Tag Archives: writing

BOOKS: “Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Just the Basics” ed. by John Pasden

Posted on by
Reply
Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Just the BasicsChinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Just the Basics by John Pasden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Website

This is the first in a series of books that present the rules and structure of grammar for Mandarin Chinese along with examples. As the subtitle suggests, it covers only the rudiments of sentence structure as well as the most elementary ways of expressing existence, possession, location, number, and a few other basic grammatic functions, as well as teaching the reader how to count and express time and date.

The examples are all presented in characters, pinyin [w/ tone markers,] and the English translation. The explanations are straightforward, and the examples offer basic and useful sentences and phrases.

I found this book to be beneficial, and have obtained the next volume, which expands upon the basics. The book presents a simple and painless approach to Chinese grammar. I’d recommend this book for any fellow neophytes just learning Chinese.

View all my reviews

“Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
1 
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
 When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
 When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
 And the river flows like a stream of glass;
 When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
 And the faint perfume from its chalice steals --
 I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
 Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
 For he must fly back to his perch and cling
 When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
 And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
 And they pulse again with a keener sting --
 I know why he beats his wing!

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
 When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, --
 When he beats his bars and he would be free;
 It is not a carol of joy or glee,
 But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
 But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings --
 I know why the caged bird sings!

ESSAY: “Tradition and the Individual Talent” by T.S. Eliot

Posted on by
1
Tradition and the Individual Talent: An EssayTradition and the Individual Talent: An Essay by T.S. Eliot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read for free at the Poetry Foundation

Amazon.in Page

While this is a controversial essay and I don’t accept it wholesale, myself, I would wholeheartedly recommend it as required reading for poets (and other artists.) What is Eliot’s controversial thesis? It’s that poetry should be less about the poet. That broad and imprecise statement can be clarified by considering two ways in which Eliot would make poetry less about the poet. First, Eliot proposes that poets should be in tune to the historic evolution of their art and — importantly — should not be so eager to break the chain with the past masters. He’s not saying a poet needs to be a literary historian, but rather that one be well-read in the poetry of the past. Second, Eliot advocates that a poet avoid packing one’s poetry with one’s personality, and – instead – let one’s personality dissolve away through the act of creation.

A quote from the essay may help to clarify — Eliot says, “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not an expression of personality, but an escape from personality.”

One can imagine the accusations of pretension and dogmatism that Eliot received in 1919 from the mass of poets who were moving full speed ahead into poetry that was suffused with autobiography, was avant-garde, and which was free of meter, rhyme and other compositional elements that had once been seen as the defining characteristics of poetry.

I don’t see this essay as being the map to our new home, but rather as the catalyst of a conversation that could move us to a more preferable intermediary location. I have, too often, picked up a collection by a young poet that was entirely autobiographical and (also, too often) of the “everybody hates me, nobody loves me, I think I’ll go eat worms” variety of wallowing in personal feelings. And I always think, when I want to read something depressing, I’ll read something from someone who has lived tragedy — e.g. a Rwandan refugee, not something from a twenty-four-year-old MFA student at some Ivy League school.

So, yeah, maybe we could use more connection to the past and a bit less autobiographical poetry from people who haven’t lived a novel-shaped life.

View all my reviews

BOOKS: “The Comedians” by Kliph Nesteroff

Posted on by
Reply
The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American ComedyThe Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

This book presents a fascinating history of standup comedy and the various ancillary activities that comedians have taken on to make ends meet, to advance their careers, and – in a surprising number of cases – to pay for drugs — e.g. from writing to radio and television performances to hosting interview shows. The book’s exploration runs from the days of Vuadville to today’s world of Twitter and podcasts.

The book reveals a great deal about which readers may be unaware. If you, like me, watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and wondered whether the mob was really that involved in the entertainment industry, turns out, they were. In fact, Nesteroff addresses the violence and threats experienced by comedians in a way that is much more explicit than in that TV show. There are tales of early insult comedians running afoul of wiseguys who were in the audience unbeknownst to the comedian. There is even a chapter devoted to the building of Las Vegas to meet certain needs of organized crime, as well as discussion of the mob’s decline (or, perhaps, legitimization) in the industry.

