Category Archives: Authors

Authors, Fiction

Winston Churchill on Historical Fiction

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In an article from April 12, 1902, reprinted in Popular Culture by David Manning White (found on Google Books), American novelist Winston Churchill comments on representing historical figures. The reporter asked him if he would present Daniel Webster, should he choose to, as he truly was, warts and all. Churchill replied, “I should consider it wrong to expose the weaknesses of a man like Webster because he is a historical ideal that should not be shattered. The same is true in regard to Hamilton; whereas, with a man like Aaron Burr, I should not hesitate to portray him exactly as he was as that would mean no loss to the historical ideal.” The editor who reprinted these comments was appalled and went on criticize public education.

What do you think of this view? Is there a historical ideal to maintain?

Authors

Winston Churchill, Party of Two

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I was reading a book from 1900 that referred to a bestseller of the day, Richard Carvel by Winston Churchill. I said, as perhaps you are saying now, “Is that the Winston Churchill?” No, it isn’t. There was an American novelist named Winston Churchill (born in St. Louis in 1871) and when the British leader (born 1874 at Blenheim Palace) began writing books of his own, he was concerned about confusion with the American. The two men wrote each other to clear things up, like this:

Mr. Winston Churchill is extremely grateful to Mr. Winston Churchill for bringing forward a subject which has given Mr. Winston Churchill much anxiety.

Read one of the letters here. Here’s a bit more on Churchill, the novelist.

Authors

Fujimura and Gioia

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Painter Makoto Fujimura and poet Dana Gioia are in the latest podcast from Mars Hill Audio.

Fujimura talks about the intertwining of his life, his painting, and his faith. Fujimura is also a guest on volume 90 of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, an interview in which he talks about the importance of reading as a way of cultivating engagement with the world.

Also featured on this podcast is Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Gioia discusses the NEA Report To Read or Not To Read, which was released last year and which is the subject of in-depth discussion on the latest issue of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal.

Authors

With Renewed Esteem

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I could go with a bit more humor tonight, so let me pass on this story I just read here.

I heard a story that browsing through a secondhand store, George Bernard Shaw saw one of his books that he had previously given to an acquaintance with the inscription, “To ________, with esteem, George Bernard Shaw.” He bought the book and sent it back to the acquaintance, this time with the added inscription “With renewed esteem.”

If I’m ever in the same situation, I think I’ll do the same thing he did.

Authors, Poetry

Emotion by Measure

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“Poetry is emotion put into measure. The emotion must come by nature, but the measure can be acquired by art.” — Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) whose birthday is today.

Hardy also said, “Pessimism … is, in brief, playing the sure game. You cannot lose at it; you may gain. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. Having reckoned what to do in the worst possible circumstances, when better arise, as they may, life becomes child’s play.”

Authors

“The Baby-Sitters Club” Author at Book Signing

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Reporter Jamie Gumbrecht fawns over an appearance in the Atlanta area of author Ann Martin, creator of “The Baby-Sitters Club” and “Main Street” series. Gumbrecht says the characters in the first series are the Hannah Montana of twenty-something girls. She writes:

I came to believe Martin was a literary figment created by the publishing industry to sell books, like Betty Crocker on cookbooks or Carolyn Keene on Nancy Drew mysteries. I continued to read the BSC books until way after it was cool, but I knew the truth: Ann M. Martin, fiction.

Now, she knows the author is actual. (How’s that for word choice?)

In other Atlanta-area news, father of seven Paul Weathington has taken to writing books for his own children. He says, “A lot of people never thought in a million years that I had it in me. But I’ve always had a creative bug; I just didn’t have a forum for it.” He wrote one of the books on several offeratory envelopes during a Sunday morning service. See the books here.

Authors

C.S. Lewis, a Writer of Pulp Fiction?

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Writer Rod Bennett believes “[C.S.] Lewis was heavily influenced by his many early experiences with ‘trashy’ literature.” He calls him a pulp fiction writer and lays out his case in four posts, quoting from Lewis’ letters where he confesses his enjoyment or exposure to Amazing Stories and Astounding, both pulp sci-fi rags, and many other works considered “trashy” by critics. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, Bennett says. In fact, it was through Narnia that Bennett found interest in Mere Christianity.

[This series is no longer on Bennett’s blog. This is a recycled post from 2006].

If Bennett’s premise raises the eyebrows of any Lewis fans, I think the trouble may be in the words “pulp” and “trashy.” I don’t think Bennett thinks Lewis’ science trilogy is trashy, but influenced by mass market stories of his day which were thought to be trashy by those who claimed to know what good and bad literature should be. But calling Lewis’ stories “pulp” may be the same as calling them “trashy” for some. Pulp fiction is lurid, tantalizing material written for commercial gain or cheap entertainment–nothing of lasting value. Again, I don’t think Bennett is arguing that Narnia and The Space Trilogy are cheap little thrillers, but that may be what comes across in the word “pulp.”

Authors

Pratchett is Slowing Down

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NY Daily News has this feature on Terry Pratchett, whose Alzheimer’s is worsening. “I used to touch type as fast as any journalist does and my spelling was pretty good. Now I hunt and peg and my spelling is erratic,” he told The Times of London. “I can spell ‘transubstantiation’ and in the next bit I can’t spell ‘color’ because it’s as if bits of the network are switching on and off.”

He says he will to write, just “more carefully.”

Authors, Non-fiction

Two Stories from Our Paris Desk

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Bestselling French novelist says, “What city could be more romantic than London?” Incroyable! Mais attente, that’s not all. He also rejected the critics who don’t like his writing. Speaking of himself, he said, “Critics say that Marc Levy is an author one reads in the subway… Nothing makes me happier than being read in the subway. If I allow people to get out of the tunnel, in a small way, I’ve done my job.”

In other news, the director of the History Channel in France has a new book on how the French endured the Nazi occupation, and it isn’t flattering. Author Patrick Buisson said, “It may hurt our national pride, but the reality is that people adapted to occupation.” By adapted, he means, fornicated in many ways and, I assume, for various reasons. “The result [is] that the birth rate shot up in 1942 even though 2,000,000 men were locked up in the camps.”

I don’t post this to take cheap shots at the French. On the contrary, I wish they would repent of throwing out the Huguenots and get back to building healthy lives for the glory of God.

Authors, The Press

Refusal to Comply

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A British writer “who specialises in Islamist extremism” is refusing to cooperate with authorities who want him to turn over his notes and sources for an upcoming book on a suspected terrorist. I gather the writer and his legal team want to expose the truth, but not in connection with police. I’m not sure I understand the rationale here.