March 19th, 2008
People have been direly predicting the death of the novel for decades. Dave Edelman has an interesting and well-considered new take on the subject.
Will the novel die? I won’t keep you in suspense: Yes, the novel will die. It might not happen in your lifetime. But yes, I can say unequivocally that the novel will eventually breathe its last and lay down contentedly in the grave of dead art forms. I’ll be very conservative and estimate 50 years.
And you know what? It’s not that big a deal.
Very soon we’re going to have a medium for distributing the written word that’s not only easier but better suited to the task than books. So let’s dispense with the silly, sentimental arguments you often hear about why storytelling is never going to go electronic. “You can’t replace the feeling of a holding a book,” “I don’t like reading on a screen,” and “I can’t read an e-book in the bathtub” are some of the sillier excuses you hear all the time for why printed books are going to survive until the end of time. I’m sorry, but “I can hold my entire library in my hand,” “I can download new books at will,” “I can search my entire library in a nanosecond,” “I can instantly send books to my friends,” “I can translate and define words on the fly,” and “I don’t have to devote an entire room of my house to holding my books” are going to trump reading in the bathtub any day of the week.
To sum up: the written word is going electronic. Permanently. Soon. Once that happens, storytellers will have no need to shoehorn their stories into these 8? x 12? hunks of pulped wood and ink. And once we’re not restricted to the medium of the novel, we’ll be leaving the form behind.
The death of the novel doesn’t mean the death of storytelling. It doesn’t mean that nobody’s ever going to put an Aristotelian structure of fiction into 120,000 words. On the contrary, it’s going to mean that storytelling will finally be unleashed. We’re going to see fiction strap on blue tights and a red cape and really soar.
Personally I think that’s going to be fun to see.
Link (via Futurismic)
March 18th, 2008
From the New York Times article:
Arthur C. Clarke, a writer whose seamless blend of scientific expertise and poetic imagination helped usher in the space age, died early Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he had lived since 1956. He was 90.
Rohan de Silva, an aide to Mr. Clarke, said the author died after suffering from breathing problems, The Associated Press reported.
From his detailed forecast of telecommunications satellites in 1945, more than a decade before the first orbital rocket flight, to his co-creation, with the director Stanley Kubrick, of the classic science fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” Mr. Clarke was both prophet and promoter of the idea that humanity’s destiny lay beyond the confines of Earth.
Full story here.
March 16th, 2008
A study released yesterday has some unexpected conclusions on the influence of the internet on journalism. David Bauder of the AP (via Wired News) writes:
It was believed at one point that the Net would democratize the media, offering many new voices, stories and perspectives. Yet the news agenda actually seems to be narrowing, with many Web sites primarily packaging news that is produced elsewhere, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s annual State of the News Media report.
A separate survey found journalists are, to a large degree, embracing the changes being thrust upon them. A majority say they like doing blogs and that they appreciate reader feedback on their stories. When they’re asked to do multimedia projects, most journalists find the experience enriching instead of feeling overworked, he said. The newsroom is increasingly being seen as the most experimental place in the business, the report found.
Most news Web sites are no longer final destinations. The report found that many users insist that the sites, and even individual pages, offer plenty of options to navigate elsewhere for more information, the project found. Rosenstiel said he’s even able to reach Washington Post stories through the New York Times’ Web site.
In another unexpected finding, citizen-created Web sites and blogs are actually far less welcoming to outside commentary than the so-called mainstream media, the report said.
Link
March 16th, 2008
From The Onion:
The Novelists Guild of America strike, now entering its fourth month, has had no impact on the nation at all, sources reported Tuesday.
The strike, which scholars say could be the longest since 1951, when American novelists may or may not have voluntarily committed to a six-month work stoppage, has brought an immediate halt to all new novels, novellas, and novelettes from coast to coast, affecting no one.
You can read the full article here. For those who don’t know, I should probably note that The Onion is a parody newspaper - and, as such, the content is often halarious but not even a little bit factual.
