What the Fran

Links: Books, reviews, and X-Files

Kind of fannish this roundup? And more of the usual: books, history, history, and books.

Why is pop culture obsessed with battles between good and evil?

In old folktales, no one fights for values. Individual stories might show the virtues of honesty or hospitality, but there’s no agreement among folktales about which actions are good or bad.

is "booktok slop" just today's pulp fiction? and encountered an ancient library rarity today from cherry's room.

The Life and Death of the Book Review because I've been reading a lot about book reviews recently. Sidenote, the paywall is so unpersuasive I'm not even sure it is a paywall.

Book reviewing, it would seem, has been in crisis from the start. As early as 1757, a contributor to Britain’s Literary Magazine complained that “critic is no longer an appellation of dignity,”

the world is not made up of words by Meadow links to Library of Babel: 'At present it contains all possible pages of 3200 characters, about 104677 books.'

Michael O. Church at the Republic of Letters, The Author Isn't Dead. It's So Much Worse Than That.

Truly excellent text can outlive those who write it. The oldest stories were refined by oral tradition over generations, a process that today’s authors and editors must replicate on a deadline.

We Might Have To Get A Little Less Fandom-y by Mo Drammeh

There is something really wrong with the way we talk about books on the Internet.

From Maaike Brinkhof, Ignore the humanities at your own peril

Studying history will make your eyes bleed because you learn that humans are basically idiots who make the same mistakes, over and over again.

Kimberley Hirsh's I am a time traveler from the 1990s links to The X-Files Has Made Me Nostalgic for a Time I Never Experienced

My brain exists in a perpetual 1993-1999, and when it encounters things that don’t belong in that milieu, it’s not because that milieu is old, it’s because I have somehow been transported into this dystopian future.

Also, Reactor Mag rated The 15 Best X-Files Monsters of the Week and I had arguments right up until the end because I love War of the Coprophages.

Something about bowling by angles morts really worked for me.

Descriptions of music in literature by Mouthguard is exactly the sort of list I like.

James is doing a podcast: Wonders of Web Weaving. Three episodes in already with great guests - most recently Bearblog's own Herman - and a lovely, chill style.

Secrets of Meowgic writes the funny and informative Leave Quantum Physics Alone (It did nothing to you.) Now also part two.

Zines as civic engagement from Good Golly Zines.

Emerson Wick made a webring: Queer Indie Authors Webring.

Just a couple of teeny ones on AI.

Brennan also wrote A Love Letter to Everything which is beautiful. And not about AI. All the entries to this month's IndieWeb carnival, Write a love letter hosted by Juhis, have been very charming and, well, lovely. Kami's Bearblog carnival prompt on favourite things in your niche hobby also has lots of fascinating posts about all sorts of niche interests.

I Spent a Decade in Love With a Vampire on the Internet by Celeste at default.blog.

I'm not sure how I feel about some of the observations in The Rise of Wonky Costume Dramas Is Getting Weird but I'm saving it here and will continue to think about it.

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#links