Short Story: The Author

On a quiet night, in a quiet neighborhood, twenty quiet police officers quietly broke into a quiet man’s quiet house, arrested him and quietly took him away.

When he woke up, he was alone in a large, dark room with a bright light shining on him. He called out, for someone must be listening, but no one replied. He called out again, then shouted, but no one came. He got angry and shouted, cursed and rocked his chair. His hands were tied to the back and his feet were tied to the legs of the metal chair and did not budge. He tried hard and long, but he could not move an inch. At long last, he noticed a small red light switch on, right next to the bright light glaring in his face. A voice spoke from somewhere behind that light, booming into the room, “Please state your name, age and occupation. Also state your reason for betraying your country.” Continue reading

The Death of the Author

there is, however, someone who understands each word in its duplicity and who, in addition, hears the very deafness of the characters speaking in front of him-this someone being precisely the reader.

via The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes Full Text, Downloads, Cliff Notes, and Essays.

 

This text, pointed to me by Dan on ADN (which was in response to this article posted there by Matthew) reflects what I believe about writing today – that in as much as we want to give meaning to the text in terms of the context of the author, the real meaning can only be derived by the reader himself. The same is true, in my book, about any art – paintings, sculptures etc, where it is not the artist’s life, times, societal pressures or addictions, that define the true meaning of the work, but the impressions it makes upon the viewer that truly reflect the value of the art. Continue reading

Blog Merry-go-round

Using WordPress but tired of MySQL?

Want to have a fast, static blog?

Use Jekyll.

Using Jekyll but want a better UI?

Use OctoPress.

Using OctoPress but want to use Python instead of Ruby?

Use Hyde.

Using Hyde but want to use Dropbox to hold your files?

Use Pelican.

Using Pelican but want good search, analytics and plugins?

Use WordPress.

 

Good thing I’ve been on WP all along and intend on staying here.

 

Short Story: The Last Human

The beings gathered around the deck. Anticipation was high and there was a buzz of chatter about their next destination. It was somewhat of a surprise because even though they knew what it was called and where it stood, very little was known about it outside the circles of the tour company and the people who had discovered it. The buzz died quickly when the steward came around to the deck. All eyes turned to him expectantly and he cleared his throat before announcing,

“Ladies and Gentlemen, you are travelers from far or near, across the galaxy and some even beyond. In these past few months, we’ve shown you some remarkable places. You are no ‘alien’, pun intended,” some chuckled, but the steward continued, “to the variety of amazing adventures that our galaxy has to offer. We’ve been to moons ravaged with volcanic activity, we’ve dived into dying stars about to erupt into supernovae and we’ve seen the tombs of cultures long gone, but none of them have come close, in absurdity, to what we are about to witness on the planet below us. You might think that you’ve seen everything, but you’ve not seen anything till you’ve seen the largest museum in the galaxy!” With a flourish, the steward waved his hand and the ship’s motion sensors detected that as a command to open the viewing screen on the far wall. Everyone scurried to the wall of embedded diamond, which, while protecting them from harmful rays of the dying star nearby, also enhanced the view of the planet below them. What they saw below was an astonishing sight. The entire planet was covered with white plaster and buildings covered every single square inch of land and water that was visible from space. They had seen city planets elsewhere in the galaxy, but they were all dirty, alive beasts that shipped in goods and beings and shipped out laws or product, being vast industries of some kind or the other. But this planet was deathly serene. There was no movement, no sound, not even a space ship coming out of the place. It was dead. The steward started speaking and everyone turned their attention towards him. Continue reading