Neil Gaiman on our future depending on libraries, reading, and daydreaming

On Monday, October 14, 2014, author Neil Gaiman delivered a lecture at the Barbican in London, for the Reading Agency. Launched in 2012, the Reading Agency's annual lecture series is a platform for leading writers and thinkers to share original, challenging ideas about reading and libraries.

Gaiman's lecture explains why using our imaginations, and providing for others to use theirs, is an obligation for all, and not just for the literate. He recounts an anecdote that cites reading science fiction as a distinct advantage. Though traditionally disparaged as escapist, science fiction does fuel the reader's imagination, inspiring many to imagine, invent, and create the worlds of their temporary escape.

I was in China in 2007, at the first party-approved science fiction and fantasy convention in Chinese history. And at one point I took a top official aside and asked him Why? SF had been disapproved of for a long time. What had changed?

It's simple, he told me. The Chinese were brilliant at making things if other people brought them the plans. But they did not innovate and they did not invent. They did not imagine. So they sent a delegation to the US, to Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, and they asked the people there who were inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read science fiction when they were boys or girls.

If science fiction author William Gibson had not published his seminal novel Neuromancer, influencing many readers to become scientists, programmers, et al, would the world today exist as it does? There is a definite connection between being able to read and realising the world of one's dreams. More »

The Man With 59,000 Books -- In His House

A former professor of Slavic languages at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lawrence L. Thomas, found an escape in books as a child. When his wife died in 1976, he devoted himself entirely to books. When he died in February 2013, aged 88, his modest 2,514-square-foot house contained more than 59,000 books.

His youngest daughter, Mary Winchester, describes the living room as "a fortress of books around where he sat and read." Many rooms had books, books, and more books -- and no furniture. This was not a case of hoarding though. These books were organised, with dehumidifiers running all the time, keeping the books in good condition. Prof. Thomas had a book catalogue in spiral notebooks, with entries noting the specific location of each book.

In March 2013 the collection went to auction. There were no bidders, as the magnitude of the collection astounded collectors and impeded its sale. Cataloguing all the books would be daunting in itself, so booksellers wanted to cherry-pick the best titles and leave the rest to the family to liquidate. Mary Winchester's husband even joked that they could advertise "LIBRARY FOR SALE; COMES WITH HOUSE." More »

September 2013

BOOKS ACQUIRED

1. The Unit, Ninni Holmqvist. ISBN 978-1-59051-313-2 (2008, Other Press). 2013.09.14
2. The Portable James Joyce, Ed. Harry Levin. ISBN 0-14-015-030-7 (1976, Penguin Books). 2013.09.15
3. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand. ISBN 0-451-15823-7 (1971, Signet Books). 2013.09.15
4. Three Lives, Gertrude Stein. ISBN 0-486-28059-4 (1994, Dover Publications Inc.). 2013.09.15
5. My Antonia, Willa Cather. ISBN 0-486-28240-6 (1994, Dover Publications Inc.). 2013.09.15
6. Snow Falling On Cedars, David Guterson. ISBN 0-679-76402-X (1995, Vintage Books). 2013.09.15
7. The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli, Trans. Harvey C. Mansfield. ISBN 0-226-50044-6 (1998, The University Of Chicago). 2013.09.15
8. Folktales Of The Maori, Alfred Grace. ISBN 1-85958-533-7 (1998, Senate). 2013.09.15
9. Northern Frights 4, Ed. Don Hutchison. ISBN 0-88962-639-1 (1997, Mosaic Press). 2013.09.15
10. Zero History, William Gibson. ISBN 978-0-399-15682-3 (2010, G.P. Putnam's Sons). 2013.09.25
11. Omni Visions One, Ed. Ellen Datlow. ISBN 0-87455-298-2 (1993, Omni Publications International Ltd.). 2013.09.27
12. A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Book The Fourth: The Miserable Mill, Lemony Snicket, Ill. Brett Helquist. ISBN 0-439-27263-7 (2001, Scholastic Inc.). 2013.09.27. A Calliope pick.

BOOKS READ

1. Cyberpunk: Stories Of Hardware, Software, Wetware, Evolution, And Revolution, Ed. Victoria Blake. ISBN 978-1-937163-08-2 (2013, Underland Press). 2013.09.03
2. The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo, Ill. Bagram Ibatoulline. ISBN 978-0-7636-2589-4 (2006, Candlewick Press). 2013.09.24
3. Reading Like A Writer: A Guide For People Who Love Books And For Those Who Want To Write Them, Francine Prose. ISBN 978-0-06-077704-3 (2006, HarperCollins Publishers). 2013.09.28
4. Down The Street, Lynda Barry. ISBN 0-06-096304-2 (1988, Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd.). 2013.09.30