Bookstore Tourism: The End of an Era

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

A 143 year legacy will soon be coming to an end after it was announced last week that Waterstones has bought Blackwell’s, the UK’s biggest independent bookshop chain. This will mean that Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, Foyles and Blackwell’s will all belong to the US hedge fund company Elliott Investment Management.

About the acquisition, Blackwell’s owner and president Toby Blackwell said:

“After 143 years of family ownership, finding a new home for our business and our wonderful booksellers, has been an extraordinary challenge. Waterstones have demonstrated in their acquisition of Foyles most recently, that they understand the advantages and benefits of holding diverse iconic bookselling brands in their portfolio. I view them not just as a buyer of the business, but as the right buyer at the right time. This is a positive outcome for Waterstones, Blackwell’s and all our customers in the UK and abroad, who will still be able to enjoy the individual nature of what both brands offer. I would like to thank our chairman and board and all of our fantastic staff, past and present, for everything they’ve done to uphold the Blackwell’s name over the years. I wish everyone well with this new chapter.”

While I’m relieved to learn that all 18 of Blackwell’s bookstores will remain open for now, it’s not likely that the new hedge fund overlords will allow them to retain their indie identity. In fact, it’s likely that Blackwell bookshops will slowly disappear from cities and towns around the UK, or replace a well curated selection of books with gifts, toys, souvenirs, and general tat.

 

 

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Historic Borders

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

With the tragic news unfolding daily in Europe, it’s an appropriate time to take stock of how we got here. I’ve always found that maps can be an excellent way to help visualize geo-political conflicts. I recently discovered this simple, but elegant website that allows users to see exactly how borders have shifted over the decades.

Historic Borders colorfully helps to visualize the seemingly arbitrary nature of national borders and how politics and war have reshaped the world. The app features a basic world map topped by a timeline slider. Just click on a date to discover the national boundaries of that time.

 

Posted in apps, History, Maps | Tagged , | 3 Comments

forever making poems in the lap of death

Posted on March 7, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Humanity I Love You

Humanity i love you
because you would rather black the boots of
success than enquire whose soul dangles from his
watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both

parties and because you
unflinchingly applaud all
songs containing the words country home and
mother when sung at the old howard

Humanity i love you because
when you’re hard up you pawn your
intelligence to buy a drink and when
you’re flush pride keeps

you from the pawn shop and
because you are continually committing
nuisances but more
especially in your own house

Humanity i love you because you
are perpetually putting the secret of
life in your pants and forgetting
it’s there and sitting down

on it
and because you are
forever making poems in the lap
of death Humanity

i hate you

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Ukraine: Finding Context

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Like most people these days, I have been trying to learn more about the regional war that Putin has launched against Ukraine and to put it all in context. Sadly, I must admit that I have always paid more attention to Russia and the Soviet Union than Ukraine even though I have deep connections to that nation. If like me you are looking for more context — geopolitical, historical and otherwise — into the current, ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, here are some potentially helpful resources that may will give insight into the circumstances that led to what is now the largest conflict to erupt in Europe since World War II.

  • Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine by Anna Reid
  • The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy
  • Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine by Anne Applebaum
  • The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation by Andrew Wilson
  • Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know by Serhy Yekelchyk
  • Roots of Russia’s War in Ukraine by Elizabeth A. Wood, William E. Pomeranz, E. Wayne Merry, and Maxim Trudolyubov
  • Ukraine and the Art of Strategy by Lawrence Freedman
  • Ukraine: A Nation on the Borderland by Karl Schlögel
  • Ukraine Over the Edge: Russia, the West and the “New Cold War” by Gordon M. Hahn
  • In Wartime: Stories from Ukraine by Tim Judah
  • The Battle for Ukrainian: A Comparative Perspective Edited by Michael S. Flier and Andrea Graziosi
  • The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires by Serhii Plokhy
  • Culture, Nation, and Identity: The Ukrainian-Russian Encounter, 1600-1945 Edited by Andreas Kappeler,  Zenon Kohut, Frank Sysyn, and Mark von Hagen
  • The Frontline: Essays on Ukraine’s Past and Present by Serhii Plokhy
  • The Future of the Past: New Perspectives on Ukrainian History Edited by Serhii Plokhy
  • A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples by Paul Robert Magocsi
  • Making Ukraine Soviet: Literature and Cultural Politics Under Lenin and Stalin by Olena Palko
  • Revolutionary Ukraine, 1917-2017: History’s Flashpoints and Today’s Memory Wars by Myroslav Shkandrij
  • Russia and Ukraine: Literature and the Discourse of Empire from Napoleonic to Postcolonial Times by Myroslav Shkandrij
  • Total Wars and the Making of Modern Ukraine, 1914-1954 by George Liber
  • Ukraine and Europe: Cultural Encounters and Negotiations Edited by Giovanna Brogi Bercoff, Marko Pavlyshyn, and Serhii Plokhy
  • Ukraine: Contested Nationhood in a European Context by Ulrich Schmid
  • Ukraine in Histories and Stories: Essays by Ukrainian Intellectuals Edited by Volodymyr Yermolenko
  • Ukraine, the Middle East, and the West by Thomas M. Prymak
Posted in Books, ebooks, Europe, History, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

“How can I begin anything new with all of yesterday in me?”

