E.A. Bucchianeri's Blog: Books, Babble and Blarney - Posts Tagged "bucchianeri"

Recently, several reviewers have commented upon my decision not to include an index in my latest publication, “Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World” (2 Vols), declaring the work would be enhanced by one.

Why did I leave it out you ask? That is an interesting question.

While completing research for this in-depth study on the Faust legend, I made a curious self-discovery with regards to my attention span while reading. While I usually am a thorough reader (and do not skip footnotes!), I noticed in certain instances when my research sources did not contain an index, my study was truly profitable and enlightening. I knew I could not take the material lightly when there was no index to allow me ‘revise’, or return to general subject areas. I was compelled to read a book from cover to cover lest I missed a crucial piece of information, I slowed down and paid very close attention to the material, wrote more detailed notes and made a serious effort to comprehend what exactly the author was trying to impart.

Admit it college students—how many times have you skimmed through an introduction or cherry-picked pieces of data using an index, not paying too much attention to details, but searching out piecemeal the general information you need ASAP in a book, without reading it, just to pass the class or feverishly write that essay you left slide too close to the submission deadline?

What has happened to our understanding of education, that information should be truly studied and absorbed to ensure our personal development? Are we using the indexes and introductions in books to float through life, pretending we are learned and have acquired knowledge when we are only skating around on the surface simply to ‘get by’? No doubt, this age of digital television, video games, high-speed communication consisting of one-liner SMS texts and quick e-mails with truncated spelling has contributed to the growing abhorrence for substantial intellectual reading.

Of course, I understand how useful an index is, that it is an invaluable tool for research, however, I first decided not to include one in “Faust” for the simple reason I did not want people to “speed read” through these volumes that took years of research, blood, sweat and tears to complete. Perhaps that is too much to ask for! However, there is another practical reason at the moment: “Faust” is still a work in progress as I plan to add a third, and maybe a fourth volume. If I had added an index in each volume that exists now, it (or they) would not be easy to use as information is split between the books.

What is the solution? As soon as “Faust” is complete, and because people really would like an index, I plan to publish one in its own volume that would incorporate all the volumes, allowing readers to find the material they need without having to comb through the back of every book in the series.

Now, to try and get Faust finished ….

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http://greatbooks.bravehost.com/index...

In the good old days of the printing press when texts were set by hand letter by letter, it was easy to make typos as all the type had to be set backwards like the image in a mirror to ensure it would print correctly on the velum or paper. Whenever a mistake would show up in the printed work, it was always blamed on the ‘printer’s devil’ similar to our ‘gremlins’ today. Eventually the poor apprentices in the print shop were stuck with the title as they carried out a considerable amount of typesetting and were blamed when type went missing. They were usually covered in black ink, which didn't help, giving them the appearance of devilish imps.

However, why are we still stuck with typos when we have electronic equipment with keyboards to handle the typesetting and spell-checking? No longer do printers have to envision sentences backwards in order to print a book or newspaper. Perhaps the two paragraphs below may help solve this annoying riddle:

“Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a tatol mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.”

Stargne, ins’t it?

Now take a look at the poem below, (it might help if you read it out loud):

“Spell Check Poem”
Also known as…
“The Pullet Surprise Can Did Ate”

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea,
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight for it two say,
Weather eye and wring oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long,
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should bee proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw's are knot aloud.
Eye have run this poem threw it
Your sure reel glad two no,
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
-Sauce unknown

In this electronic age, perhaps ‘Printer’s Devils’ have evolved into ‘Spell Checker Spirits’?

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Having spent several years delving into the world of classical music and the Faust legend, it was time to try something completely different--a novel.

My first fiction publication will be published May 21, 2011:

Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

Creative and impetuous, Katherine Walsingham has simple but grand plans after she receives her Masters degree in art--to defiantly strive for the highest ideals in her work contrary to modernist trends, and, like many artists, to open her own gallery, right in the heart of fashionable Manhattan, never suspecting the successes and triumphs, bumps and trials that will head her way. Consumed with her career goals and not prepared to settle down just yet, she discovers life and love have a strange way of turning all her best laid plans topsy-turvy ... with bittersweet consequences.

Brushstrokes of a Gadfly is a story brimming with vibrant and entertaining characters that only New York's High Society and art circles can provide. It is a colourful and amusing novel tinged with human tragedy.

For more information, please visit the Brushstrokes of a Gadfly Page

We accept writers love to write, others assert it's a compulsion, even when the dreaded curse of “Writer's Block” threatens to charge out of the murky recesses of the mind at times and seize control, until held at bay once more by the Knight of Inspiration with his sword—the mighty pen.

But changing genres? That is a daunting step to take. Until now, I have written non-fiction books and have felt quite comfortable in this familiar sphere, that is, until I completed Volume 2 on “Faust”, which literally wore me out. So much data to process! A break was needed to cool the over-heated mind and a novel was the perfect solution.

At first, easier said than done; the last fictional works I wrote, other than a short story in college, were my English compositions for high school. Was it possible for me to switch back after all this time? Why not? If I dared to analyse other authors, it was high time I wrote my first book. While working on “Brushstrokes of a Gadfly” I discovered many of the old clichés and quotes by famous authors about writing were true, or half true, and thought I would share them.

