Sebastian Faulks

This weekend's Financial Times (FT) published a great interview of author, Sebastian Faulks, known for several novels including -- Birdsong, Charlotte Gray, and Engleby.

While the FT asked Mr. Faulks several questions I wanted to highlight several that caught my attention and I hope will inspire my readers to chuckle a bit as I did when I read the last response from Mr. Faulks cited below (my comments are in all CAPS):

Question: What's the last book you couldn't finish?
Answer: Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

INTERESTING -- I FINISHED IT AND THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD READ.

Q: How many books do you read at once?
A: About three, usually

ME TOO, SHORT ATTENTION SPAN!!

Q: What book changed your life?
A: Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence

I SHOULD SAY THE "VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE" BUT IT IS A TIE BETWEEN THE "ICEBERG HERMIT" AND THE "CALL OF THE WILD" DURING MY YOUTH.

Q: What would you go back and change?
A: The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was probably a mistake.

NOW THAT IS DAMN FUNNY!! OF COURSE THIS SINGLE EVENT LED TO THE START OF WORLD WAR I. I SAW THE BRIDGE WHERE THIS HAPPENED. TRULY AMAZING HOW POLITICIANS - WHETHER ALIVE OR DEAD - CAN CAUSE THE DEATH OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.

Follow yourself not politicians,

Todd

The Good Book

There is an interesting scene from an episode of the TV drama - "24"- where Agent Doyle quotes a passage from the Koran to Agent Nasser (the only Muslim at "CTU" - Counter Terrorism Unit" it appears). Agent Nasser's reaction is priceless because you can see that at that moment there was a clear cultural connection between the two of them.

I was reminded of this scene when I read a recent Associated Press (AP) article, "Some Georgia Public Schools Decide to Offer Bible Classes," because I see huge potential social gains by having people read the holy books of the world's various religions. Not just the Bible but the Torah, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, and the other books that Agent Doyle mentioned that I have yet to read --

http://www.cftech.com/BrainBank/OTHERREFERENCE/RELIGION/HolyBooks.html

This AP article notes that the State of Georgia is deciding whether to offer the nation's "first state-funded Bible classes." Other state legislatures considering a version of Georgia's plan at this time include -- Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas.

Now detractors would simply dismiss this idea since all five states noted here are part of the USA's "Bible Belt." In fact critics of the program are cited in the AP article as saying, "the classes could easily turn into endorsements of Christianity............" While the Georgia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) plans to monitor how the classes are taught. "Monitor" ? I would rather have the ACLU celebrate that a book is being read in classes versus a worse situation such as having the Bible (or the Koran for that matter) banned from class room use. As long as the State of Georgia is considering spending tax dollars to supply Bibles they should allocate some of the funds to also buy copies of the holy books mentioned earlier.

I am confident that having a greater understanding of the religions of our fellow travelers on Planet Earth would help create a greater degree of tolerance that would allow all of us to live in a more peaceful world. Not convinced by my words? Then I ask you to consider the conflicts and deaths caused by religious ignorance in Northern Ireland which has FINALLY arrived at a self-governing parliament consisting of Catholics and Anglicans.

Life is short but the afterlife is eternal ;-)

Todd

Spooks

Author Samantha Weinberg (who writes under the pseudonym of Kate Westbrook) recently shared with "The Week" (British magazine) readers who six favorite spy books. Ms. Weinberg's list included:

• Casino Royale by Ian Fleming -- Bond, James Bond of course!!
• Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
• Kim Philby: The Spy I loved by Eleanor Philby -- little did she know he was gay!
• The Spy who Came in From the Cold by John le Carre
• Next Stop Execution by Oleg Gordievsky
• The Spanish Game by Charles Cumming

Clearly Ms. Weinberg is better read than myself but I must say I was surprised she did not list "Spycatcher" by Peter Wright as one of her six favorites. Since she did mention a book about Kim Philby -- who is featured prominently in "Spycatcher" -- in her list I thought she might mention Wright's book.

One potential reason for the omission -- Spycatcher was banned in the U.K. since it was viewed as detrimental to the history and effectiveness of MI-5, the UK's spy agency:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEEDE103DF932A3575BC0A961948260

I am happy to report that I have read this book and hope my neighbor returns it one day so I can share it with my British friends.

