Henrik Ibsen

I am currently enjoying "A Doll's House and Other Plays" by the Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906). They are excellent and I hope I can convince my readers to read his work sometime. He was very progressive for his time and his signature play, "A Doll's House" deals with the emancipation of women. My favorite character, however, is the manipulative Stensgård ("The League of Youth"), whose machinations recall Othello in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice." However, Ibsen injects just enough comedy into the work to make it really enjoyable. I wonder how many colleges/schools have put on any of Ibsen's works on stage. Sadly, not enough.

Latin Alphabet is no longer the lingua franca of the Internet domain world

I have always had a chuckle when people tell me that English is the "official" langauge of the Internet. They seem to forget that in the nebulous world of the Internet where borders are illusory and practically non-existent, people communicate in other languages. English-language imperialism made no headway here. Just recently, it was announced that the Latin alphabet will no longer be the only one used for Internet domains. This is a step in the right direction. To learn more, visit the following site:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59T0Z720091030

The Moral Fall

I recently read two books that really resounded with me for the quality of the writing, the plot development, the descriptors associated with the naturalist movement and, more importantly, for the chronicling of the 'moral fall' of two main characters.

In "The Mayor of Casterbridge," by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), the main character, Michael Henchard, auctions off his wife at the beginning of the novel and eventually goes on to a successful career as mayor. However, when the wife reappears in his life, his life begins a precipitous spiral downward that will make the reader catch his/her breath. Thomas Hardy is an excellent representative of the Naturalist Movement at the turn of the 19th century that highlighted the day-to-day life of everyday people.

Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) is another author well known for his naturalist style and his book "Sister Carrie" is excellent. While Caroline Meeber (Sister Carrie) is the main protagonist in this classic novel her ambitions, desires and ultimately the decisions she makes affects two other men--Charles Drouet and G.W. Hurstwood. In fact, one of the characters makes a fateful decision that ultimately leads to his undoing. Like Hardy's Henchard, he experiences a similar fall from grace for a poor ethical decision he made.

To learn more read these two great books! You will not be disappointed.

Does Kindle Ignite or Extinguish Book Reading?

In the October 25th issue of The New York Times an article featured a claim by producers of e-book devices (Kindle, Nook, etc.) that its customers buy 3 times as many books after they they had purchased Kindle. Jeffrey Bezos, the head of Amazon says that there would be substantial growth in the sale of books because of Kindle. I doubt this very much. With access to as many as 1,500 book titles at their finger tips, why would Kindle customers revert to the 'old' way and purchase a book?

The biggest obstacle I have to Kindle and Nook is best illustrated in a simple sentence:

"Battery not included."

Welcome!

This is my first entry into my new blog where I hope to share my opinions and thoughts with you and create a forum for discussion and debate. I am an internationalist and that is why I have chosen "Daily Pensieri" as the name for my blog. "Pensieri" means "thoughts" in Italian and I like the idea of having two languages represented in the name. I come from a bi-cultural background and I work in the field of international education so this title is very representative of who I am. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. It is a work in progress, but it is a project I am looking forward to!