The Elastic Concept of Libraries in Laos
PSFK, December 10, 2009

As one of the world’s poorest countries with the sad distinction – and lingering dangers – of also being the most heavily bombed country in the world, simply checking out a book from one’s local library in Laos isn’t as straightforward a process as in more prosperous and secure nations. In this mountainous and vastly rural backwater of merely a few million people, many Lao villages are in fact so remote they can only be accessed by boat. Still, the concept of making books other essential tools for learning and documenting readily accessible via libraries is of utmost importance to tiny landlocked Laos. Here’s a look at two non-profit organizations, The Language Project and Community Learning International, and their good work helping shape a brighter future for the people of Laos through the creation of libraries uniquely geared towards the needs of their end users.

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The Elastic Concept of Libraries in Laos

ၾကည္ေအး ဟာ ကၽြန္မအႀကိဳက္ဆံုး စာေရးဆရာမမ်ားထဲက တစ္ေယာက္ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။ သူ႕ ရဲ႕စာေတြဟာ အရမ္းကို အႏုပညာဆန္ၿပီး ရသပါတယ္လို႕ ကၽြန္မယူဆပါတယ္။ ၾကည္ေအးရဲ႕ ႏြမ္းလ် အိမ္အျပန္ ဆိုတဲ႕ ၀တၳဳေလးကို မိတ္ဆက္ေပးခ်င္ပါတယ္။ ဒီ၀တၳဳထဲက ဇာတ္ေကာင္မိန္းကေလးရဲ႕ အမည္က တင္ေမျဖစ္ပါတယ္။ တင္ေမဟာ မိသားစု ျပသနာၾကားမွာ ႀကီးျပင္းခဲ့ရၿပီး စိတ္ဓါတ္ႏုနယ္ ထိခိုက္လြယ္သူပါ။ ၀တၳဳတစ္ပုဒ္လံုးမွာ တင္ေမ့ ဘ၀၊ တင္ေမ့ခံစားခ်က္ေတြကိုသာ အဓိကထားၿပီး အေရးအသား ေျပာင္ေျမာက္စြာတင္ျပထားတာကို ေတြ႕ရမွာပါ။

I discovered the existence of this novel by accident while reading up on Winnie the Pooh (as you do) and decided I had to have a copy. So I got my mitts on a bargain from eBay and revelled in reading a real old-fashioned murder mystery on my daily commute.

The first thing that struck me as I opened my battered copy, was the lovely dedication to Milne’s father at the start of the book:

Like all really nice people, you have a weakness for detective stories, and feel that there are not enough of them. So after all that you have done for me, the least I can do for you is to write one. Here it is: with more gratitude and affection than I can well put down here.

A.A.M.

It reminded me of something I read about John Buchan’s Thirty-Nine Steps, where he said that there weren’t enough of a certain kind of adventure stories so he wrote one! And then I felt sad, as in my copy, a re-print it had a further note alluding to the fact that Milne’s father died before he was able to read it. It seems as if Milne enjoyed writing for people very much which makes me feel that his stories are quite special.

The story itself is a typical mystery with an English country house setting. The Red House, belongs to Mark Ablett, and it is the scene for the dramatic murder of his brother Robert, who is something of a black sheep and has just arrived from Australia to visit Mark. Robert is found dead in a locked room on the day that Tony Gillingham decides to visit his friend Bill who also lives at the house. Tony and Bill decide to investigate.

I really enjoyed reading The Red House Mystery. Tony and Bill make the perfect Holmes-Watson partnership unravelling the many clues, and it was great to just read something a bit fun. I enjoyed Milne’s writing and found that I could see echos of Pooh Bear about Bill. At times Tony is a little arch in his manner but that’s part of what makes the dialogue between the two characters so entertaining. Tony, an amateur detective with a photographic memory ponders;

“Of course it’s very hampering being a detective, when you don’t know anything about detecting, and when nobody knows that you’re doing detecting, and you can’t have people up to cross-examine them, and you neither have the energy or the means to make proper inquiries; and in short, when you’re doing the whole thing in a thoroughly amateur, haphazard way.”

It’s an entertaining journey trying to figure out has happened, and it’s possible to guess at least half of the situation from the clues while being kept in the dark enough to be surprised. What really makes it a joy to read though is Milne’s unique voice.

The Red House Mystery is the perfect book to snuggle up with on a cold night with a cup of mulled wine or hot tea.

Oh and you can read most of it for free on Google reader (although I think there are some missed pages), or get a taster to see if you want to buy a copy.

Have you read anything else by A.A.Milne?

A special thanks to Andrew Rogers at Zondervan for two review copies:

A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters (BTNT) by Andreas J. Kostenberger as well as 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus: African Bible Commentary Series by Samuel M. Ngewa.  I was excited to look at Kostenberger’s Johnanine theology, and after seeing it I am very impressed!  It is a massive work of scholarship and I am sure that it will be just as good as his previous commentary of John in the BECNT.  Reviews are forthcoming.

