Day 14

these men from fiction

that leap out of pages

ruin my mind

ruin my life

Z... is for Zen

When I read, it takes me to a beautiful meditative state. Even when I'm studying, rather than reading, I still don't need to make too much of an effort. I'm trying to achieve that with writing too. Sometimes, it works, I get engrossed in what I'm writing and the result is always close to my heart - special. It is this state of calm, quiet, serene peace that draws me to literature.
Every book is like a new friend that takes me on a journey through time, through emotions, and introduces me to feelings I never felt before. This feeling is like an addiction, the more I learn to lose myself, the more I'm drawn into it, with no intention of coming back. When I read Orkney, it was as if someone had been dunking my head in cold water. But even that was pleasurable. Zen, as I have have learnt, is never too far away.
With this, the A-to-Z Challenge comes to an end and I have only one wish for you, may you find your Zen.

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This is the twenty-sixth post for the April A-to-Z Blogging Challenge 2014.
Previously, Archaism, British literature, Critical Analysis, Drama, Edinburgh, Faust, Gothic Fiction, Humour, Interpretation, Journalling, Keats, Language, Metaphysical Poetry, Narration, Ode, Papillion(ed), Quatrain, Romanticism, Shakespeare, Tone, University, Victorian Literature, Wilde's Wit, Xenophobia, Yeats

V... is for Victorian Literature

I spoke of the lofty thoughts and ideals of Romanticism earlier. This period was followed by the reign of Queen Victoria in Britain, from 1838 to 1901 and this period produced some very significant literary works that I'm required to study. While poetry was the most important form with the Romantics, the novel, as we now know it, became the leading literary genre in the Victorian times. Some of the noteworthy novelists of this period include Dickens, Eliot, the Bronte sisters, and Hardy. There were some great poets too - Browning, Yeats, and Tennyson.
From wiki, I have, "Victorian novels tend to be idealised portraits of difficult lives in which hard work, perseverance, love and luck win out in the end; virtue would be rewarded and wrongdoers are suitably punished. They tended to be of an improving nature with a central moral lesson at heart. While this formula was the basis for much of earlier Victorian fiction, the situation became more complex as the century progressed. There was a struggle to conquer the flaws of human beings with great virtues. It was a principle that those who struggle to attain morality would most probably achieve positive results in the end if not tortured by natural circumstances or evil vices."
Though this period produced a vast array of works, their common themes made them cluster together as the kind of things the reader at the time wished to read. My personal favourite is Dickens, I have read all of his novels barring a couple, and there is something about the way he writes that draws me to the novels.

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This is the twenty-second post for the April A-to-Z Blogging Challenge 2014.
Previously, Archaism, British literature, Critical Analysis, Drama, Edinburgh, Faust, Gothic Fiction, Humour, Interpretation, Journalling, Keats, Language, Metaphysical Poetry, Narration, Ode, Papillion(ed), Quatrain, Romanticism, Shakespeare, Tone, University

N... is for Narration

Narration is everything! Isn't it? Think about it, when you begin reading a book and there is a host of different characters, the author has the option of telling the story through one or many voices. This directs how the story is told, what the voice sounds like, and to a large extent even determines the tone of the novel. What could be a happy ending from the point of view of one of the characters could be a very tragic, or at the very least, a disappointing end for another.
Sometimes, multiple narrators annoy me. Wuthering Heights and My Name is Red, for example, failed me because too many people were speaking one by one and there wasn't a single point from which to approach the story. However, I make an exception for Treasure Island, what a tale! Dual narrations are good, though. Look at Gone Girl, look at Kafka on the Shore, both lovely examples of fabulous books. And then there's the autobiographical, the way Ralph tells the story in Coral Island, the voice of Dr Watson in Sherlock Holmes novels is unparalleled. No one tells a tale like they do. I also like the withheld information mystery, like the name of the second Mrs de Winter in Rebecca and the professor's young wife in Orkney. What kind of narratives do you like?

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This is the fourteenth post for the April A-to-Z Blogging Challenge 2014.
Previously, Archaism, British literature, Critical Analysis, Drama, Edinburgh, Faust, Gothic Fiction, Humour, Interpretation, Journalling, Keats, Language, Metaphysical Poetry

B... is for British Literature

Right at the onset, I would like to say that I'm quite overwhelmed by the lovely comments I got on my post yesterday. It is a beautiful feeling to read them. I'm having a busy day today (my cousin is coming and I'll see him after two years!) but I'll read more blogs tomorrow.
So, like I said, my first year modules for school are all about British literature. And while I've never been one to think of a person's nationality while I read his/her works, I was quite surprised. I have read many of the poets, playwrights, and novelists on my course without thinking that they were British, but they were! So many of them! While it is natural that this should all be happening in the country that gave the world the language itself, but it is still wonderful that they can read, write, and enjoy in their mother tongue.
I've always expressed myself best in English. A rigorous secondary school education coupled with an inherent love for the language ensured that English became my first language. So I would never know what it is like to enjoy studying in a language that is fairly alien, but friends tell me that it is a chore. Anyway, point being that I'm glad the British gave us this wealth of Literature and that I finally got around to studying it. Another happy coincidence is that the course creators have included Sylvia Plath, who was married to an Englishman. I do like her works.
In case, you're wondering, for second year, we were given optional modules to choose from Indian, Canadian, Australian, and American Literature. I chose American (Hemingway, Twain, Fitzgerald, Capote sigh) and Australian (because I have NO idea what it contains!).

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This is the second post for the April A-to-Z Blogging Challenge 2014.
Previously, Archaism

*Massive NEWS*

So, the background being that Book Week Scotland (25 November to 1 December 2013) is about celebrating books and reading in every part of life in Scotland.More than 330,000 free books will be given away during the Book Week Scotland campaign this year, including 150,000 free copies of a new short story and poem collection celebrating the most treasured possessions of various Scots.
"Treasures" is a free book for all of Scotland to share, celebrating the nation’s most loved possessions. Aaaaaaand, my piece is in it. And, one of the eight book covers doing the rounds of Scotland -Tada! I am going to be in 150,000 books and on the cover of like 37,000!

More info here:


http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading/book-week-scotland/about
http://www.publishingscotland.org/news/book-week-scotland-2013/

Pick up a copy if you're in Scotland; what can I say, one more reason to be here!
*skipping around with stupid grin on face*

A dash of history, a lump of faith!

Have you seen this? Did you know about it?