MEN'S STUDIES
A Quiet Strength: Meditations on the Masculine Soul by Wayne Kritsberg, John Lee, and Shephard Bliss
Written by three veterans of the men's movement, this wonderful book contains daily readings and meditations on a variety of issues, including recovery, personal growth, relationships and environmental concerns. A brief quotation from the masters of world literature, philosophy or religion is followed by nicely written commentaries and inspirational messages. Written at the time when men's mythopoetic movement was at its highest, it's still a great resource.
FICTION
The Reconstructionist by Josephine Hart
Beautifully written tale of coping with one's dysfunctional family and personal history, real and fabricated - and why we all fall prey to coming up with personal history narrative(s) in the first place. Simple language, great style. Two thumbs up!
RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY
The Eternal Promise by Thomas Kelly
Better known for his Quaker classic "A Testament of Devotion", Thomas Kelly's essays in this small but powerful volume include such gems as "Christians and Decided Christians", "Hasten unto God" and "The Gathered Meeting." Appealing to Quakers and non-Quakers alike, his essays are a great introduction to the rich world of Friends' spirituality.
FICTION
The Remorseful Day by Colin Dexter
I enjoyed reading this final Inspector Morse novel. However, I found the author's language and style a bit tedious and patronizing at times (only Dexter could come up with expressions such as vespertinal divertissments or transmensal exchanges). Also, the characters seem somewhat underdeveloped. Page turner it is, but that's just about all it is.
FICTION
The Crow Road by Iain Banks
Absolutely brilliant, pleasure to read! Contemporary Scottish lit at its best. It's one of those books you'd wish to just go on and on, without ever coming to an end. It was only recently that I read somewhere that the BBC Scotland turned it into a mini series back in the mid-90s to much acclaim. Would be worth watching.
FICTION
Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb
Having never read any of Ms Nothomb's books before, I bought this book at a Christmas sale in one of the local bookstores led by nothing more than a positive review from O: The Oprah Magazine at the back cover. It turned out to be one the best books I've read in '07. It's been a while since a book made me laugh quite so hard. Funny and nightmarish at almost the same time, this slender volume describes working atmosphere in a Japanese corporation and a Westerner's coping with modern yet ancient Japanese social mores. Thanks for the tip, Oprah!
Monday 31 December 2007
Sunday 30 December 2007
Spam as postmodern cult lit?
Most people simply delete spam messages like the one below without ever reading them. And yet, with their elaborate plots involving international crime, human trafficking, political oppression and a host of other problems in various nondescript third world countries, they have approached the status of a literary genre of sorts.
I can't stop wondering, who comes up with these emails? Where do these people draw inspiration from? Action movies, whodunits, international news, real life? Do they honestly expect anyone in their right mind to follow through their instructions, involving money transfer and travelling to the far reaches of the world? Has anyone ever bought into that?
One can understand the logic behind those brief emails promising instant relief from insomnia, depression or erectile dysfunction, but this sort of spam is too sophisticated and elaborate for something that makes no sense at all. There's got to be more to it.
My dear, I am miss Angela from Asmara, Eritrea, single and 21 years old. After accessing your details in the internet i copied out only your email address. Immediately after going through your information i made up my mind to contact you for long term relationship, because you are my choice of trust and i see nothing wrong with the choice that i have made in you. Now that i am in a state of absolute confusion I must let you know that my daddy was the Financial controler to the Common Wealth North African Region.
About my parents; My mummy died in labour when she was giving birth to a baby in the hospital in Asmara, and both my mummy and the baby died together, then i was only 11 years of age. My daddy died in a car accident and the car driver that jamed my daddy's car ran away and my daddy's lawyer and my daddy's brother are among the suspects, and they are all against me because of my daddy's properties in Eritrea.The following information is my purpose of choosing you. Before my daddy died he made me the beneficiary of the amount of 14.5 Million gbp£ in his account with citi bank in oxford street, London, i have the bank certificate of account in my travelling bag in this prison. on my way travelling to London, England i arrived this Dakar city on transit, on the same night i arrived Dakar i was attacked by 2 big boys in my guest house (hotel) room, they robbed me, collected my hand bag that contained all my travelling money (390,200$) and travelling documents, as if that was not enough, they tried to rape me so i collected the nearest object in the room and hited one of them on the head and screamed to the hearing of the neighbouring compounds and people came out and descended on the criminals, the next morning the police came to the guest house and arrested me, since then i have been kept under awaiting trial here in this central prison of Dakar because the criminal i heated got paralyzed as a result of the severe beating given to him by the neighborhood.