Also, two other books came in the mail, but  these I purchased.  The first, Story as History, History as Story: The Gospel Tradition in the Context of Ancient Oral History by Samuel Byrskog is one that I had on my wish list for sometime.  I finally saw a used one at a good price so I snatched it up.  The second, God’s People in the Wilderness: The Church in Hebrews by O. Palmer Robertson is a book right up my alley.  If you noticed, a recent post of mine dealt with this subject, so when I came across this little book I was excited to read through it.

I’m visiting my Nan this weekend who is both a lovely grandmother and a great friend. She is kindly storing some of my things for me while I’m in a smaller living space including all my ‘read’ books. Here are some pics of my beloved books including my favourite penguin classics and a 1955 copy of 1984 which I’m retrieving to re-read for my next book group.

My Nan is also a book lover and has given my a couple of lovely John Buchans to put on my endless TBR.

Can you spot any of your favourite books in my jumbled up collection? Does anyone else have an unhealthy obsession with battered penguin classics?

I was thinking the other day about how I love Winnie the Pooh (tiddly-pom…) and decided to read more about A. A. Milne on the internet. To my surprise I discovered that he had also written quite a few other novels including a mystery which I thought sounded right up my street. So I had a quick look on eBay and found a 1939 copy of The Red House Mystery, originally published in 1922. Here’s a little synopsis from Wikipedia;

The setting is bachelor Mark Ablett’s English country house loaded with guests, including a British major, a wilful actress, and a young jock athlete. Mark’s long-lost brother Robert, the black sheep of the family, arrives from Australia and is found murdered in a locked room. Mark Ablett has disappeared so Tony Gillingham and his friend Bill decide to investigate, progressing almost playfully through the novel while the clues mount up the theories abound.

A willful actress, a black sheep, a murder…doesn’t it sound quite wonderfully exciting?!

Anyway, I can’t wait to receive my copy in the post (Royal Mail strikes permitting) and find out what A. A. Milne’s other writing was like. You can still get The Red House Mystery new and judging from the reviews on Amazon apparently it’s quite good! I will be posting my own thoughts once i’ve got my mitts on it.

Have you come across lesser-known novels by famous authors that you enjoyed?

We recommend this book.  It is a fun read aloud that captures the feel of a lazy country night shattered by a passing train.  It is well written and the kids and I enjoy the way the author, Jim Aylesworth allows you to experience the sounds through his sing song use of onomatopoeia. 

Thing 2 went up to bed this evening singing CLANG CLANG CLANG, RED ON, red off….

I’ve found that I am quite picky about the quality of illustrating and this book did not disappoint, Ted Rand brings the pictures to life beautifully! 

Country Crossing was a great find for us at the local Goodwill but hardcover copies are available for around $2.50 at Amazon

Savidge Reads has inspired me to join Dovegreyreader’s Team Ulysses and very sweetly fetched me a copy from his local secondhand bookshop. But I had already bid on one on a nice Penguin Classic on Ebay after carefully selecting  a  so now I have two. Whoops!

Is anyone else following Team Ulysses? How are people getting on? If you read it before did you love it and was it as difficult as people say?

Also, I’ve just moved to WordPress from Blogger as the publishing tools and dashboard seem significantly more sophisticated (Google, sort it out!) and am settling into my new home so hope people like the new look.

Having just discovered Booking Through Thursday today, my contribution is a little belated but here it is anyway:

Q: Do you keep all your unread books together, like books in a waiting room? Or are they scattered throughout your shelves, mingling like party-goers waiting for the host to come along?

A: I had to downsize my accommodation before travelling, so I actually put all my ‘read’ books into storage. So I only have TBR’s in my room now, except for those which I’ve read recently which I kind of put to one side. My read and unread books are definitely not partying, they are in fact, estranged!

On another note, I did a bit more book buying today. I felt compelled to pop into my local charity shop today – not for myself you understand, but for my boyfriend. His birthday is coming up and being a frugal pair, we like to collect all sorts of bits of inexpensive random stuff to give each other. So after perusing the bookshelves, I discovered the following:

The Guide to Family Photography, by Reg Mason – My boyfriend loves photography and so I thought I would pick this little gem up for him. It’s probably pretty useless from a theory point of view as it was printed in the late seventies, but I couldn’t resist it’s fabulous combination of step by step cartoons, interspersed strangely with images of Prince Charles. I thought that this one was Mills & Boon-worthy actually!

Then because my man is always moaning about how he’s getting old now, I snapped up Happy Birthday (you poor old wreck). A compilation of messages to ‘old people over 21′ by young children, including such wisdom as;

“Cats have birthdays like us. No one nose what cats thik about birthdays probly nothink.” Denis Hutchinson, 8

“When you die you don’t have birthdays” David Pollick, 7

OK, so it’s not that hilarious but it was birthday-related and only a quid. I also saw a copy of the original Jane Fonda workout book, which I was sorely tempted by but resisted. Although there were actually two copies so if I change my mind…

Warning! Second-hand book-shop in close proximity to new office alert!

