This is a wonderfully enigmatic poem by the poet Roy Fuller, http://overconvergent.livejournal.com/29022.html
Translation By Roy Fuller
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Tag Archives: culture
My Encounter
As someone who is registered blind I am ultra independent. I live alone and navigate the streets with the assistance of my trusty guide dog, Trigger. There are, however instances where I require help and yesterday evening was one such.
On my way home from work, about 5 minutes from the flat, Trigger stopped dead in his tracks. It being dark the limited vision I do possess was rendered next to useless. I stood stock still waiting for the sound of approaching footsteps. Fortunately I didn’t have long to wait. A man approached and in broken English indicated that I should take his arm. In fact he tried to take mine but it being far easier (and the approved procedure) for guides to allow visually impaired people to hold their arm I gently disengage my hand and, taking his arm allowed my companion to guide me round the obstacle.
During our brief encounter I asked my new found friend what was causing the obstruction. He responded
“Sorry I am from Russia, I don’t speak English”. I smiled, shook his hand, thanked him and continued on my way home.
The whole incident reminded me powerfully of our common humanity. One man, (not my fellow countryman) saw another soul in need of help and rather than continuing on his merry way he stopped and offered assistance. The fact that he was Russian, that we couldn’t understand one another barely figured in our interaction. It was an act of spontaneous kindness for which I feel extremely grateful. People are just that, people. Nationality and ethnic origin don’t matter, it is the person within, (the soul for want of a better word) which counts and this individual possessed a good soul.
People Don’t Read Round Here
Over the festive season I fell into conversation with a lady. The conversation ranged far and wide and at one juncture touched on the subject of books. My partner at the dinner table remarked that she had only read 2 books, (I don’t recollect the title of both works but one of the books was “Flowers in the Attic”). My companion went on to ask me for recommendations regarding what she should read. I responded that literary tastes are highly personal matters (I return to Wuthering Heights again and again because it is, in my view a wonderful work of fiction while others find nothing of merit in it). I went on to describe how I’d enjoyed reading Kevin Cooper’s thriller Meido and recommended his book to my companion. At one point during the conversation another of those present said that “it isn’t like that round here” by which she meant that people don’t read books in this area.
The above conversation took place in a fairly typical suburb of Liverpool. I don’t like using the term but for want of anything better the area is “working class” comprised of (mainly) owner occupied houses inhabited by people engaged in occupations ranging from barmaids and cleaners to those employed in clerical work.
The implication that people living in a given area do not read books is, of course a sweeping generalisation. My grandfather who had never gone on to higher education and lived in a council house throughout his life spent many hours reading to me. I well recall the glass bookcase which stood in the spare bedroom chock full of books ranging from Enid Blyton’s Famous Five to works of poetry. It is, I believe largely due to my grandfather who was “working class” (oh how I hate to use that term as people are, at bottom individuals not social groups), that I gained my love of literature and went onto university to read history and politics.
Sadly there is among certain people a lack of aspiration which is exemplified by the view that people round here don’t read. This can, if we fail to take care become a self fulfilling prophecy (I.E. many homes contain few, if any books but are replete with wide screen televisions to which parents consign their children rather than spending precious time reading to them). A house full of books won’t guarantee happiness but it will assist in producing rounded individuals with a love of literature and a broad perspective on the world.
There are, fortunately organisations working to promote education among all people. Perhaps the most notable of these is The Workers’ Education Association which has, since 1903 been striving to uplift the aspirations, through education of all segments of society with particular emphasis on those of (that term again) “the working class”). All power to their elbo. For information on the WEA please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers%27_Educational_Association.
The Magic Of A Story – Guest Post By Cupitonians
Many thanks to Cupitonians (http://cupitonians.wordpress.com/) for the below post. Anju has a wonderful blog which I would encourage you to visit.
My love for literature began when I was a toddler and my dad would enact Tom Sawyer or Oliver Twist before bedtime. I would squeal and jump about with glee, trying to imitate him every night. This was often accompanied by my English Teacher mom correcting my dad’s horrendous pronunciation of names (“It’s Shar-Lut not Char-lut-eh!”) and shaking her head in disbelief. Mum would tell different tales, lores from the various places she had lived as a travelling family, folk tales she’d heard from her friends from around the world, stories she ripped off from Chinua Achebe books. We grew up as a family with a lust for things that captured our imaginations.
