Lanier Ivester finds something worth the trouble of pursuing in the writing of Charles Williams, who no doubt would have authored books today under the name Charlyz will.i.ams. No doubt about it.
All posts by Phil
A Riddle for Monday
I’m not good at riddles, but I love them still. This one has been a favorite since grade school.
What is the beginning of all eternity,
The end of time and space,
The beginning of every end,
And the end of every place?
Eternal Snow
“THE WORLD of ice and of eternal snow, as unfolded to us on the summits of the neighbouring Alpine chain, so stern, so solitary, so dangerous, it may be, has yet its own peculiar charm. Not only does it enchain the attention of the natural philosopher, who finds in it the most wonderful disclosures as to the present and past history of the globe, but every summer it entices thousands of travellers of all conditions, who find there mental and bodily recreation. While some content themselves with admiring from afar the dazzling adornment which the pure, luminous masses of snowy peaks, interposed between the deeper blue of the sky and the succulent green of the meadows, lend to the landscape, others more boldly penetrate into the strange world, willingly subjecting themselves to the most extreme degrees of exertion and danger, if only they may fill themselves with the aspect of its sublimity.” — Hermann von Helmholtz, from his lecture on ice and glaciers
"Animal Hour" Film Deal
Andrew Klavan has news of a agreement with Arilu Inc and Avida Entertainment Inc. to take the novel Animal Hour
Cruciform Press
“What would a book-publishing company for gospel-centered Christians look like if it began with the realities of 21st century technology?” Look no further. This is a new publisher formed by Kevin Meath, Bob Bevington, and Tim Challies over the passed year. My cousin, Jimmy Davis, has a book roughly on the same subject as his blog coming out the first of April.
Don Miller on The Church's Voice in Your Head
Relief Journal links to questions asked by author Don Miller on how people in church affect your creativity. It may be helpful to have specific people, not just “the church,” critiquing our work, but Miller still makes fair points.
When Is a Lie Actually Libel?
Glenn Reynolds talks about the words flying around from those wanting to accuse Gov. Palin and the Tea Part Movement of inciting the violence of a young man who has reportedly been obsessed with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords for the last three years.
To be clear, if you’re using this event to criticize the “rhetoric” of Mrs. Palin or others with whom you disagree, then you’re either: (a) asserting a connection between the “rhetoric” and the shooting, which based on evidence to date would be what we call a vicious lie; or (b) you’re not, in which case you’re just seizing on a tragedy to try to score unrelated political points, which is contemptible. Which is it?
Ed Morrissey quotes diverse sources on this topic, noting how many people want to restrict freedom of speech to their own ideological supporters. (via Books, Inq)
130 Free eBooks for Reader Devices
Kaplan Books is offering 130 free ebooks for your Nook, Sony eReader, Kindle or iPad now through January 17.
Altering Old Stories to Suit the Modern
More on altering old texts to suit modern sensibilities:
Efforts to sanitize classic literature have a long, undistinguished history. Everything from Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” to Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” have been challenged or have suffered at the hands of uptight editors. There have even been purified versions of the Bible (all that sex and violence!). Sometimes the urge to expurgate (if not outright ban) comes from the right, evangelicals and conservatives, worried about blasphemy, profane language and sexual innuendo. Fundamentalist groups, for instance, have tried to have dictionaries banned because of definitions offered for words like hot, tail, ball, and nuts.
Makes one want to use language, if one were wont to do so.
What Were We Saying About Huck Finn?
Author Richard Grayson has 1-upped the recent revision of Huckleberry Finn, which replaced the word nigger with the N-word … no, it replaced it with slave. So Grayson has jumped on this unsolicited hype with his own Huck Finn revision which replaces the word . . . well, let me just give you a sample:
And the place was plum full of farmers and farmers’ wives, to dinner; and such another clack a body never heard. Old Mrs. Hotchkiss was the worst; her tongue was a-going all the time. She says:
“Well, Sister Phelps, I’ve ransacked that-air cabin over, an’ I b’lieve the hipster was crazy. I says to Sister Damrell — didn’t I, Sister Damrell? — s’I, he’s crazy, s’I — them’s the very words I said.
The author, who released the book on Lulu today, says, “I think hipster is still okay to use in 2011, but I have heard some people are offended by the ‘H-word.’” (via Loren Eaton)