Literature on Luiyología

My Year 2020 in Books

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Any Goodreads user has access to a yearly report with some statistics and basically the covers of all the books read in one year. In order to have it the user only has to set the books as read and the read date to any time in that year. Taking advantage of this nice feature I will summarize My 2020 in Books from Goodreads, as I did for my read books in 2018 and 2019.

Data

	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Book read	42	56	54	54	57	63
Pages read	6,353	8,037	7,511	9,388	12,136	7,855
Average length (in pages)	151	143	139	173	213	125
Average rating (1-5)	3.6	3.6	3.7	3.9	4.2	3.3

Evolution of my reading stats over the last years

The featured image goes to James Rhodes, as I liked a lot his autobiography. You can read my review in Goodreads but I will summarize it here with the first sentence: Instrumental is a terrible book and at the same time a wonderful one. Knowing the James Rhodes from nowadays, and knowing already a bit about his past, it is even more emotional.

I’m not copying here the full list, friend me on Goodreads if you are curious, but at least I want to highlight some of them.

My TOP 10 read books in 2020

Instrumental by James Rhodes (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
Factfulness by Hans Rosling (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
Rey Blanco by Juan Gómez Jurado (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
El Tío Curro: La Conexión Española de J.R.R. Tolkien by José Manuel Ferrández Bru (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (you can read my review in English in Goodreads)
Cicatriz by Juan Gómez Jurado
The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russel
Si escuece, cura by Esther Samper (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)

My Year 2019 in Books

Thu, 02 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Any Goodreads user has access to a yearly report with some statistics and basically the covers of all the books read in one year. In order to have it the user only has to set the books as read and the read date to any time in that year. Taking advantage of this nice feature I will summarize My 2019 in Books from Goodreads, as I did one year ago for my read books in 2018.

My 2019 in numbers

I read 7,878 pages across 57 books, a 114% of my 50 books read in 2019 goal
That’s 20 novels (not taking into account comics or short stories)
The average length was 138 pages
My average rating was 3.6 (up to 5)
The longest book I read was my nth reading of The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien

The featured image goes to Nnedi Okorafor, as my main discovery of the year after reading her Binti trilogy. She has won a Hugo, a Nebula, a World Fantasy Award and a Locus Award.

I’m not copying here the full list, friend me on Goodreads if you are curious, but at least I want to highlight some of them.

My TOP 10 read books in 2019

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
El paciente by Juan Gómez Jurado (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
Los girasoles ciegos by Alberto Méndez
Loba Negra by Juan Gómez Jurado
The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
Sumalee: Historias de Trakaul by Javier Salazar Calle (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke

Tolkien 2019 in Birmingham

Sun, 18 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Showing off my double nationality - CC by-nc-sa License

If you are reading this you probably know already that I am a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, to the point that I joined the Spanish Tolkien Society (Sociedad Tolkien Española) almost 20 years ago and I usually don’t miss any of their events.

Since recently I also belong to the Tolkien Society, and after having missed for probably important (but now forgotten) reasons Tolkien 2005 and Tolkien 2012, the last major events that they organized, I was not going to miss Tolkien 2019. In 2005 the gathering marked the 50th anniversary of the complete publication of The Lord of The Rings. In 2012 the conference was held to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit. This year the Tolkien Society celebrated in Birmingham its own 50th anniversary with the largest celebration of Tolkien ever held. More than 550 attendees and more than 150 activities including talks, panels, workshops, signing sessions, music, theater,…

I have a lot of things to do but I don’t want to miss the opportunity to write here some quick impressions of my experience there. (last minute edit: Quick is an euphemism, as I have spent several hours writing this article). Also, Pablo has published (in Spanish) a fantastic summary of his own experience in Tolkien 2019 and the scarce overlap between our experiences there has encouraged me to complete the article as much as possible.

TL;DR: The good part: I attended around 40 activities, most of them top quality content, and I realize now that more than a third of them had a female speaker. That is a lot. I met in person lots of interesting people, and had the opportunity to spend time and learn from people that I admire. The bad part: I didn’t like the venue, the corridors were too small, it was full of steps and only two of the rooms were big enough for an event like this with >500 participants. The lack of a lunch break not only forced everyone to skip good contents, but also made it much more difficult to meet other people and do proper networking.

The STE delegation with other friends from Spain also attending Tolkien 2019 - CC BY-NC-SA License

Let me summarize some of the talks and activities I attended:

Activities

Heirs of Tolkien? The Major Contenders, by Tom Shippey

The opening keynote was delivered perfectly by Tom Shippey, it was the ideal kickoff for an event like this combining interesting facts and humor. I admire him since long time ago, but even more after having met him in person during the last XXIV Mereth Aderthad. Reading Beowulf together while drinking beer creates some bonding, who could have imagined it.

Shippey, with his usual simple (but effective) slides, started with the slogan of the Deustche Tolkien Gesellschaft: Ohne Tolkien, Keine Fantasy (without Tolkien, no fantasy) stressing how this motto is still correct nowadays. Tolkien was the first author to achieve mass market success with ambitious and top level quality high fantasy, something that was even more difficult in the previous century. Mass market success in fantasy works is more common nowadays, and this is only because of Tolkien’s legacy.

He commented that he is working in a taxonomy of fantasy authors, and also explained who could be a worthy successor of Tolkien. In his opinion only three authors are candidates in quality with their own genuine style: George RR Martin, Stephen Donaldson and Michael Swanwick, all of them heavily influenced by Tolkien. This part was related to the talk he gave in May in Spain comparing the characters, works and values from Tolkien and Martin.

Tom Shippey explaining the fantasy types identified by Farah Mendelsohn - CC by-nc-sa License

To the origins of fairy-tales, by Enrico Spadaro (@EnricoSpadaro7)

Enrico reminded us the relationship of Tolkien with fairy-tales, and explained the folklore tales that the Professor received as input for inspiration, being the most acknowledged of them the Kalevala. The speaker then explained that the Brothers Grimm or Charles Perrault were not the first ones to write fairy-tales in Europe, as there was an Italian author Giambattista Basile that was the first one (that we know) to include fairy-tales tales in Lo Cunto de Li Cunte. His tales included the first appearance of Cinderella, Rapunzel or the Sleeping Beauty.

On the nature and corporeality of Elves and Fairies according to Tolkien, by Massimiliano Izzo

Very interesting and well documented talk, about how Tolkien speculated on the real nature of elves and how this vision evolved through his life. Metaphysical and sometimes even philosophical discussions that will deserve a quiet read when the proceedings are published.

Four Brethren Heroes of the Gondolindrim - Egalmoth, Ecthelion, Glorfindel and Legolas : A mythic and linguistic exploration, by Andrew Higgins (@asthiggins)

Andrew Higgins explained very briefly how these four important characters are related to heroes from the Classical and Medieval works Tolkien could have known. He commented how Tolkien could have thought the names for each of them, linking as usual the meaning with the character. Again, it will be nice to read the final paper in the proceedings.

