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http://ofblog.blogspot.com/ - Eclectic and striving never to follow paths into ruts, the OF Blog focuses on essays, reviews, interviews, and other odds and ends that might be of interest to fans of both literary and speculative fiction.
Below are six passages from famous books in French, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish. Each of these are first sentences/lines and all are available in English translation. Name the author and work if you recognize them. Curious to see how many people can get ...
Other
Quite a few books have arrived in the past few weeks or that I purchased this past Sunday when going to my favorite Nashville-area used bookstore, McKay's. As might be apparent from these pics and the ones of the previous few times, I'm beginning to drift away from my ...
Books
Lavie Tidhar has a thoughtful, discussion-worthy article up on The World SF News Blog concerning the apparent American-centric nature of the World Fantasy Awards (and asides on Worldcon/Hugos as well). Although I raise a few questions and disagree slightly with some of his prescriptions, I think ...
Books
Lavie Tidhar
World Fantasy Awards
Nebula Awards
Here is the second half of the interview I conducted with David Anthony Durham over the past month. In this part, we focus more on his Acacia novels and his future plans. For those wanting to read Part I, just click the link here .
Acacia: The War with the Mein ...
Books
Despite being released on Amazon a couple of weeks ago, today marks the official release of Jesse Bullington's debut novel, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart , which is currently a strong favorite to be my favorite 2009 debut novel , as well as being one of the ten books selected for ...
Other
Still working on the outline for a lengthy article on "international" SF (I think the quotes will be necessary, the more I think about it. News at eleven, or something). Wondering if taking a neo-Marxist approach toward surveying the field might yield some interesting discussion ...
Other
Ever read one of those stories, the ones that you know you can never explain fully to another, but that you just want for them to read it and feel it? The type that is like a punch to the junk, but which also makes you want to reach out to the other poor crazies in this world and ...
Film
Richard Kelly
After several false starts (and health/work scares thrown in), I'm going to be working on a lengthy article this weekend on international SF. In the meantime, thought it might be interesting to post a poll seeing which countries people here might view as having a vibrant SF/F ...
Other
So I've been a bit quiet on certain things in recent months. Just so much uncertainty in my professional life that I've been having some major stress-related issues. A mild case of work-induced depression that lasted for a couple of months. Sometimes severe stomach pain that is ...
Other
I've spent the past month or so working on learning enough French grammar to be able to read works written in that idiom. Currently, I'm reading a collection of some of Balzac's shorter fictions and am finding myself understanding well over 75% of the words being said (in some places, it ...
Other
ofblog.blogspot.com - 12 days ago
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ofblog.blogspot.com —
This will not be broken down into categories
like my year-end shortlists will, but here are 51
works I'm currently considering to recognize as being among the best 2009 releases (with 2009 American copyrights in most cases, with a couple of exceptions ...
(more)
Best of 2009: The (Tentative) Longlist
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Bibliophile Stalker
found this 12 days agofound this
Another Sunday, another trip to the local used bookstore to trade in dozens of unwanted book in exchange for buying things for myself and for my students. Here are the 26 books that I bought with over $200 of store credit (and almost $100 more left to spend some day). One I ...
Other
The latest issue of what I consider to be one of the best literary journals/anthologies, Conjunctions: 53: Not Even Past: Hybrid Histories , arrived in the mail this morning. I've been looking forward to this issue for six months now. Bradford Morrow, who's edited ...
Books
Here's the link :
1. Catherynne M. Valente, Palimpsest (this novel left me with conflicted feelings. The prose was strong, the setting unique, and yet there was something about the story that left me cold. Sent this to another and she felt the same way. Perhaps ...
Books
Reader, perhaps it is hatred you wish me to invoke at the outset of this work! What makes you think that you will not sniff - drenched in numberless pleasures, for as long as you wish, with your proud nostrils, wide and thin, as you turn over on your belly like a shark, in the ...
Other
Spent some of Saturday and most of yesterday in bed, coughing and vomiting a few times. It's either a bad sinus infection developing, or I have a mild case of food poisoning (no fever, so I doubt it was the flu). Ribs hurt like a mutha, though. Not good.
Been reading the ...
Books
Taken from Science Fiction Awards Watch :
Lifetime Achievement : Ellen Asher & Jane Yolen
Best Novel (tie) : The Shadow Year , Jeffrey Ford (Morrow) & Tender Morsels , Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin; Knopf)
Best Novella : “If Angels Fight”, Richard Bowes ( F&SF 2/08)
...
Books
Jeffrey Ford
This time, it was Harry Markov from Temple Library Reviews who decided for some odd reason that I would make for a good interview subject. Click on the link above and go decide for yourself if I have had an interesting life. Or just go because you might like Harry's site. Or ...
Books
Harry Harrison
I've known about this for over a month now, but was asked to be mum about it until it was announced at the World Fantasy Convention . Friday, a series of people, including the University of California at Riverside (who are the planned hosts for this award) announced the creation of the ...
