“The book that fits the title of ‘Great American Novel’ is often debated, with contenders including Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom. Yet what elements would make up its equivalent across the Atlantic – the ‘Great British Novel’? This video attempts to answer that question – through the words of a few authors who made the top 25.”
Tag: 12.07.15
Are Britain’s Best Authors Women? They’re Certainly Rockin’ BBC’s Top 100 British Novels List
Female novelists wrote six of the top ten titles on the list, including the top three, and make up 40% of the total. The UK certainly has a long tradition of great women authors, from Jane Austen to Hilary Mantel, but previous lists haven’t been quite so equitable. What made the difference here? (Actually, it’s those bloody foreigners.)
Was Stonehenge First Erected In Wales And Them Dragged To England Later?
“It has long been known that the bluestones that form Stonehenge’s inner horseshoe came from the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, around 140 miles from Salisbury Plain. Now archaeologists have discovered a series of recesses in the rocky outcrops of Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin, to the north of those hills, that match Stonehenge’s bluestones in size and shape.”
Opera Critic Rodney Milnes Dead At 79
“An influential and entertaining opera critic who amused, informed and infuriated his readers and editors in almost equal measure … He was the editor of Opera magazine from 1986 to 1999, and, at various times, opera critic of Harpers & Queen, The Spectator and The Times; he also contributed regularly to the Building a Library slot on BBC Radio 3, among many other programmes.”
Got The Binge-Watching Blues?
“Some have wondered whether there is a term for this post-binge separation. Allow me to suggest one: We have, to tweak a term from the glum in winter, Unseasonal Affective Disorder: post-binge malaise.”
Writing: Career Or Art
The work required now to have and develop a career as a writer is a full-time occupation. That is different (and requires different skills) from the art of writing itself. Is this such a bad thing?
Mills College Changes Its Mind, Won’t Kill Dance Program
“Redesigning the dance major is an example of how Mills can retain a contemporary liberal arts education in a competitive environment that demands continuous innovation,” President Alecia DeCoudreaux said.
2016 Classical Music Grammy Nominations
This year’s Pulitzer winner, Julia Wolfe’s “Anthracite Fields,” is a predictable nominee for contemporary classical composition, as is the ubiquitous Andrew Norman’s “Play,” yet a possible dark-horse is Gerald Barry’s uproarious setting of “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
Frank Oteri: Grammy Nominations Don’t Reflect How We Listen To Music
“It might take Taylor Swift recording an album with John Luther Adams or (an even greater probability) Caroline Shaw recording with Kanye West for the folks in charge of the Grammy Awards to catch up with the breadth of music that people are now listening to and how they are listening to it. Once that happens, hopefully the various categories in which musical achievement are acknowledged by the Recording Academy won’t feel quite as straitjacketed.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.07.15
The Innovation Imperative (But Will It Get Us An Audience?)
Recently, an orchestra manager told me that his orchestra was going to be “the most innovative orchestra in the world.” I asked what he was doing that was so innovative, and he rattled off …read more
AJBlog: diacritical Published 2015-12-07
BID’s Skid: Sotheby’s Poaches Christie’s Marc Porter, While Stock Hits a 52-Week Low
Could Marc Porter be the turnaround artist that Sotheby’s urgently needs? If so, it may not be soon enough: “Because of a non-compete clause,” writes Kelly Crow for the Wall Street Journal, Porter won’t assume … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-12-07
Monday Recommendation: Brad Mehldau
Mehldau assembled this five-hour account of his solo piano mastery from tapes of concerts he played from 2004 to 2014. Applying the power of his technique and the … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-12-07
The Trumpet: A History. A Demonstration.
Trumpet virtuoso Bobby Shew sent a history of his instrument. The trumpet started as a weapon of war. It later became a signal/alert tool. This led it to become utilized for fanfare announcements. It then … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-12-08
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