Lists, stories and loop-holes

I'm not big on top ten-style lists, but here's a good one of the books Scott Pack has read and liked best so far this year. "Me And My Big Mouth" is Scott's uncensored blog on life, the publishing industry and everything (to use his own description). Mr Pack is director of the Friday Project and ex-buying manager of Waterstone's.

If you are like me and feel that you have always been a blogger in heart and mind since long before the concept was invented, you will enjoy this post by Patrick Kurp of Anecdotal Evidence. Patrick quotes from an essay by Hazlitt.... "it is to be a silent spectator of the mighty scene of things, not an object of attention or curiosity in it; to take a thoughtful, anxious interest in what is passing in the world, but not feel the slightest inclination to make or meddle with it." Yes, indeed, he might have been talking about blogging, as Patrick says, a world where words matter -- "loop-holes of retreat". Patrick also quotes the English poet Roy Fisher, who told an interviewer, “I don’t mind being invisible if it gives me independence.”

Remember Carol Shields? Becky at A Book a Week has written a lovely post about her short stories, and Unless, which I too very much enjoyed reading. I am not sure if short stories are intrinsically more or less memorable than full-length books. Some in both categories stand out in my memory, whereas the vast majority have faded away.

Comments

[Dave Lull]

'Patrick also quotes the English poet Roy Fisher, who told an interviewer, “I don’t mind being invisible if it gives me independence.”'

The interview with Roy Fisher can be found here:

http://jacketmagazine.com/01/fisher-iv.html