It came as quite a surprise to my teachers that I was so passionate about my English Literature classes. Everyone else hated it and for good reason. I studied in an all-girls convent school that was formerly a British hospital turned to a school for British-only students. Later, they opened the doors to Indians as well (I have since found out that my grandmother was among the first Indian students to set foot in that school). This brought in a lot of changes but the one thing that didn’t change was the syllabus. A huge part of our curriculum included all the famous British authors, including our beloved friend, William “Bard of Avon” Shakespeare.
While my classmates moaned and whined about how they wished “these damn writers would die” (“Erm, but, they are dead. That is sort of their claim to fame”) or the examination board would burn down and we would be free from these wretched exams, I would make jokes about opium eaters and how England is my soul country and how if you pricked us, would we not bleed? One particular teacher really resented me for correcting what I thought was her half-baked knowledge on my artists. And they were all MY writers, spinning stories just for me. To prove that my theories on her ignorance was right, for my final project where we were meant to write a story on based on a proverb, I copied word for a word a story from Nicholas Nickleby. She gave me a 100 on 100. Hence proved!
By the age of 15 (when I passed out from Indian high school) I had devoured every “masterpiece” that was on the top “to read” lists. I was reading Tolstoy & Nietzsche, James Joyce & Virginia Woolf, The Bronte Sisters & Jane Austen, Mark Twain & Ernest Hemingway. I came across a list of books that the school had banned, and being the rebel that I claimed I was, I read the Harry Potter books. When I went to University, I was studying (purely for the pleasure of it) American Literature, Indian Writing in English, Commonwealth Literature and well, I could go on. There also comes a certain arrogance from reading books such as the ones I was hooked on to – only a select group of “intellectual” people could read and discuss them. After a while, conversation with them would seem contrived because I wasn’t reading for form and the grammar. I was reading it for the story, for all the things unsaid and shining through in between the lines, for the places that only a great book could transport you to. I do have a wanderlust to quench after all.
I still try to tick off book lists, that’s just me. I’m 21 down on the top 50 banned books and steadily making my way through the 100 greatest books of all time. But picking books isn’t as deliberate anymore. Sometimes I go to my favourite used book store and pick up a book whose title has caught my attention. Sometimes I open the front of these books and then buy them for the unique message someone had written to someone. If I have one flaw, it would be that I don’t like going by popular opinions, I need to form them myself. This has led me to losing 5 days of my life reading the Twilight series (which I have to say is a masterpiece compared to 50 shades, which I also read) and gaining so much more from reading the Hunger Games Trilogy. Like everything in life, there is a chance of a hit and miss but one thing’s for certain, there will always be the thrill of learning something, anything and the chance that you will come upon magic.
My Page On hellopoetry.com
I have published a couple of my poems on hellopoetry.com. You can find them here, http://hellopoetry.com/-kevin-morris/.
The Splintered Ukes
On Saturday 21 December I went with my mum and her partner to listen to The Splintered Ukes, a Liverpool group who perform cover versions of other group’s tracks, http://www.splinteredukes.com/. Despite the terrible weather (it poured down for much of the time) I very much enjoyed the performance which took place in Liverpool’s Clayton Square. I had heard The Splintered Ukes perform once before in Liverpool’s Sefton Park and as with the band’s previous performance I was impressed by the group’s abilities. I ought to declare an interest as my sister is friends with several of the group. If you are in Liverpool I would recommend checking out this band.
The Amazon Best Sellers Of 2013
FREE WILL BY SAM HARRIS NOT ACCESSIBLE TO BLIND KINDLE OWNERS
On 24 November I wrote about my inability to read a book on my Kindle due to text to speech not being enabled for the title, http://newauthoronline.com/2013/11/24/the-silence-is-deafening/. At that time I did not name the book as I wished to try to persuade the author and/or publisher to change their mind and enable text to speech thereby allowing me, as a blind person who is not able to read print, to access the book using my Kindle. Having received no answer from either the publisher or author I have, reluctantly decided to name the book, Free Will by Sam Harris, http://www.amazon.com/Free-Will-Sam-Harris-ebook/dp/B006IDG2T6. The title is available as an MP3 download (a fact discovered after some considerable Googling)! However blind people should, so far as is humanly possible, have the same choice regarding how they access books as sighted readers do. Sighted people can purchase the book in hard copy, as a Kindle download or on MP3. In contrast blind readers have only one option, to purchase the MP3 download. This is, to me unfair as it artificially limits my ability to choose how I access the work. I am not arguing that the provision of the book in hard copy is discriminatory. Such an argument would be risible. I can not read print but that is not the fault of the author and/or the publisher. However the author/publisher do have control regarding the Kindle version of Free Will and they have chosen not to enable text to Speech rendering the Kindle version inaccessible to those who can not read print.
