The Book, the Novel--past, present and future

By chance, I've read three oddly related articles in the past couple of weeks.

The first is on the historical evolution of books and how the codex is the form that lent itself to thenonlinear readingp reading of the novel, while the ebook, not so much.

The second has to do with how one of the first modern novels, if not the first, Don Quixote, shaped the way the Western world saw itself, giving us the ability to believe what we read and not believe it simultaneously.

And finally, a present day chronicler demonstrates what good fiction does .

Not that I needed convincing.

A word from Kimberly Davis on her brother Troy

You can find the petition to spare his life HERE .

Shouldn't We Fix These Bridges?

I know it's Rachel Maddow, but it doesn't really seem like a political question, or, indeed a hard one to answer...

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One World

The image of earth from space is magnificent. I remember hearing more than one person that I respected positing that being able to see that we all inhabit the same planet would have the effect of making us feel the unity of our life on earth. Sadly, I don't think it has necessarily panned out that way.

Maybe the problem is that the view from space, that image on the Whole Earth Catalog, for instance, doesn't actually show any people. This video from Kiva, the microlending brokerage, showing the interaction between lenders and borrowers paying back is a bit more dynamic. Maybe it will help our understanding.

Intercontinental Ballistic Microfinance from Kiva Microfunds on Vimeo.