TED talk: Rajesh Rao: A Rosetta Stone for the Indus Script

I found this interesting talk by Rajesh Rao about the Indus Script. This is especially interesting after reading Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts. Enjoy! 

My leeslys: ’n oorsig

Ek het die afgelope weke ’n paar boeke klaargemaak (meeste benodig nog ’n resensie). Ek het van meeste gehou en dink ’n paar is uitstekend. Hier is my huidige lys:

"Old Books 3" by T. Fazakas

• God’sPhilosphers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science deur James Hannam
• NoPlace for a Lady deur Anne Harries (Lees dieresensie hier)
• ’nAnder land deur Karel Schoeman (Lees die resensie hier)
• LostLanguages: The Enigma of the World’s Undeciphered Scripts deur Andrew Robinson
• Eat,Pray, Love deur Elizabeth Gilbert

Resensies vir die ander drie boeke sal in die volgende paar weke volg.

Wat ek tans lees

Op die oomblik lees ek When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World’s Languages and theErosion of Human Knowledge deur David Harrison (baie interessant). Daarbenewens wonder ek of ek dadelik met die Kalevala moet begin en of ek eers weer een van my gunsteling Discworld boeke wil lees…

Ander boekgoeters

Ek het op hierdie film van OxfordUniversity Press afgekom waarin gewys word hoe ’n boek vervaardig word. Beslis die kyk werd!

My Reading List: An Update

I’ve recently finished a couple of books (most of which still need reviews). I liked most of them and even loved a few. Here’s what is on my “just read” list:

• God’sPhilosphers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science by James Hannam
• NoPlace for a Lady by Anne Harries (Read my reviewhere)
• ’nAnder land by Karel Schoeman (Read the [Afrikaans]review here)
• LostLanguages: The Enigma of the World’s Undeciphered Scripts by Andrew Robinson
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

 Reviews for the other three books will follow in the next few weeks.

My Current Reads

I’m currently only busy with When Languages Die: The Extinction of theWorld’s Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge by David Harrison (very interesting). Now I’m also pondering whether I should plunge into the Kalevala straight away, or whether I first want to reread one of my favourite Discworld books…

In Bookish News

I came across this silent film from OxfordUniversity Press about the production of a book. Well worth the watch!

Resensie: ’n Ander land deur Karel Schoeman

’nAnder land is ’n puik voorbeeld van Afrikaanse letterkunde. Dit vertel die verhaal van Versluis, ’n Nederlander, wat aan die einde van die negentiende eeu na Suid-Afrika (en spesifiek Bloemfontein) reis om van ongesteldheid te herstel. Soos vele ander sulke reisigers arriveer hy byna dood en word deur mede-passasiers na ’n plaaslike hotel geneem om versorg te word. Terwyl sy gesondheid verbeter verken hy die dorp, beleef die omliggende veld en leer verskeie van die inwoners ken.

Deurgaans word die simboliek van lig en donker, lewe en dood en saam wees teenoor eensaamheid vervleg tot ryk leesstof wat die leser dwing om ook na sy/haar eie lewe met nuwe oë te kyk. Verdere teenstelling word gevind in die soeke na identiteit – dié van Versluis, maar ook die nuwe immigrante wat reeds hulle in Afrika gevestig het en die eerste generasie wat hier gebore word. Hierdie soeke na ’n nuwe identiteit word reeds vroeg in die boek verwoord:

“Ons is hier nie meer Afrika nie, maar dit is ook nie meer Europa nie, daar is te veel verskillende wêrelde wat langs mekaar bestaan, en uiteindelik is daar geeneen waarin jy tuishoort en waarin jy weet hoe om jou te handhaaf nie...”

(Schoeman, 2006:33)

Versluis veg teen die dood in ’n nuwe land en nuwe lewe waarin hy ontuis voel. Verder speel ’n besef van sy eie verganklikheid af saam met die verandering van die seisoene. Ook hier word die seisoene met dié van Europa vergelyk om verdere teenstelling tussen Europa en Afrika te toon. Die inwoners lewer self kommentaar oor hulle aanhang van Europese letterkunde en musiek in die “nuwe land”, asook die onvermoë om onveranderd na Europa terug te keer:

“Mens sal seker nooit weer teruggaan nie, ne? Om hier te kom, is maklik genoeg, maar om terug te gaan en weer aan te gaan met jou lewe daar, dis ’n ander saak.”

(Schoeman, 2006:152)

Die nuwe generasie wat in Afrika gebore word se identiteitskrisis – veral soos gesien deur die immigrante – word ook verwoord:

“... hulle is met ander woorde die eerste generasie burgers van ’n land wat nog kort gelede nog niks meer as onbewoonde wildernis was nie. Hulle verkeer is ’n posisie wat moeilik maar terselfdertyd ook uitdagend is – aan die een kant het hulle geen ware bande met Europa nie; dis ’n verre wêrelddeel waarvan hulle nog slegs gehoor het; maar aan die ander is hulle ook nog nie ten volle in hierdie nuwe land ingeburger nie.”

