Some time ago, when I reviewed Michel Laub’s Diary of the Fall, I mentioned how sometimes all the ingredients can be there but the recipe is still a failure. Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind is somewhat similar, I’m afraid. All the ingredients are there, yes. It kinda works, and yet it doesn’t.
To be fair, I think Zafón’s novel works comparatively better. That is, one can still read it and somewhat enjoy it. However, The Shadow of the Wind aspires to be a Gothic tale. And to this Gothic fiction specialist, it comes off as a failed attempt.
There is a sustained attempt to present The Shadow of the Wind as a Gothic tale, taking advantage of the settings. But although all the checkboxes are ticked, something is amiss.(more…)
Note: the following article on immortality in Dracula is a modified excerpt (pp. 64-67) from my doctoral dissertation, “Time is Everything with Him”: The Concept of the Eternal Now in Nineteenth-Century Gothic, which can be downloaded (for free) from the repository of the Tampere University Press. For a list of my other academic publications, see here.
Immortality in Dracula acquires ominous tints. The curse is not only construed as the inability to find peace, but also as the pressing need to attack others for nutrition. The suggestion of a possible reversal of the ageing process appears for the first time in Dracula’s castle, when Jonathan Harker sees the Count in his box “but looking as if his youth had been half renewed” (D 59).
When Jonathan relives the experience on English soil later on, the Count has “grown young” (D 184) – an oxymoron of sorts, as it includes two meanings with conflicting arrows of time.
Immortality in Dracula is a matter of understanding precisely what “not to die” entails(more…)
Let’s talk about impostor syndrome and writers. I could here give you a quick definition of what impostor syndrome is (chances are you know already), but let’s start with some personal revelations first. This will take a while to build up, but hopefully your patience will be worth it.
So, here goes…
A List of Flawed Excellence
I’ve written over twenty novels. I’ve published several of them. One of my works is also published traditionally, by a respected publishing house.
I have a PhD in English literature from a fine Finnish university. I also have an MA from the same university, graded laudatur. If you check how academic grading works in Finland, you’ll discover that, at the university level, laudatur “is often reserved for exceptional students and it is typically awarded for a thesis only once in 5 to 10 years.”
I know how to program in HTML/CSS/JavaScript, and I have some limited knowledge of Python and PHP. I have published a few Android apps.
Besides English, I can speak Greek (at a native level) and Finnish – arguably two of the most difficult European languages. I have some basic knowledge of Italian and some very limited knowledge of Japanese.
On top of that, I play guitar/bass and a bit of piano. I have composed some songs, some shared online.
I’ve worked as a professional photographer. I’ve won some local photography awards, too.
I’m a very good chess player.
I have a bit of flying time on a Cessna C172.
New achievement: I can solve the Rubik’s cube in under a minute 😛
What else…
Oh yeah… A day doesn’t pass without me doubting myself and my skills, thinking that any minute now the entire surrounding world will consume me with laughter and taunting.
Impostor Syndrome and Writers: a Dangerous Combination
Impostor Syndrome and Writers: or, how to Kill Your Creativity
Many people far wiser than me have described the key issue of the impostor syndrome. My favorite one is Bertrand Russell’s take on stupidity:
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