Todd

Book Search

Dear Readers:

Recently I launched a project to write a biography on this famous Iowan --

History of Iowa from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century

by Benjamin T. Gue


Thus I am using my blog on books to ask for your help in researching this person. Mr. Gue was born in New York State but his farming family migrated to Iowa where he eventually became a journalist, state legislator, church founder, and university leader.

As my research has progressed I have become more and more impressed with his career. If readers know of any research sources I should utilize to learn more about Mr. Gue's life I would appreciate your advice.

Thank you,

Todd

An Ocean of Books

My local newspaper carried a story this week about a start up company called -- BookSwim -- which has been nicknamed the "Netflix of Books" (www.bookswim.com)

BookSwim's business model calls for monthly subscriber fees of $15 to $20 for the company to send readers their "top five book choices" (they prefer/hope you select paperback books which are much easier for shipping costs and inventory challenges). Once readers return three books in a pre-paid envelope the reader's next three choices will then be mailed to them.

This is the classic business strategy of adapting/copying a proven business model for application in a new market -- in this case DVDs (Netflix) to books (BookSwim). Now I realize my mind wanders A LOT at times but when I read this article I was reminded of a tech magazine article I read several years ago about an Internet start up company. One of the founders was reading a book at the time which explained how the ancient Egyptian postal service worked so he could get insights on how best his company could "connect the plumbing of the Internet" to provide services to their clients.

Yet another reason for all of us to read a wide selection of books.

Todd

"O"

While I am no regular viewer of Oprah Winfrey's TV show - "Oprah" - I must say I am very intrigued by the influence of her book club so I had to check out the website today --

www.oprah.com/bookclub

Several immediate observations came to mind during my scan of this website:

• It does not appear to have any visitor feedback/interactivity -- why not replicate the "book club" experience of friends gathering in a living room by at least having a blog/bulletin board where readers/website visitors can "discuss" a book with each other?
• The chosen books for this book club lack any selections from the fields of - history, economics, global politics, entrepreneurship, etc. - unless I simply missed them since I did not recognize all of the titles. I would love to see her book club select a book like "The Mystery of Capital" by Hernando de Soto to get more people to appreciate the value of property rights.
• I would love to see Oprah take racism and censorship/book bans head on by selecting "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain. I mention this book because it has been challenged by activist parents who find its use of the "n-word" for blacks offensive although Mr. Twain wrote the book to insult the racists.

I plan to book mark Oprah's website so I can at least monitor her book selections -- given her enormous influence all book lovers should take an interest in this vehicle for literacy.

Todd

Germany

Sadly it appears the skin head culture of hate still exists in Germany as evidenced by this recent news story from Pretzien (near Magdeburg), Germany. The story goes that seven men with the neo-nazi organization, "East Elbe Homeland Federation", burned a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank on a bonfire while they chanted, "German youth, German blood............" If convicted the men would face prison terms of up to 5 years.

In a show of complete stupidity one of the men defended his book burning by claiming it was a symbolic gesture "to rid himself of this bad chapter of German history..........." Using this line of logic would it then be okay for me to burn copies of "My Life" and "Living History" (or is that "Herstory"?) :-) by Bill and Hillary Clinton "to rid myself of the memory of their 8 years in the White House" ?

No, of course not, it would be far better for me to educate myself about these two people so I can help keep Hillary out of the White House in 2009.

Read to learn not burn,

Todd

New Zealand

While attending a conference in Canada this past week I had the pleasure of meeting one of the speakers -- Alan Duff of New Zealand.

Mr. Duff is an "award winning novelist, film maker, and social activist" perhaps best known for the film, "Once Were Warriors", which focused on his Maori culture. I wanted to talk with Mr. Duff after his speech because he is the founder of the "Books in Homes" program which distributes books to 500 schools in New Zealand:

www.booksinhomes.org.nz

"The Books in Homes Programme was inspired by Alan Duff who, with the help of Christine Fernyhough, developed the idea after realising that failures in adult life often stem from childhoods spent in bookless homes. The philosophy behind the programme is simple - to break the cycle of 'booklessness'. Kids who can't read become adults who can't communicate and that's a serious disadvantage in a world that operates on the written word."

