:: The Old Freewheelin' Reader ::

:: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 ::

Happy New Year to all the loyal Freewheelin' Reader visitors!
tim 10:58 AM [+]

Pinocchio has not always been the loveable character we know.
In the original text, by Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio was a bit of a jerk.
Read more here... and pick up the original book, it sounds good.
tim 10:41 AM [+]

Books I've picked up
I hope you've all had a wonderfull holiday thus far. I've had a literate one myself. I'd been reading 1984, which is just great and then I recieved some other books for Christmas including; Fast Food Nation, The Island Trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia, Meet the Group of Seven, My Leafs Sweater and The Treaties of Canada with the Indiands.
I look forward to reading and sharing them all.
In a side note, todays Powell review is Gods of War, Gods of Peace: How the Meeting of Native and Colonial Religions Shaped Early America. So much Native-related lit. I could die.
tim 10:47 AM [+]

Switzerland lifts a Bin Laden Book Ban
tim 9:56 AM [+]

Literary Round-Up
Newsweek: Top books of 2002
Esquire: The Story of Ivring Berlin's White Christmas
Moscow Times: Prosecuting Harry Potter
Salon: Interview with Zadie Smith
tim 7:03 PM [+]

Happy Holidays
I'll be off for the next little while.
tim 8:24 AM [+]

The NY Times Editors' Choice List and Notable Books 2002.
tim 12:28 PM [+]

Getting Rid Of Words or The Dumbing down of the English Language and How I Learned to Live With It.
Two organizations hand out awards for misuse of the English Language
tim 1:29 PM [+]

The lost art of the apostrophe
tim 12:28 PM [+]

Remember I told you Graham Greene's book, the Quiet American was being made into a movie? (see 12/3/02)
Well it has. Read more.
tim 11:47 AM [+]

Did anyone else not know what Zeitgeist means?
Here's your answer - Zeitgeist is German for the spirit of the age.
Good luck acting like you've known that all along.
I'll do the same.
tim 9:55 PM [+]

A review of The Cave by Jose Saramago
This basic tennents of this book make it seem like it's been done before. Maybe I only think that because I'm reading a similar sounding book right now - Orwell's 1984

tim 11:14 AM [+]

First Among Equals
Read More
Comment
tim 1:33 AM [+]

An in-depth review of Koba the Dread: Laughter and the Twenty Million by Martin Amis.
tim 12:10 PM [+]

Cuban Libros
Michigan State University is presenting a collection of hand crafted Cuban literary publications that are (from what I can tell from the website and from what I read in Utne) quite stunning. Check out the design, as they are all unique and incredibley detailed.
tim 11:24 AM [+]

Read to Feed
A fantastic way to encourage reading and political involvement in our youth.
Please, read more.
tim 11:51 PM [+]

STEAL THIS BOOK
By Abbie Hoffman
-stolen from apeshallnotkillape
tim 5:01 PM [+]

The Utne Book Club
tim 10:47 AM [+]

A short review of We Interrupt This Program: The News Broadcast That Kept Us Tuned In. I hear about it first on CBC. The audio clips are extemely engaging.

tim 4:46 PM [+]

Want to know why books are so expensive these days?
Read and extensive article here.
Turns out they might not be as expensive as you think.
tim 11:27 AM [+]

Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics
Examines the historic and contemporary links between mind altering drugs and zen budhism.
Might be good.
Reviewed by Salon.com.
tim 2:39 PM [+]

Does Ron Mclean get a cut of HNIC?
Todd Boyd's new book, The New HNIC (Head Niggas in Charge): The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip Hop examines the prevelance, relevance and impact of Hip Hop culture on a global scale.
Read a review here.
tim 9:13 PM [+]

From Russia with Love
Freereadin' doesn't often bring you very much from Russia but here's something I thought all you world travelers would enjoy.
Anton Krotov, a Russian, has written a couple of books about how to travel around the world (specifically Russia, but into places like Afghanistan too) for little or no money.
He and his companion sound like interesting people. They're part of an organization called the Academy of Free Traveling and apparently, they offer many travel tips in their publications. I wasn't able to find them on-line. If you have any luck, let me know.

tim 8:23 PM [+]

"The mans who does not read good books has no
advantage over the man who can't read."
- Mark Twain.

