Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Monstrosity Gazette: A weekly smattering of all things literary...

Bookish Quote of the Day:

"When a book and a head collide and there is a hollow sound, is that always in the book?"

-Georg Christoph Lichtenberg



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Today in Literary History...


On this day in 1962 George Bernard Shaw's Androcles and the Lion was published in a new "fonetic alfabet," as commissioned by his will. Those who wished to attempt Shaw's cheaper, more rational system were instructed to "Keep the back of the book pressed against your lips, and advance toward the mirror until you are able to see the individual characters clearly enough to be able to copy them...."

For more literary history, visit Today in Literature.

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New Book On My Radar:


Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld
Pub: Simon Pulse, 2009
448 pages

Summary in a Sentence:

In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.

Read the Reviews:

Libri Dilectio, The Zen Leaf, and The Infinite Shelf.



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Interesting Links to Peruse: 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't completely decided if I want to read Leviathan or not. It's so different from his other works (or at least seems like it).

Love the fonetic alfabet! I'm getting my reading license, so can relate to it!

Amanda said...

Leviathan is so, so good.

Jill - if you read this - I felt the same way, but really Westerfeld pulls it off spectacularly and it doesn't end up feeling wholly different from the other books. I thought I'd think it was so-so, but it turned out to be one of my favorites of his, and I don't even like historical fiction and I'm not sure about steampunk. He does a brilliant job.

Anonymous said...

This is such a fun post! I love everything you included. Thanks for putting in my review and you should definitely read Leviathan...everyone should. It's awesome! =)

The romantic query letter and the happy-ever-after said...

'The man who mistook his wife for a hat,' oh, but it is brilliant, thanks of the link.
Have a great week.

Kirthi said...

The quote is hilarious! I love it! And the picture is beautiful

StephTheBookworm said...

Wow, this is great! Lots of cool information. I LOVE that literary picture you put up with the quote on it.

Becca said...

I love that quote! I also like the poem on the Literary Picture of the Day.

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