Controversy

Some colour  amidst the winter snow

Okanagan Lake from Summerland

More Blue Sky

I was interested in reading about the successful American novelist Jonathan Franzen ( his father was Swedish, mother American) who has some controversial ideas. He came to my attention as a speaker at the Hay Festival in Cartagena just ended yesterday. One of his ten rules for writing a novel is to never use the word "then" as a conjunction; use "and" instead. Another rule is to write without an internet connection. He uses head phones to block out extraneous sounds whilst writing. He also believes that serious novel reading is only possible using a printed book. However his own books are available on e-readers. I suppose most novelists are somewhat eccentric. Some still write with a fountain pen, standing up....He was upset when one of his novels was picked by Oprah for her book-club choice, because he thought her book choices were just for women readers. Well, Jonathan writes about controversial subjects in his novels, so no wonder this spreads to his own life. I prefer that he is just eccentric, so I won't get upset by his controversial ways.....