Around the Web

If you haven't done so already, be sure to read the article about (North) Vietnamese writer Duong Thu Huong. She is an amazing and brave woman. She is currently traveling in Europe, the first time she has been allowed to travel abroad in 11 years. She believes it is her duty to speak out against her government:

Because I have a small reputation abroad, I have to say these things. I have to empty what is inside me to feel my conscience is clear. The people have lost the power to react, to reflect, to think. Perhaps I will give people courage.

I read one of her books,Paradise of the Blind, several years ago. It is a harsh and disturbing book that I actually still think about from time to time.

An essay/review of the new revised edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves. It sounds rather disappointing. I've got a copy of the 1984 edition I believe it is. It has all those line drawings and poems the reviewer talks about. Let me just say, those drawings are an education in themselves.

BookBark, a reader review website. The reviews aren't exactly insightful, but you can at least get an idea of what people are reading and the general opinion of it.

For literary and programming geeks, The Shakespeare Programming Language or SPL for short. Here is an example of a conditional statement:

Juliet: Am I better than you? Hamlet: If so, let us proceed to scene III.

I don't know anything about programming, but I give these guys a thumbs up for creativity.

I'll stop with the Harry Potter soon, I promise, but here is a Guardian article about the book's sales and here a blurb about US sales. My husband's store sold 1,900 copies over the weekend. At least eight people I talked to at work today were in the middle of reading it and several more were going to start it as soon as they were done working today. What fun!