You find Hemingway in love in A Moveable Feast, his account of his life in Paris as a young man in the early 1920s. Continue reading “Hemingway in love in A Moveable Feast”
Genuine intent and burning desire
You can use the power of your subconscious mind to write better and be a successful writer, says Kelly Stone in her book, Thinking Write. What you need, she says, is genuine intent, repetition, and a burning desire.
These are the three things you need to get whatever you want, say those who believe in the law of attraction. So what is genuine intent, repetition and a burning desire? Continue reading “Genuine intent and burning desire”
Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War
I was reminded of Yeats’s poem, An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, while I was reading Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War. The author, Raghu Karnad, tells the story of his maternal grandfather and two great-uncles who died young, serving the British in the Second World War, long before he was born. Continue reading “Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War”
Natalie Goldberg: Writing Down the Bones
Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation and grammar, just keep writing, says Natalie Goldberg. Keep your hand moving so you can put down whatever comes to mind – your very first thoughts – on paper. That’s how your writing can be fresh and alive, she says in her book, Writing Down the Bones. It’s all about “freeing the writer within”. That’s the subtitle of the book. Continue reading “Natalie Goldberg: Writing Down the Bones”
How to be well read
How to be well read? Try John Sutherland. His How to be Well Read is a guide to 500 great novels and “a handful of literary curiosities”. Continue reading “How to be well read”
Flood of Fire: Bengal Army and Hong Kong
How many remember it was soldiers from the Bengal Army who helped the British defeat the Chinese and take Hong Kong? Amitav Ghosh tells the story in Flood of Fire, which brings his epic Ibis trilogy to a close. Continue reading “Flood of Fire: Bengal Army and Hong Kong”
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry
Oh, to read The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin is like going to the library and coming home with all the books you wanted. It makes you feel that good, this story about a bookseller and his bookstore.
Though it’s not all sunshine and roses – more than one person dies in the story – it’s a book that warms your heart. Booklovers especially will love The Storied Life of AJ Fikry because it’s a book about books, booklovers, readers and writers. Continue reading “The Storied Life of AJ Fikry”
Sleeping with a Dictionary
I just came across a poem called Sleeping with a Dictionary. I can’t recall sleeping with but have dozed with a dictionary. Continue reading “Sleeping with a Dictionary”
Happy birthday, Vikram Seth! A Suitable Boy
Happy birthday, Vikram Seth! Born in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) on June 20, 1952, he is 64 today. A visit to the Writer’s Almanac website reminded me today is his birthday. Continue reading “Happy birthday, Vikram Seth! A Suitable Boy”
Homage to the master, William Zinsser
Period. Over. Life has come to a full stop for America’s famous writing coach William Zinsser. He died at his home in Manhattan on May 12 at the age of 92.
He was in his early 80s when he came out with the revised and expanded 30th anniversary edition of his bestseller, On Writing Well: A Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, in 2006. Continue reading “Homage to the master, William Zinsser”
