Wednesday's Writerly Happenings

We All Drink From The Same Cup

We all envy someone or something at some time or another. It’s natural. But what you envy, and your expression of it, sheds light on your person. It reveals your character. In this past week Dan Brown’s novel sold over a million copies. And that’s despite the book’s being lambasted by nearly every credible critic in the literary land. We are not defending Brown’s prose. Frankly, it’s rubbish. But we do question the motivation behind the more scathing denouncements. Is it envy of Brown’s ability to sell his work that stirs critics so, or are critics simply looking out for the good of the reading public? Either way, the Ethiopian Review has compiled a list of Brown’s 20 worst sentences. At the very least it gives fledgling writers hope. Envy is one thing. Death is another. It waits for us all. The Walrus examines the meaning of our fate. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize announced its winners yesterday. Euripides is the grandfather of macabre. But did his work inspire rock ‘n roll? Speaking of music, it’s Bruce Sprinsteen’s birthday. And the old troubadour is still at it. The New Yorker is blogging all of its archives, the poet C.P. Cavafy is reviewed in The Critical Flame, and Iowa City remains high on the literary totem pole. It’s enough to make you envious. But fear not, gentle reader. Dark Sky Magazine envies right along with you. — Kevin Murphy

– Here’s what happens when you turn forty-five. You realize you will only ever read so many books — how much time have you got left for reading? — and you had better only read the good ones. There are only so many movies, so many trips, so many new friends, so many family barbecues with the sun going down over the long grass. It has always been this way. Finite. But at forty-five you realize it. — Death in The Walrus

– If Dan Brown’s new novel The Lost Symbol is anything like his previous works, it will not go down well with the critics. Famously, comedian Stewart Lee mocked him for using the sentence “The famous man looked at the red cup” in his bestselling The Da Vinci Code. — Dan Brown in Ethiopian Review

– “With great courage, passion, and wisdom, each of this year’s winners sheds new light on the devastating impact of war, violence, and poverty, while inspiring readers to work towards peace and the advancement of human rights,” said Sharon Rab, chair of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. “It’s especially noteworthy that three of the books honored this year – Half the Sky, A Crime So Monstrous, and Say You’re One of Them – put a much-needed spotlight on the tragedy of contemporary slavery, an issue that has been ignored for far too long.” — Awards in the Dayton Literary Peace Prize

Euripides: The Father Of Rock?

– Greek tragedy and rock opera — the two seem diametrically opposed, one ancient and dignified, the other contemporary and raucous. Yet music can be effectively wed to gritty subject matter; Brecht and Weill’s “The Threepenny Opera” and “The Who’s Tommy” are just two examples. And what about “Sweeney Todd”? With its choral commentary and themes of cruelty and revenge, it has much in common with Greek tragedy. — Euripides in the Salt Lake Tribune

– It’s been less than a year since Iowa City was designated by UNESCO as the third City of Literature in the world. Edinburgh, Scotland, and Melbourne, Australia, also have received the designation. While perhaps not the cause of strong attendance, the reception to new writers is evidence of why Iowa City received the designation, said Christopher Merrill, director of the international program. — Iowa City Writers in the Press Citizen

Cavafy Translates Well

– W.H. Auden famously observed that Cavafy’s poetry seemed to survive translation remarkably well, and that it was marked by “a tone of voice, a personal speech immediately recognizable as a poem by Cavafy; nobody else could possibly have written it.” That Cavafy’s poetry translates so well is at least partly a function of his unique style. (The rest is the mystery of his genius.) — C.P. Cavafy in the Critical Flame

– Today we launch Back Issues, formerly a department in our News Desk blog, as its own blog on newyorker.com. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll use this space to delve through more than eighty years of New Yorker history, with an eye to relating that history to the happenings of the day. Our chief goal will be to make this vast resource approachable and useful to our readers. — Back Issues in the New Yorker

Video: Happy Birthday Bruce Springsteen