culture

World's longest poem in English now belongs to writer and artist Nigel Tomm. Almost all of his new book "The Blah Story, Volume 8" consists of one poem which contains 98,728 words; 449,441 characters (with spaces); 23,161 lines; 728 pages. It is the longest published poem in English literature. The poem is called 'My Blah Story' and it is written by one novel's character.

First it was video games, and then it was the internet, now free newspapers on the subways are getting the blame for poor reading habits. They are “exacting a heavy toll from literate culture.” And, no, the writer is not a snob, thank you.

Toronto is giving poetry readings for the homeless. Funded by Canada Council for the Arts, the aim of the reading series is to bring “culture to a segment of society without the means to attend concerts or other ticketed events.” The event was open to the public, but the Queen and Bathurst area is not exactly an inviting neighbourhood. Interesting idea, though.

A glance at society, urban and cemented.

It’s rare that a book review catches my attention, but I thought this volume by Theodore Dalrymple might be worth a read, as he details how a lack of prejudices takes a toll on society. “His targets include moral and cultural relativism…the tangle of attitudes and proprieties prescribed by political correctness, the decline of educational standards and the excesses of individualism.”

Carnal Sacraments, A Historical Novel of the Future. A futurist Faustian pact: 2075. Jeffrey Cooper, Alabama-raised design superstar in Americanized Germany, is 78 but looks 40 years younger due to the perks of his stressful job. Meeting an impulsive, gifted man will destroy the life he has painfullbuilt for himself, but allow him to reclaim his own soul. Hot, political, and real. Great book.

France is in danger of losing its cultural heritage because students are shunning literature in favor of practical courses that will earn them more money. The move is on to revive students’ interest in the classics, but apparently literature is considered a subject for “no-hopers”, and the word ‘library’ now has negative connotations. Oh my.

The big moan is that only 47% of literature in our study curriculum is Australian.
Personally I could not give a flying fig where the stuff comes from. If it’s good, it’s good, if it’s not, it’s not.
But I guess there’s a cultural issue here to consider.

I love fairy tales, But are they always suitable for kids,
lol, Im not talking about R-rated Cinderella either

Madeleine Thien, the daughter of Malaysian-Chinese immigrants, lives in Quebec City, Canada. Her first novel, Certainty, has just been published in the United States. The book is ripe with juxtapositions.