Popped in to my new offices in Wimbledon today so that they could check my passport and make sure that I am not illegal and lo and behold, there is a really great bookshop just a short distance away called Copperfield’s.

Actually I did spot it when interviewed (not that it influenced me in any way at all!) but resisted the urge to go in after telling myself I have too many books on my ‘to read’ pile already!

But today I wasn’t so steadfast, and was drawn like a moth to a flame to their stack of Penguin Classics craftily placed by the entrance.

Copperfield’s has all the hallmarks of an excellent second-hand bookshop – happily jumbled looking books stacked on a table outside, good prices and most of all that lovely lived-in feel and bookish smell which makes you feel you can browse for ages. Plus, just look at the signage, it just says ‘come into our little treasure-trove!’.

I was fairly restrained and purchased two lovely Penguin Classics -

Savidge Reads got me into Susan Hill’s creepy stories and blurb on the back of The Bird of Night, by Susan Hill (1976) made me think it might be an interesting little number for £1.

“Francis Croft, the greatest poet of his age, was mad. His world was a nightmare of internal furies and haunting poetic vision. Harvey Lawson watched and protected him until his final suicide. From his solitary old age Harvey writes this brief account of their twenty years together [secret gaylords perhaps?!] and then burns all the papers to shut out an inquisitive world.”

Then I spotted The Bachelors, by one of my favourite authors Muriel Spark (1960). Not one I’ve heard of but had a fabulous cover and I love everything she writes. Plus it has a great plug on the back from Evelyn Waugh who writes;

“I am dazzled by The Bachelors. It is the cleverest and most elegant of all Mrs Spark’s clever and elegant books.”

Well, that convinced me to hand over my precious £1.50 and snaffle it into my handbag.

I always have the excuse that I need the reading material for my commute, plus I have discovered that there is a Lush in Wimbledon too. A book and a luxurious bath. What could be a better combination?

A bit of singing on the floor below, an occasional door slamming in the corridor, and all is lost.

—Franz Kafka, February 15, 1922,
from Diaries: 1910–1923

*

I can’t find my way back to the library. I’ve heard of this happening, that if you leave even for just one day and for a very good reason, as good a reason as mine, you may not find your way back. Now why should this be so? I do not understand this library. It houses books, yes, but people as well, like a very old boardinghouse, only nobody borrows the people the way people borrow the books, and neither does anybody open up and read a person the way a person opens up and reads a book. There is a densely empty quality to this space that has always attracted me, and yet now the space rejects me. So here I shall stand forever on Monk Street. I am staring at the empty block that should be housing the library. I can hear its various noises ringing out—the creaking of the floors, the locking of doors, books being opened, ever-mirrored worlds being sifted through, reverberating, distorting. I stand on this curb with my hand out, for I know it is here, the library, right here. And for no clear reason, I think of the rows of pencils laid out on my desk in a corner of my room, always sharpened first thing every morning, even the ones not yet needed. A writer must keep his tools ready and able, in good supply—this is the lesson I have learned today, and I won’t forget it anytime soon, not with my dry eyes fixed on the empty block and my hand so close to finding the library’s door.

*

(I have been neglectful of my library project and am a bit rusty. Forgive me.)

Using a barcode scanner with Google Book Search

Google Books has recently implemented an innovative new feature for those with Google accounts that allows them to make more use of the entire Google Books catalog. One may input the ISBN numbers of his or her entire book collection into Google (either by hand or with a scanner) and then be able to search the entire texts of their books via Google Books. I input my book collection and, for fun, searched the phrase “The horror! The horror!” and, correctly, Google Books brought me to page 111 of my edition of The Heart of Darkness to read the last words of Captain Kurtz. In addition, users may share their libraries with others. For instance, you may view my library by clicking here. On that page, one may view my ratings of, my reviews of, and my notes about every book I own. One may also view the collection either in a list form or by cover (in a manner similar to the results of a Google image search). Finally, from the page detailing my book collection, one may even subscribe to my book collection via RSS to be updated every time I receive a new book. Cool, huh?
If you want to peruse this feature, you can access the feature with a Google account by going to books.google.com and clicking on “My Library” in the upper-right hand corner. Entering book ISBN numbers by hand can be a time-consuming and tedious activity, but keeping the list up to date and utilizing it are fairly easy.

This is the current set-up for my desk.  My main computer is a MacBook with an HP w1707 dual monitor.  I run bootcamp, thus allowing me to operate Logos Gold, Bibleworks 7, Endnote, and other programs used for my studies.

This bookrack was something I found lying around in my garage.  The top shelf is mostly books on Hebrews (commentaries, monographs, etc.).  Underneath those are books I am currently reading when I have a free moment.