Two Realms: Finished and Unfinished Business, by Ted Nasmith

This was the first of many talks focusing on the illustration of Tolkien’s works. This time, Ted Nasmith himself showed us some of his recent commissioned works related to Middle-earth and at the end also to The Song of Ice and Fire. It’s impossible to articulate in words what he showed us: lots of illustrations including preliminary drafts or color tests that I would happily put in my walls.

I specially liked a couple of his recent works: Rhosgobel, Durin’s Crown and the Mirrormere and most of all Turgon at Fingolfin’s Cairn. Wouldn’t mind at all if someone wanted to buy me one.

Ted is not only a gifted artist but also proved to be friendly to his fans and methodical in his work.

Ted Nasmith showing one of his awesome drawings of Treebeard - CC by-nc-sa License

Leaf by Niggle, by Puppet State Theatre (@PuppetStateThtr)

Richard Medringtone from the Puppet State Theatre showed us how one single person on stage can grab the attention of the audience for more than an hour. He is clearly a top professional in acting, and the adaptation of Leaf by Niggle fitted his style perfectly. The stage setting, despite being minimalistic, was adequate and the protagonist made good use of almost all its elements. I loved the play and will see it again without hesitation.

Clothing in Tolkien’s world and what we can see through its historical analysis, by Dr. Ester Torredelforth (@Torredelforth)

Ester, Doctor in medieval art and fashion, made a brilliant exposition of the facts that can be understood or extracted from the way Tolkien describes clothing details. Se used several designs prepared by herself to support her lecture, describing how Tolkien must have known with a decent level about medieval fashion and its utility and symbolism.

Aratalindalë - The Making of a Myth, by Maggie Percival

I was not sure about this talk, but I’m glad I finally attended it. The purpose of the lecture was to describe the process she and some other colleagues from the Tolkien Society followed to prepare the Masquerade for the London WorldCon of 2014 where they won several prizes including Best overall. They prepared a group costume entitled Aratalindalë that included eight Valar as they are described in The Silmarillion.

Maggie explained with lots of details the reasoning after all the designs including the selection of fabrics and how they combined traditional dressmaking skills with modern technology using LED lights in the costumes with certain level of animation designed for each Vala. There are several pictures online but I haven’t found the full video where all the lighting features can be seen properly.

Tolkien and Italy, by Oronzo Cilli (@Tolkieniano)

Oronzo described his research about the relationship between Tolkien and Italy. He traveled there at least a couple of times and apparently there are several details that show he enjoyed and was influenced by the Italian culture. For example, it is known that Tolkien joined the Oxford Dante Society.

Tolkien’s Library, by Oronzo Cilli (@Tolkieniano) with Tom Shippey

One of the editorial releases of the year related to Tolkien studies and scholarship. The book is just a list of what could have been part of the Professor’s own library, and for each item Oronzo describes if the entry comes from a primary source, a secondary source, etc. Quite interesting if you are curious about the type of works Tolkien owned or had read. As new evidence appears, the list will have to be expanded with new entries.

The room was full also because Tom Shippey wrote the foreword and also participated in the lecture.

France 1913. Tolkien’s first job, by Jose Manuel Ferrández Bru (@JosManuelFerrn1)

My colleague from the STE is becoming a regular for these types of events, and no wonder it’s like that with the quality and amount of research he has been doing over the last years. This time the lecture was about how a very young Tolkien got a job as tutor of a bunch of kids during a trip to France. Without spoiling the details, let’s say that the task was suddenly complicated and could have disrupted Tolkien in a unique way.

Jose Manuel Ferrández Bru explaining the intricate relationships of the Martínez del Río Bermejillo brothers - CC by-nc-sa License

The Two Towers of Birmingham, and other follies, by John Garth (@JohnGarthWriter)

It was believed that a couple of towers from Birmingham (Perrott’s Folly and the Edgbaston Waterworks tower) may have provided the inspiration for the Two Towers in the Lord of the Rings. John Garth started his keynote explaining why he does not consider this argument very solid. First of all, which two towers? Minas Morgul and Minas Tirith? Orthanc and Barad-dûr? It’s still ambiguous. Garth reviewed all the early designs that we have from Tolkien about those towers, analyzing the evolution of them.

The lecture also served somehow as a teaser for his next book, titled for the moment as Tolkien’s Worlds.

LOTR on Prime panel, by Shaun Gunner (@ShaunGunner) with Brian Sibley, Dimitra Fimi (@Dr_Dimitra_Fimi), Anke Eißmann (@khorazir), Jeremy Edmonds (@TolkienGuide) and Marcel Aubron-Bülles (@The_Tolkienist)

This panel was promising, first of all because the selection of participants was very well balanced with writers, scholars and artists offering different perspectives about their expectations. Of course they did not give any factual data, and probably that is the reason they were there in the panel giving their opinions freely and not Tom Shippey that is directly involved in the project.

I specially liked the contributions by Brian Sibley, who was fully engaged in all the Peter Jackson films, and Anke Eißmann, who is eager like me to see in the new series a more daring production compared specially to The Hobbit films. Let’s hope they don’t try to imitate the style of Game of Thrones.

Alan Lee’s Sketchbook, by Alan Lee (@AlanLee11225760)

Despite the main room was completely full, the organization switched off the lights for the audience and everyone was in absolute silence listening to the careful explanations by Alan Lee. It was almost magical and completely amazing. We could see dozens of sketches explained from the genius himself, from watercolor exercises to architectural blueprints. Lee’s view on Middle-earth is engraved in the mind of many people (including mine) and we were very lucky that his vision was also omnipresent in Peter Jackson’s films.

There was also time for him to answer a lot of questions from the audience, and perhaps the most interesting were related to their relationship with other artists like John Howe.

Alan Lee explaining one of his drawings about Orthanc - CC by-nc-sa License

Orchestra Concert, by The People’s Orchestra (@ThePeoplesOrch)

After enjoying a couple of beers in a nearby pub we came back for the concert, and we were very lucky as we were able to take seats in the front row just behind the Orchestra director. We were entertained not only with the soundtracks of all the LotR and The Hobbit movies, but also with several other compositions from our vast geek popular culture. Both the orchestra and its conductor demonstrated an impressive quality and charisma, one could see the effort to please the audience.

The People’s Orchestra is a charity apart from a standard symphony orchestra. They provide professional musical training and even work opportunities for unemployed people. Impressive.

Grendel’s Mother and Tolkien’s Women, by Jane Chance (@janegalv)

The speaker was humorous and kind with the audience, taking into account she delivered the talk without any kind of visual support very early on Friday morning. As the recognized expert in the field that she is, Jane spoke clearly and concisely about the role of Grendel’s Mother in Beowulf. After that, she managed to link the topic with the attitude of Tolkien about women in his professional academical experience. The talk was interesting but I could not connect some dots on the spot, hopefully I will with the proceedings.

Pauline Diana Baynes - An artists inspiration, by Jay Johnstone (@jaystolkien)

After having met Jay in the Dealer’s Room and having enjoyed his own amazing pieces of art, I was curious about this talk. I expected him to explain not only his admiration for the artist but also his opinion as a passionate collector. I received what I expected, by far.

