Warnings for Bloggers from E.B. White

It has been unusually hot in San Diego this past week, and with the excuse of avoiding the heat of my home, I ventured to a local bookstore to "enjoy the air-conditioning." Needless to say, it only took ten or so minutes before I had found a book that needed to come home with me. For some time I had been searching for a compilation of essays by E.B. White, the author of the beloved children's books Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan. Besides these works in children's literature, White has been heralded as one of the premier essayists of the twentieth-century.

As I was reading, I was struck with some of the similarities between the essayist of White's time and our modern day 'bloggers.' Now, I am not saying that many (or any for that matter) bloggers are of the same literary level as Woolf, Owell or White - but some similarities do seem to appear.

The excerpts bellow are all from White's own forward to his collection of essays Essays by E.B. White, published by HarperPerennial, 1992. When reading, it is not a far stretch to replace the 'essayist' with the 'blogger.'

The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest. He is a fellow who thoroughly enjoys his work, just as people who take bird walks enjoy theirs. Each new excursion of the essayist, each new "attempt," differs form the last and takes him into new country. This delights him. Only a person who is congenitally self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays.

I think some people find the essay the last resort of the egoist, a much too self-conscious and self-serving form for their taste; they feel that it is presumptuous of a writer to assume that his little excursions or his small observations will interest the reader. There is some justice in their complaint. I have always been aware that I am by nature self-absorbed and egoistical; to write of myself to the extent I have done indicates a too great attention to my own life, not enough to the lives of others.

Too, true. A blogger must first believe that someone, anyone, even a stranger, is interested in their day-to-day happenings and random thoughts. If you are not self-centered enough to believe that someone is out in cyberspace waiting and even excited to read your musings, you wouldn't have a blog in the first place!

Read on, however, for a warning to all you over-eager bloggers.

I tend still to fall back on the essay form (or lack of form) when an idea strikes me, but I am not fooled about the place of the essay in the twentieth-century American letters - it stands a short distance down the line. The essayist, unlike the novelist, the poet, and the playwright, must be content in his self-imposed role of second-class citizen. A writer who has his sights trained on the Nobel Prize or other earthly triumphs had best write a novel, a poem, or a play, and leave the essayist to ramble about, content with living a free life and enjoying the satisfactions of a somewhat undisciplined existence.

Ah, the pin that will pop our narcissistic bubble - our words are quickly forgotten, our thoughts read and disposed, each entry lasting only long enough to be checked off of someone's google reader list.

My Kindle

I have found one of the best inventions ever. The Amazon Kindle. It is an electronic reading device, and so much more. I'll admit, I was a little skeptical when I heard about an electronic device that would replace printed books, who would want to replace books? I'll be the first to say that I love printed books, and have bookshelf after bookshelf of my hundreds of favorite copies. But, I have since discovered just how wonderful an e-library can be.

First, let me give a quick summery of what a Kindle is exactly. The Kindle is a device that stores thousands of copies of books all in one location, you can instantly download almost any title from the internet to your Kindle no matter where you are, you don't have to be connected to a computer, no syncing to a computer, no wires, just push a button and you instantly have a new book in your hands. Did I mention that you are always connected to the internet? No subscriptions, no fees - free internet all the time. The screen uses an e-ink technology that looks like a printed page, so you can read for hours without the discomfort on the eyes of looking at a regular computer screen. Most of the books that you download are $9.99 at the most, many are under $1, and most classics are completely free for download. You can switch back and forth between reading different books, and the Kindle remembers exactly where you last left off in each of them.

Now, here is the reason I love my Kindle so much. Because, like I said, I love books. Electronic versions of books will not keep me from buying up lovely physical books. But, who wouldn't love to cary around your entire library with you in one small package? I can be at the park, in my office, at a coffee shop, in an airplane, on a roadtrip and access practically any book I could ever want - in an instant. No more choosing 30 lbs of books to take with me every time I travel, and then realizing that I wished I had brought something different. I can read whatever I'm in the mood for, or even download something new - in an instant. Not to mention that the price difference for ordering an ebook verses buying a hardcopy in the bookstore is an amazing savings.

