide. In war, heroics cost the soldier his life when their backs are against the wall. But the concept of voluntarily committing suicide, to make a point is not present in our thinking. However, that attitude, in some societies and political groups exists today. We have become numbed by the almost daily report of suicide bombers doing their deed somewhere in the world.
We are now confronted with a world where men, women and even children are sent to their deaths. Manipulated to take their lives by those with an agenda of hate masked by religion.
I thought about this topic a great deal, as I’m sure many of us have. How could an individual’s world, with no threat immediately present, be hopeless enough to choose to leave it? How cheap is the value of a human life to those who have an agenda requiring the spread of terror?
STRUGGLING TO GET IT WRITE: CRITICISM AND CRITIQUE
Lately, I have strayed from the purpose of this blog, writing. I beg your forgiveness, although I promise it will happen again. For I live in a world which I understand less and less, and however much off the mark, I have opinions.
For now, however, I am back on course and thoughts of writing flow from my pen. The subject of this piece, as you can see from above, is criticism and critique.
In the early stages of your career, and it never ceases, criticism is its life’s blood, for with other’s help and guidance, that is how your work grows and matures. Although, always remember you are the creator of the work and the final ‘say’ is yours. As a writer it is essential that you believe in yourself and your work, but be able to take criticism and judge it for what it is worth. It is your task to sort through other’s opinions and select which are valid and which are not. It is important to share your work with other, and people you know and respect. But consider their credentials.
I know your mother most likely meets these two requirements, and wants to read your earliest draft. But when she raves, understand that she has a bit of a bias. Then there is your close friend who dropped out of high school and has read nothing but comic books since. Need I say more?
What I suggest as a source of criticism and support is a writers group, for in addition of reviewing your work they can empathize with your journey to becoming and author. But most important, find a group that offers constructive criticism and able to provide suggestions which improve your work.
Research the local writing groups. You will be amazed at how many writers live in your community. If you are unsuccessful in locating other writers, do not give up hope. There exists a host of online sites serving the same purpose. What follows is a sample of what is available.
The first is Critters Workshop.
Next, Absolute Write, less than critique, more and essential for writers.
My Writers Circle
The Young Writers Society
I’m not sure about this site, but obviously never used it. Be careful! https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/?forums
Critique Circle
http://www.critiquecircle.com/
Marketing to writers sometimes feeds as an ‘ego centric’ scam, promising but never delivering. As in all things in life, be careful. If it is too good to be true, walk away. I say this for the sites here appeared in Writers Digest. Some years ago, I checked Preditors & Editors for a list of agents appearing in their classified section. Preditors & Editors suggested you stay away from all of them.
MY FARMER DAUGHTER, A PROUD DAD
I know this is not about writing, but I can’t help myself.
In the past, I’ve posted pieces about my daughter, Lynn, who has chosen farming as a career. I’m proud of her for putting a work of love above the almighty dollar.
She’s been working at the Rodale farm, supporting St. Luke’s hospitals for a while now producing organically grown produce. In the beginning, she provided 12 crops for three hospitals. Now she is growing 30 crops for six facilities. I recently visited her farm, directly across from one of the hospitals, and was impressed by the operation and the knowledge she has gained. I walked among the fields, originally five acres but has grown by nine, not all used for farming. She told me of things I never considered when it came to organic farming. Like the fact that her fields required a buffer zone from nearby commercial fields to eliminate chemical applications, and how these zones depended on what the adjacent farm was growing. Buffer zones near farms using tractors to spread chemicals require less of a buffer than crops that spread agents with airplanes.
My girl really loves her work and I see a productive future for her. I hope you read at this article.
MARK TWAIN & ME & DEATH & TIME
A daily practice of mine is to look at the weather forecasts. Included in the facts are the temperature highs and lows associated with that date. I sometimes dwell on the years these records were set, years when I did not exist. Could I be considered dead on those dates? Is the definition of death that interval before and after your existence?
What got me thinking of this topic was a quote I read a few days ago. A quote of Mark Twain’s when he was asked if he feared death. The great writer said, “I do not fear death. I have been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”
This quote sums up exactly what I have been secretly pondering for years. But the part that bothers me is the ‘billions and billions of years’.
I have been both intrigued and mystified by the universe’s creation, the ‘Big Bang’. What follows are questions I have pondered, and the more I learn, the greater my confusion. What came before the ‘Big Bang’? Did time exist before that colossal event? For time is the interval between two events, and if there are no events, can there be time? Time would have to exist while the three other dimensions had not come into existence.
As a side-note, I have been working on a short story, The Event, for some time now and the story is tangled up in the notion of the ‘Big Bang’ and what came before.