Pauline Baynes was a prolific and very special artist. She illustrated or contributed to more than 200 books, gaining international fame as the first illustrator and cover artist of some Tolkien minor works (Farmer Giles of Ham, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Smith of Wootton Major, …) and Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. As an example of masterpiece, the speaker showed us the illustration she did for a Nursery Rhymes book, in which she featured 56 different characters from the collected tales in one single page.

I learned in the talk that Pauline illustrated Farmer Giles of Ham by pure chance, according to Jay Tolkien was visiting his editors to complain about the artwork proposal he had received and luckily a sketchbook by Pauline was open over a table.

Jay showed us some less known drawings and we were amazed both with the artwork and Jay’s explanations during the entire hour. He clearly infected me with his passion, I entered the room knowing Pauline Baynes only a little and left as a new declared fan.

Artists in Middle-earth: illustrating The Lord of the Rings, by Marie Bretagnolle (@MarieBreta)

The abstract of the talk announced that Marie Bretagnolle was going to compare two of the most important British editions of The Lord of the Rings, also the only ones with commissioned illustrations inside. First the 1977 Folio Society edition, and the second by Alan Lee for the 1991-1992 Centenary edition.

Marie delivered a clear and interesting talk, comparing the illustrations in both works and analyzing the importance of each drawing depending on the location. For example, the artist needs to take into account that an illustration that appears before the passage that is portrayed can provide inspiration for some readers but it can also work as a small spoiler for others.

Maria is also to blame that I just spent a small fortune in the Folio Society website.

The source texts for Tove Jansson’s illustrations for The Hobbit, by Sonja Virta (@SonjaVirta)

Third talk in a row about illustration. This time the content was focused on the controversially illustrated Swedish edition of The Hobbit in 1962. It was (or is) controversial for the somewhat gloomy tone of the drawings but specially because Tove Jansson presented Gollum as a huge moster. The speaker explained her thorough research on the topic, and the influence that the first Swedish translation of 1947 could have had in Tove Jansson for the 1962 edition.

The Shape of Water in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, by Norbert Schürer

Another pleasant surprise, thanks to the good work of the speaker. Norbert explained with high detail the research he is doing about the influence of the water in Middle-earth. He started the paper after discovering that there was not a lot of scholar work about it, despite the water is omnipresent in The Lord of the Rings in all its forms/states: liquid, solid and gaseous. I’d add another shape to his list of occurrences: the absence of water. After all the tragic journey of Frodo and Sam towards Mount Doom, the absence of water is what finally makes them realize that there is no possible return.

The speaker described as well the taxonomy he is working on, based on the type of representation of the water in each moment: figurative, purely instrumental, only geographical and intentional. This is again a paper I will enjoy reading again once the proceedings are published.

Bilbo, Ulysses and the Greatness of the Unknown, by Gloria Larini

Bilbo and Ulysses, two great characters in two epic adventures. The speaker, taking advantage of her knowledge in Latin and Greek literature, compared both characters and how they embarked on their adventures. For example, both go for the unknown but the initial step is quite different. Ulysses has no choice but Bilbo on the contrary is suitable for the enterprise (at least according to Gandalf).

Another interesting difference between the stories is that Homer did not include the journeys in the narration, but Tolkien does.

Memory, Lore, Knowledge, by Thomas Honegger

Another quite interesting talk. The speaker explained the concepts, remarking the difference that Tolkien made among them. For example, regarding memory we can find live memory (Gandalf, Galadriel, …) and dormant memory (the ring verse, old Gondor lore). The main part of the talk was about the difference (almost opposition) between knowledge and lore. In Middle-earth, knowledge is perceived as negative (Saruman is the main representative) but Lore is usually positive (Ioreth, as the best example). Lore cannot be learned, it needs to be handed over or it will be lost. That is why knowledge can increase, but Lore can only decline.

The Hobbits and I: My Travels in Middle-earth, by Brian Sibley

I knew Brian Sibley since long time ago, what I didn’t knew (shame on me) is that he is still an active tolkienist and such a prolific writer recently.

This keynote was merely self-biographical, as Brian explained in a careful and detailed way his career and complete evolution. He focused first on his biggest hit, the 1981 BBC radio dramatization of The Lord of the Rings, to finish with his recent projects including the chronicles of the making and movie guides of the two trilogies by Peter Jackson, the awesome The Maps of Tolkien’s Middle-earth book with John Howe and even an authorized biography of Peter Jackson.

Brian Sibley showing the audience how he receive a book signed (and fixed) by Tolkien - CC by-nc-sa License

‘I met a lot of things on the way that astonished me’: Natural Growth in Writing The Lord of the Rings, by Christina Scull

Christina Scull gave a nice lecture about the creative process of Tolkien. The quote in the title is from Tolkien himself in one of the letters, in which he explained how his own understanding of the characters was changing along the writing process. No surprises here, being Tolkien a huge perfectionist and having spent writing The Lord of the Rings more than 10 years.

Listening to Christina was a delight but for those that did not attend, calm down as it won’t change much respect reading the paper yourselves.

Banquet

I don’t have much to say about the banquet, except that maybe in any hypothetical next event I will consider seriously not attending. We had a good time and it was fun, but it was due to my companions at the table. Being used to the STE gala dinners, I found this banquet insipid and uninteresting. I can live with only three brief toasts and no songs, but the self buffet format was annoying with some starting dinner while others had already finished… it was almost impossible to interact with people from other tables. On top of all this, it was absurdly expensive even for UK standards.

Anyway, I did like a gesture that I will try to copy in our Spanish association. During the banquet, probably the time with more people in the same place, they gave commemorative badges to those who have been members of the Tolkien Society for 10 (a splendid generation!) and 25 years. It is a recognition that is always welcome and appreciated.

Ten Years of Books in Tengwar, by Tsvetelina Krumova

Tsvetelina Krumova thinks that Tengwar should never be written by a machine, as it goes against its nature. According to this reasoning, that I fully share, she began 10 years ago to transcribe some books using Tengwar. She brought some copies to show us and the result is astonishing, even ignoring the infamous amount of hours this woman has spent writing. She also described how the activity itself of writing in Tengwar forces her to focus so much, that she is using this also as a kind of relaxing or meditation experience on a daily basis.

I took another important thought of this talk. Despite the amount of pages and studies that we have today it is still not possible to cook like the elves, to fight like them or it is not clear how could we dance like the elves did. But we can write exactly like the elves, even if we need to write Tengwar in English or Spanish. Food for thought!

One of the books written marvelously in Tengwar by Tsvetelina Krumova - CC by-nc-sa License

Taniquetil: A tale of two cities, by Denis Bridoux

I took some risk, choosing this talk instead of a Sword fighting showcase or a Dwarven Beard workshop, but now I know that I did right.

As Denis was researching on Tolkien’s Taniquetil drawing for the Aubusson tapestry, he realized that there was a mystery to solve in the drawing. At the foot of the Holy Mountain, next to the coast, there are two very very small cities, so small that people usually don’t notice them. Would they be Tirion and Alqualondë? The descriptions in The Silmarillion don’t match adequately with the drawing, despite the low level of detail.

It started to make more sense when he noticed that the watercolor drawing by Tolkien is dated in 1925 when he had already written most of what was published as The Book of Lost Tales (written in 1916-1919 according to the speaker) but not yet the main contents of the Quenta Noldorinwa (written in 1930). This could explain how the drawing depicts more clearly a book that was, in fact, published later.