Many books I will still buy in hard copy, but there are many books in the bookstore that I wouldn't purchase because I don't know if it will be worth the $25, now I can take a chance on those books for a fraction of the price...I've already discovered some great finds! The free collection of classics is enough to keep me reading nonstop for months! I'll let you know as I find more.

Three Cups of Tea

There is nothing I love more than hearing the stories of people who have allowed their lives to make a difference in this world. This is exactly the story of Greg Mortenson, who's amazing adventure is recorded in the book Three Cups of Tea.

Greg grew up as the son of missionaries on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, and developed a passion for mountain climbing. After moving back to the states, Greg worked just enough hours as a nurse in order to finance his next mountain climbing adventure.

The fateful trip that changed Greg's life forever and was an attempt at climbing the second biggest and the most difficult peak in the world, K2 in Pakistan. On the trip, Greg was separated from his climbing group, he eventually ended up
weak and exhausted and close to death in a little village called Korphe. The village people cared for him and when he was ready to find his way back to a city he asked how he could repay their kindness. The people asked for a school for their children.



Greg made it back to the states, but couldn't forget the request of the village in Pakistan. He was nothing more a mountain climber, with no experience starting rural schools in a volatile country like Pakistan. But, nonetheless Greg went back to work, lived out of his car, and saved every penny he made in order to buy building supplies for the village.

Through a series of miraculous events Greg was entrusted with a large amount of money, to start building. To date, Greg has built over 78 schools throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan, educating over 28,000 children. Children who's only other offer at education is from terrorist organizations that teach them militant Islam.




Greg Mortenson is now head of The Central Asia Institute who's goal is to build even more schools and to provide education for girls in countries where education is only offered to boys.

To me, the amazing thing is that Greg was just a regular guy going about his everyday life when he was presented with a chance to make a difference. He was not given an easy chance, he was presented with a huge, some would say impossible task of building a school in a country he knew next to nothing about, with no funds, no experience, and no one to help. But Greg still decided to go for it, and now over 28,000 children have been given an education. What an amazing life!



Read the book, the entire story is incredible! I promise you will enjoy it and be amazingly inspired.

The Zookeeper's Wife, by Diane Ackerman

I stumbled across the book, The Zookeeper's Wife, by Diane Ackerman while window shopping at the bookstore across the street (yes, I was so excited moving into my new apartment when I realized that I could literally walk across the street and into bookstore - heaven!).

The Zookeeper's Wife reads like a novel but is in all actuality a superbly written historical volume, complete with bibliographies and an appendix filled with further information on the subjects in the story. Ackerman tells the story of a zookeeper and his wife who hid Jews from the Nazi regime in their Warsaw zoo. Guests are given animal code names as they hide in animal cages and habitats, and animals are given human names all in the effort to deceive the occupying Nazi forces. Their story is frequently accented with intriguing nuggets of historical information on the inner workings of the Nazis and their quest for a resurgence of classical Germany - which not only included a pure Aryan race, but the little know effort to restore native German plants and even extinct German animals. The Nazis truly wanted only 'pure' Germany to remain and were working to remove any traces of human, plant or animal life that was alien.

You will be amazed not only by the wealth of research you will find in this book but by the eloquence with which it is communicated. The story is so intriguing and I am amazed that it's subject matter has not been written about before this point - and I am sure we will be seeing a movie soon in theater's about this amazing true-to-life story.

Anna and the King of Siam

I just finished the book, Anna and the King of Siam, by Margaret Landon 1943. Despite controversy over the complete historical accuracy of the book (as well as the pursuing movies, The King and I, and Anna and the King) no one can argue the amazing character of Anna Leonowens whose actions shaped an entire kingdom.

