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In Praise of Reading and Fiction (Free Ebook)

selwyn — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:01:07 +0000

‘Literature creates a fraternity within human diversity and eclipses the frontiers erected among men and women by ignorance, ideologies, religions, languages, and stupidity. ‘

In his Nobel lecture, Mario Vargas Llosa describes reading and fiction as a parallel life where we can take refuge against adversity. He claims that we invent fictions in order to live somehow the many lives we would like to lead when we barely have one at our disposal.

Giving praise to the writers who helped his younger self to be transported to worlds beyond his own and enrich his life, he describes how learning to read at the age of five in Cochabamba, Bolivia, was the most important thing that ever happened to him. Without fictions, he suggests, we would be less aware of the importance of freedom for life to be livable, and that reading is the most effective way we have found to alleviate our mortal condition and to transform the impossible into possibility.

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Nightingale’s Playground (Free eBook)

idaley — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:53:52 +0000

It’s raining in 1989. Teenage schoolboy Carl lives with his grandmother on an anonymous housing estate and spends his time hanging out with Alex, an oddball kid obsessed with pseudo- philosophy and computer games. When Alex disappears for no apparent reason, things begin to change: Carl finds weird objects in his gran’s sideboard; his science fieldwork book reveals mysterious numeric codes; and none of his other friends even remember Alex.

These books are just part of an ambitious new work of digital fiction divided into four interlinked parts: an atmospheric browser based experience; an interactive virtual book with pages you can turn with the mouse; a short eBook download; and an immersive realtime 3D walk-through that takes the written word into strange new dimensions. You can get the books from here or from the Nightingale’s Playground website.

Launch the project here: www.nightingalesplayground.com

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Every Word Knows Something of a Vicious Circle (Free eBook)

idaley — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:19:36 +0000

‘DO YOU HAVE A HANDKERCHIEF was the question my mother asked me every morning, standing by the gate to our house, before I went out onto the street. I didn’t have a handkerchief. And because I didn’t, I would go back inside and get one. I never had a handkerchief because I would always wait for her question. The handkerchief was proof that my mother was looking after me in the morning. For the rest of the day I was on my own.’

In Every Word Knows Something of a Vicious Circle Herta Müller describes how living under a dictatorship shapes her work. She outlines how words and writing allowed her to turn humiliation into a type of dignity that takes time to arouse suspicion.

Herta Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2009. This book is a transcript of her acceptance speech and includes a telephone interview and an introduction by Georgia Brown.

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A Just and Lasting Peace (Free eBook)

idaley — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:10:27 +0000

Barack Obama’s election as US President in 2008 was greeted with a euphoria unprecedented in recent times, not just from the people of his own country but from people all around the world. The investment of hope placed in him was cemented when in 2009 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his ‘extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples’.

The Nobel Foundation added to Obama’s charge, ‘His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.’

Eleven months into his presidency, it would be natural if a man’s ideology had been softened by the realities of responsibility. In this Nobel lecture, Obama balances his responsibilities as commander-in-chief of the world’s sole superpower with his mandate for hope, reconciliation and human progress. Marking the end of a shameful first decade of this century, he draws carefully from his own personal and national history, and sets out a pragmatic manifesto of his global responsibilities and a outlines a promise of a new kind of leadership.

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In the Forest of Paradoxes (Free ebook)

idaley — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:36:24 +0000

Le Clézio describes language as the most extraordinary invention in the history of humanity, the one which came before everything, and which makes it possible to share everything, and that writers are the custodians of that language. He suggests that literature is more important now in the era post decolonisation than it was in the time of Byron or Victor Hugo, a way for men and women to express their identity and diversity. He calls for greater translation of stories and the importance of the book, suggesting it is a utopia to believe that we can provide nearly everyone on the planet with a liquid crystal display.

Le Clézio addresses his speech to Elvira, an Amerindian poet of song and myth he encountered in El Tapón del Darién, an oral storyteller who he describes as ‘poetry in motion, ancient theatre and the most contemporary of all novels at the same time’.

In the Forest of Paradoxes is a heartfelt meditation on the genuine power of storytelling and how the sharing of stories across societies is a cornerstone of civilisation.
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Who’s The Daddy (Free eBook)

idaley — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:32:14 +0000

Three father and daughter short stories set around the time when a daughter begins to lose her innocence. Suddenly she’s not Daddy’s little girl anymore.

Features stories from Mark Czanik, Celeste Robichaud and Tim Sanders.

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Apocalypse Not Just Now (ebook)

idaley — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:58:57 +0000

The collected articles of M Y Alam 2000-2001. In the earlier articles collected here, M Y Alam points a finger of fun at whatever and whoever he doesn’t like the look of. When events on his own doorstep and around the world turn sour, there is an added gravitas to his writing but the line of argument remains consistent. A compelling snapshot of a time which saw euphoric millennial optimism give way to a much more pessimistic introduction to our new, golden millennium.

‘Take my advice and shove it all up your arse’ – M Y Alam

On Not Winning the Nobel Prize (Free ebook)

idaley — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:28:59 +0000

Doris Lessing’s Nobel Lecture ponders the changing role of reading in modern society and takes Lessing back to Africa in the 1980s, where she witnesses a hunger and thirst for books in mudhuts, ill equipped schools and water queues. In contrast, Lessing worries about the fragmented nature of contemporary education but is thankful for the rich resource of literature and the eternal call for storytelling.

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Art, Truth and Politics – The Nobel Lecture (Free ebook)

idaley — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:46:11 +0000

In Art, Truth and Politics Harold Pinter speaks about the nature of truth; he gives some insight into his work and his creative process and makes the distinction between political theatre and political satire. The majority of his speech however is reserved for his position as a citizen. He talks of political language as not being interested in the truth but of power, and that language is employed to keep truth at bay.

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My Father’s Suitcase (Free ebook)

idaley — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:07:47 +0000

This Nobel lecture centers on the moment when Pamuk’s father brought to him a suitcase full of his own notebooks and assorted writings. From this starting point Pamuk takes us on a journey though his life as a writer; reflecting on his own solitude, the magic of making worlds out of words, the nature of happiness, the beauty of Istanbul where east meets west, and the support and influence of his father. This is a wonderful and touching speech, it is a gift to anyone who has ever contemplated a writer’s life.
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