An Archaeology of Hope and Despair in the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, by John Whitmire

This lecture presented the research that John Whitmire is doing, with permission from the Tolkien Estate, using the still unpublished materials in the Tolkien Collection of the Marquette University. His study is about the use of Hope and Despair (as absence of hope) centered in the Characters of Aragorn and Arwen.

The lecture, that will also deserve a slow read in the proceedings, described how he organized the contents in different strata or layers during his research according to the known archaeological practice.

Stratum A is the tale “of Aragorn and Arwen” from the original manuscript
Stratum B1, B2, B3,… are the different revisions of the original manuscript
Stratum C is the fair copy of the tale after all the B revisions
Stratum D is a more refined version, where we find Ivorwen identifying Aragorn personally as hope and Elrond calling Aragorn directly Amir (that means hope)
etc.

The Dim Echo of the Catcher, by Nils Ivar Agøy

In this lecture Nils, that receive during the banquet a badge for belonging to the TS since 25 years ago, describes his research about the connections between Tolkien’s comments on the Nodens Celtic deity and his own legendarium. It is known that the Professor studied about this, to the point he wrote a paper about the name of the Nodens deity and probably traveled several times to the excavations. The speaker described some parallelisms and the presence in The Silmarillion of mentions to a catcher or hunter deity. Interesting read.

Tolkien and His Publishers, by Wayne Hammond

Wayne Hammond with his wife Christina Scull are a reference about Tolkien and his work. They have published several key books about the art of Tolkien in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (that I eagerly possess) and the most important Reader’s Companion and Companion and Guide.

The speaker shared part of this vast knowledge, this time focusing on the relationship of the Professor with his publishers and editors. He told some anecdotes in an entertaining way, including a couple about Tolkien being famous among the publishers for making very slow progress. It was really interesting hearing his comments about the economic negotiations, in which Tolkien apparently was very successful as it is clear now, specially for his heirs.

Illustrating Tolkien panel, by Shaun Gunner (@ShaunGunner) with Alan Lee (@AlanLee11225760), Anke Eißmann (@khorazir), Jenny Dolfen (@JennyDolfen), Ted Nasmith and Jay Johnstone (@jaystolkien)

This panel is another hardly repeatable thing that happened in Tolkien 2019. Only John Howe or the Hildebrandt Brothers could match them in quality and/or popularity. Shaun did a good job distributing his own questions and the ones from the public, so we could all enjoy an interesting session with genuine views and the most relevant opinions of the industry.

Tolkien and the Classics, by Claudio A. Testi with Tom Shippey and Thomas Honegger

Claudio Testi, with the help of Honegger and Shippey, presented a new collection of essays that explore the relationship between the Professor and Classic authors. As they explained, the goal is not always to find connections where there are none but to do the exercise just to assess the result, as is usual in comparative literature.

The collection is organized in three sections:

Tolkien and Authors from Antiquity
Tolkien and Authors from the Middle Ages
Tolkien and Authors from the Modern Period

Masquerade

The Masquerade itself was nice, with some great costumes and/or performances and the rest more or less fine. I have to say that the best part of the evening was during the interlude, when some organizers presented several performances. There were three of them, two portraying the Professor and another one about Sauron motivating his troops, that were hilarious. Sadly I don’t remember the names, sorry.

The parody of the BBC radio show Just a Minute was fine but maybe too long, but I understand that the format was perfect to allow waiting more or less time until the judges agreed the winners of the contest.

The result of the Masquerade contest is the least important thing, but I did not like that they gave prize to practically all but 2-3 participants. I don’t think it would have been very difficult to give 2-3 more prizes and a weird situation (at least for me) would have been avoided.

Geopolitics in Tolkien’s Works, by Lamont Colucci (@LamontColucci)

After reading Colucci’s bio I was curious about the talk. I have to say that my worst fears were fulfilled and in the end the talk was 75% a generic International Relations lecture with a not very subtle American imperialism tone, and 25% how geopolitics and strategy reflect in Tolkien’s works. He stressed that in Middle-earth wars are never won with magic, they are always won or lost with medieval style war tactics and strategies that apparently Tolkien understood and was able to articulate.

Colucci gave us interesting quotes like “as Americans we feel that we are Gondor, keeping other actors like The Shire in peace” followed by another statement about the willingness of the US to prevent Russian invasions to Sweden despite the Swedish do not want to belong to NATO.

Gandalf for President: the Politics of Tolkien, by Shaun Gunner (@ShaunGunner)

Second lecture of the day about politics, that also left me with bittersweet feelings. Shaun, current chair of the Tolkien Society, explained what could be the political inclination of Tolkien based on what we know about him and his context. Based on his research he claimed that Tolkien was in favor of the Scottish independent movement despite feeling proud of his country and idealizing England as The Shire. According to Shaun, the Professor was against all kinds of communism or imperialism, to the point that the idealistic Shire was a Benevolent Anarchy with the Thain acting just as a ceremonial figure without real authority.

The speaker also tried to explain why Tolkien is beloved by millions of people from the whole political spectrum. Related to this, he also said that the Tolkien Society was created in the sixties to claim Tolkien back from the hippies.

Power and Choice in the Second Age: A Political Primer, by Sarah Rachel Westvik

Luckily this third talk was not as opinionated as the two previous ones. The speaker, a student of International Relations, analyzed all the political context and tensions that we can see in the Second Age. She grouped the explanation in realms to cover Númenor, the Elven kingdoms (Lindon, Eregion and Greenwood), Mordor and the Ainur. Nice presentation from an eloquent speaker.

Five or Six Ponies?, by Jessica Yates

A plan of the house of Crickhollow, by Jessica Yates - CC by-nc-sa License

The premise of the talk was intriguing. In the 2004-2005 revision of The Lord of the Rings, the editors changed Merry’s line: “There are six ponies in a stable across the fields…” to “There are five ponies…”. The reasoning for the change was that the original six ponies were for five hobbits plus a pack-pony, assuming that when Tolkien reduced the number of adventurers to four, he forgot to alter that line. Apparently there has been some debate about this change, and Jessica researched as much as she could to solve the mystery.

As part of her research, Jessica draw (and shared copies with the audience) a plan of the house of Crickhollow. I won’t spoil the surprise, if you want to know the answer wait for the proceedings.

Tolkien, Folklore, and Foxes: a thoroughly vulpine talk in which there may be singing!, by Dr Dimitra Fimi (@Dr_Dimitra_Fimi)

Shippey’s was probably the best opening keynote and undoubtedly this was the perfect closing keynote. Dr Dimitra Fimi taught us and entertained us smartly and passionately.

The keynote started remembering the audience about the Rhyme of the Troll, the verses that Sam sung to the rest of the fellowship when they encountered Bilbo’s trolls. Dimitra didn’t just remind us about the song, she sang and encouraged the audience to sing, so we sung. It was fun and easy.

Then she reminded us that the rhyme is based on a traditional English folk song called The Fox. She encouraged the audience again, and the audience carried it out enthusiastically.

