BOOKS
Inner Drives
|
The Power of |
Romantic Comedies
|
Beyond the
Hero’s Journey |
Pitching Tips
from Classic Writers |
Show Me the Love |
SYMBOLS.IMAGES.CODES
Books can be powerful, magical, and dangerous, depending on who wrote them, what they’re about, and how they affect people.
If knowledge is power, then the knowledge to transmit ideas over time and space is certainly powerful. Whether it’s a recipe for blancmange, a technical manual for a lawn mower, or a history book, the ability to imbed knowledge from the human brain onto bits of stone, paper, or minerals and the ability to for another brain to retrieve that knowledge is undoubtedly powerful. It frees the human mind from the limitations of gravity and the clock.
Books can also be dangerous devices of insurrection. Fear and ignorance are great control devices for repressive systems. One of the first things a frightened system does when confronted with written words that threaten their control is to ban and/or burn the books. From the Tower of Babel, to the 213 B.C.E. book burning by the new Chinese Emperor Shi Huang, to the Nazi biblio-conflagrations, to current attempts to ban books (by religious conservatives in America or by Muslim fatwahs), the struggle goes on to retain, maintain, and promote the free flow of information.The power of words to create worlds is magical. Whether we’re swept into stately pleasure domes or lands where hobbits live, books are magic carpets we can ride again and again to whatever Neverland we desire. Love poems move hearts, patriotic slogans move armies. As if by magic, words can change worlds.
The American Library Association has an excellent web section on Intellectual Freedom.
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bookburning/bce/bce.htm
Enjoy books.
Preserve books.
And if you’re so inclined, write books!
MYTHWORKS has more books in the offing, so please check back periodically to see the new items.
We also recommend many books.
Pamela has reviewed a number of books and has endorsements in those publications and/or on the internet.