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Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) is one of the most remarkable British writers ever and was also the author of The Picture  of Dorian Gray, a work that by itself would have granted him a ticket to posterity. He was one of the most representattive personalities of the society of his time, what people used to call a dandy. H e was elegant in his clothes and his words. His sayings reveal a keen and brilliant personality. " Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much" was one of the many clever statements that have lost neither relevance nor brilliance after all these years. Several plays, short stories and poems are also part of a great literary production that Wilde left to posterity. But perhaps one of the most remarkable aspects of his life is precisely the series of sad events that led to his early death at age 46. Though he was married, apparently he also had homosexual inclinations that eventually were cause of accusation by the father of one of his friends. The c

For almost nineteen years no American writer has been awarded a Nobel prize in Literature (the last one was Toni Morrison in 1993). This is a somewhat unsettling figure if we consider that the United States has traditionally being home of great writers such as William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway or Isaac Bashevis Singer.  Is it that we are witnessing a declination of the literature of The United States? It is not that there is a lack of writers who tell great stories. As an example we have Stephen King and Stephanie Meyers who have amazing stories to tell and easily sell thousands of books (meaning also that there are still many avid readers waiting for a good story to put their hands on). However, it's also true that though their books are best sellers that does not mean they are great examples of literature. They offer a good reading. That's all. There are of course gifted writers out there, but  they are doing something else, not necessarily writing good books. They co

A sexist palindrome! What's a Palindrome ?  Well, it is not a word but a group of words that together have a special quality: palindromes are groups of words that can be read either way and at the same time retain their meanings, and here are some examples. Never odd or even Madam, I´m Adam Do geese see God? A nut for a jar of tuna Air an aria There are also shorter examples: Racecar Avid diva Bird rib Even some names are palindromes such as Bob, Eve Elle, or Ann. Do we have palindromes in Spanish? Sure but not as many as in English and perhaps the most famous of them all is the following: "Dábale arroz a la zorra el abad." I´ve always wondered why the abad would do such a thing.

Reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is a wonderful experience. It’s one of those novels that leaves you with the impression you were in some roller coaster, meaning it has its ups and downs. Characters for one thing are really flat; most of  them are one-dimensional such as Nelly one of the narrators of the story (it is told in third person through some of the characters) who is kind and patient, or the main character himself, Heathcliff, who is greedy and revengeful for no apparent reason. The strong points are in the plot itself, full of surprises, and the dialogs which perfectly capture the spirit of each of the characters. Though it’s not a love story Wuthering Heights is about a love story. Truly, it’s the story of how the members of two families become pawns of Heathcliff, a man who is cold, calculating but at the same time immensely driven by his love for Catherine Earnshaw who in turn loves him, and yet such love is doomed to never be consummated, not at least in this

  The Truth about your Life We're very sorry, very sorry indeed. You see, this is a document to explain that your life, your life as you know it, will come to an end. Please, we do not want to upset you at any level. Those who write this are your friends, your partners and perhaps the closest to a family you will ever have, but as they used to say: "To all good things an end."          There is a real existence )9?&& and the one you are living through right now is not real. The people you call your family are not real, your friends are not real, the place you are in right now, even this document, are nothing but fictional “””k¨L&%% products. They do not exist, you do not exist, because the person you believe you are is a creation, your creation. Are you puzzled? Are you smiling? Good, then you are reacting well. We are your friends but none of us is a psychologist so we are not sure how to do this properly, without mentally disturbing you too muc

The last of The Big Four is dead. The Big Four of Sci-fi were actually only three and  none other than Robert A. Heinlein (1988), Isaac Asimov (1992),and  Arthur C. Clarke (2008) but not including Ray Bradbury in this group is ignoring his unique contribution to the world of Sci-fi. Bradbury who passed away on June 5th, this year was different from the other three in that technically he was not a science fiction writer but just a writer. His works did not include detailed descriptions of starships, sentient computers or humanized robots.  He focused more on the characters and the situation itself, only that his most well-known stories are set in the future, one that is not mechanized but only a projection of what we have now and who we are at the moment. By association his readers "decided" he was a Sci-fi writer though science is nearly absent from his works if not absent at all. Besides there are those works of his that were not set in the future and are pure f

Everyone knows the story of Hansel and Gretel by the Grimm brothers. What many ignore is the background behind this so called fairy tale. The story is set in the Europe of the Middle Ages in a time where the quality of life was anything but good and food for example was scarce. As a result, infanticide was one of the practices families of that time performed in order to ensure survival. Little children were abandoned to die and in the original version it is Hansel and Gretel´s mother (not stepmother) who asked her husband to leave the children so deep in the forest that they could not find their way back. The children found a house, a cottage made of candy, chocolate and icing. The owner of the house, an old lady invites them to come in and traps them. Inside the cottage the kids are trapped by the old lady and fed to have them ready to be eaten. The old woman is described as an old witch with bad eyesight  (hence the reason for the cany house to work as a trap and make things easy f

