8/30/12 - Trials, Tribulations, and Dostoyevsky

Hey Internet, it's me again. Things have been going pretty swimmingly for me this week. Schools really starting to ramp up again, and goodness gracious it's pounding down on me. Why did I ever think taking four AP classes as a Senior was a good idea? Is some deeply buried masochistic side of me trying to break to the surface? Who knows. On a much lighter note, I'm having a very productive time when I'm not being an academic. I've recently done some noodling on my synthesizers and recorded it via MIDI converter. I may just post it here in the near future.

Recently, after finally getting to read Faust - Part One of the Tragedy, I did a bit of looking around for a book for my AP Literature independent reading. I think I've finally settled on Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I had actually started reading the first chapter or two briefly last week while skimming through the novel. I had gone to the library and not exactly knowing where to start with the list, searched for a couple of the books. Crime and Punishment was one that particularly caught my attention. With an cool name like Fyodor, how could one argue? I finally settled on this one for two reasons: my father highly recommended it and the premise really caught me. This guy feels like he's destined to kill this old lady, and then proceeds to AXE-MURDER HER. Oh my giddy aunt. That is truly grim. That's also when it hit me. I realized that I was already familiar with an adaptation of the novel. Two years ago, I read parts of a manga called Tsumi To Batsu, by the great Osamu Tezuka. If you're not familiar with him, he created many long time favorites, such as Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. He's basically considered the Japanese equivalent of Walt Disney.

So with this book selected, I begin my required reading for the time being. It is a bit of a bulky book, so I might hold out on reading anything else. Once I complete it, I'll probably read Catch-22, because that's a book I've been meaning to read for years. Maybe I'll finally read Journey to the West, with a bit of Heinlein or Philip K. Dick on the side. We'll see how these books I can actually get to. I would be nice if some other classic books [LIKE FAUST] could be used for independent reading.  


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Literature I'm reading:

• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 

Stuff I want to read:

• Journey to the West (abridged, also known as Monkey King) by Wu Cheng'en 

                - One of these days, I'll get to it! I swear!

• Revolt in 2100 by Robert Heinlein
• The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

8/23/12 - The Nature of Fiction

I was recently thumbing through my literature textbook when I came upon a section that made a fascinating point. There are two kinds of fiction: commercial fiction and literary fiction. Unfortunately, many books that are popular in this day and age are of the former variety. I have found that many of the works I've come to truly appreciate are of the later type. Why is garbage like Twilight a New York Times Best Seller, but a riveting read like Robinson Crusoe left on the bookshelves? There really is a simple answer: sex; adventure; romance; it all pushes copies out the door. Now it may seem like I hate commercial fiction. This is far from the truth, in fact. I love the occasional peek into a Harry Potter book. Actually, the definitions of the two types are far from concrete. Really, one could call them rather arbitrary. American Gods (by Neil Gaiman), for example, is a book that I believe straddles the line between the to kinds of fiction. The book on the outside is very appealing to the common man; it has an intriguing plot, interesting characters, and that one sex scene that no one likes to talk about. However, if you look a bit deeper, you find heavy handed symbolism, deep themes, and insightful allusions. It just so happens that for a period of time, it was a New York Times Best Seller. Neil Gaiman (who I'm already a big fan of) is one of those authors who have proven that good literature can sell. Now, if only Alan Moore could do that again... (Write a good book, not sell copies, I mean)






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Literature I'm reading:

• Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 

Stuff I want to read:

• Journey to the West (abridged) by Wu Cheng'en

LitSpin is live!

Hello denizens of the internet! I am Oliver Nilsson: student, scholar, and sycophant extraordinaire. I come to you with this blog in order to give out my ongoing thoughts on literature and the study of it. The name of the blog, LitSpin, comes from this site being used as an outlet for me to put my "spin" on lit. Now you might ask, "Now what gives you the qualifications to make any judgments on "x"'s work!" That's the beauty of it; I have no qualifications! As I stated, I am a student. My insights are of one who has read some riveting reads, but still thirsts to learn more about some of the greats and the classics.

Expect some thoughts from me in the near future!