* “The scariest moment is always just before you start.” ~ Stephen King

True. There are many doubts, or at least, niggling insecurities that try to hold you back, especially with a first novel. Stephen King no longer has to worry about building a fan base, but for a new novelist, staring at a blank page can be intimidating, even when you have a story just waiting to be put on paper, or the hard drive, whatever the case may be. Can I write an entire book people will find interesting to read? Develop believable characters? Construct a decent plot? Write scenes that have action and movement, even if the book is not a crime novel or a thriller? Set my story in a city I have never visited past the airport during flight changes and rely on research? You can only try, there comes a time you have to stop worrying what people might think, and concentrate on what is important for your story. If you try and please the readers first, or write just what you think will sell, the story will not ring true. Deep down people want something truthful, believable, perhaps just entertaining, or something that makes them observe life in a way they didn't before. They can tell if something is geared for their pocketbook rather than their sensibilities. Even if they don't like your book or agree with everything you have written, at least they may have read something new. Reading is supposed to broaden horizons, not narrow them.

* Your opening paragraph or scene must be a “Grabber” and hook your readers at the very beginning.

This I would say is half or two-thirds true. Yes, it is important to write a vivid introduction to draw the reader into your story, but it is only an introduction after all. In a few of the old classics, I've read some opening paragraphs or first chapters that seem pretty boring in my view, it's after those sections we really see the tale and characters unfold that in the end made these books classics. Today, some writers are so adamant on hooking the reader with searing barbs that it smacks of desperation. “Read me!” “Read me!” It's like being introduced to someone, and instead of a nice firm handshake, they grab your hand and crunch your knuckles while screaming their name, just to make sure you know who they are. Or, authors put so much information into their opening chapter with a bewildering amount of graphic description they can't continue the momentum and the action slows to a crawl until you reach some pivotal moments of the plot. That nearly turns me off a book! In answer to this, I tried to achieve a balance between introducing several of my key characters at an important event that I could carry through the rest of the novel, yet not do anything so shocking in the first opening paragraphs that I've completely assaulted my readers. I wanted my first novel to blossom into a majestic oak, not shoot up like a weed only to be stepped on.


* The characters tend to write themselves. They become like living, breathing people.

So true, it's scary. How can people you invent in your imagination become so lifelike? Because authors draw their characters from life around them. Perhaps not exact characters, authors also experiment in combining different character traits, but authors use what they observe, and before long, characters do feel like real people that you have known all your life. I used to be sceptical of this old cliché until it felt like all my characters wanted to run away and do their own thing, and I had to lasso them back into place when and where I needed them at times! It became so natural to find myself saying, “No, Steves wouldn't say that, he would do this instead,” when I really wanted him to say something, but it didn't suit him. Or “I know what Aunt Martha's going to say when she finds this out! She'll have Katherine and the family in knots...”, thus the characters helped write the story and fill the blanks, I didn't have too much to say in the matter. One character refused to go in the direction I had originally planned for him, he rebelled entirely. The story completely changed course because of it, I can't give details without ruining the book for you, but if I forced him to go the way I had envisioned, it literally wouldn't have worked, the story would have sounded “artificial” if it wasn't true to the way the character had eventually developed. It went beyond my control, which leads us to another observation ...

* Dorris Lessing said in an interview that none of her books turned out the way she expected them to.

Well, it happened with this novel, but that is a topic for another blog post. To be continued!

Authors, have you experienced any of the above? Comment if you feel so inclined.

Recently, Chinese scientists have developed genetically modified cows that produce human breast milk for babies, but now, recycling has descended to a whole new level...a Japanese scientist has figured out how to modify our human waste into edible, delectable steak burgers.

Yes, you read that correctly—poop into meat products, and to think, we used to look down on Spam, America's most misunderstood meat.

Well now my Cyber friends, where does this leave us? What has happened to food regulations?

It is obvious we will have to pay very close attention to everything we buy in cans that suggest meat products in the ingredients, not to mention anything that's dehydrated, ground up, and especially, anything shipped from Japan!

Be extra careful those who plan to visit the Land of the Rising Sun, how would you like to sit down to medium rare Sh—t steak and Shitake mushrooms? Can you picture the sewage plants opening up “meat” stalls?

I thought I had heard and seen everything, but now I realize, I may still have a long road to travel. Who knows what they will come up with tomorrow, everyday is becoming a trip down Bizarre Boulevard.

On a “You Need to Know” basis, here is the Yahoo News article. I discovered it through a friend on Facebook, I nearly dropped off my chair:

“This feels like a Vonnegut plotline: population boom equals food shortage. Solution? Synthesize food from human waste matter. Absurd yes, but Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible steaks from human feces.
Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed steaks based on proteins from human excrement. Tokyo Sewage approached the scientist because of an overabundance of sewage mud. They asked him to explore the possible uses of the sewage and Ikeda found that the mud contained a great deal of protein because of all the bacteria.
The researchers then extracted those proteins, combined them with a reaction enhancer and put it in an exploder which created the artificial steak. The “meat” is 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. The researchers color the poop meat red with food coloring and enhance the flavor with soy protein. Initial tests have people saying it even tastes like beef.
Inhabitat notes that “the meatpacking industry causes 18 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the release of methane from animals.” Livestock also consume huge amounts of resources and space in efforts to feed ourselves as well as the controversy over cruelty to animals. Ikeda’s recycled poop burger would reduce waste and emissions, not to mention obliterating Dante’s circle for gluttons.
The scientists hope to price it the same as actual meat, but at the moment the excrement steaks are ten to twenty times the price they should be thanks to the cost of research. Professor Ikeda understands the psychological barriers that need to be surmounted knowing that your food is made from human feces. They hope that once the research is complete, people will be able to overlook that ugly detail in favor of perks like environmental responsibility, cost and the fact that the meat will have fewer calories.
Waste not; want not.”

Yahoo News, "Japan scientist synthesizes meat from human feces"/a>