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01:43
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Q: Does 'literary fiction' neccessarily have to be reality-based, or can it have fantastical themes/elements?

user394536There seems to be a great deal of ambiguity or confusion regarding the definition of ‘literary fiction’. Particularly, it is never really made clear to me whether literary fiction can also be speculative fiction at the same time. On one hand, ‘literary fiction’ is often defined or talked about ...

 
6 hours later…
07:29
0
Q: What famous writer said, "to accurately (or precisely) say how things are is to be truly revolutionary?"

MattThe extended version is something like this: "to accurately say how things are (or how the world is) is to be truly revolutionary, to say how things (or how the world) should be merely reactionary." Who wrote this? I remember reading it long ago but I'm at a loss as to who wrote it. I've searched...

 
1 hour later…
@ChristopheStrobbe There was some criticism of one of your answers in this chatroom. Just FYI, in case you want to edit or respond.
@NewTopicChallengeSuggestion note to self: think of some Arabic authors to propose as topic challenges
09:45
1
Q: What does "Am I sick?" mean in this context?

Pasta AddictI would like to know what "Am I sick?" means in the following sentences: “I mustn't! I mustn't! I'm nervous this afternoon. Am I sick? . . . Good Lord, I hope it isn't that! Not now! How people lie! How these stories lie! They say the bride is always so blushing and proud and happy when...

 
1 hour later…
11:00
note to self in public so that people will bug me: last line of "Shift"
8
Q: What did "Moloch" represent in Allen Ginsberg´s poem "Howl"?

user59In Allen Ginsberg´s poem "Howl", what did "Moloch" represent? What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination? Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars! Children screaming under the stairways! Boys sobbing in ...

2
Q: When is "fe" used in Nalo Hopkinson's "Shift"?

MithrandirThe word "fe" is used three times in the Nalo Hopkinson short story "Shift": When my mother who wasn’t my mother yet approach the man who wasn’t my father yet, when she ask him, “Man, you eat salt, or you eat fresh?” him did know what fe say. That was the right answer. For them that do...

This really is turning into a pretty successful topic challenge, isn't it?
Especially given that we only started halfway through the month.
Yes. The fact that several short stories are simply available online is certainly helping.
Yeah, that tends to help ;)
 
1 hour later…
12:06
@Feeds No retweets on this yet.
hopes of getting Nalo Hopkinson on-site fade :-P
12:42
I will submit an answer to the "Raggy Dog" story tonight. I have it written up on paper.
@Mithrandir Note to self: prepare an answer about the last line in "Shift" ;-)
@ChristopheStrobbe Ooh, you write SE answers on paper?
@Mithrandir Christophe has already talked about that in his pronouns answer:
> This is another "shift" (see the story's title), presumably restoring his original nature and identity. This is why the story ends with Caliban finally saying "I" for the first time.
@Randal'Thor Yesterday evening, while waiting in the launderette, on a printed copy of the story.
I also analysed "Shift" on paper. I used some coloured pens and highlighters to mark instances of "you" (Caliban), "I/me", and a few other things in different colours. It really helped.
Reminded me of the way I analysed All's Well That Ends Well 20 years ago for my final thesis.
Interesting.
I tend to read books in hard copies and online stories online; I've rarely printed stories to read them. Maybe I should.
@Randal'Thor Makes sense when you're rambling about something away from the computer.
Though, I usually use my head for that. But at some point I tend to get antsy not being able to put formulations in stone.
@ChristopheStrobbe That makes sense indeed.
I never was one of those textmarker people, though. When I did force myself to do that in school, I ended up underlining almost everything anyway. ;-)
13:20
I often see students who highlight most of the text. I always used specific colour codes for specific types of information.
For All's Well That Ends Well, I didn't actually highlight the text. I made notes and then went through those notes to add colour codes. So I had at most 10 pages to "navigate" instead of an entire play text.
And after adding the colour codes, many things just fell into place and I was ready to write my analysis.
Shakespeare was not a popular thesis topic in those days. My supervisor was surprised about my choice.
In all those literature courses, we covered just one Shakespeare play, and that was in an introductory course about theatre in general.
So I read around 20 other plays on my own.
I used annotated single-play editions and the glosses ect were very helpful. Reading Shakespeare got easier after roughly 10 plays. I suppose it's different for native speakers.
13:43
Glossless paper also helps.
Above all, it must not contain acid. Some scholars didn't realise this, which is why theyr wrote Shakespeare on Drugs?.
As long as the pages aren't poisoned to kill you when licking your fingers for turning them.
Well, I bought my own copies instead of borrowing from a blind librarian.
14:00
Also beware of librarians wearing old lace.
Or orang-utan librarians.
And bring back your books on time, or you'll have to face Conan the Librarian.
@Randal'Thor Bornean orangutan librarians or Sumatran orangutan librarians?
The orange ones.
Laden orange orangutans or unladen orange orangutans?
 
1 hour later…
15:23
Onyx Pages on YouTube: interview with Nalo Hopkinson: Hopkinson says she writes because it's easier than becoming a professional contortionist.
15:44
So I ordered two books by Hopkinson. One should be available this week; the other probably in two weeks.
15:56
Eighteen minutes into this interview Nalo Hopkinson explains why she likes interacting with readers: "One of the delightful things about being part … about science fiction and fantasy being one of my communities, is that it is a community that has a tradition of readers and writers interacting. And so, it's way I have a Twitter account, for instance, it's why my website has a e-mail button, (...)"
16:22
@ChristopheStrobbe I like authors who like interacting with readers. They seem more ... relatable and human, somehow.
(No offence to those who don't. I also totally get not wanting to interact with fans, for multiple reasons.)
I had a real fanboy moment one time when I wrote a review of a really nice book series for the SFF blog and got a comment from the author herself.
17:05
Thomas Pynchon is very reclusive. Emily Dickinson, Patrick White and J. D. Salinger were also reclusive.
Pynchon eventually didn't endorse the book because there were no orange orangutans in it.
 
2 hours later…
19:08
Just read "Can't Beat 'Em". I'm seeing a lot of the same themes as in "A Raggy Dog, a Shaggy Dog".
 
3 hours later…
22:18
And now I wonder what kind of pets Nalo Hopkinson might have had ...
22:38
Idea: Mark Z. Danielewski is active on Twitter. We have four questions about his books (two unanswered, one with a very nice answer, one with a very short answer). How about pinging him on Twitter with links to one or more of these questions? cc @Zyerah
@Randal'Thor That's a generous bounty; thanks!
@HDE226868 Not at all! I was browsing through some of the posts from early beta days - there was so much activity back then I didn't get to see everything - and realised that although I've talked about missing your posts here (based on the answers I saw, about Sherlock Holmes, 1984, Wind in the Willows, etc.), I was still underestimating the quality of your contribution.
I hope you find time for Lit between all your diamonds :-) We should ping you here more often!
23:13
@Randal'Thor if you see a question you think I might be interested in, please do! I'd love to take a look. :-)
I'm going to try to check Lit more regularly.

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