“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”
– Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger’s A Catcher in the Rye
“It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.”
– Ernest Hemingway
No commentary necessary. This one speaks for itself.
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
― Mark Twain
Not sure I have anything profound to say about this one, other than I generally find that in life, one often meets many people who feel they have to knock others down just to make themselves look good in comparison. Why do people feel the need to do that? I don’t know.
This quote can definitely apply to writing. Show of hands – how many of you have been laughed out of the room after mentioning you’re working on a novel?
It’s ok. The people who haven’t been bitten by the writing bug will never understand. Just hang out and commiserate with other writing bug bite sufferers.
Happy Veterans Day!
For the past week, I’ve been offering “Literary War Quotes” – quotes from classic pieces of literature, as a tie in to my latest obsession with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. I’m half-way through the campaign and have just learned that Kevin Spacey’s character is the bad guy. Who knew?
It is probably about time to conclude this series of posts with this quote:
“You were just babies in the war – like the ones upstairs! But you’re not going to write it that way, are you? You’ll pretend that you were men instead of babies and you’ll be played in the movies by Frank Sinatra and John Wayne or some of those other glamorous, war-loving, dirty old men. And war will look just wonderful, so we’ll have a lot more of them. And they’ll be fought by babies like the babies upstairs.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
This quote, taken from Vonnegut’s 1969 novel, illustrates an ongoing problem in pop culture – glorification of violence. In TV, in movies, heck even in video games like the one I’m playing now, war is portrayed as exciting, noble, adventurous and so on. The heroic parts are played by actors who have never seen war. And while it is all well and good to portray the heroic and exciting aspects of war, there needs to be balance – the dark side of war needs to be shown as well.
Vonnegut’s point may have made more sense in his day. In his day, Sinatra or John Wayne would go on screen, do heroic deeds, give patriotic speeches, and then the audience would rarely ever see the blood and guts that occurs during war. Today, movies have done a complete turnaround and some may argue they show too much.
But overall, wars are usually fought by young people who are just starting out in life and learning about things – this is something we should keep in mind and it can be hard to do when Hollywood often portrays soldiers as battle hardened veterans ready for anything.
This may seem like a silly point to argue but the public can’t be led to think that wars are all flag waving and patriotic adventures, there is a steep price in human suffering that gets paid as well.
That concludes my series of quotes from literature about war. Sorry if it bummed you out, my intention was more to get people thinking. At any rate, it is time to move on to more lighthearted topics.
PS – Equally fitting because today is Kurt Vonnegut’s Birthday! Happy Birthday Kurt!
Bookshelf Battler here, reporting live from the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare battlefront. I have to hand it to this game. Such ultimate realism – the sights, the sounds, the blasts, the getting shot twenty times and then hiding behind a corner until you get better – ok, so maybe the realism factor isn’t all that high but still it is an all around A+ game.
This week I’m celebrating this game with a tie-in to literary war quotes – mentions in literature about that most necessary (or unnecessary?) of all evils – war. War. Ungh. Goo God yah huh – what’s it even good for? Absolutely nothin.’
In 1984, (the book, not the year that happened thirty years ago – hey what do you know, Happy Anniversary 1984!) by George Orwell, a vivid portrait the ultimate police state is created, so much so that the novel gave rise to the phrase, “Big Brother is watching you.”
What did this book have to say about violence – as in organized violence ,or in other words, war? Check it out:
“Those who abjure violence can only do so by others committing violence on their behalf.” – George Orwell, 1984
Don’t be fooled by the catchy use of the word, “Battle” in the title of this blog. I’m all for peace, happiness, and tranquility. But George makes a good point. Constant threats abound – both from criminal degenerates at home and terrorists abroad. We are able to sit around and type on our blogs, drink our Mountain Dew, and play our video games because “rough men,” i.e. police and soldiers are taking up arms on our behalf and keeping the bad guys at bay. Here’s what else George had to say on the subject:
“People sleep peacefully in their beds only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” – George Orwell, 1984
My opinion, police and military types often get a bad rap. They’re often portrayed in pop culture as savages, jerks, people on a power trip who just enjoy committing acts of violence and while I suppose there will always be a few bad apples in any bunch, we have to be honest with ourselves and realize that we are able to live peaceful lives because the government employs “rough men” (and hey – even “rough women!” to fight on our behalf.