Were fairy tales created to entertain children or to frighten them? Perhaps it depends on which fairy tales we are referring to. Some are “harmless”, so to speak, such as Pinocchio written by Carlo Collodi. But there are others like those written by the Grimm brothers by Andersen the intention of which is a bit suspicious. The Red Shoes by Andersen for example tell the story of a vain stepdaughter who is so proud of her red shoes she even wears them to church gaining apparently divine disapproval. At a party she begins dancing and cannot stop. An angel then appears to her revealing her shoes are now cursed and  won´t ever stop not even after she dies (creepy!) to serve as an example to other children.  She keeps dancing for days until she finds an executioner who taking pity on her chops her feet off, and the shoes still with her feet inside kept dancing around. The executioner replaces her feet with wooden part. Repented the girl attempts to go back to church, but   can´t beca

The prophets of our time, the real ones, do not announce the end of the world as we know it, not at least using any religion as their power base. They tell us about the future, the marvels it may bring and also the trials we may have to endure. Take Arthur C. Clarke for instance. This science fiction writer as early as in the 50s was already talking about geostationary satellites and their potential as telecommunication relays. Let´s not forget that the first rocket to space was sent just in 1957 (it was the Sputnik1). He also predicted the creation of a global library (the Internet?) again in 1958, stating it would be in existence by 2005. Though incredibly famous he remained a nice person and a gent through and through again: one of my groups sent him letters commenting on Songs of a distant Earth, another book of his, and he took the time to respond sending a letter, several pics and stickers with his autograph! It's a pity the world lost this brilliant mind in 2008.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Perhaps the answer to the old question of why truly Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden is right in the verses of the Genesis book:  "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us,   to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand,  and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,   to till the ground from whence he was taken." (Genesis 3, 22-23) God wanted to prevent his creations to become other gods. He obviously did not favor competition.                                                              

Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD was famous for being one of the very few virtous emperors Rome had. He was a Stoic who did not become ruler willingly but accepted the job as "his duty". In order to keep his perspective clear and not turning into another arrogant and shortsighted governor, Marcus Aurelius had a servant who constanttly whispered in his ears "You´re only a man! I know of some Ecuadorian president who would benefit if he did the same thing

One of those masters of horror that has not received all the recognition he should is W.W. Jacobs. Born in 1863 this Londoner was not really known for being a horror writer, however, it was a collection of short stories ( The lady of the Barge, 1902) that made him popular and one in particular has endured the test of time better than the rest: The Monkey’s Paw . This is the tale that defines psychological horror more accurately than any other. It’s really easy to scare showing scenes of gore, using ominous dark figures or monsters of all sorts, but is it equally easy without any of those things? Jacobs was a master in doing so and his story is the best proof.  It begins with the Whites and their only son, a young man.One day they receive the visit of one of Mr. White’s old friends, a military man who is in possession of a mysterious artifact. That thing is a monkey’s paw that has the incredible ability to grant three wishes to its owner. It can be used by three different people

I finally finished reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It’s one of those novels that leaves you with the impression you were in some roller coaster, meaning it has its ups and downs. Characters for one thing are really flat; most of them are one-dimensional such as Nelly one of the narrators of the story (it is told in third person through some of the characters) who is  kind and patient, or the main character himself, Heathcliff, who is greedy and revengeful for no apparent reason. The strong points are in the plot itself, full of surprises, and the dialogs which perfectly capture the spirit of each of the characters. Though it’s not a love story Wuthering Heights is about a love story. Truly, it’s the story of how the members of two families become pawns of Heathcliff, a man who is cold, calculating but at the same time immensely driven by his love for Catherine Earnshaw who in turn loves him, and yet such love is doomed to never be consummated, not at least in this world. H

Robert De Niro as the Frankestein creature The Modern Prometheus is the alternative title of the novel by Mary Shelley that we know as Frankestein . This work tells us about the tragic story of Dr. Frankestein, a man obssessed with finding a way to create life on his own, and he does it by animating a creature made up by the parts of different corpses.The creature, despised by his creator the very moment it comes to life, eventually learns to hate as it is hated and takes revenge on his own creator not by killing “his father” but those he loves the most instead. As you can see the creature is not the mindless monster that Boris Karloff impersonated: it can think, it can speak, it can feel resentment. Revered by most as one of the greatest classics in horror literature, there are those who think this novel is actually one of the first Sci-fi tales ever written. Now, how is that possible? 

Robert L Stevenson (born on Nov. 13, 1850) was the creator of classics such as The Treasure Island and The Bottle Imp though he is better known for another creation of his own: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde . This book stands out because it explores what could happen if we gave a way out to that intrinsic evil that dwells within all of us. It is also a warning against the idea that we can experiment on ourselves just because we can. In the end, Dr. Jekyll tragically discovers that he is Mr. Hyde, but Mr. Hyde is not Dr. Jekyll. A mad scientist and an experiment gone wrong: there is another novel like that entitled The Modern Prometheus, also known as   The Frankestein Creature and written by yet another British writer, Mary Shelley.