No child should touch a gun or pistol, or on any account present one at another person. We behold a little boy shooting his sister dead! And: Here we see the danger of playing with lighted candles. One little girl has set the bed-curtains on fire, and the other her hair; and both are in […]
Useful information, by any standard
Posted by Ben on July 24, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/useful-information-by-any-standard/
True Fact
There is not now, nor I suspect will there ever be, a le Carré novel with ninjas in it. Most serious novelists are wary of including ninjas in their writing. That’s a shame, because many much-admired works of modern fiction could benefit from a few. (via Telegraph: “Nick Harkaway: Le Carré with ninjas” [28-June-08])
Posted by Ben on July 10, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/true-fact/
Anagrams, by Lorrie Moore
This is the last, best novel you will ever read. The last you will ever need to read; you could just read it over and over again, filled with the crushing immensity of its hope, despair, and comedy. You will read other fiction, eventually. And then you will feel guilty. “Life is sad. Here is […]
Posted by Ben on October 13, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/anagrams-by-lorrie-moore/
So I’ve read X. Now what?
StoryCode uses a whole series of user-coded information to match books by similarity. Intriguing, with sometimes useful, sometimes awkward results.
Posted by Ben on August 24, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/so-ive-read-x-now-what/
Rant, by Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk ends up telling the same story over and over again in his books. What’s astonishing is how fresh and gut-wrenchingly surprising (sorry) his approaches are. Even in his most tired formulations (sorry, Haunt), it’s still worth reading till the end. It doesn’t hurt that the basic “story” Palahniuk tells over and over again […]
Posted by Ben on May 28, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/rant-by-chuck-palahniuk/
How to know you’re on the right track
In Alaska, a child saves a life by dialing 911 — thanks to the teachings of one of his favorite books, It’s Time To Call 911 – What To Do In An Emergency. The real question, though, is how a child raised on Captain Underpants And The Preposterous Plight Of The Purple Potty People would […]
Posted by Ben on May 18, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/how-to-know-youre-on-the-right-track/
In which the phrase “Hemingway look-alike” comes up in totally the wrong context
Yeah, I was surprised, too. A trailing headline at the foot of an article on the Book Standard boldly shouted “Florida man wins Hemingway look-alike contest”. Except that the link is defunct, and doesn’t actually lead to an article describing the contest in all its certain hilarity. So I did a search on Yahoo! News… […]
Posted by Ben on February 13, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/in-which-the-phrase-hemingway-look-alike-comes-up-in-totally-the-wrong-context/
And the blood-red something… did you get a pencil?
“Pitch ‘n’ Putt with Joyce ‘n’ Beckett” pretty much says it all. Though don’t take my word for it.
Posted by Ben on February 11, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/and-the-blood-red-something-did-you-get-a-pencil/
Stealing Ethics
Of philosophy books at academic libraries, ethics books are more likely to be stolen than non-ethics books. Or, borrowed pending their comprehension? The Splintered Mind provides a slightly more comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon than you’d expect to find, probably. (originally by way of Bookslut; Splintered Mind: “Still More Data on the Theft of Ethics […]
Posted by Ben on January 25, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/stealing-ethics/
Books in Review, 2006
As is usually the case, I slogged through a few handfuls of non-fiction written to various levels of quality and a bunch of imaginative, curious fiction that sometimes didn’t work. Bland but bloody The Brothers Bulger was horrendously written, but was a quick and fascinating read. Stacy Horn’s The Restless Sleep, a book on NYC’s […]
Posted by Ben on January 9, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/books-in-review-2006/