Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Closer Look at the ‘John Carter’ Creator

The original appearance of Under the Moons of Mars, in pulp magazine The All-Story. ... Image via Wikipedia

(Photo credit: Cherry Crimson)

Disney movie John Carter recently hit theaters, so I thought I’d highlight the man whose mind John Carter sprang from: Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Burroughs’ entry into writing came a bit late, when he was in his 30s, but he exploded onto the scene with Under the Moons of Mars, a serialized novel that was later renamed A Princess of Mars, the first in the John Carter Series. Not long after that he introduced the world-famous Tarzan, and he went on to great fame and fortune. What many don’t know about Burroughs, however, is that his rise took place a full century ago—the first installment of Under the Moons of Mars, in pulp magazine The All-Story, came in February 1912.

There’s an excellent column on Burroughs and his writing on BarnesAndNobleReview.com, from which I got this information—I may sound like a Burroughs enthusiast, but the truth is I’ve never read any of his work; I’ve often considered getting into it, particularly the Tarzan series, so perhaps now is a great time to do that. I just found the column to be an interesting read, and the subject matter timely. I hope you enjoy it.

Bad Grammer Prooves Irksom

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Just when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to come up with something for a Language Lesson today, I had this gem drop into my lap while I was reading a message board (the following comment was in response to a reporter’s article):

First, let me say how irksom it is to read the work of professional writers who don’t have a grasp of basic grammar.

Well, let me say how irksome it is to see people using words they don’t know how to spell. I realize that the author of the above quote isn’t, to my knowledge, a professional writer, but come on, if you’re going to diss someone for their basic English, you really should have your own house in order first.

Class dismissed. =)

King’s ‘On Writing’ is On Target

Not the book's cover, which isn't available on this system. =( ... Image via Wikipedia

Stephen King’s On Writing is more than a decade old, but it remains the best book about writing I’ve ever read. Part memoir, part writing manual, it shows that King is more than just a fiction writer, and that he really knows his stuff.

The first half of the book is memoir, in which King recounts many childhood experiences that shaped him as a person and as a writer, and also gives a fascinating look into the beginning of one of the most storied literary careers. The second half is more directly about the craft of writing—and it is indeed a craft, requiring much care and practice, as King points out—and he proves himself particularly adept at teaching his craft; he offers up instruction in such a way that I never felt bored, like I was reading a textbook or sitting in a stuffy lecture hall. He gives great illustrations of what he’s saying, and he makes writing accessible, breaking it down into its simple components so that it’s not at all the daunting thing that many of us so often make it out to be.

It’s been several years since I read it, but I recently loaned it to a co-worker, and I’m looking at taking it for another walk, starting today, which is what prompted me to write this post. I haven’t read every book about writing (not even close; there are way too many with which to keep up), but On Writing is hands-down the best I’ve ever consumed, and I consider it a must-read for any working or aspiring writer.

If You Could Care Less, You Could Care Less

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Per my wife’s request, today I give you a Language Lesson pertaining to something that really gets under her skin. Now, maybe you could care less about what my wife thinks—

Oh, wait. It was right there. Did you see it? I just did what she hates. But maybe you could care less about what she and I—

Dang. Did it again.

The subject of this Language Lesson is often overlooked, but it’s quite logical when you consider it: when someone says “I could care less,” what they mean is that they have zero interest in the topic at hand—that is, they couldn’t care less. If you “could care less,” then you could still care less than you already do, but what you’re trying to say is that you don’t care at all about what’s being addressed; therefore, the proper wording is “I couldn’t care less.”

My wife and I hear this mistake all the time. We’ll be sitting on the couch in the evening watching TV—sometimes a “reality” show, sometimes a scripted one, and in both instances we’ll hear someone make this mistake. When they do, my wife and I instantly give each other a certain look, as if to say, “Did they really just say what I think they said?”

I know, I know. We’re total nerds and have a boring existence, but we can’t help noticing what we notice. Besides, I could couldn’t care less what you think about us.

Class dismissed. =)

Life Under Stephen King’s ‘Dome’ is Intriguing and Brutal ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ◊

♦

It’s been a while since I read Stephen King’s phonebook-thick Under the Dome, but it made some impressions and stuck with me, and I think there might be some people who’d prefer to know a bit about it before deciding to invest in a 1,000-plus page encyclopedia book.

