April 2, 2005

Literature is not a verb

Polly Toynbee on consumerist voting and the danger of eating politicians for dinner. This lot manage to make the politicians look noble. Regarding books, the golden age of kid lit. Some interesting ideas about storytelling- from Rana Dasgupta Tokyo Cancelled; this collection of stranded travellers sharing stories presents literature “as something that normal people do. If it seems fantastical that a collection of travellers might tell such stories then this raises the question of why it is so much easier to stomach the idea that Chaucerian illiterates might do so.” And then Ian McEwan’s Saturday– neurosurgeon-lit. Indeed, literature about a man to whom literature means nothing. New April poetry exercise here at The Guardian Books. Today we bought Paper Tigers by the Caesars. It’s an excellent album. And I continue to be quite overwhelmed/underwhelmed by recent events.