But obviously a folklore song was not written in our English. She researched further until she got the original lyrics in Middle English. As you can imagine Dimitra no longer had to ask us to sing, although this time not everyone could pronounce properly but that was not important. Try to imagine a room with 400-500 people of an average above 40 years singing in Middle English. We only lacked a beer in the hand.

There is no better way to finish this article than with a recording of Tolkien himself singing the Rhyme of the Troll. If you are still here, please enjoy:

“Rhyme of the Troll”

Troll sat alone on his seat of stone,
And munched and mumbled a bare old bone;
For many a year he had gnawed it near,
For meat was hard to come by.
Done by! Gum by!
In a cave in the hills he dwelt alone,
And meat was hard to come by.

Up came Tom with his big boots on.
Said he to Troll: ‘Pray, what is yon?
For it looks like the shin o’ my nuncle Tim,
As should be a-lyin’ in graveyard.
Caveyard! Paveyard!
This many a year has Tim been gone,
And I thought he were lyin’ in graveyard.’

‘My lad,’ said Troll, ‘this bone I stole.
But what be bones that lie in a hole?
Thy nuncle was dead as a lump o’lead,
Afore I found his shinbone.
Tinbone! Thinbone!
He can spare a share for a poor old troll,
For he don’t need his shinbone.’

Said Tom: ‘I don’t see why the likes o’ thee
Without axin’ leave should go makin’ free
With the shank or the shin o’ my father’s kin;
So hand the old bone over!
Rover! Trover!
Though dead he be, it belongs to he;
So hand the old bone over!’

‘For a couple o’ pins,’ says Troll, and grins,
‘I’ll eat thee too, and gnaw thy shins.
A bit o’ fresh meat will go down sweet!
I’ll try my teeth on thee now.
Hee now! See now!
I’m tired o’ gnawing old bones and skins;
I’ve a mind to dine on thee now.’

But just as he thought his dinner was caught,
He found his hands had hold of naught.
Before he could mind, Tom slipped behind
And gave him the boot to larn him.
Warn him! Darn him!
A bump o’ the boot on the seat, Tom thought,
Would be the way to larn him.

But harder than stone is the flesh and bone
Of a troll that sits in the hills alone.
As well set your boot to the mountain’s root,
For the seat of a troll don’t feel it.
Peel it! Heal it!
Old troll laughed, when he heard Tom groan.
And he knew his toes could feel it.

Tom’s leg is game, since home he came,
And his bootless foot is lasting lame;
But Troll don’t care, and he’s still there
With the bone he boned from its owner.
Doner! Boner!
Troll’s old seat is still the same,
And the bone he boned from its owner!

See you in the next Tolkien gathering!!

My Year 2018 in Books

Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Taking advantage of this nice feature I will summarize My 2018 in Books from Goodreads:

I read 7,224 pages across 56 books, a 112% of my 50 books read in 2018 goal
The average length was 129 pages
My average rating was 3.7 (up to 5)
The longest book I read was Patria, by Fernando Aramburu

The amount of works is not very important (because some of the 56 are comics or short stories) but still 56 books means almost 5 books per month, that translates to one book per week approximately. Not bad, taking into account the other million things that I do (or intend to do) every week.

I’m not copying here the full list, friend me on Goodreads if you are curious, but at least I want to highlight some of them.

I have included in the ranking three books by Juan Gómez Jurado, including the Top 1, so he deserves to be in the featured image of the post obtained from La Opinión de Málaga.

I’m currently reading El Emblema del Traidor also by Juan but when I finish it I will begin my 2019 reading again books by or about J.R.R. Tolkien. I miss it.

My TOP 10 read books in 2018

Reina Roja by Juan Gomez-Jurado (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
Travels With Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck (you can read my review here in the blog)
Patria by Fernando Aramburu (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (you can read my review in English in Goodreads)
El rayo que no cesa by Miguel Hernández (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
Poeta en Nueva York by Federico García Lorca (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
Espía de Dios by Juan Gomez-Jurado
Ndura: Hijo de la selva by Javier Salazar Calle (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)
Contrato con Dios by Juan Gomez-Jurado
Intemperie by Jesús Carrasco (you can read my review in Spanish in Goodreads)

Travels With Charley: In Search of America, by John Steinbeck

Sat, 17 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Travels with Charley: In Search of America is mainly what they call a travelogue o travel literature. It’s not the first time that I read one and I’m starting to enjoy the genre. I added this one to my want to read in Goodreads a long time ago after reading some hilarious paragraphs during a couple of English lessons, and the rest of the book had not disappointed me at all.

John Steinbeck and Charley

In 1960, a 58 years old John Steinbeck bought a small camper to drive around the United States with his dog (Charley). He called the camper Rocinante (here you have a picture of it), the perfect name for a saddle in which to go on adventures. He said before the book was published:

I was advised that the name Rocinante painted on the side of my truck in sixteenth-century Spanish script would cause curiosity and inquiry in some places. I do not know how many people recognized the name, but surely no one ever asked about it.

The book was published in 1962 and Steinbeck died just six years later. Reading this book you can somehow perceive his age, obviously regarding his health condition but also because he didn’t care about others reading what he wrote or did. When he started the arrangements for the trip, everyone tried to persuade him to abandon the idea because it’s age and chronic disease, but he felt he needed the trip and that it was now or never.

During the previous winter I had become rather seriously ill with one of those carefully named difficulties which are the whispers of approaching age. When I came out of it I received the usual lecture about slowing up, losing weight, limiting the cholesterol intake. It happens to many men, and I think doctors have memorized the litany. It had happened to so many of my friends. The lecture ends, “Slow down. You’re not as young as you once were.” And I had seen so many begin to pack their lives in cotton wool, smother their impulses, hood their passions, and gradually retire from their manhood into a kind of spiritual and physical semi-invalidism. In this they are encouraged by wives and relatives, and it’s such a sweet trap. Who doesn’t like to be a center for concern? A kind of second childhood falls on so many men. They trade their violence for the promise of a small increase of life span. In effect, the head of the house becomes the youngest child. And I have searched myself for this possibility with a kind of horror. For I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I’ve lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment. I did not want to surrender fierceness for a small gain in yardage. My wife married a man; I saw no reason why she should inherit a baby.

The purpose of the trip was to get to know again his country and, in my opinion, as a way to say goodbye to several places, essential locations for him in the past. This quote summarizes his motivations:

For many years I have traveled in many parts of the world. In America I live in New York, or dip into Chicago, or San Francisco. But New York is no more America than Paris is France or London is England. Thus I discovered that I did not know my own country. I, an American writer, writing about America, was working from memory, and the memory is at best a faulty, warpy reservoir. I had not heard the speech of America, smelled the grass and trees and sewage, seen its hills and water, its color and quality of light. I knew the changes only from books and newspapers. But more than this, I had not felt the country for twenty-five years. In short, I was writing of something I did not know about, and it seems to me that in a so-called writer this is criminal. My memories were distorted by twenty-five intervening years.

Steinbeck beautifully describes his feelings about the places or about the people he encountered, and that is what makes this book remarkable. He takes advantage of the trip circumstances to give his opinion on the social and political issues of 1960: decisive election year between Nixon and Kennedy, the embarrassing (even on those days for him) racial issues in the southern states and the cold war against the Soviet Union, just to give some examples.

