Zen and the Art of Writing Well

Dan Simmons has been running a series giving his thoughts on how to write well. I only just discovered it (evidently), and he is on part 9 already, when I finally got around to posting a link to his site. Knowing his work, it should definitely be worth a careful read.

This entry reminded me of Dale S Wright’s book Philosophical Meditations on Zen Buddhism, which is certainly the best book on Zen I’ve read, and maybe the best in philosophy too.

Tunguska

Scientific American have an article on the Tunguska mystery, with a charmingly ludicrous image representing the event (above) as witnessed by the farmer Semen Semenov.

This is one of those really strange happenings that conspiracy buffs like to go on about and that turns up in a Thomas Pynchon or Ken Campbell piece.

Now I have to actually read the article though and stop grazing.

Lyonesse

The wonderfully named Kithtra’s Krystal Kave has a summary of myths, legends regarding the lost Kingdom of Lyonesse. It is pretty informative and comprehensive, despite showcasing what some less charitable folks might term ‘fringe’ archaeology.

Wikipedia gives its outline on Lyonesse here.

I still contend that Jack Vance’s historical novels are based solidly upon fact and that they accurately reconstruct Hybras as it really was.

Editions Andreas Irle is still offering a beautiful set of these invaluable documents.

Apologies to Theodore Roosevelt

It turns out that it was Theodore Roosevelt JR (aided by his brother Kermit) who went to China to shoot a Panda. I always thought it was the Presidential Theodore, who owned the book mentioned previously.

This from Wikipedia:

Kermit and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., became the first foreigners to shoot a panda, on an expedition funded by the Field Museum of Natural History in the 1920s. In 1936, Ruth Harkness became the first Westerner to bring back a live giant panda, a cub named Su-Lin who went to live at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. These activities were halted in 1937 because of wars; and for the next half of the century, the West knew little of pandas.

Apologies to all concerned.

Native Siberia Site

I found this site, which focuses on the native peoples of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been updated since 2005, but it still looks like an excellent resource with comprehensive reading lists and references.

Check out this link to Tent Life in Siberia, a facsimile of the travelogue by George Kennan (apparently a virtual copy from Theodore Roosevelt – the man who went to China just so he could shoot a Panda – ’s library), published in 1910.

For a more recent study I highly recommend Anna Reid’s The Shaman’s Coat, which is comprehensive and very readable, but unavoidably tragic.

Native Siberia Site

I found this site, which focuses on the native peoples of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been updated since 2005, but it still looks like an excellent resource with comprehensive reading lists and references.

Check out this link to Tent Life in Siberia, a facsimile of the travelogue by George Kennan (apparently a virtual copy from Theodore Roosevelt – the man who went to China just so he could shoot a Panda – ’s library), published in 1910.

For a more recent study I highly recommend Anna Reid’s The Shaman’s Coat, which is comprehensive and very readable, but unavoidably tragic.

Fabulous Book Covers

Jeff Vandermeer and Matt Staggs‘ web pages are diverting me away from education per se as a theme for this blog and into literature, especially of the speculative or fantastic kind.

Having just re-read the Lyonesse series, which seems to get better each time, I thought I would search to see if the cover artist, Mick van Houten, had a web-page.

He does and it is great. Particularly interesting are the photographs he prints. To me his work captures a quality in the landscape and air that you find in certain places. Scotland, Northern California, Galicia. The art may be fantastic but it works because it feels solid and real.

Then

Now

And he painted what is probably my favourite cover image of all time, and an awesome book too – Always Coming Home by Ursula Le Guin. I must have spent hours staring at it over the years, and I took my just bought copy on a family trip to the Western Isles, to Scalpay, when I was a teenager, still the most beautiful place I have been. Perhaps that is why I connect the landscapes together in my mind, though I guess on the face of it they don’t have a lot in common – it’s something underneath.

Prints can be ordered from the artist here.

Fabulous Book Covers

Jeff Vandermeer and Matt Staggs‘ web pages are diverting me away from education per se as a theme for this blog and into literature, especially of the speculative or fantastic kind.

Having just re-read the Lyonesse series, which seems to get better each time, I thought I would search to see if the cover artist, Mick van Houten, had a web-page.

He does and it is great. Particularly interesting are the photographs he prints. To me his work captures a quality in the landscape and air that you find in certain places. Scotland, Northern California, Galicia. The art may be fantastic but it works because it feels solid and real.

Then

Now

And he painted what is probably my favourite cover image of all time, and an awesome book too – Always Coming Home by Ursula Le Guin. I must have spent hours staring at it over the years, and I took my just bought copy on a family trip to the Western Isles, to Scalpay, when I was a teenager, still the most beautiful place I have been. Perhaps that is why I connect the landscapes together in my mind, though I guess on the face of it they don’t have a lot in common – it’s something underneath.

Prints can be ordered from the artist here.

Free Ebooks I’m excited about

Maya

• The Popul Vuh, SG Morley’s and Delia Goetz’s version of Adrian Recinos’ translation.
• Diego Da Landa’s Relacion.
• Ralph Roys’ translation of the Chilam Balam of Chumayel.

Ainu

• Aino Folktales by Basil Hall Chamberlain
• Yukara, Epos of the Ainu by Kioko Miura (I guess she means ‘epics’, but I’m not sure)

Siberia and the North Pacific

• Waldemar Bogoras’ Tales of the Yukhagir and his Koryak Texts.
• Shamanism in Siberia by Maria Czaplicka.

Europe

• Baltic Wizards by Frances Jenkins Olcott
• The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries by Evans Wentz

Someone send me an Iliad, please…

Free Ebooks I’m excited about

Maya

• The Popul Vuh, SG Morley’s and Delia Goetz’s version of Adrian Recinos’ translation.
• Diego Da Landa’s Relacion.
• Ralph Roys’ translation of the Chilam Balam of Chumayel.

Ainu

• Aino Folktales by Basil Hall Chamberlain
• Yukara, Epos of the Ainu by Kioko Miura (I guess she means ‘epics’, but I’m not sure)

Siberia and the North Pacific

• Waldemar Bogoras’ Tales of the Yukhagir and his Koryak Texts.
• Shamanism in Siberia by Maria Czaplicka.

Europe

• Baltic Wizards by Frances Jenkins Olcott
• The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries by Evans Wentz

Someone send me an Iliad, please…