Buddenbrooks; The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann. March 28, 2015.Buddenbrooks is a voluminous; partially autobiographically novel that describes the relentless decline of a family living in the North German town of Lubeck between 1834 and 1877. At first sight, the ideas developed into this novel seem a little outdated and the style of … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature: March 28 – 31
Reading the Canon of the World Literature March 23 till 25.
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb SalihMarch 23, 2015.IntroductionThis Sudanese, Arab written novel was published for the first time in 1966 and plays during the early years of independence from British rule (1955 till early sixties). SummaryThe story is told by an unnamed narrator, who just came back from studying seven years poetry … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature March 23 till 25.
Reading the Canon of the World Literature. March 20 till 22
20 March 2015It was my intent to read the “The Diary of a Madman and other stories by Xun Lu” , but when I did a little research on this title I found out that “The Diary of a Madman” was the first short story of a book called “Call to Arms” written by Xun … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature. March 20 till 22
Reading the canon of the world literature Mar 17 till 19.
17 March 2015; finally finished the first volume of Tristam Shandi.We got also introduced to his father’s brother, uncle Toby, a battle maimed army officer and his man-servant, also a crippled veteran, corporal Trim. Further it seems that the author is giving away a lot of storylines; his nose being broken by dr. Slop’s forceps … Continue reading Reading the canon of the world literature Mar 17 till 19.
Reading the canon of the World literature Mar 13
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne.This humorous book has been publicized in nine volumes between December 1759 (vol. 1, 2) and January 1767 (vol. 9). The author was an Anglican clergyman who’s first book “The History of a Good Warm Watch-Coat”, describing the little squabbles and intrigues of church dignitaries, … Continue reading Reading the canon of the World literature Mar 13
Reading the Canon of the World literature March 11 till 12
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu.March 11, 2015 This novel is written around the beginning of the 11th century in Japan and is probably the oldest novel ever. The most recent English translation runs over more than 1200 pages. Although its volume is the double of what I did limit myself, the book appealed … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World literature March 11 till 12
Reading the canon of the world literature March 8 till 10
March 08, 2015.Already since a couple of days I’ve done not much about this project, mainly because of life that got into the way. At yesterday’s party, thrown by my proofreader who writes children books, I had to refrain my other proofreader to declare me the smartest man on the Island. Because that would have … Continue reading Reading the canon of the world literature March 8 till 10
Reading the canon of the world literature March 5 till 7
Chapter 8; The Mahabharata.March 5, 2015The title of this book can be translated as "the great tale of the Bhārata dynasty“. It is assumed that the origins of the epic probably fall between the 8th and 9th centuries BCE and that the text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period (c. 4th … Continue reading Reading the canon of the world literature March 5 till 7
Reading the Canon of the World Literature Feb 28 till Mar 3.
6; Metamorphoses by Ovid February, 28th 2015To make a symbolic gesture, I choose at this point to continue my readings with a book whose title, translated into English means “The books of changes”.Book I; The four Ages of HumankindA long time ago, humankind lived into conditions that were comparable with what the Bible describes as … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature Feb 28 till Mar 3.
Reading the Canon of the World Literature Feb 24 till feb 25
4; Scoop by Evelyn Waugh.February 24, 2015Today I feel already a little more confident than two days ago when I was agonizing over the fact that after one month and a half into the new year I only managed to clear two titles from my list. This time I managed to check one off the … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature Feb 24 till feb 25
Reading the Canon of the World Literature Feb 22 till Feb 23
February 22ndI’ve finished only two titles of my list. This book is listed number fifteen and I started to consider if, for the time being, when picking a book, I shouldn’t stay below number twenty. After all, on number three figures Ana Karina by Tolstoy, and that’s also a giant of 864 pages of difficult … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature Feb 22 till Feb 23
Reading the Canon of the World Literature Jan 15 till Feb 22.
2. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.The original title of this series of books was “A la Recherche du Temps Perdu” and contains the following volumes;1 Volume One: Swann's Way, 2 Volume Two: In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower3 Volume Three: The Guermantes Way4 Volume Four: Sodom and Gomorrah5 Volume Five: … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature Jan 15 till Feb 22.
Reading the Canon of the World Literature – day 1 to 15.
I made nine years ago a new year's resolution to read the Top 100 Works in World Literature by the Norwegian Book Clubs with the Norwegian Nobel Institute. The club polled a panel of 100 authors from 54 countries on what they considered the “best and most central works in world literature.”I was setting out … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature – day 1 to 15.
Searching for Meaning in a Digitalized World
This post is about my ongoing quest to find purpose and significance in life, particularly within the context of an increasingly digital society where interactions, information access, and even social connections are largely mediated through technology, presenting both opportunities and challenges in the pursuit of meaning. The internet, social media, and digital devices have become … Continue reading Searching for Meaning in a Digitalized World
Reading up
Sometimes it´s a difficult task to balance your activity as a creative artist with the needs to keep up with the obligations of daily life and still be left with some time to keep track of what shakes and moves in other artistic circles. Stephen King put it succinctly: Can I be blunt on this … Continue reading Reading up
The Moral Crusaders and Literary Criticism.
Once an artist releases a product, it stands on its own and must be judged as such. The only views and opinions that count, are those ventilated or provoked by the artistic creation itself.
Fascinating Imaginary Books.
This post wants to create some awareness about books that have found a place into the literary sphere of interest, despite the fact that they didn’t exist the moment they were mentioned first in a literary work.
Inspired by Lovecraft
Lots of contemporary artists have found their inspiration in Lovecraft’s literature. Although the foundations of my own writing project, The Maharajagar, are loosely rooted in the structure of the Mahabharata, some of the window dressing is inspired by Lovecraft’s Universe. Continuing my research of this newly found cave, I discovered nightmarish creatures resting in a … Continue reading Inspired by Lovecraft
The Maharajagar 