She took a post as school mistress for the 60-80 children (not to mention many of the wives and concubines) of the king of Siam. During her years in Siam she was able to intervene to the king of behalf of many of his subjects that would otherwise never have received justice. She freed many from slavery, saved others form wrongful imprisonment or beating, and was an advocate for the women of the kings harem who had next to no freedoms. She faced danger, hardship, and intrigue because she believed that she might be able to affect the future of a country by teaching it's future rulers the value of human rights.

Years after leaving Siam she received countless letters from those within Siam telling her that she would not recognize the country any longer, it's people were free, justice was being administered and education was coming to many of its citizens. One of her students had become king and ruled with justice and a belief in human freedom that was instilled their by his former school mistress, Anna Leonowens.

What an amazing true story of how one person's convictions and actions can change the world for so many.

While reading the book, I've been in the mood to watch the musical, The King and I! I think I'm going to have to get it from my Netflix account soon.

The Cellist of Sarajevo

I am extremely taken with this book by Steven Galloway, set in 1992 Sarajevo while the city was under siege. The story finds it's central theme from the true events in Sarajevo after 22 people were killed in the city streets from mortar fire while they were in a bread line. Overwhelmed with sorrow and hopelessness because of the senseless deaths, a cellist from the Sarajevo orchestra puts on his tux and sits in the hole left in the street from the ghastly attack and vows to play his cello there for 22 days in honor of each of the victims.

Beautifully written, this short book follows the lives of 4 different characters as they discover how to stay human despite the horror and hate that surrounds them. It is a timeless book, that could be set in any war torn city during any period of history. The themes of hope, humanity, hate, fear and death are beautifully woven together and create an amazing story that will definitely stay with you long after you have put the book down.

This is a book I promise you will enjoy, no matter your age or literary preference. My husband doesn't read much fiction but after he read the first chapter I had to fight him to get a chance to read it.

Read an excerpt below:

It screamed downward, splitting air and sky without effort. A target expanded in size, brought into focus by time and velocity. There was a moment before impact that was the last instant of things as they were. Then the visible world exploded.

In 1945, an Italian musicologist found four bars of a sonata's bass line in the remnants of the firebombed Dresden Music Library. He believed these notes were the work of the seventeenth-century Venetian composer Tomaso Albinoni, and spent the next twelve years reconstructing a larger piece from the charred manuscript fragment. The resulting composition, known as Albinoni's Adagio, bears little resemblance to most of Albinoni's work and is considered fraudulent by most scholars. But even those who doubt its authenticity have difficulty denying the Adagio's beauty.

Nearly half a century later, it's this contradiction that appeals to the cellist. That something could be almost erased from existence in the landscape of a ruined city, and then rebuilt until it is new and worthwhile, gives him hope. A hope that, now, is one of a limited number of things remaining for the besieged citizens of Sarajevo and that, for many, dwindles each day. Read Full Chapter

Mall Library

I was Christmas shopping this past week at the Tukwila mall outside of Seattle and what did I see but a library in the mall! I had never seen anything like it before. The opening to the library looked like a high-tech coffee shop/book store. There were a dozen or so nice computer stations around the room, large screen tv's with scrolling artwork, news updates on a screen, everything was high quality. I think the smartest move were all of the book displays around the building. There were displays advertising books of special interest in a way that might attract a teenager.

What a great way to expose people who wouldn't regularly use a library, or even read for that matter, to a wide range of books. The mall library is very non-threatening and very inviting. There aren't all the rows and rows of endless books, but rather shelves set up like a book shop with lots of open space and work stations. You walk by and instantly want to go in to see what is happening there. I'm sure that plenty of people go into the library in the mall simply for the free Internet and computers and then end up seeing a book that looks interesting. Most of the patrons had most likely never stepped foot in a library previously, but now because the library has come to them they have a library card and may even visit a real branch with a wider selection of books. Hats off to whoever came up with this idea. My only addition would be a small coffee bar - because what could be better than coffee and free books?