Another discovery that was interesting to me was how wild some of the early comedians were, both in their stage and in their personal lives. There were a number of names that were familiar to me from re-runs of highly censored network television programs. I’d wrongly assumed that these individuals were as bland and wholesome as their on-air personas. Buddy Hackett is a prime example of someone who wasn’t at all what I expected.

It’s remarkable to see how many ups and down standup comedy has had in its relatively short life span — cycles of boom and bust.

If you’re interested in standup comedy and how comedy has progressed as a form of entertainment in America, I’d highly recommend this book.

View all my reviews

Five Wise Lines (March 2024)

Posted on by
1

We are pattern seekers, believers in a coherent world, in which regularities appear not by accident but as a result of mechanical causality or someone’s intention.

Daniel kahneman; Thinking, Fast and slow

If you win, do not boast of your victory; if you lose, do not be discouraged. When it is safe, do not become careless; when it is dangerous, do not fear. Simply continue down the path ahead.

Kanō Jigorō; Founder of Jūdō

A writer makes new life in the void, knocks on silence to make a sound, binds space and time on a sheet of silk and pours out a river from an inch-sized heart.

Lu Ji; Wen Fu (261 – 303)

The worst kind of Virtue never stops striving for Virtue, and so never achieves Virtue.

Laozi

Moonlight floods the whole sky from horizon to horizon. // How much it can fill your room depends on its windows.

Rumi

PROMPT: Opening Sentence

Posted on by
2

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

“From humble beginnings would come humbling ends.”

PROMPT: Playtime

Posted on by
Reply

Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?

All the time. Free movement & free writing.

PROMPT: Write Space

Posted on by
Reply

You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?

Just a small, quiet room with a window for day and a light for the night. Minimalist. The less to distract, the better.

BOOKS: “36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem” by Nam Le

Posted on by
Reply
36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem by Nam Le
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Release Date: March 5, 2024

This is a clever collection of poems, lighthearted in places but raw and incensed in others. (A pacing that I appreciate in poetry collections.) The collection draws heavily on the author’s experience being of Vietnamese ethnicity while growing up in the West. It touches upon the tragedies lived by his elders, but, more so, how his life (and perception of him) has been shaped by war and the diaspora it caused. The collection playfully engages with language and cultural concepts in a way that is interesting and – at times – scintillating.

My main gripe with this collection would be its occasional swerves into the domain of huge, rare, and super-specialized terminology. I enjoy being sent to the dictionary as much as the next person, but in a poetry collection – where evoking emotion is the name of the game – I find it takes me out of the experience.

I enjoyed reading this collection and would recommend it for poetry readers.

View all my reviews

BOOKS: The NEW Comedy Bible by Judy Carter

Posted on by
Reply
The NEW Comedy Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Writing and Performing Stand-Up ComedyThe NEW Comedy Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Writing and Performing Stand-Up Comedy by Judy Carter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

As the title suggests, this is a soup-to-nuts exploration of building a standup comedy act. While the bulk of the book discusses how to build jokes that work in a comedy club setting, it also gives helpful tips on relevant issues such as stage fright, hecklers, bombing and bomb recovery, set arrangement, and editing material. It offers many insights that may seem counterintuitive to a neophyte reader.

In writing, there is a common distinction made between “plotters” and “pantsers” (as in “by the seat of one’s pants.”) Plotters do a lot of research and outline everything thoroughly before beginning to write (as most people understand the writing process.) Pantsers like to get right into the typing and are willing to have a much messier process in exchange for greater feelings of spontaneity and surprise. A similar distinction seems to exist in standup comedy. Jerry Seinfeld might be the posterchild for the comedic plotter, writing and rewriting jokes on paper and having an already finely honed collection of jokes when he goes into the comedy club to revise through audience feedback. Other comedians seem to like to work by riffing and editing material on the fly. My point is: this book will definitely appeal most to plotters. That said, I think it has a lot of useful information that will save pantsers a great deal of trouble, but I suspect those with intense pantser proclivities will be skeptical of such a step-by-step approach.

The book is set up as a workbook woven into an instructional guide. That is, it has exercises throughout. It also presents a lot of jokes and partial bits by headlining comics to help the reader see how successful comics apply the principles in question.

I enjoyed reading this book and found it helpful. I thought that many of the exercises were quite helpful in triggering joke ideas. If you are looking for a book that deals in both joke writing and comedic delivery, I’d highly recommend this book.

View all my reviews