As one can imagine reading the book, and it was confirmed some years after the publication, some of the dialogues during his encounters are purely fictional as a mean for the author to describe a situation or a way of thinking of the folks he encountered. Part of the magic resides in guessing which ones are more or less distant from his real experiences. He even describes the approach as a disclaimer:

I've always admired those reporters who can descend on an area, talk to key people, ask key questions, take samplings of opinions, and then set down an orderly report very like a road map. I envy this technique and at the same time do not trust it as a mirror of reality. I feel that there are too many realities. What I set down here is true until someone else passes that way and rearranges the world in his own style.

The book contains dozens of brilliant quotes, some of them with a beautiful and intense description that mentally transfers the reader to a certain American landscape:

The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time. They have the mystery of ferns that disappeared a million years ago into the coal of the carboniferous era. They carry their own light and shade. The vainest, most slap-happy and irreverent of men, in the presence of redwoods, goes under a spell of wonder and respect.

You cannot use this book to prepare a similar trip, or to discover any of the places that he visited. He also wrote about it in the last part of the book, as a retrospective of what he finally ended writing, in one of my favorite quotes of the book:

If an Englishman or a Frenchman or an Italian should travel my route, see what I saw, hear what I heard, their stored pictures would be not only different from mine but equally different from one another. If other Americans reading this account should feel it true, that agreement would only mean that we are alike in our Americanness. From start to finish I found no strangers. If I had, I might be able to report them more objectively. But these are my people and this my country. If I found matters to criticize and to deplore, they were tendencies equally present in myself. If I were to prepare one immaculately inspected generality it would be this: For all of our enormous geographic range, for all of our sectionalism, for all of our interwoven breeds drawn from every part of the ethnic world, we are a nation, a new breed. Americans are much more American than they are Northerners, Southerners, Westerners, or Easterners. And descendants of English, Irish, Italian, Jewish, German, Polish are essentially American. This is not patriotic whoop-de-do; it is carefully observed fact. California Chinese, Boston Irish, Wisconsin German, yes, and Alabama Negroes, have more in common than they have apart. And this is the more remarkable because it has happened so quickly. It is a fact that Americans from all sections and of all racial extractions are more alike than the Welsh are like the English, the Lancashireman like the Cockney, or for that matter the Lowland Scot like the Highlander. It is astonishing that this has happened in less than two hundred years and most of it in the last fifty. The American identity is an exact and provable thing.

I really liked this book, and for sure I’ll try to read more from Steinbeck.

A Feast for Crows de George R.R. Martin

Wed, 10 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Disclaimer: Apenas dispongo de tiempo para preparar (en condiciones) reseñas, pero no quiero dejar la costumbre de poner pequeños pasajes con la esperanza de conseguir atrapar nuevos lectores.

Espero que disfruten tanto como yo del siguiente fragmento de A Feast for Crows de George R.R. Martin. No contiene spoilers, pero sí da una buena idea del ambiente que se respira en la novela, el tono de este tomo me ha parecido especialmente pesimista y desolador (que ya es decir para Canción de Hielo y Fuego).

Crow-Black (and white) by Hamish Irvine,
from Flickr — CC BY-NC

Back on the road, the septon said, “We would do well to keep a watch tonight, my friends. The villagers say they’ve seen three broken men skulking round the dunes, west of the old watchtower.”

“Only three?” Ser Hyle smiled. “Three is honey to our swordswench. They’re not like to trouble armed men.”

“Unless they’re starving,” the septon said. “There is food in these marshes, but only for those with the eyes to find it, and these men are strangers here, survivors from some battle. If they should accost us, ser, I beg you, leave them to me.”

“What will you do with them?”

“Feed them. Ask them to confess their sins, so that I might forgive them. Invite them to come with us to the Quiet Isle.”

“That’s as good as inviting them to slit our throats as we sleep,” Hyle Hunt replied. “Lord Randyll has better ways to deal with broken men—steel and hempen rope.”

“Ser? My lady?” said Podrick. “Is a broken man an outlaw?”

“More or less,” Brienne answered.

Septon Meribald disagreed. “More less than more. There are many sorts of outlaws, just as there are many sorts of birds. A sandpiper and a sea eagle both have wings, but they are not the same. The singers love to sing of good men forced to go outside the law to fight some wicked lord, but most outlaws are more like this ravening Hound than they are the lightning lord. They are evil men, driven by greed, soured by malice, despising the gods and caring only for themselves. Broken men are more deserving of our pity, though they may be just as dangerous. Almost all are common-born, simple folk who had never been more than a mile from the house where they were born until the day some lord came round to take them off to war. Poorly shod and poorly clad, they march away beneath his banners, ofttimes with no better arms than a sickle or a sharpened hoe, or a maul they made themselves by lashing a stone to a stick with strips of hide. Brothers march with brothers, sons with fathers, friends with friends. They’ve heard the songs and stories, so they go off with eager hearts, dreaming of the wonders they will see, of the wealth and glory they will win. War seems a fine adventure, the greatest most of them will ever know.

“Then they get a taste of battle.

“For some, that one taste is enough to break them. Others go on for years, until they lose count of all the battles they have fought in, but even a man who has survived a hundred fights can break in his hundred-and-first. Brothers watch their brothers die, fathers lose their sons, friends see their friends trying to hold their entrails in after they’ve been gutted by an axe.

“They see the lord who led them there cut down, and some other lord shouts that they are his now. They take a wound, and when that’s still half-healed they take another. There is never enough to eat, their shoes fall to pieces from the marching, their clothes are torn and rotting, and half of them are shitting in their breeches from drinking bad water.

“If they want new boots or a warmer cloak or maybe a rusted iron halfhelm, they need to take them from a corpse, and before long they are stealing from the living too, from the smallfolk whose lands they’re fighting in, men very like the men they used to be. They slaughter their sheep and steal their chickens, and from there it’s just a short step to carrying off their daughters too. And one day they look around and realize all their friends and kin are gone, that they are fighting beside strangers beneath a banner that they hardly recognize. They don’t know where they are or how to get back home and the lord they’re fighting for does not know their names, yet here he comes, shouting for them to form up, to make a line with their spears and scythes and sharpened hoes, to stand their ground. And the knights come down on them, faceless men clad all in steel, and the iron thunder of their charge seems to fill the world...

“And the man breaks.

“He turns and runs, or crawls off afterward over the corpses of the slain, or steals away in the black of night, and he finds someplace to hide. All thought of home is gone by then, and kings and lords and gods mean less to him than a haunch of spoiled meat that will let him live another day, or a skin of bad wine that might drown his fear for a few hours. The broken man lives from day to day, from meal to meal, more beast than man. Lady Brienne is not wrong. In times like these, the traveler must beware of broken men, and fear them. but he should pity them as well.”

The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I've discovered through my dear friend Mónica a wonderful poem called The Chaos. I'm talking about between 146 and 274 funny and well thought verses (depending on the version) about English spelling and pronunciation singularities written by Gerard Nolst Trenité which appeared for the first time in 1920.

