Welcome to the weekend. This weeks hand picked articles include a story about JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth love story, Beren and Lúthien. Did you know that Tolkien related his courtship and marriage of Edith (his wife) to a story he wrote of an immortal elven maiden, Luthien, sacrificing her immortality in order to marry a mortal man, Beren. This story was eventually published as part of The Silmarillion. Tolkien self-consciously equated Luthien with Edith and himself with Beren based on a walk they took in a wood some time later when Tolkien was recuperating during World War I. He even had “Luthien” inscribed on Edith’s tombstone and “Beren” carved into his own.
Mark Horne, J.R.R. Tolkien (Christian Encounters Series), pg. 45
Grab your favourite beverage, perhaps a beer brewed at the Green Dragon and enjoy your weekend reading.
|
|
| Beren and Lúthien, a story of the perilous romance between a man and an elf, is one of a number of texts by the author brought ‘together for the first time’ JRR Tolkien’s legend of the mortal man Beren and the immortal elf Lúthien – a story that meant so much to the Lord of the Rings author that the characters’ names are engraved on the headstone shared by him and his wife – is to be published next year. |
|
|
|
|
| Bookshops are the platypus of the retail world. Not only are they part of an industry with a unique obsession with and attachment to its products, but they are also one of the types of retailers which are the most susceptible to losing business to online competitors. Like music, the discoverabilty of books often works better online than in stores, and that has the potential to make booksellers as redundant as music stores (which have closed in record numbers both in the US and around the globe). |
|
|
|
|
| The question gets asked in a few different ways: What’s your favorite book? What should I read right now? Can you make me a recommendation? It never comes with a preamble, instead it arrives like an unexpected volley, which I, never athletic, struggle to return. There is no way to answer this question without knowing who’s asking. At this point, the question asked, all I know is that you’re the type of person to ask it without forethought. |
|
|
|
|
| When I worked at Penguin, my IT guy would refer to books as data. As you might imagine, this didn’t go down so well with the editorial teams. Fast forward a couple of decades though and his terminology can be seen as prophetic of how some big tech companies see the arts, culture and books. In July, Google Arts & Culture launched a new app and website which allows you to “immerse yourself in cultural experiences across art, history and wonders of the world – from more than a thousand museums across 70 countries”. You can also subscribe to the new Google Arts & Culture YouTube channel. |
|
|
|
|
| Over the past few years we've seen ereader and other epaper displays which were powered wirelessly by NFC. Now Microsoft has come up with a design for an epaper post-it note which is powered by ambient lighting. |
|
|
Head over to my
Facebook page
The BistroMath to join the conversation. While you're there 'like' it so you are notified when new posts are up. You can also follow me on
Twitter or
Google+. To do so click on the images below.
Comments
Post a Comment
Feedback is welcome.