As much as I hate to disagree with a literary giant like Mark Twain I am afraid I have to in this case. Case in point - a friend of mine who is far more academically inclined and successful than I am constantly reads 'junky books' (her terms not mine) whereas I try to read nothing but Giller Prize winning novels. She believes that every book has some value in that it appeals to something in the reader - just not every reader. I agree. There is no room for academic snobbery in books. I believe that the most important element in encouraging someone to read is to find something they like. One would hope that your students would chose great works of literature (historic or contemporary) but one should not be discouraged if they feel like reading 'junky novels'. There are really two reasons not to be discouraged. The first is that you encourage them to read by giving them silent sustained reading time during which they can read a book of their own choosing. The second reason it that in unison with SSR you are also likely reading a book together as a class. A smart teacher, in my opinion, would have students reflect on their engagement with both books, maybe even make comparisons between the two. While you'd like to encourage high art sometimes low art can be the entry way for students into literature; by discouraging it you may be shutting them out completely. However if you are a book snob, as I am, the best thing to do is to encourage their reading and patiently wait to see if they latch onto something of greater significance. If they do not, worse case scenario, they remain life long readers of books you do not like but they do. I can live with that.

Students, regardless of their preferred reading material need to be surrounded by a literacy rich environment. Teachers need to create a classroom that emphasizes the importance of literature in our daily lives According to Tompkins this involves reading, speaking, listening and viewing literary works. When students become engaged with literature they are preparing themselves to succeed in every area of the curriculum. For example, math and science often involve word problems that students may or may not be able to perform based on their reading and interpretation abilities. The type of literature students read will not develop this ability but analysis and discussion of their choices will. This is why literature focus units, literature circles, and reading & writing workshops are so vital. They all encourage the students to think critically, not just in terms of literature but as a transferable skill. It is the teacher's job to embrace higher order thinking as common practice. By encouraging this type of engagement teachers lay the foundation for a community of learners that can rely on each other strengths and abilities. One never knows when the knowledge gleaned from reading a junky book will come to pass as and important skill. So as I said before, get them reading as often as possible.

Tompkins, G. E. (2001). Language Arts: Content and teaching strategies (5th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.



tim 7:45 AM [+]

Updated Book Wishlist
Dave Eggers who wrote A Heart Breaking Tale of Staggering Gernius has written his first novel, You Shall Know Our Velocity. There were some great passages in Staggering Genius but also lots of dull and repetitive bits. I guess I'm willing to give him another chance though.
Read a review here.
tim 10:31 AM [+]

The Matrix and The Philosopher
The Matrix has spawned a book about philosophy in all its varied forms.
Read a review here.

tim 10:26 AM [+]

Lionel Gelber Prize for non-fiction
5 books have been shortlisted for this annual prize. Admitedly I haven't heard of any of them.
I think Samantha Power's book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide sounds interesting. According to the Globe, it's an examination of the world's killing fields and U.S. response, or lack of it.
Read about the rest here.
tim 10:13 AM [+]

Bringing Books to Life
The CIA was spying on Graham Green for many years due to belonging to the Communist Party.
Michael Cain stars in the movie version of his book The Quiet American.
Read more here.

tim 12:15 PM [+]

I've got to look into this a little more.
tim 11:40 AM [+]

Eyeshot
I think you could spend a lifetime surfing eyeshot and still not cover it all.
tim 11:34 AM [+]

PMC: for those of you who believe that Post Modern Culture is the way fo the future
tim 11:30 AM [+]

Jacket Magazine is an Australian literary e-zine. It's not the most organized site but it's got a lot of great stuff on it.
tim 11:25 AM [+]

Finding Question for the Answer
When Allen Iverson stepped on the NBA court for the first time he was labeled with the nickname The Answer. The NBA was in a bit of a funk (a whole generation of players that revolutionized the game had retired or were on the tail end of their careers) and it needed a boost. In comes AI the man with the skills to wow crowds and apparently the attitude to attract and engage them. Unfortunately for the NBA the Answer came with a catch - he was the anti-player. The NBA had not had a hero like Iverson before this - one which raised as much spite and anger as respect and admiration.
In Larry Platt's new book, Only the Strong Survive Iverson's career, his social life and his cult of personality are examined. Go to Salon for a fantastic review of what seems like an interesting read.

tim 4:06 PM [+]

Great Russian Literature
Harry Potter is getting a royal spoofing in Russia. Apparently, Porri Gatter and the Stone Philosopher is set to take the wind out of Harry's sales. Read more here.
tim 4:38 PM [+]