(Schoeman, 2006:178)

Met al die simboliek en inmekaargevlegte temas, is ’n Ander land die verhaal van een man se lewe en sy soeke na identiteit en ’n vaste tuiste. Hierdie reis raak die leser en bly hom/haar by lank nadat die boek voltooi is en is werklik ’n boek wat gelees moet word.

9 uit 10

’nAnder land se 2006 Human& Rousseau Klassiek-uitgawe is aanlyn by Kalahari, Exclusive Books en Takealot beskikbaar vir tussen R173 en R220.

Resources for Mythology and Folklore

Although there are many sources for mythology and folklore online, I often prefer to make use of non-electronic books when I just want to browse or quickly need to look up a name. These are a few of my favourite collections.

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology by Arthur Cotterell, Rachel Storm

This handy encyclopaedia contains six different sections: “The myths of Greece and Rome”, “The myths of the Celtic world”, “The myths of the Nordic lands”, “The myths of Egypt and West Asia”, “The myths of South and Central Asia”, and “The myths of East Asia”. Within these the gods, heroes, etc. are given in alphabetical order, which makes it very user-friendly. Lavishly illustrated (and using, among others, artwork by Alan Lee) it is also a delight to browse. It’s just a shame they used one of Alan Lee’s The Lord of the Rings artworks in the book, but I can look past that for the wealth of material it contains. 

On a side note, this book isn’t an exhaustive account of the mythologies. I would also have liked them to include a variety of mythologies from Africa itself, but unfortunately the Americas, Oceania, (most of) Africa, etc. are not covered in this book. Therefore, if you’re looking for these specific mythologies, this isn’t the book for you. In other aspects it is a handy one to have on the shelf.

Myths & Legends: An Illustrated Guide to their Origins and Meanings by Philip Wilkinson

This book is beautifully designed with gold accents throughout and covers most of the major mythologies quite well. Because of the way in which it is written it is a great book for those new to these mythologies. Rather than used to only look up names or specific objects, this book is meant for reading and browsing.

It is broadly divided into geographical areas – Europe, West and Central Asia, South and East Asia – and, behold – Africa, the Americas and Oceania (although the last three is really only touched upon).

Like The Ultimate Encyclopaedia above, this one also has pages in which recurring motifs (e.g. “abandoned children”, “earth deities”, “shamans”, etc.) across mythologies are shown.

The Golden Bough by James George Frazer

This classic work by Frazer is a dazzling mixture of culture, religion, mythology and folklore. First published between 1890 and 1915, this work is a must for any writer’s bookshelf (especially if you write speculative fiction), in my opinion. Although it is available for free online, I do prefer the Wordsworth edition when I’m just reading or browsing (or just don’t want to stare at a screen). This book is described as follows by Wordsworth Reference:

Remarkable for its vast assembly of facts and its charm of presentation ... it discusses fertility rites, human sacrifice, the dying god, the scapegoat and many other symbols and practices which have influenced a whole generation of 20^th century writers, including D.H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot.

Have you found these books useful? Or which other collections or books do you prefer? I would love to know!

TED: Andrew Fitzgerald - Twitter-fiksie

TED: Andrew Fitzgerald: Adventures in Twitter fiction

Book Review: No Place for a Lady by Anne Harries

“The Boer War is razing South Africa to the ground. In the midst of these horrors are three women fighting for love, survival and justice: Sarah, an angelically beautiful nurse from England; Louise, her madcap friend; and the dynamic campaigner Emily Hobhouse.”

Perhaps I started reading the book with too many pre-conceived ideas about what the story would be like, but I just couldn’t really get into the book. Some of the melodramatic passages in the book jarred me out of the story even though I understand that the writer wanted the meetings between Sarah and Patch to be different from the rest of the book. For much of the book it also moved too slowly, while the denouement and ending was again too rushed and abrupt. The urgency I expected from a novel set in the midst of war just wasn’t there and some of the characters simply remained little more than shadows.  

That said, the book was interesting simply for being from the viewpoint of British nurses who came to South Africa and showing (some of) the work of Emily Hobhouse and other women. But the book also gives an array of viewpoints with regard to the war and war effort through the eyes of the characters as they move from Britain to South Africa to the Cape hospitals and at last the concentration camps.

All in all, I wouldn’t say it’s a bad book. The writing just isn’t completely my taste and the book didn’t stay with me after reading it as I thought it would. As I say – I might have started reading with too many pre-conceived ideas. But if you really enjoy historical fiction and don’t mind some melodrama, this might be the book for you.

Book Gnomes out of ten:  Five

Check out Goodreads for this and other books. 

Available online from Kalahari, Takealot and Amazon.