Back in Business

Yeah back on the scene. Oh don't worry, I am not going to offer any reasons why I was away. I know you have better things to do than that!

I was catching up on my reading and here's the motley bag of favourites from those. Some of these might be old stuff, nevertheless, grant me this indulgence for a little while.

Guardian culture vulture's site of the week is Love Libraries. An interesting idea to spread the interest in libraries. The site is designed using the in vogue pink (is that what the uber-differentiated call fuschia? Hmm...when in doubt, check everything. And checking everything means the spelling too. It is fuchsia, silly Echo).

In what I see as a case of a Eureka moment in a high-paying zombie existence, some people are now looking to hire housewives and non-graduates to cope with extreme attrition rates.

While being on fluids (not this fluid silly) is not all rosy, listening to Fluid promises to be different. Naveen Kumar-of-Rahman-Bombay-flute-fame's debut album sounds like something worth checking out.

I really enjoyed reading about Rushdie and Oates meeting students in Wilmington.

Wait a minute! You say talent is a matter of practice? (via, via). And the world seems to be listening.

I was skimming the Rushdie page in postcolonialweb, where, apart from wondering about Rushdie's classification under Pakistan (an idle mind is dangerous!), I also happened upon this article which compares Ishiguro's and Rushdie's style and relationship to their subject matter. What interested me were the parts talking about how each of them approach the concept of shame.

If the word "explicit" comes to mind when describing Rushdie's style, then the word "implicit" should aptly define Ishiguro's style. In essence, Rushdie and Ishiguro both focus on the concept and consequences of shame. But whereas Shame clearly shows us this central theme, Ishiguro's work approaches the same theme by not showing; the issue of shame remains unspoken.

The use of 'grant me this indulgence' a few lines earlier sent me searching for Cicero's speech about the Greek Poet Archias. This is where I first noticed that expression.

So long and thanks for saving all the fish :)

Update: there are other people saying thanks for all the fish too! Just noticed. Yeah, another so long to Manish.