As far as I know, the current theory speculates that the Higgs boson created the ‘Big Bang’, a particle which is able to create mass. But what created the Higgs boson, a particle which had to exist before the ‘Big Bang’. Just for a moment, let’s play with science. We all know the existence of the formula E=Mc2 Now, if the Higgs boson created matter, did light exist at that time? For, if light did not exist, E=M0 equals no energy or mass. So how can mass be created if light does not exist? Am I pursuing mind games are these answers known?
I’ve always thought of the ‘Big Bang’ as a combination of God and science, where physics and religion meet in a profound outcome. Was Mark Twain, and us all, dead before life for billions and billions of years, or for infinity?
WE REMEMBER
It is estimated that between 50 and 200 people jumped from the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. Marked forever in our memory will be the vision of them falling. Who can put themselves in the thought process that went into that decision and the conditions under which it was made? They did not chose death. They were murdered.
This poem is dedicated to those poor souls and all lives claimed that fateful day.
JUMPERS
They were like birds flying,
Leaping from flaming windows,
No wings to purchase air,
No hope of flying home.
They were like birds flying,
Tumbling in twos, alone,
Flashing by in a smoke-filled sky
While crowds watched in horror.
They were like birds flying
Flights, imprinting the nation’s memory.
They were like omens flying,
Carrying us into a world of fear.
GEORGE ORWELL WAS CLOSE, BUT A LITTLE EARLY
I’ve been thinking lately about George Orwell’s famous novel, 1984, and how the current state of affairs is starting to mimic his invasion of privacy. I remember, after reading his novel sometime in the 1960’s, ‘Big Brother’ would be determining every aspect of our lives. We still have many freedoms, but we are all being watched, to some extent. Let me explain.
Nineteen Eighty Four came and went and we were all free to live our lives as we wanted. Free of sinister observations, free to think and write what we wanted in total privacy free of no outside intrusions. Now compare those freedoms with what 2015 brings. Hence the title of this piece.
First, let me just mention the NSA. Thanks to Snowden and his leaks, an action which I don’t condone, we have learned, to some extent, the degree to which we are monitored. I may not be the sharpest knife in the draw, but with all the remedies they issue to right this wrong, I don’t know what they’re doing now.
An even larger violation of our privacy is the internet. We all cherish our computers, well maybe not cherish them, but in this day and age could not live without them. Through the internet, they provide a link to the world never thought possible, especially by us ‘mature’ adults. But that link, more and more is a two-way street. As we accumulate information from the world, the world accumulated information about us. And sometimes the way that information is used, is not beneficial to our wellbeing.
The electronic world we now occupy is full of opportunities for those who desire to tap into our lives. Look at the Target episode. Look at the latest revelation that millions of federal employees had their personal information. The revelations of the invasion of our privacy is relentless
I chuckle when I hear advertisements from companies vowing to protect your privacy. But during the ad, they subtlety add ‘That no one can prevent all hacking’, or something to that effect. So what is the use?
Then there are the ever-present cameras. All of us, outside the comfort of our homes, are constantly subject to observation and our every action recorded. Just about every business, and now many homes, have cameras monitoring 24/7. I find it amusing when someone decides to commit a crime, and unless they are hideously disguised, there image is captured, sometimes from multiple angles. Often the pictures are better than what appears on their driver’s license.
Think of this every time you venture from your home, your life and actions will probably be documented at some point. Here I’m not even considering the above cameras, but the existence of the ever-present cellphone. With this device you have the ability to not only record what you want, but also to post it for the world to see. With no filters that I know of.
In conclusion, let me say that we do not live in the world of 1984. But as far as personal privacy goes, we are not far from it.
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SUPERNATURAL, A GREAT TV SERIES
I’m somewhat behind the curve when it comes to popular culture; think Neanderthal. However, on Netflix I stumbled upon a series, Supernatural, which I think is fantastic. I also discovered that a local station carries the series, probably has for years.
I spend hours each night catching up on past episodes. In a nutshell, the series follows two brothers who investigate strange occurrences and hunt the monsters causing these events. Also involved in the continuing story line are a host of demons and angels. Turns out, not all demons are bad, and not all angels are good.
I love this show!
The writers are beyond excellent, providing twists and turns in a continuing plot with always a new element that will grip your attention and keep you guessing ‘What could possibly come next’? On occasion, the writers also provide a bit of humor with episodes which introduce the ‘Ghostfacers’, along with other episodes that will leave you chuckling, in spite of the horror.
The dynamics of the relationship of the brothers is also a constant conflict keeping the storyline unpredictable to say the least. All is not rosy with this series, as well it should not be.
If you enjoy horror as much as I, do, and great writing, something rare these days in TV, find a source and begin watching Supernatural.
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