I haven't read it yet but sonething tells me that A Word A Day is pretty self explanitory.
tim 12:42 PM [+]

Freedom of Religion Vs. Freedom of Speech
Zamfara's deputy governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi told religious leaders in the state capital, Gusau: "Like Salman Rushdie, the blood of Isioma Daniel can be shed."
BBC.
Holy Cow. Some people take their Beauty Pagents a little too seriously. A fatwa has been put out for the head of Daniel, author of a supposedly insulting story about the pageant, in which she references the Prophet Mohammed. She suggests that he might like pageants and could possibly even find a wife at one.
tim 12:24 PM [+]

Topping the List
The Globe 2002 Top 10 & Top 100 of the year.
tim 6:17 PM [+]

Re 11.5.02
I swore to read 5 pages a night of Fall on Your Knees. This fantastic book by Anne-Marie MacDonald is engaging, full of well-developed characters and unassuming plot devices. Number of pages I would have had read by now if I had stuck to my promise: 90. Number acutally read: 10. It's important to remeber this number also includes the amount of pages I read (10) during SSR with my class on Friday.
tim 1:46 PM [+]

Poetry magazine wins the lottery.
tim 5:54 PM [+]

I haven't read it yet but, I can't think of a more fitting tribute to Peter Gzowski than this.
tim 3:29 PM [+]

IBM and the Nazi's
There's a new book out that examines the links between Nazi Germany and American computer giant IBM. Read a review here.
Here are a few highlights from the review by Sreeram Chaulia
"This book is not for the faint-hearted or for those who are Pollyannaish about corporate ethics. It will make the readers exclaim in disbelief, clench in anger, frown in disgust and marvel in contempt that the company which boasts of finding "solutions for every problem" once offered "solutions" of a horrendous nature, all the while posing as a dependable friend of the American administration and a crusader for peace.

What is the essential lesson of IBM And the Holocaust for humankind? "Unless we understand how the Nazis acquired the names," writes Black. "More lists will be compiled against more people" (p 16). Like Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost (recounting Belgian genocide in the Congo), Edwin Black's book is both a vista to a nauseating past and a profound eye-opener for the future inhabitants of the planet that inculcating zero tolerance for genocide is simply not enough. What is also needed is zero tolerance for the technology of genocide."

tim 10:50 AM [+]

Book Wish List Additions
John Raulston Saul - On Equilibrium
Michael Chossudovsky - The Globalisation of Poverty
Joseph Stiglitz - Globalization and its Discontents
Mary Ann Glendon - A World Made New. Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
tim 10:35 AM [+]

Detroit What?
Detroit may bill itself as HockeyTown USA but, here in CDN we know have three or four official birth places of the game. There's a new book that throw's Halifax-Dartmouth's 'hat into the ring'. Well I guess since this at least three cities, it'd be it's 'hat onto the ice' - a hat-trick. Get it?
tim 9:57 AM [+]

I was reading an older copy of NOW magazine recently and I came across an interview with Naomi Klein. It's more of her same thing but I found one things she was quoted as saying to be very interesting.
“I wanted to call it (her new book Fences and Windows) Ammo," she says "because that's how activists approach books - not with reverence, not with 'this is my guru,' but as potent piece of information." I think this calls into the question the nature of literature and knowledge. It seems to me that literature becomes something people can hang their hat on, or call to service whenever they need it, rather than something that is absorbed and integrated. I know this is what I do - look for the nuggets and come out swinging. The question for authors then becomes, if this is what readers are looking for (nuggets of information), are they obligated to provide just that? Certainly the editors of Maxim and their ilk seem to think so. Is literature likely to follow?

tim 2:39 PM [+]

Reading Wish List
? Water
Naomi Klein Fences and Windows
Russell Banks Rule of the Bone
Albert Camus The Fall
Margaret Laurence The Stone Angel
Wayne Johnston The Navigator of New York
Carol Shields Unless
Eric Schloser Fast Food Nation

tim 4:03 PM [+]

The Giller has some controversy
tim 10:38 AM [+]

While it may appear as though I haven't been making regular updates over the last couple of days, allow me to remind you that appearances can be deceiving. I've been updating my CD Wish List on Freelistenin'. Check it out, there's tons of cool bands and links.
tim 10:36 AM [+]

The Giller
Austin Clarke, author of The Polished Hoe won this years Giller Prize.
tim 12:38 PM [+]

