Links to Recent Articles and Fiction

Here’s some links to my most recent articles, as well as two flash pieces I wrote for Flash!Friday.

Recent Articles:

The Importance of Reading for Pleasure

5 Great Productivity Hacks for 2015

How to turn your dreams into goals

It’s not too late to make New Year’s resolutions

Flash Fiction

The Last to Leave

Fate's Choice

View image | gettyimages.com

Bloody Book Week - Lunchtime Readings

Last week the annual Bloody Book Week was held in South Africa. Lucky for me I could attend the lunchtime readings at the Exclusive Books close to work.

On Wednesday (6 August) Jacques Steenkamp read from his book TheGriekwastad Murders, while Mandy Wiener read from her and Barry Bateman’s upcoming book Behind the door: The Oscar & Reeva Story. Steenkamp’s book is also available in Afrikaans, and sentencing took place yesterday. Steenkamp, Wiener, and Bateman are respected South African journalists and their coverage of breaking news can be followed on their Twitter accounts (click on their names).

Jacques Steenkamp & Mandy Wiener

 

On Thursday (7 August), Deon Meyer read from Cobra, the English translation of his new novel. Kobra was nominated for an ATKV-Woordveertjie award (a prestigious Afrikaans award). Meyer’s books are extremely popular and have been translated from Afrikaans into a number of languages.   

With him was Dr David Klatzow, who spoke about his book Justice Denied - sure to be a fascinating read, and definitely on the list of books I want to read. Dr Klatzow is one of the few forensic investigators in South Africa, lectures at Wits University, and has played a part in a number of high profile cases.

Deon Meyer reading from Cobra

Deon Meyer and Dr David Klatzow

Deon Meyer & Dr David Klatzow

I hope I can attend more of the readings and panels next year!

Photos courtesy of Madré Mostert.*

* My blurry pics will never see the light of day. I really must remember to take a proper camera along next year. 

Making Mediocrity Acceptable

“Just remember; 50% is a pass, 51% is a distinction.”

This was the joke to which we all clung at university when we quaked at the thought of the three hour exam we were about to write. Now, what if I change the sentence to: “Just remember, 30% is a pass, 31% is a distinction”? It doesn’t sound like a joke, does it? It just sounds absurd. How on earth does getting 30% as your final mark in a subject mean you pass, you may ask. But that is exactly what you need to get in Matric (grade 12) in South Africa at the moment to pass. Let me just make that clear – of your six subjects in you final year of school, you need 30% in 3 subjects and 40% in 3 subjects to pass and receive your National Senior Certificate. And no, I am not counting “Life Orientation” as a subject – I am focusing simply on the six main academic subjects.

Each year the results are released I hang my head in shame, because I know the figures. Half of the children who start grade 1 never finish Matric. Of those who write Matric only some 70% pass. And, yet, again and again it is reiterated that the pass rate is fair. With these words thousands of students are made complacent into believing that only knowing 30% of your set work is good enough. You do not need to aim for 100%. You do not even have to aim for 50%. Only aim for 30% – and, don’t worry, your marks may even be adjusted if it is deemed that the exam was too difficult! Aim for 30% - we don’t expect more from you. By Jove! We don’t really think you could do better anyway.

Everyone is exceptional...

What worries me – truly worries me – is that generations of students are leaving high school with a bar set so low that they do not believe that they need to aim higher – and I do not mean this only academically. The lowest bar is good enough. Just getting through on the minimum is good enough. Lowering the bar to include everyone - God forbid anyone should feel ‘left out’ or that they ‘aren’t good enough’ or even have to exert themselves more than the bare minimum – is, in fact, doing a disservice to those same students. I also believe that the department is underestimating how great these students can be. They are practically telling the students that they do not expect them to be able to do better than these minimum standards. That 30% are the best they can hope for, so why set the bar higher?

In grade 5 or 6 we read the book Stories from Different Genres – a collection of short stories I enjoyed immensely. One story that haunted me – even more than the sight in my mind’s eye of a man being eaten alive by giant snails*  - was "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., in which people had to wear masks, weights and even have to hide their intelligence and talents so that they would all be equal^†. No one may be more beautiful, more talented, or more intelligent than anyone else. The world sketched in that story scared me more that all the horror tales in that book put together.