I recommend as a splendid exercise that you attempt to read the entire poem aloud (aloud or do not try!). Everyone will get it wrong at some point for sure, but I hope you'll find it fun, challenging and educational. Hint! There is a partial phonetic version of The Chaos poem (both in English and American pronuntiation).

I'm delighted to share with you a 1993-94 version from The English Spelling Society, the most complete version. As a standard practice, words whose spelling can lead to mispronunciation are shown in bold.

Dearest creature in creation
Studying English pronunciation,
I will teach you in my verse

Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.
I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy;

Tear in eye, your dress you'll tear;
Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.
Pray, console your loving poet,

Make my coat look new, dear, sew it! 10
Just compare heart, hear and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word.

Sword and sward, retain and Britain
(Mind the latter how it's written).
Made has not the sound of bade,

Say - said, pay - paid, laid but plaid.
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as vague and ague,

But be careful how you speak,
Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak, 20
Previous, precious, fuchsia, via
Recipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir;
Woven, oven, how and low,

Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe.
Say, expecting fraud and trickery:
Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore,
Branch, ranch, measles, topsails, aisles,
Missiles, similes, reviles.

Wholly, holly, signal, signing,
Same, examining, but mining, 30
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far.

From "desire": desirable - admirable from "admire",
Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier,
Topsham, brougham, renown, but known,
Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone,

One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel.
Gertrude, German, wind and wind,
Beau, kind, kindred, queue, mankind, 40

Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather,
Reading, Reading, heathen, heather.
This phonetic labyrinth
Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth.
Have you ever yet endeavoured

To pronounce revered and severed,
Demon, lemon, ghoul, foul, soul,
Peter, petrol and patrol?

Billet does not end like ballet;
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. 50
Blood and flood are not like food,

Nor is mould like should and would.
Banquet is not nearly parquet,

Which exactly rhymes with khaki.
Discount, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward,

Ricocheted and crocheting, croquet?
Right! Your pronunciation's OK.
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live. 60

Is your R correct in higher?
Keats asserts it rhymes with Thalia.
Hugh, but hug, and hood, but hoot,

Buoyant, minute, but minute.
Say abscission with precision,
Now: position and transition;

Would it tally with my rhyme
If I mentioned paradigm?
Twopence, threepence, tease are easy,
But cease, crease, grease and greasy? 70

Cornice, nice, valise, revise,
Rabies, but lullabies.
Of such puzzling words as nauseous,
Rhyming well with cautious, tortious,

You'll envelop lists, I hope,
In a linen envelope.
Would you like some more? You'll have it!
Affidavit, David, davit.
To abjure, to perjure. Sheik

Does not sound like Czech but ache. 80
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, loch, moustache, eleven.

We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed but vowed.
Mark the difference, moreover,
Between mover, plover, Dover.

Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice,
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label. 90

Petal, penal, and canal,
Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal,
Suit, suite, ruin. Circuit, conduit
Rhyme with "shirk it" and "beyond it",

But it is not hard to tell
Why it's pall, mall, but Pall Mall.
Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron,
Timber, climber, bullion, lion,
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,

Senator, spectator, mayor, 100
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
Has the A of drachm and hammer.
Pussy, hussy and possess,

Desert, but desert, address.
Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenants
Hoist in lieu of flags left pennants.
Courier, courtier, tomb, bomb, comb,

Cow, but Cowper, some and home.
" Solder, soldier! Blood is thicker",
Quoth he, "than liqueur or liquor", 110

Making, it is sad but true,
In bravado, much ado.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.

Pilot, pivot, gaunt, but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand and grant.
Arsenic, specific, scenic,
Relic, rhetoric, hygienic.
Gooseberry, goose, and close, but close,

Paradise, rise, rose, and dose. 120
Say inveigh, neigh, but inveigle,
Make the latter rhyme with eagle.
Mind! Meandering but mean,

Valentine and magazine.
And I bet you, dear, a penny,
You say mani-(fold) like many,

Which is wrong. Say rapier, pier,
Tier (one who ties), but tier.
Arch, archangel; pray, does erring
Rhyme with herring or with stirring? 130

Prison, bison, treasure trove,
Treason, hover, cover, cove,
Perseverance, severance. Ribald
Rhymes (but piebald doesn't) with nibbled.

Phaeton, paean, gnat, ghat, gnaw,
Lien, psychic, shone, bone, pshaw.
Don't be down, my own, but rough it,
And distinguish buffet, buffet;

Brood, stood, roof, rook, school, wool, boon,
Worcester, Boleyn, to impugn. 140
Say in sounds correct and sterling
Hearse, hear, hearken, year and yearling.

Evil, devil, mezzotint,
Mind the z! (A gentle hint.)
Now you need not pay attention
To such sounds as I don't mention,
Sounds like pores, pause, pours and paws,

Rhyming with the pronoun yours;
Nor are proper names included,
Though I often heard, as you did, 150
Funny rhymes to unicorn,

Yes, you know them, Vaughan and Strachan.
No, my maiden, coy and comely,
I don't want to speak of Cholmondeley.
No. Yet Froude compared with proud

Is no better than McLeod.
But mind trivial and vial,
Tripod, menial, denial,
Troll and trolley, realm and ream,

Schedule, mischief, schism, and scheme. 160
Argil, gill, Argyll, gill. Surely
May be made to rhyme with Raleigh,
But you're not supposed to say
Piquet rhymes with sobriquet.

Had this invalid invalid
Worthless documents? How pallid,
How uncouth he, couchant, looked,
When for Portsmouth I had booked!

Zeus, Thebes, Thales, Aphrodite,
Paramour, enamoured, flighty, 170
Episodes, antipodes,
Acquiesce, and obsequies.
Please don't monkey with the geyser,

Don't peel 'taters with my razor,
Rather say in accents pure:
Nature, stature and mature.
Pious, impious, limb, climb, glumly,

Worsted, worsted, crumbly, dumbly,
Conquer, conquest, vase, phase, fan,
Wan, sedan and artisan. 180
The TH will surely trouble you

More than R, CH or W.
Say then these phonetic gems:
Thomas, thyme, Theresa, Thames.
Thompson, Chatham, Waltham, Streatham,
There are more but I forget 'em -

Wait! I've got it: Anthony,
Lighten your anxiety.
The archaic word albeit
Does not rhyme with eight - you see it; 190

With and forthwith, one has voice,
One has not, you make your choice.
Shoes, goes, does [1]. Now first say: finger;

Then say: singer, ginger, linger.
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, age,
Hero, heron, query, very,

Parry, tarry, fury, bury,
Dost, lost, post, and doth, cloth, loth,
Job, Job, blossom, bosom, oath. 200
Faugh, oppugnant, keen oppugners,

Bowing, bowing, banjo- tuners
Holm you know, but noes, canoes,
Puisne, truism, use, to use?

Though the difference seems little,
We say actual, but victual,
Seat, sweat, chaste, caste, Leigh, eight, height,
Put, nut, granite, and unite

Reefer does not rhyme with deafer,
Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer. 210
Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late,
Hint, pint, senate, but sedate.

Gaelic, Arabic, pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific;
Tour, but our, dour, succour, four,
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.