Entrepreneurs/activists such as Mr. Duff are improving lives faster and more efficiently than any government I have experienced. If any readers of this blog have a great example of a government improving quality of life please let me know.

Keep up the great work Mr. Duff -- perhaps one day a New Zealand university will recognize your public service with a honorary degree!! I mention this because in his speech in Canada Mr. Duff noted that he has never been invited as a guest speaker to any New Zealand university despite his professional and social achievements.

Clearly political correctness is the power on campus.

Todd

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

While visiting Halifax this past weekend for a conference I had some free time to explore the literary community which led me to these discoveries:

• Best Second Hand Bookstore (as rated by readers of "The Coast" weekly guide)-- John W. Doull Bookseller at 1684 Barrington Street. Now this bookstore looked like a hybrid between your grandmother's attic and a tornado with books located in every available area of the store!! In some aisles I had to be careful not to bump into stacks of books thus risking toppling them everywhere. I had to laugh when I read the signs that requested patrons to "return the books in alpha orders for future shoppers" -- wow, good thing the fire marshal wasn't visiting the store!! Overall, a very fun experience to simply explore their thousands of random titles.
• Online Book Club -- created for readers of the local newspaper it can be found at; www.hfxnews.ca under the heading, "HfxBookTalk", which provides content for publishing in the newspaper. Overall I thought this was an ideal blend of "old" and "new" media operations.
• Atlantic Books Awards -- this ceremony is set for May 11th at "Pier 21" (see "Our Home and Native Land" at http://spacebeaglenotes.blogspot.com). For more information on the award categories which include best fiction, best Atlantic-published, best poetry, etc. readers can visit; www.writers.ns.ca/bookfest07

Read widely and read locally,

Todd

Somalia

Students at Minnesota's Metropolitan State University have partnered with our Somali immigrant community to construct a library in Puntland, a semi autonomous state in northeastern Somalia. The project is being administered by a non-profit group, created by Ali Abdurashid, called Somali Family Services.

Construction on the library began in January 2007 and should be completed in December 2007 thus becoming the "first public library in the region" according to the article I read. Anyone interested in this project can contact:

Tom O'Connell
Metropolitan State Professor of Political Science
tom.oconnell@metrostate.edu

Libraries are essential infrastructure that help communities to succeed but like a family pet libraries must be "fed" with books so I hope Metropolitan State and my friends at Books for Africa (www.booksforafrica.org) explore ways to work together.

Progress in Africa,

Todd

Cartoon

The "Frank and Ernest" (by Bob Thaves) cartoon in my local newspaper today featured a picture of a king sitting in a throne with a court aide standing nearby. The king is looking at the aide to declare:

"The literacy rate is going up? -- I suppose we better start thinking about censorship."

The amazing power of cartoons -- in one short sentence Mr. Thaves summarizes exactly how government works. Step One - achieve some objective such as higher literacy rates via some program. Step Two - regulate the results of the program.

Perhaps newspapers should start printing a few of their cartoons on the front page with the main news stories.

Todd

The Bard

From the April 19, 2007 USA Today newspaper comes this report published in conjunction with William Shakespeare's 443rd birthday. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), an organization in Washington DC which promotes academic quality, studied 70 universities in terms of their English degree programs.

The study shows that only 15 of these 70 institutions require English majors to take a course on Shakespeare. In addition the study found the following:

• Within the Ivy League schools only Harvard University requires a study of Shakespeare
• Only 3 of the 11 universities in the Big 10 conference (yes, they have 11 members) -- Illinois, Minnesota (yeah!!), and Wisconsin -- require a study of Shakespeare

Anne Neal, president of ACTA, had this to say regarding earning a bachelor's degree in English without the study of Shakespeare "is tantamount to fraud". I completely agree with Ms. Neal. Given the quantity and quality of Shakespeare's work how can any university award an English degree in good faith without having a study of the Bard's work as a core class? This would be the equivalent of awarding a degree in American History without requiring students to study President George Washington.

As tuition rates continue to climb we consumers of higher education should demand better results.

Lay on MacDuff,

Todd