Yet the setting of such a low bar and telling people that it is fine and dandy to scrape by is already creeping towards that mentality that everyone should be included and that no one should feel that they had failed – even when they haven’t even tried. From there it is not too far a jump to a world where you are encouraged not to do your best. 

These students go on to university or college and have to be taught simple tasks like writing a paragraph – never mind writing an academic essay. Having to do your own research is met by many (most?) simply cutting and pasting badly written bits and pieces from unreliable websites. At the same time, faculties are pushed to pass most, if not all the students in a class. Again the bar is lowered. And again we are told that this is all well and good and that, if you argue against this, it is you who are in the wrong and just don’t want people to succeed. But what happens when these students enter the workplace? Will they expect the bar to still be set at 30%? Will the least amount of work be deemed “more than good enough” by them? Will mediocre be the most they will strive to be? I truly hope that this is not the case.

*This story is The Quest for the “Blank Claveringi” by Patricia Highsmith. It was weird and gruesome and I loved it. Go figure.

^† Do yourself a favour and read this classic piece.

** This piece first appeared on Storylane. Some minor changes were made before being published here. 

Ghosts, Beanstalks and Spinning Yarns

Writing Ramblings
This has been quite a week! With the winter quickly drawing near, it’s definitely getting more difficult to work at night. But those who have seen my tweets in the early morning, would have noticed that I’m getting some writing (and studying) done before work. Not that I’m suddenly getting up earlier, mind you, but starting work later. This gives me at least half an hour of hustling on my writing before leaving for work. In that time I’ve managed to finish the next draft of a WIP in which I’ve used Jack and the Beanstalk for inspiration. I’ve now sent it to a few friends to read and comment on before reworking it and hopefully getting it published. I’ve also finished and sent in another piece for South African publication and holding thumbs it gets accepted.

I’m also busy with a few other shorter pieces which I’ll be working on while the “beanstalk” WIP hangs around in a drawer for a week or two.

Zombies! Ghosts! And other Study Ramblings 
My other focus this year, of course, is also my studies. I have another Great Library Quest planned for this weekend, with a lengthy to-do list (and a proper study music playlist).

I’ve also had such a good laugh this week while working on my essay for later this year. The dry humour of the writer of the Eyrbyggja Saga never fails to crack me up. One part which especially cracked me up is in chapter 54, entitled “More Ghosts”, after a party of men go out fishing and drown.

Their ghosts return to the homestead night after night to sit by the fire:
Thorodd and his men walked across the main room, which had two doors, and into the living room. They ignored the greetings people gave them and sat down at the fire. The people ran out of the living-room, but Thorodd and his men stayed on until the fire began to burn very low, then went away. As long as the funeral feast lasted this continued: every evening the drowned men would come to the fire. It gave people at the feast plenty to talk about, but some of them thought it would stop once the feast was over. 

Quote taken from Eyrbyggja Saga, translated by Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards, published by Penguin Classics.

Norsemen Landing in Iceland, by H. A. Guerber

Friday (Non-)Fiction: The Dragon’s Trail by Joanna Pitman

Book Review: The Dragon’s Trail: The Biography of Raphael’s Masterpiece by Joanna Pitman. A Touchstone Book, published by Simon & Schuster. ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-6513-3.
Find it here on Goodreads.

In The Dragon’s Trail, Pitman tells the story of a renowned classic masterpiece by one of the Renaissance’s most famous artists. I doubt that anyone can stand in front of (or simply look at a print of) one of Raphael’s paintings without being moved by the beauty and talent of the artist’s brush. His painting, St. George and the Dragon – commissioned in 1506 – was painted when Raphael was only twenty-three years old. But Pitman does not simply tell the story of how it was painted or the reason for the painting, but follows the long lifespan of this wonderful painting throughout the following centuries until the present day.

This is a tale not only about a painting, but its owners and their place in history, including kings, revolutions, wealth and poverty and stretches from Italy, England and Russia to America. Pitman writes beautiful, dramatic prose which reads more like a novel than a book of art history or history. The Dragon’s Trail is both a book for the lay person and the art lover alike, but, most of all; the passion with which the book is written is contagious. Pitman’s love of art and especially this artwork is brought vividly to life in this volume.