Say manoeuvre, yacht and vomit,
Next omit, which differs from it
Bona fide, alibi
Gyrate, dowry and awry. 220

Sea, idea, guinea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean,
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion with battalion,
Rally with ally; yea, ye,

Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay!
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, receiver. 230
Never guess - it is not safe,

We say calves, valves, half, but Ralf.
Starry, granary, canary,
Crevice, but device, and eyrie,

Face, but preface, then grimace,
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Bass, large, target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, oust, joust, and scour, but scourging;

Ear, but earn; and ere and tear
Do not rhyme with here but heir. 240

Mind the O of off and often
Which may be pronounced as orphan,
With the sound of saw and sauce;

Also soft, lost, cloth and cross.
Pudding, puddle, putting. Putting?
Yes: at golf it rhymes with shutting.
Respite, spite, consent, resent.

Liable, but Parliament.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen, 250
Monkey, donkey, clerk and jerk,

Asp, grasp, wasp, demesne, cork, work.
A of valour, vapid, vapour,
S of news (compare newspaper),
G of gibbet, gibbon, gist,

I of antichrist and grist,
Differ like diverse and divers,
Rivers, strivers, shivers, fivers.

Once, but nonce, toll, doll, but roll,
Polish, Polish, poll and poll. 260
Pronunciation - think of Psyche! -

Is a paling, stout and spiky.
Won't it make you lose your wits
Writing groats and saying 'grits'?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel

Strewn with stones like rowlock, gunwale,
Islington, and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.

Don't you think so, reader, rather,
Saying lather, bather, father? 270
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, bough, cough, hough, sough, tough??

Hiccough has the sound of sup...
My advice is: GIVE IT UP!

[1] No, you're wrong. This is the plural of doe.

God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

This is going to be my first review in English. Don't Panic! As I recently only read and watch both TV series and films in English (usually without subs) seems to me the perfect way to express ideas and concepts from the books, as well as a way to improve my skills. Please help me notice any inconvenience or mistake.

I've been constantly thinking about this post since I finished the book almost two months ago. In this time lapse Mr. Hitchens died, with the subsequent hard time for us his followers. Embarrassingly I didn't have the time and/or strength to write about it, I found it difficult to write something different than what many others wrote. Although it was not a surprise for anyone, his death truly made me very sad and angry.

Christopher Hitchens - God is not Great

God is not Great is a 2007 book from Christopher Hitchens. In this book he made a fierce and sincere apology against religion, or at least against organized religion. Focusing on the Abrahamic religions, the book contains a perfectly documented collection of facts, personal anecdotes and well chosen arguments. In each of the nineteen chapters the author explains (for example) how religion kills, how do we know some metaphysical claims of religion are false, the lies behind intelligent design, and how some religions have ended in the past.

In Chapter Two, Religion Kills, he described common irrationally violent situations in many cities (Belfast, Beirut, Bombay, Belgrade, Bethlehem or Baghdad) easily attributed to religion. He also wrote about the 1989 fatwa against his friend Salman Rushdie and the crazy actions driven by the US after the September 11 attacks, as examples where religious leaders pursued, allowed and justified big massacres.

In Chapter Four, A Note On Health, he reminds us of some big confrontations between medicine and religion: some vaccines, condoms, the Jewish circumcision and the female genital mutilation rituals, and the pursuing and punishment of homosexuality.

Chapter Five, The Metaphysical Claims of Religion Are False, where Mr. Hitchens explains the difference between the knowledge of the world today and when some religions where founded. He claims that the necessary leap of faith needs to be repeated, and it turns harder to take the more it is taken.

In Chapter Nine, The Koran Is Borrowed From Both Jewish and Christian Myths he examines the religion of Islam and its holy book, the Koran, asserting that it was not supernatural and simply was a compendium of other religious texts and sayings.

Chapter Thirteen, Does Religion Make People Behave Better?, explains how non-religious people stand and pursue moral causes with at least as much strength and clearness as religious people. He also notes many issues of misbehavior in religious leaders.

In Chapter Fourteen, There Is No 'Eastern' Solution, he blames Asiatic religions as Buddhism and Hinduism with similar sins and problems: the violence, the unverifiable assumptions, the unhealthy manners and rituals, etc.

Chapter Fifteen, Religion As An Original Sin, where he declares that there are several ways in which religion is not just amoral but positively immoral, being the faults found not in its adherents but in its original precepts. These include:

Presenting a false picture of the world to the credulous
The doctrine of blood sacrifice
The doctrine of atonement
The doctrine of eternal reward or eternal punishment
The imposition of impossible tasks or rules

And Finally Chapter Nineteen, In Conclusion: The Need for a New Enlightenment, where he argues that the human race no longer needs religion, to the point that underestimating religion will improve mankind, and will boost the progress of civilization. He ends asking atheists to fight for a religion-free society.

Some of the commonly selected quotes are:

Organized religion is violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children.
Religion spoke its last intelligible or noble or inspiring words a long time ago.
I can think of a handful of priests and bishops and rabbis and imams who have put humanity ahead of their own sect or creed. History gives us many other such examples, which I am going to discuss later on. But this is a compliment to humanism, not to religion.
At least two major and established religions, with millions of adherents in Africa, believe that the cure is much worse than the disease. They also harbor the belief that the AIDS plague is in some sense a verdict from heaven upon sexual deviance--in particular upon homosexuality.
In Ireland alone--once an unquestioning disciple of Holy Mother Church--it is not estimated that the unmolested children of religious schools were very probably the minority.
One must state it plainly. Religion comes from the period of human prehistory where nobody--not even the mighty Democritus who concluded that all matter was made from atoms--had the smallest idea what was going on. It comes from the bawling and fearful infancy of our species, and is a babyish attempt to meet our inescapable demand for knowledge (as well as for comfort, reassurance, and other infantile needs). Today the least educated of my children knows much more about the natural order than any of the founders of religion and one would like to think--though the connection is not a fully demonstrable one--that this is why they seem so uninterested in sending fellow humans to hell.
Conceivably, some readers of these pages will be shocked to learn of the existence of Hindu and Buddhist murderers and sadists. Perhaps they dimly imagine that contemplative easterners, devoted to vegetarian diets and meditative routines, are immune to such temptations?
If religious instruction were not allowed until the child had attained the age of reason, we would be living in a quite different world.
Philosophy begins where religion ends, just as by analogy chemistry begins where alchemy runs out, and astronomy takes the place of astrology.
Religion has run out of justifications. Thanks to the telescope and the microscope, it no longer offers and explanation of anything important.

Mr. Hitchens was an English (also American since 2007) journalist, author and polemicist, in the wider meaning of the expression. He was considered one of the main intellectuals of the world, and was clearly identified as a Pope (in the techie way) in the atheist movement. After a brilliant career with a lot of polemic confrontations with people as Mother Teresa (Hell's Angel documentary) or Bill Clinton (No One Left to Lie To), and demolishing debates against figures like Tony Blair, he faced some serious health issues due to an oesophageal cancer. On 15 December 2011, Hitchens died from pneumonia, as a complication of this cancer.

I'm not used to write bios in this blog, but if that moment comes surely he is going to be among the firsts to appear.