Okay, Okay
So I'll read ten pages tonight.
tim 6:47 PM [+]

Promises Promises
I hereby resolve to read a minimum of 5 pages of a book every day. This is on top of the school work and newspapers I do and read. I am currently reading Fall On Your Knees by Anne-Marie McDonald. It's excellent.
tim 11:16 AM [+]

Blank Slate Revisited
In speaking with Adrienne, she pointed out many faults that can be found in the science of Steven Pinker. Largely the criticism attacks the faulty science employed by people like Rushton. As it turns out, much of Rushtons research was based on old world science which involved, among other insipid acts, asking Africans to voluntarily measure their own penis's. Who among us would not stretch the truth for jokes or pride? The results of this 'science' was then extrapolated to various obnoxious conclusions. So while Pinker may argue that the science itself is not faulty, it remains that the methods, the conclusions and application are. Hmm, maybe the science is faulty after all.
tim 11:05 AM [+]

Freelinkin' is now up and running.
tim 9:37 PM [+]

Don't forget to check out Freewheelin', Freelinkin' (coming soon) and Freelistenin' (also coming soon).
tim 10:21 AM [+]

Patrick Watson reviews The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker. (The Globe and Mail, Sat. 5.10.02)

Pinker's book examines the influence of culture on scientific research. According to Watson Pinker argues that ethnicity, gendre and politics has greatly limited the range of topics that can be discussed and examined by true science. "Mainstream scientists have allowed political, spiritual and social concerns about racism, inequality, imperfectability, determinism and nihilism to take precedence over science's tradition of freedom to ask questions, report data and propose theories and to expose those questions, data and theories to evidential scrutiny." Pinker essential examines whether or not people are in fact blank slates (in which case they are exclusively products of their environment, as Locke and Vygotsky suggest) or they are genetically determined to certain behaviours. It is the later theory that causes such a furor. Watson brings up Western scientist Rushton whose theories regarding ethnic and racial differences shocked us all. Interestingly Rushton's critics (including noted scientist and critic David Suzuki) largely attacked his right to discuss such topics, not the validity of his research. The greatest criticism was that his theories would be used to manipulate but Pinker suggests, "the risk that they can be used discriminantly in no way invalidates them or renders the research itself immoral." The problem that Pinker apparently glances over is that there does in fact exist a long history of racist practices that devolved to the de-humanization of whole groups of people. I am not a scientist and I certainly have not read all the research but it seems to me that people from various parts of the world, despite many universalities (as researcher Donald Brown notes there are over 400 universal traits found in all cultures) there are marked differences between people. Why wouldn't there be? However, when these diverse people begin to merge cultures (as we are seeing on a daily basis - the global village) people tend to cling to and embellish these differences beyond any reasonableness. Everyone wants to defend some identity. But if we take a step back, it seems reasonable that someone ought to have the right to say that there are differences. Of course, this same person would have to defend the validity of their research. Scrutiny though is not the same as dismissing.

Language Examined
We live in a changing society where groups of people (feminists, vegetarians, and environmentalists) are attempting to bring about greater equality and fairness. This can only come by analyzing and critiquing current norms in language and performance. Phrases like herstory though interesting still cause titters amongst average people. I think this is the case because we in general are too close to the topic of study (our own culture) to adequately distance ourselves from it. Examples from other cultures such as Muslim women and their burkas are easier for us to witness and critique if we so inclined. We need to turn the focus on ourselves. But it can begin by looking at other cultures (as long as it doesn't devolve into a sense of superiority). For example Taslima Nasrin's new book Meyebela examines her childhood in Bangladesh. Interestingly her examination must begin with an exploration and creating of language. There is no word for 'girl-hood in Bengali. "The term for childhood is chelebela - boy-time. Meyebela, an act of radical linguistics, means girl-time." This is an example of a word that is presumed to be all encompassing but is actually intentionally exclusionary. Though it's easier, in my opinion to see this in a translation than it is in our own language there are English equivalents. For example 'guys', 'man'. The use of these terms to define men and women requires women to translate the meaning to their own experiences. Language needs to be upgraded in such a way that it can be all encompassing and individualistic simultaneously. Too bad I'm not a cunning linguist.

The Greatest
What makes Muhammad Ali such an enduring figure? Steven Brunt's newest book, an exploration of Ali's opponents, seems like it would be an interesting read.

tim 10:19 AM [+]