I can suggest this book to lovers of history, art and the Renaissance. But, though the book’s dust jacket does carry a beautiful colour rendition of the painting, I would have liked to see a colour print of the painting inside the book as well and not one in greyscale. Perhaps in the next edition?
For overall enjoyment and readability, I give this book four and a half out of five stars. Definitely a volume I’ll read again.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Friday Book Review: Starfire by S.V. Stockton

Starfire by Stuart Vaughn Stockton (Book 1 in The Mending series)

When I first read the description of Starfire, I was intrigued. I love dinosaurs, but knew that this book, with its “dinosaur-people” would either be very good or awful. I am glad to say that I really enjoyed this wonderful book. Stockton’s world is at once alien and familiar and the worldbuilding is superb. Within the first pages the reader is fully enmeshed in a world where the dominant species is sentient dinosaurs, called Saurians, who even has and uses technology far surpassing our own. Yet, although there is not one human character, the Saurians are human enough in their struggles even on this alien world, that the reader is completely emotionally involved in the story.

The main character, Rathe, is a young warrior of low hatch status. Because of a lie told after he had rescued a hatchling, he gets the chance at a future he would not otherwise have had. In preparing for and during his first tour of duty as part of the Karn Imperial Army, he meets many different Saurians of different backgrounds and beliefs. He soon finds himself in over his head as he is chosen for a destiny he could never have imagined. “And the only things informing Rathe’s decision are affection for a small Saurin under his care and the admonitions from the mystical representative of a god Rathe doesn’t believe in” as the description so aptly says. Soon Rathe has to make choices and it seems that, no matter what choice he makes, it will lead to the destruction of his world.

Although Starfire is Christian speculative fiction, Stockton does not make everything black and white or skim over the character’s problems. The book also doesn’t preach, but does touch upon the way in which different characters share different beliefs with one another and have to live and survive together.

I’ll admit that the different breeds and the ranking system of the army is a bit confusing to get used to at first, but luckily a scale chart of the different Saurians are included, as well as a character guide. Although not everyone likes glossaries and the like, I enjoy extra material when it comes to specfic books – especially those set in alternative worlds.

The worldbuilding of the world, cultures, technology, fauna and flora (I especially enjoyed the Jeshar vines and Golub) has been thoroughly done and fully integrated into the story. I can highly recommend this book for lovers of sci-fi and fantasy – or even if you just like dinosaurs. I think this is also a wonderful example of what Christian speculative fiction can be.  

For this, and other Marcher Lord Press titles, check out their website at www.marcherlordpress.com or visit Stockton’s blog Galactic Lore or his website Ritersbloc.

Published by Marcher Lord Press

*I received a copy of this book from Marcher Lord Press and requested to give my honest review. 

An Overload of Limn

Or, Travels without Rescue Remedy

I am a nervous person by nature – give me a couple of molehills and in no time you can have the Himalayas in your back yard. I blame my genes. I also blame living in Gauteng – but that’s another story. So, of course, I will look for hobbies that will sooth my frazzled nerves and give me some respite. Hence, you will not find me rock climbing, scuba diving, or eating something which contains nuts. I just don’t need that kind of adrenalin rush.

Mostly, I turn to books once the business hours have passed and the daily traffic jams are left behind. I have quite an eclectic taste – give me a good story and I’ll most probably read it. Give me good writing and I’ll indulge for hours. The problem comes in more when picking what to read first. This problem is compounded when walking into libraries. Not only can I take out just about any book in the building, but I can do so for a very minimal payment. For. A. Whole. Year. And only then need I hand over some more cash.

There is a rush all bibliophiles share – the rush of finding the book. The book which is just the kind of thing you were searching for. The book that makes your hand move to the shelf on its own accord. The book that hides in plain sight until you pass the shelf and then it suddenly grabs hold of your poor oculars, nearly tripping you as you try to walk by without taking them off the spine. The rush of a good book sale. Ah, the book sale; the bibliophile’s kryptonite.

The rush can make you do strange things. It can make the biggest nerd with the smallest stature carry around 20kg of books on one arm for the entire time it takes to search through the whole sale. It can make you spend your whole food budget before you even fully realize what you picked up. It can even let you make excuses about why you really, really, REALLY need ten more books right now. ‘Of course books have no side-effects,’ you stutter while one eye twitches as you spot a biography of Borges. And you get to swipe your club card on sales purchases. You’re actually saving money. And you were thinking of going on a water diet anyway. And one of the books is a gift for someone else. And your new mantra for 2011 is suddenly ‘limn… limn… limn…’. Before you know it, your New Year’s resolution to stick to your budget is bust, you’re using a credit card to buy food and you forget to go to work because the book you’re reading is just so good.

