From My Fantasy Writing Desk
The passage I quoted last week from Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series struck a harmonious chord with many of you. I’ll share two paragraphs from the Afterward to The Farthest Shore where she reflects with the hindsight of years on these momentous books. She presents a subtle description of the balancing act and responsibility of every writer—and hence an awareness every reader should acquire.
It would be lovely if writing a story was like getting into a little boat that drifted off and took me to the promised land, or climbing on a dragon’s back and flying off to Selidor. But it’s only as a reader that I can do that. As a writer, to take full responsibility without claiming total control requires a lot of work, a lot of groping and testing, flexibility, caution, watchfulness. I have no chart to follow, so I have to be constantly alert. The boat needs steering. There have to be long conversations with the dragon I ride. But however watchful and aware I am, I know I can never be fully aware of the currents that carry the boat, of where the winds beneath the dragon’s wings are blowing.
A writer lives and works in the world she was born into, and no matter how firm her own purpose, or how seemingly far from the present day her subject, she and her work are subject to the changing winds and currents of that world.
Afterward to The Farthest Shore
Archaeology I Enjoyed
The Proper Parthenon Home
Slight movement on the Parthenon Marbles’ repatriation to Greece. In the way of such things, the national Art Council England has put together a contract to fund setting new guidelines and provide expert guidance for museums—all of which might eventually force the British Museum and other UK museums to send back various treasures from abroad. The wheels of bureaucracy in action.
What do you think, should the marbles stay in their current elegant digs in the British Museum or return to their native land and the new, lovely museum built to house them? Here’s one strong view from this article: “BBC historian David Olusoga is among those encouraging the ‘decolonisation’ of collections in Britain, saying there is a ‘moral imperative’ for relics to be returned, calling the case of the Parthenon Marbles ‘such a stark case of theft’.” Opinions? Click here for Archaeology News Network “Update To Museum Guidelines Could See British Museum With No Choice But To Return Parthenon Marbles”
Tracing an Oily History
The olive—so key to the diet and life of the ancient Mediterranean. Ever wonder how the simple oily fruit got its hold on the world? From where and when? Here’s the post for you. The olive’s DNA is apparently hopelessly muddled for dating purposes, so the researchers use pollen counts paired with what the archaeological record shows. And the winner for earliest largescale domestication appears to be the Levant. I’m always struck by the irony that “oil” drove the ancient global economy and also the modern one (although maybe less so now). Just not the same oil. Olive oil fed, lit and bathed the ancient world, among other contributions. What’s your favorite olive oil related detail, modern or ancient? Click here for the Ancient Near East Today blog “Fossil Pollen and the Story of Olives in the Mediterranean Basin”