Home » Posts tagged 'Books'
Tag Archives: Books
Interview with Morty Grindle
[I sat down with Morty Grindle a few months ago, just before the events of Dead of Night. Fictional characters often have a uniquie perspective on life, and Morty was no different. Here’s what he had to say.]
Darrell Pursiful: You’ve lived in Louisville for a while now.
Morty Grindle: That’s right, about six or seven years. Before that, I was in Saint Louis. And before that… well, a lot of places.
DP: Do you like it there?
MG: The people are nice. The pollen’s kinda rough in the spring. <laughs> With a nose like this, you think about things like that!
DP: I can imagine. So what do you do for fun?
MG: It’s fun enough meeting people, trying to make sure they have a nice stay. I work at the Brown Hotel, you know? Folks come through there from all over the world. You never know who’s gonna want something special—the name of a chiropractor who makes house calls, a table at Jeff Ruby’s. That kind of thing.
DP: And you can help them with that?
MG: If there’s one thing better than meeting people, it’s connecting the ones who need something with the ones who can give it to ‘em.
DP: So who’s the most interesting person you’ve helped?
MP: <straightens up> Listen, Mr. P., you want to talk about me, we’ll talk. Just don’t ask me about my clients, okay?
DP: I’m sorry, I just thought—
MG: ‘Cause that’s kinda sacred, if you know what I mean. They trust me to take care of ‘em. They don’t need anybody else up in their business. Got it?
DP: Absolutely. Please forgive me.
MG: Just so long as we understand each other.
DP: Of course. <flips through notes> You don’t live at the Brown.
MG: Nah. I got a place over in Underborough. It’s kinda small, but it suits me fine. The rent is cheap. Plus, there’s always lots going on in Underborough. Lots of merchandise goes through there, you know? The kind of stuff you don’t usually see on this side of the Mere. The other day I picked up a shamlee cap, and all I had to do was give a guy the number of a good lawyer that don’t ask too many questions.
DP: A shamlee cap?
MG: You put it on, and it makes you look human.
DP: Wow. I’d love to see something like that.
MG: I already traded it to a troll that lives under the Kennedy Bridge.
DP: Ah. I guess I assumed—
MG: That I’d keep it for myself? Why would I want to do that?
DP: What was I thinking?
MG: Now don’t get me wrong. I take care of my clients for a reason. I do ‘em favors, eventually I’m gonna call in a favor from them. That’s the way these things work. But I figure, wait till I need something big, you know? Until then, keep the deals in motion. That’s how you build trust.
DP: I don’t see how your system would work without trust.
MG: I know, right? A deal’s a deal. That’s what I always say. If you can’t live up to your end of it, then what kinda man are you?
DP: You seem pretty definite about that.
MG: Yeah, well. Not everybody treats it that way. Something I learned the hard way a few years back.
DP: Somebody went back on a deal?
MG: <eyes flashing> Somebody stabbed me in the sarding back, if you’ll pardon my language. <fists clenching> Jonbo Loudy. By the depths, if I ever see that bob-washer again…
DP: I didn’t mean to upset you.
MG: What? Oh, it wasn’t you. It just gets me kinda worked up, you know? Some folks think a promise still means something. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that not everybody sees it that way.
DP: That was a long time ago, wasn’t it?
MG: <shrugs> Don’t change nothing. Sure, I was just a kid back then. But there’s right and then there’s wrong, is all I’m saying.
DP: I see.
MG: And nobody—and I mean nobody—gets between me and my clients. That’s what Loudy taught me. I don’t need to learn it twice.
DP: You’ve lived in the Fallow for going on thirty years now. What do you appreciate most about it?
MG: What’s not to like? The music is great. Oh, and the food? Have you ever tried Thai food?
DP: Yes, it’s one of my favorites.
MG: Me too! I tell you, we didn’t have anything like that back in Cuttywatty. I still miss a good merrybrew, though, especially in the summer.
DP: I’m not familiar with that drink.