March 14th, 2008
Terry Pratchett, one of Britain’s best-selling authors and one of the world’s leading fantasy writers, has announced that he’ll donate $1m to research into Alzheimer’s disease. Pratchett himself was diagnosed with the disease in December. BBC News writes:
“I am, along with many others, scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the cure comes along. Say it will be soon - there’s nearly as many of us as there are cancer sufferers, and it looks as if the number of people with dementia will double within a generation. […] It is a shock to find out that funding for Alzheimer’s research is just 3% of that to find cancer cures.”
However, the Alzheimer’s Research Trust estimates that just £11 per patient is spent annually on research into the disease - compared with £289 for each cancer patient.
Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said the trust currently had to turn down two out of every three research projects due to lack of funds.
She said: “Whilst we were deeply saddened to learn of Mr Pratchett’s diagnosis, we are delighted that he has chosen to speak out about his experiences with Alzheimer’s disease, to raise awareness about its impact and the desperate need for more research.
“Research is the only way to beat this disease and help people like Terry - to prevent them losing their thinking skills and keep them doing the things they love.”
Link to full article
Update: Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing writes:
Pat Cadigan has started a campaign to get 500,000 Terry Pratchett fans to donate £1 each to Alzheimer’s research, matching the funds put up by Pratchett himself, who was recently diagnosed with rare, early-onset Alzheimer’s — the calls the campaign “Match it for Pratchett!”
Today, it was announced that Terry Pratchett has donated half a million pounds to Alzheimer’s research. Hearing that, it occurred to me that if half a million of us all donated a pound to Alzheimer’s research, we could match his donation and make it an even million.
So whaddaya say, guys? It’s a pound. That’s about 2 bucks US dollars, give or take a couple of (US) pennies. You can spare that much. Go here and make your donation. Tell them it’s in honour of Terry Pratchett.
Let’s do it!
Link (Thanks, Pat!)
March 14th, 2008
According to the LA Times, Warner Brothers plans to split Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two movies. Part one will arrive in cinemas in November 2010 and part two will follow in May 2011. It might seem an obvious ruse to add a little more value to the richest franchise in movie history - which has brought in £2.2bn around the world thus far - but those involved insist the decision has been made to serve a story that cannot be properly adapted any more briefly.
Daniel Radcliffe, the series’ star, is quoted as saying “it’s the only way you can do it, without cutting out a huge portion of the book”. He explained that subplots in earlier books could be excised for adaptations, but “the seventh book doesn’t really have any subplots. It’s one driving, pounding story from the word go.”
Link to full Guardian article
March 14th, 2008
Paul Graham Raven of Futurismic writes:
Regular readers will be familiar with the Friday Flash Fictioneers from Futurismic’s free fiction round-ups. We’ve teamed up and collected over sixty of our best flash stories from the last nine months, and yours truly has edited them into ILLUMINATIONS, all profits from which will be donated to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children here in the UK.
ILLUMINATIONS is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence - the stories are already out there in the magical tubes of the internets, so we thought we’d like to set them free formally at the same time as making them available in one convenient and attractive package!
ILLUMINATIONS will be available in book form from Odd Two Out Publishing after 25th March 2008 (or from the authors themselves) for GB£6.99, or as a downloadable PDF for an as yet unannounced price.
Link to full announcement at Futurismic.com
March 12th, 2008
The vultures circle as publishing house “The Friday Project” moves toward liquidation.
The wrangle for the bones of failed “blook” publisher The Friday Project heated up this morning, with Random House joining HarperCollins in talks to buy the company’s list before it goes into liquidation.
Founded in 2005, The Friday Project (TFP) won much publicity for its exclusive focus on publishing material that started life in the blogosphere. Successful titles have included Blood, Sweat and Tea: Real-Life Adventures in an Inner-City Ambulance by Tom Reynolds, and In Stitches: The Highs and Lows of an A&E Doctor by Dr Nick Edwards.
Link to full Guardian article.