This concept was further immortalized in the 1992 military courtroom drama film, A Few Good Men. Remember the character Col. Nathan Jessup played by Jack Nicholson? Here’s the direct quote of his infamous “You Can’t Handle the Truth!” speech:
“Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know – that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We used these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.” – Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men
Well, maybe this is not the best example since Jessup was the bad guy in the film but overall, the main point – if you feel the need to criticize police and the military for being “rough men,” try to also keep in mind that their “roughness” is very much needed.
And don’t forget – my Call of Duty character will be exploded 50 times tonight by frag grenades, many of which I tossed accidentally at my own feet, so that you can play peaceful video games like Mario Kart and Minecraft.
Full disclosure – I have to give props to NBC’s The Blacklist because Raymond “Red” Reddington used Orwell’s quote in this week’s episode. When I heard it, I was like, “Thank you, James Spader! There’s a blog post!”
In conclusion – don’t forget to subscribe to this blog and follow @bookshelfbattle.com on Twitter.
And if you’re a Walking Dead fan – stop by Sunday night to discuss the latest episode! What is Carol going to do as a patient at the evil hospital, anyway?
Bookshelf Battler here, reporting live from the Call of Duty home base. I am working on my fighting skills and have perfect a move where I run my character into a wall for thirty seconds until another player stealthily sneaks up behind me and either a) rudely shoots me in the back b) knifes me in the back c) lobs a grenade at me or d) a combination of a, b, and c.
All part of my genius plan to wear the enemy down. Once the opposing forces are exhausted from constantly throttling me, I’ll strike! (And run into the wall for an entire minute before I figure out how to turn around).
Are you playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare? Take a break to read today’s literary war quote:
“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.” – Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway’s 1929 novel, A Farewell to Arms is a classic love story set against the backdrop of World War I. Heartbreaking and perhaps even depressing, it pulls no punches in illustrating the plight of those who fight.
What about the above quote? Essentially, Hemingway is saying that the world is such a harsh place that sooner or later it brings down everyone – pessimist and optimist alike. Is that true? Is there anyone who ever manages to get through life without being dragged down by some of the crueler aspects of the world?
Press the pause button on your remote control and share your thoughts in the comment section! As always, thanks for dropping by and don’t forget to follow @bookshelfbattle on Twitter.
Happy Election Day!
We here at bookshelfbattle.com (and by “we” I haven’t decided whether I am referring to the royal “we” or to the mouse in my pocket) are non-political. Whether you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, or if you belong to one of those odd parties that believes we should turn the government over to space aliens and/or robots, all we want to do is to discuss something that transcends party lines – the written word. Also, we want your clicks – your sweet, sweet web page clicks. So while you’re already here, don’t be a slacker – click on an extra button or two.
Have you ever read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams? It is by far one of the funniest novels ever written, and it is a fairly short and easy read, so there’s no excuse to not check it out. Honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself for not reading it already. Go read it. I won’t bother to get into the plot because I intend to have a review of this book coming soon.
Adams wrote a number of sequels set in the Hitchhiker universe. Here’s a quote from one of them that provides some proverbial food for thought:
“The major problem-one of the major problems, for there are several – one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” – Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Of course, Adams was discussing the intergalactic politics of his fictional universe, but it still applies to today’s politics. In my opinion, today’s political contests have basically become glorified beauty contests where the person who talks the fastest, promises the most, or looks the best wins. Abraham Lincoln would never win an election today because the media would be all like, “Who cares if he’s the Great Emancipator? Have you seen his craggy face?!”
Sure, there are many politicians who run because they want to do good deeds and believe their ideas are just and true. On the other hand, there are a lot of politicians who just want to see their names on signs and get lots of fame and applause.
There are many intelligent people who would be great leaders who shy away from the entire process because their intelligence tells them that they might as well ignore politics altogether rather than get involved and have the media pepper them with questions like, “How many times did you pick your nose in third grade? Nose-picker Gate! Film at Eleven!”
In conclusion, whether you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Friends of the Space Aliens Party – enjoy watching tonight’s election results. May the candidates that suit your personal agendas be victorious and as always, may you crack open a book and share your literary wisdom on bookshelfbattle.com
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