Posted on March 5, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

It was announced last week that a previously unpublished book by Leonard Cohen—rejected by two publishers and then set aside—will be published this October by Grove Press. The novel, A Ballet of Lepers, will be published with fifteen short stories and a radio play script from Cohen’s archives, assembled by Cohen scholar Alexandra Pleshoyano.

A Ballet of Lepers, written in 1956, explores “toxic relationships and the lengths one will go to maintain them.” The story follows an unamed narrator who takes in his elderly grandfather. The publication of A Ballet of Lepers: A Novel and Stories coincides with Cohen’s wishes. Cohen said before his death that his life’s true masterwork was his archive, which he kept meticulously for the benefit of fans and scholars one day to discover. Robert Kory, trustee of the Leonard Cohen family trust, wrote in a statmeent. “I’m pleased that, with this book, his readers and listeners can begin that rich journey.”

 

Posted in Books, Canada, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

It is the small everyday deeds of folk that keep the darkness at bay

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

If you are a regular visitor to TBTP, you are well aware that I am a Tolkien aficionado. I imagine that many of you are also fans. Then you will be happy to learn that the Tolkien Estate has launched a new and extensive website that chronicles the many works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The website is a real treasure trove of arcana, curios, videos, information and more Tolkien treats. There are manuscripts, letters, timelines, maps, paintings and illustrations – like the 1937 painting of the Hobbiton above. If you want to take a deep dive into the world of Middle-earth. Head here to check it out.

 

Posted in Art, Books, Libraries, Maps, movies, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Books for Ukrainian Kids

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Theodore’s Books in Oyster Bay, N.Y., is hosting a drive to send children’s books to facilities in Europe being used by Ukrainian refugees. Former U.S, Congressman Steve Israel, Theodore’s owner, said, “As a Congressman, I was able to support funding for humanitarian assistance to refugees around the world. Now, as a private citizen and bookstore owner, I want to do my part to support the needs of displaced Ukrainian children. The best way for me is donating books.” Theodore’s Books is making its own direct contribution of books that will be shipped to facilities housing displaced Ukrainian children, and throughout March, any children’s books purchased at the store and donated to this cause will be discounted 10%.  What a terrific idea; I hope that other booksellers will join in and create their own donation projects.

 

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How We Can Help

Posted on March 2, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

I’m sure that most of you are following the horrible events unfolding in Ukraine. It has been an awful week for the people of the region and there doesn’t seem to be much to be hopeful about. However, instead of feeling completely helpless, I have chosen to contribute to the efforts of World Central Kitchen, which is already feeding war refugees at the border in Poland.

If you’re looking for resources to help, this page has some good links as does this one too. Plus, you can support the Kyiv Independent and their reporting as well as World Central Kitchen that is providing food for refugees.

On a personal note, although I have no current family connection in Ukraine, my maternal Grandmother was born there. Along with her entire immediate family, she came to the United States as a refugee during the last century. Up until this week, my strongest connection to the country was probably through Ukrainian food.

Posted in Europe, History | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Bookcase of Tolerance

Posted on March 1, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

I’ve visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam many times over the years and I’ve always been moved both by her family’s story and the Museum’s goal of promoting tolerance. The organization recently release an AR-based project called The Bookcase of Tolerance: you need to download the app to get the full experience, and once you’ve done so you get to place a bookshelf in AR and then, by pulling various books off its shelves, you are able to step into dioramas and explore the personal stories they contain. For example, you can explore the attic room in which Anne spend so many months in hiding from the Nazis, or the rooms of four other people whose stories speak to the dangers of racism, or gender prejudice, or antisemitism. The AR here is really very well-done in hi-res and detailed.

According to the Anne Frank House:

The project “The Bookcase for Tolerance” aims to achieve that by sharing Anne Frank’s story and modern-day, authentic, personal stories and struggles. Though it’s crucial that we never draw direct comparisons between Anne’s and our protagonists’ stories.

Our goal is to use the power of personal testimonials to educate people, in order to influence their attitude and their behaviour towards those considered to be ‘different’ – so we can all live in a more tolerant world.
A world without discrimination.

 

 

Posted in apps, Architecture, Europe, History, Museums, Tech, Tourism | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

February Midnight Moments

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Times Square in New York City has usually been considered a tawdry, tourist mecca, until now.  The full-on art installation, Continuum by Krista Kim  synchronizes across 90 electronic billboards, with a slowly shifting gradient of color washes over Times Square, creating a moment of calm amidst one of the most visually kinetic places in the world.

Krista Kim’s Continuum is a soothing visual meditation presented on a monumental scale. Synchronized across 90 electronic billboards, a slowly shifting gradient of color washes over Times Square, creating a moment of calm amidst one of the most visually kinetic places in the world.

Kim’s peaceful digital reflection takes over Times Square as the world persists through a pandemic that has disrupted and transformed our everyday lives, mental health, and collective well-being for almost two full years. Using the technology of our times, she creates a communal space that allows viewers to decompress.

Midnight Moment is the world’s largest, longest-running digital art exhibition, synchronized on electronic billboards throughout Times Square nightly from 11:57pm to midnight.”

 

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