MG: It’s kind of traditional around the holidays. Gamaufry’s makes a pretty good brew, but it’s never as good as homemade. The secret’s in the berries. If you like, I can hook you up with a bottle or two. Just say the word.
DP: Thanks. I think I’ll pass.
MG: Your loss. If you ain’t looking for brew, how about a new suit? I know a guy in Saint Matthews—
DP: Maybe next time. Thanks for chatting with me today.
MG: My pleasure, Mr. P. Don’t be a stranger.
You can read Morty’s story in Dead of Night.
The night gets darker on July 1.
Science Marches On—But It Didn’t Step on Me (Yet)
In the Caretaker Trilogy, I have played with the conceit that the dwarves and trolls of world mythology are hominins from a parallel human lineage: Neanderthals, Denisovan hominins, etc. I’ve previously commented on how the prehistoric world has taken on a decidedly “Tolkienesque” tone in recent research. If anything, things are getting even more complex.
So I’ve been excited to learn that a recent scientific study has identified DNA from the Chinese Harbin skull, generally dubbed Homo longi or “Dragon Man” (from the Dragon River where it was found), as a Denisovan. Here is a nice, accessible summary:
What this means is that the Denisovans, formerly only known from a mandible, a finger bone, and a few other tiny fragments, now has a more or less complete skull and even a face.
I have always been careful in my behind-the-scenes resource documents to describe dwarves and trolls as “derived” species or “chronospecies”—not exactly what anthropologists are digging up from the earth, but close enough that I can draw on scientific findings to add flavor and detail. And now I’m glad I did, because this new finding doesn’t introduce any scientific gaffes into the Caretaker Trilogy. Nothing I have written about the physical appearance of trolls, the kindred that I’m basing on Denisovans, is suddenly flatly wrong because of the new information.
This is fascinating! And it doesn’t make me look uninformed to readers in the future! (Yes, I know, that’s an awfully selfish take on this major advance in the understanding of human evolution. But it is what it is.)
Anyway, you can read more about trolls and their cousins in Dead of Night, the second book in the Caretaker Trilogy, which is soon to be released.
The night gets darker on July 1.
PS: Isn’t “Dragon Man” a cool name?
What Should You Read Next?
There is a website that can tell you, as Erin McCarthy of mental_floss explains:
If you, like me, have ever finished a book and thought, “What should I read next?” then the aptly-titled website WhatShouldIReadNext.com is for you. Enter in a title, author, or ISBN number, and the site analyzes reviews and ratings from other readers and recommends books.
Is the Star Wars Universe Mostly Illiterate?
I don’t know, but this article by Ryan Britt made me think.
Not once in any Star Wars movie does someone pick up a book or newspaper, magazine, literary journal, or chapbook handmade by an aspiring Jawa poet. If something is read by someone in Star Wars, it’s almost certainly off of a screen (and even then, maybe being translated by a droid), and it’s definitely not for entertainment purposes. As early as the 1990s-era expanded Star Wars books and comic books, we’re introduced to ancient Jedi “texts” called holocrons, which are basically talking holographic video recordings. Just how long has the Star Wars universe been reliant on fancy technology to transfer information as opposed to the written word? Is it possible that a good number of people in Star Wars are completely illiterate?
He concludes,
Obi-Wan may have put a lightsaber in Luke’s hand, but really he and Qui-Gon should have been going around teaching people on poor planets to read years and years prior. After all, hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good book in your hands.
Indeed.
How to Find a Book in a Medieval Library
According to medievalist Erik Kwakkel, they used a sort of low-tech GPS system:
A book was tagged with a unique identifier (a shelfmark) that was entered into a searchable database (a library catalogue), which could subsequently be consulted with a handheld device (a portable version of the catalogue).
And now I want one.
The World Needs Books!
Preach it, Madison!
Sunday Inspiration: Books
A book is a dream that you hold in your hands.
—Neil Gaiman
Sunday Inspiration: Books
What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of magic.
—Carl Sagan
Darrell J. Pursiful 