I am among the girls newly appointed to head the girls sector in this prison, hence i have the advantage to use the prison computer to communicate with you, and i will be very glad to also have a detailed information about you. From here i communicated with citi bank and they said that because of the written agreement that my daddy signed with them that i must be present in their bank to withdraw the money by myself OR that i should ask my foreign partner to claim and receive the money on my behalf, but the problem is that i dont have a foreign partner, so i want you to be my foreign partner and also be my financial and investment manager. i know that i am taking a big risk but there is nothing else i can do than to trust someone and to trust someone is by choice and you are my choice of trust. I want to know what is your name and your present occupation and your house address.
The money is my only hope in life. as soon as citi bank send the money to you, you will use some of the money to get me a Dakar lawyer/s to fight for my case and get me out of here, then the same week of my release you will fly down here in Dakar City and i and you will depart to your home in your country together.
Reply me only on email ONLY.
I am waiting for your reply
Miss Angela Kennedy
I can't stop wondering, who comes up with these emails? Where do these people draw inspiration from? Action movies, whodunits, international news, real life? Do they honestly expect anyone in their right mind to follow through their instructions, involving money transfer and travelling to the far reaches of the world? Has anyone ever bought into that?
One can understand the logic behind those brief emails promising instant relief from insomnia, depression or erectile dysfunction, but this sort of spam is too sophisticated and elaborate for something that makes no sense at all. There's got to be more to it.
My dear, I am miss Angela from Asmara, Eritrea, single and 21 years old. After accessing your details in the internet i copied out only your email address. Immediately after going through your information i made up my mind to contact you for long term relationship, because you are my choice of trust and i see nothing wrong with the choice that i have made in you. Now that i am in a state of absolute confusion I must let you know that my daddy was the Financial controler to the Common Wealth North African Region.
About my parents; My mummy died in labour when she was giving birth to a baby in the hospital in Asmara, and both my mummy and the baby died together, then i was only 11 years of age. My daddy died in a car accident and the car driver that jamed my daddy's car ran away and my daddy's lawyer and my daddy's brother are among the suspects, and they are all against me because of my daddy's properties in Eritrea.The following information is my purpose of choosing you. Before my daddy died he made me the beneficiary of the amount of 14.5 Million gbp£ in his account with citi bank in oxford street, London, i have the bank certificate of account in my travelling bag in this prison. on my way travelling to London, England i arrived this Dakar city on transit, on the same night i arrived Dakar i was attacked by 2 big boys in my guest house (hotel) room, they robbed me, collected my hand bag that contained all my travelling money (390,200$) and travelling documents, as if that was not enough, they tried to rape me so i collected the nearest object in the room and hited one of them on the head and screamed to the hearing of the neighbouring compounds and people came out and descended on the criminals, the next morning the police came to the guest house and arrested me, since then i have been kept under awaiting trial here in this central prison of Dakar because the criminal i heated got paralyzed as a result of the severe beating given to him by the neighborhood.
I am among the girls newly appointed to head the girls sector in this prison, hence i have the advantage to use the prison computer to communicate with you, and i will be very glad to also have a detailed information about you. From here i communicated with citi bank and they said that because of the written agreement that my daddy signed with them that i must be present in their bank to withdraw the money by myself OR that i should ask my foreign partner to claim and receive the money on my behalf, but the problem is that i dont have a foreign partner, so i want you to be my foreign partner and also be my financial and investment manager. i know that i am taking a big risk but there is nothing else i can do than to trust someone and to trust someone is by choice and you are my choice of trust. I want to know what is your name and your present occupation and your house address.
The money is my only hope in life. as soon as citi bank send the money to you, you will use some of the money to get me a Dakar lawyer/s to fight for my case and get me out of here, then the same week of my release you will fly down here in Dakar City and i and you will depart to your home in your country together.
Reply me only on email ONLY.
I am waiting for your reply
Miss Angela Kennedy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)