This year, rather stick to a couple drops of Rescue Remedy before going in search of new reading material. At least then you can go on a bread and water diet after buying another Bottomless Bag o’ Books.

The Bibliophile

First published over at:
http://letterdash.com/lonebibliophile/an-overload-of-limn

Inspirational Friday – Follow That Wanderlust

Or, travelling on a budget.

“So, what are you going to do this weekend?” This question is asked again and again at work on a Friday. Well, there are the usual errands and a nap (if you’re lucky), but there is also the mind-travelling. Technically, I’m going to spend time reading. But that is quite a boring way to say: “Well, actually I’m off on a quest this weekend. Off to slay a dragon (or save a dragon), save a world, and probably ride a horse and wield a sword. Or perhaps I’ll visit another country, planet or universe.”

And, if you’re also writing over the weekend, you’ll probably be packing a bag and heading off into the unknown with a half-drawn map (and some extra paper to jot down any new towns or landmarks you come across). You’ll be wearing a cloak of invisibility and yet change everything you come into contact with. That ‘castle over yonder’ is no longer just a hazy outline of stone, but filled with the bustle of people and intrigue. Maybe you’ll even add a wall or a scheming king while you’re there. Stories will unfurl, rewind, move in another direction or even abruptly stop; the story half told; the world half built.

“So, what are you doing this weekend?”

I think I’ll read a bit. Maybe write a couple of pages. But we’ll see.

Upon the hearth the fire is red,
Beneath the roof there is a bed;
But not yet weary are our feet,
Still around the corner we may meet
A sudden standing stone
That none have seen but we alone.
Tree and flower and leaf and grass,
Let them pass! Let them pass!
Hill and water under sky,
Pass them by! Pass them by!

Still around the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run,
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
Apple, thorn and nut and sloe
Let them go! Let them go!
Sand and stone and pool and dell,
Fare you well! Fare you well!

Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We'll wander back to home and bed.
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!
Fire and lamp, and meat and bread,
And to bed! And then to bed!

-      JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

The Book of Lost Books by Stuart Kelly

For this week's Ramblings of a Bibliophile, I've chosen The Book of Lost Books by Stuart Kelly. Enjoy!

The Book of Lost Books - S. Kelly

The Book of Lost Books

While looking over the reference section in one of the local bookshops, the following title caught my eye: The Book of Lost Books: An Incomplete History of All the Great Books You’ll never read. I picked it up to read the back cover and knew I had to read this book – and it was a very good buy. Stuart Kelly goes about describing the books many well-known writers planned to write, but never got the chance to write and books destroyed by fire, water or other means.

“Widsith spoke, unlocked his word-treasure, he who of all men had most widely travelled among all the nations and peoples of the world.” (Kelly 2010:101- translation of the Anglo-Saxon poem “Widsith”)

Some of the chapters in the book are: “Homer”, “Sophocles”, “Saint Paul” and “Widsith the Wide-travelled”. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, Cervantes, Charles Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Hemingway, Kafka and Philip K. Dick also make up part of the book, making it a treasure trove of the works of some of the greatest writers we only have a brief glimpse of.

Somewhat elegiac, the prose draws the reader in and makes every page enjoyable to read. Even if you are not familiar with some of the writers featured in The Book of Lost Books, Kelly still gives enough information to ensure that his readers are not lost between names and titles. When one looks at all the works that we know of that has been lost, it makes one more thankful for those works that have stood the test of time.

“This book, even in its expanded form, is still only the visible tip of the extravagant, glorious tragicomic universe of loss. That universe, like our own, is expanding.” (Kelly 2010:379)

I can highly recommend this volume from Polygon for any avid reader or bibliophile as Kelly covers so many different writers – there is bound to be at least one to suit every taste.

Goes perfectly with: A Caffé Latte on a rainy day.

Perfect size to: Keep in your handbag for those moments of stolen reading pleasure.

Rating: 4/5

Also visit: www.polygonbooks.co.uk

Kelly, Stuart. The Book of Lost Books: An Incomplete History of All the Great Books You’ll Never Read. New Expanded Edition, 2010. Polygon Books, Edinburgh.

What I’m also reading at the moment: Bart Nel, by J van Melle & Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett and for studies: Myths of the Pagan North by Christopher Abram.