As previously stated, all of my books have text to speech enabled. I believe that everyone irrespective of their disability is entitled to access books. To enable text to speech is such a minor matter for authors and publishers but it makes such a huge difference to the ability of visually impaired people to access the wonderful world of literature.
It may be objected that authors are not charities so why should they provide their books with text to speech enabled, especially if the selling of audio versions will generate additional income? As writers we are not mere players in the free market. We are citizens with moral obligations to our fellow man. There is nothing wrong with turning a profit and I am always delighted when I hear of authors who have done well, however money is not the be all and end all. We exist in a community and we owe duties to others. One of those duties is not to discriminate (albeit, in many cases unintentionally by failing to provide accessible versions of our books). I am not suggesting that authors spend hard earned money on producing expensive braille editions so that blind people can access them. I am, however saying that all authors should enable text to speech as it costs us nothing and, in addition creates a great deal of good will among visually impaired people, their family and friends.
(As of 13 December 2013 text to speech was not enabled on Sam Harris’s Free Will).
Enid Blyton Removed From School Library
I have happy memories of my grandfather reading Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five as I sat on his knee. As a child it never crossed my mind that Blyton’s books could be construed as being racist. Today however a number of reprints of the author’s works have been published with certain words and passages having been amended to avoid giving offence. Today’s Daily Mail has an article concerning a school who removed Blyton’s books from it’s shelves, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2519806/Enid-Blyton-Famous-Five-childrens-classics-axed-school-win-race-equality-award.html. If you read the entire article it becomes clear that most of the books which where deemed to be unacceptable have been replaced by versions with the language which some deem offensive, having been removed.
Racism is ugly and it is right and proper that children are taught that all ethnic groups possess equal worth and everyone, irrespective of their origin should be treated with respect. Having said that, would it not be possible for teachers, parents etc to explain the historical context in which Blyton was writing to youngsters, explaining that words and phrases which where once deemed acceptable are now (rightly) not so deemed. Blyton as with Kipling was a product of her time. Even great authors such as Dickens used language which we now view as unacceptable, for example his reference to “the jew” in Oliver Twist. I love Dickens, Kipling and Blyton, however to say this does not imply that I or any other reader shares their views on race or any other issue. We need, as I said above to judge authors in accordance with the historical context in which they wrote. Obviously it is easier for adults to make such judgements but, with sensitive and appropriate explanation it ought to be possible for children to continue to enjoy The Famous Five.
When Does A Book Review Become Trolling?
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. The old saying seems particularly apt when discussing the issue of trolling and, more specifically it’s relationship to book reviews. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, a troll is an individual who makes comments in order to provoke conflict. Here we are not talking about a reader who provides a 1 or 2 star review and furnishes a reasoned explanation for his/her perspective on the work. Authors may not like such reviews (although one can learn from constructive criticism), however they can not be considered as constituting trolling. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the taking of offence at the expression of opinions with which authors (or anyone else) may disagree is not a valid reason for labelling such expressions as trolling.
Genuine trolling is, however sadly alive and well on the internet. Take, for example the following review and the comments generated by it, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/499148682. The reviewer takes a positive delight in ripping the author’s work apart. It is, to the reviewer a source of considerable hilarity to point out grammatical errors (real or imagined). He appears to revel in making his followers laugh and laugh they do in response to the reviewer’s tearing apart of the author’s work. What should be a serious forum for discussing literature degenerates into an arena in which the reviewer and his/her followers rip their quarry apart. Blood sports are banned or curtailed in many countries but they remain alive and well on the internet.
As a libertarian (with a small l) I am wary of banning activities. There is a thin line between a person expressing their strong objection to a book and an individual deliberately looking to stir up conflict for the sake of so doing. However it strikes me that forums such as Goodreads need to look at whether they have strong enough measures in place to prevent, so far as is possible, unproductive and often vicious attacks on authors.
(Disclaimer: I have not read the book in question nor am I acquainted with it’s author).
K Morris - Poet 