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22 votes
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China cracks down on women who write gay erotica
32 votes -
Designer as author (1996)
5 votes -
The cultural decline of literary fiction
11 votes -
A literature clock
18 votes -
English literature’s last stand
11 votes -
What works do you think should be added to the literary canon?
(Inspired by some discussion over at the The New Lifetime Reading Plan topic) Which authors or texts do you feel deserve a place in the literary canon, but don't currently have one? There is, of...
(Inspired by some discussion over at the The New Lifetime Reading Plan topic)
Which authors or texts do you feel deserve a place in the literary canon, but don't currently have one?
There is, of course, not one singular, well-defined "canon" -- so interpret "the canon" as "the classics" or "required reading" or "most important works of literature" or however else you care to define it.
In particular, consider areas that the canon tends to overlook: female authors, eastern perspectives, plays (besides Shakespeare's works), etc.
29 votes -
I need some help with the sciency bit of my short story
I am writing this short story. It is part of the overall book that I am writing, but it is also a story that can be enjoyed completely on its own. In that story, a planet-sized ship approaches our...
I am writing this short story. It is part of the overall book that I am writing, but it is also a story that can be enjoyed completely on its own. In that story, a planet-sized ship approaches our Solar System, and,
ultimatelymaybe, Earth. For dimensions, let's say it is equal to 1.5 of Earth's diameter. According to Google, that's25,51219,134 kilometers. The Planet-Ship is probably less dense than Earth, as it is largely occupied by biomass and weird alien electronics. You may think of it as a round Borg cube, from Star Trek.My "Round Borg Cube" is completely black and spherical, with a smooth surface without any visible features.
What I wanna know is...
- Assuming that the object is on a very slow path towards Earth, at what proximity will its effects be known?
- At which point will scientists observe its effects, view it, or detect it with instruments?
- If that is at all possible, what would be a threshold in which the "Round Borgs" would have to interrupt their movement in order to remain undetected?
- At which distance will it be visible to the naked eye (if at all)?
- And if they chose to get dangerously close to Earth, what would be the impact on our environment?
I understand that is a lot to ask, but I just can't trust GPT for that kind of stuff, even if their answers sound plausible. Perhaps someone with astronomical knowledge as well as an interest in science fiction will find my questions enticing. I don't expect precise answers because I am not providing precise information. So feel free to speculate on that scenario. In any case, I am grateful for any answer I can get.
Thanks!
22 votes -
How the novel became a laboratory for experimental physics
8 votes -
Norway launches Jon Fosse prize for literary translators – aims to celebrate the work of an overlooked and underpaid profession facing an existential threat from AI
17 votes -
The elite college students who can’t read books
57 votes -
2024 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 7th - 14th October 2024
19 votes -
Best Australian books of the 21st century, nominated by literary experts
3 votes -
What's your attitude about Russian classic literature?
Warning: this post may contain spoilers
Have you ever read it? And what do your friends think about it?
I'm really interested in foreign (I'm from Ukraine) opinions on this subject.
Sorry for my bad English, thanks.
27 votes -
The Canterbury Tales, or, how technology changes the way we speak
14 votes -
How the internet revived the world's first work of interactive fiction
13 votes -
Jack Conroy, proletarian author and editor, supported important 20th century US poets
4 votes -
'James' and 'Demon Copperhead': the triumph of literary reimagining of classic books
8 votes -
From Red Riding Hood to Beowulf: On the essential role of literary reimaginings
10 votes -
How I taught the Iliad to Chinese teenagers
19 votes -
Each year from 2014 to 2114, a manuscript is sealed in The Silent Room of Norway's Future Library – the goal: greater hope for humankind
13 votes -
My doomed career as a North Korean novelist
24 votes -
The Norway model: How the Scandinavian country became a literary powerhouse
8 votes -
2023 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 2nd - 9th October 2023
22 votes -
Three medieval tales about adventures to the Moon - from three different cultures
12 votes -
Death in literature: Can you really prepare for it or even understand it? Ten suggested books from Ted Gioia
13 votes -
Literature Map: The more people like an author and another author, the closer together they move
17 votes -
Josh Cook on the uses and misuses of judgement about literary quality and reflections about the process of suggesting books
5 votes -
BBC list eighteen of the best new books for 2023
17 votes -
The art of translation
29 votes -
What belongs in your "base" hard-copy library?
I finally have the space to finish a project I've been working on which is a study with 3 bookcases. So far, my idea is to have 1 with books that will always be there, such as classic reads, or...
I finally have the space to finish a project I've been working on which is a study with 3 bookcases. So far, my idea is to have 1 with books that will always be there, such as classic reads, or even an encyclopedia maybe?, or other reference material. Basically, a permanent bookcase whether or not I've read the material. The other two will be rotated in and out of stuff that I'm reading, have read recently or on my backlog before swapping or donating.
Anyways, what's in your "must have" bookcase? Reference, fiction/non-fiction, Calvin & Hobbes even! (Although that's more of a coffee table piece)
18 votes -
Michael Silverblatt interviews W. G. Sebald
5 votes -
How can I be a more spontaneous fiction writer?
When talking with my therapist, the subject of writing is a constant. My obsessive approach to writing is a source of frustration. I write well in my first language, and aspire to create short...
When talking with my therapist, the subject of writing is a constant. My obsessive approach to writing is a source of frustration.
I write well in my first language, and aspire to create short fiction . But I'm an over planner and way too critical of my own writing.
Anything longer than a single page is impossible for me because I'll obsess with editing and some misguided sense of "perfection", cutting paragraph after paragraph until I'm left with a decent micro story that you can read in two and a half minutes. Most of the time I don't even get this far.
So my question is, how can I force myself to be less self critical and obsessive, let things flow, and write longer stories? Are there any advices, books, courses, practices and exercises I can use?
18 votes -
A Gaelic-speaking warrior queen called Aud is central to an emerging theory that Scottish and Irish Celts played a far bigger role in Iceland's history than realised
6 votes -
‘The Norse Myths That Shape the Way We Think’ by Carolyne Larrington – from Tolkien to Marvel, the huge influence of Norse myths on modern culture
2 votes -
The emotional resonance of Microsoft Flight Simulator
3 votes -
Join the Counterforce: Thomas Pynchon’s postmodern epic Gravity’s Rainbow at fifty
6 votes -
Depression has often been blamed on low levels of serotonin in the brain. That answer is insufficient, but alternatives are coming into view and changing our understanding of the disease.
9 votes -
The first ordinary woman in English literature. The life and legacy of the Wife of Bath.
5 votes -
What kind of Angel: On Percy Shelley
4 votes -
Don't blame Dostoyevsky - Culture, too, is a casualty of war
6 votes -
On being an asshole, on being a woman: In praise of female pedants
6 votes -
Interlinear Books: Learn between the lines (Subtitled books)
11 votes -
The Penguin Classics Marvel Collection breathes new life into iconic stories
3 votes -
How to be an incipit
8 votes -
How do ancient stories of talking elephants and singing birds encourage a life of truth, nonviolence and compassion?
3 votes -
The Billionaire’s Bard: On the rationalist fictions of Neal Stephenson
9 votes -
Margaret Atwood TERF Twitter controversy
7 votes -
Why is young adult fiction the defining literary genre of the last two decades? What does its popularity say about modern American life?
20 votes -
Queer readings of The Lord of the Rings are not accidents
12 votes