Some brief background first: I’m originally from Maine, and so is Mr. King, and since Maine, as beautiful as it is, has so few present-day claims to fame, it was sort of natural for me to gravitate toward his work—and on top of that, he’s pretty darn good at what he does, so that worked out well for me.

The first thing you’ll notice when you pick up this book—if you haven’t figured it out already—is that it’s quite weighty—literally. Weighty and long. But don’t let that discourage you. I realize that long works can be hard to get through, even if they’re entertaining, because you’re bound to have at least a few lulls in the action, but it’s also a neat thing, I think, to be able to say that you conquered a beast like this. That was certainly a big motivating factor for me with this book.

And now for the story itself. As with many King novels, this one takes place in a small town in Maine—a fictitious town, but one that could certainly exist. Being from a small Maine town myself (Windsor—whoop-whoop!), I’m familiar with the rhythms and movements of small-town life, including the bad apple that nearly every small town seems to have: the egotistical, power-hungry, “big fish in a little pond” local politician. That’s true of Chester’s Mill, which is burdened with the presence of Big Jim Rennie, who also doubles (surprise, surprise) as a car salesman (you can’t get a much slimier double-profession than that pair, huh?).

The other driving force in the story is the dome mentioned in the title, a mysterious clear shell that covers the entire town—extending even into the ground—and allows nothing in or out. As you can imagine, this presents all sorts of problems, but also—if you’re Big Jim Rennie—a great possibility: sovereign rule of your own little fiefdom.

It’s not long before all manner of brutality and thuggishness ensue—encouraged almost exclusively by Rennie for his own personal gain—but a small band of folks who are of higher moral quality than Rennie (not that that takes much) begin to work against him while at the same time trying to decipher the enigma that is the dome. A group of town kids is also in on the latter task, giving that aspect of the book a bit of a Stand By Me feel (a movie based on the King short story The Body).

I’ll leave the explosive, intriguing, fairly-satisfying-but-somewhat-saddening ending to your discovery, but I will say this: Under the Dome has some lulls—which, as I said before, is pretty much unavoidable in any long novel—and I wouldn’t call it my favorite Stephen King novel, but it had enough (particularly the “what’s the dome?” part) to keep me engaged til the end and, as always with King, the writing quality is superb, not to mention realistic. I recommend it for King aficionados and anyone looking for a worth literary conquest.

P.S.: There’s a good amount of cussing from his characters, and a sex scene or two—again, that’s customary with him. Also, I didn’t want to give this book 4 diamonds out of 5—more like 3¾—but this system offers no means (that I’m aware of, anyway) of giving partial diamonds.

You Shouldn’t Of

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Shoulda, woulda, coulda. It’s a fairly famous saying, and spelled according to the shorthand way

of pronouncing it. But if each of those three words is spelled (or pronounced) in its full form—as two words—do you know what the second of those two words should be?

Many people would answer “of,” as in “should of.” This is how it sounds phonetically, but it’s wrong. The correct answer is “have,” as in: “I should have thought of that.” The problem most likely lies in the fact that these two words are usually contracted into one, in which case it’s spelled “should’ve”—which sounds identical to “should of.”

It’s a common mistake, and I’ve seen even seasoned newspaper reporters make it time and time again (likely because they never bothered to read over their stories after they’d been edited, because if they had, they would’VE seen what they’d done wrong—but I digress; don’t get me started on reporters who don’t try to improve their writing!).

Class dismissed. =)

Try and Learn to Not Say ‘Try and’

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Being a full-time writer/editor (it’s my day job as well as my hobby), I see a lot of writing mistakes, including certain ones that get repeated over and over. As often as I can, I’ll be pointing them out here on my blog, under the category “Language Lessons”—consider it part of my small contribution to improving the culture of language in our society.

My first lesson, students, concerns a certain phrase that I don’t remember hearing or reading until the last couple of years but which has, unfortunately, exploded into use. Check out the following sentence:

I’ll try and remember to stop by the grocery store on the way home from work.

Really? You’re going to try and remember? No, no, no. You’ll try to remember. Likewise, you won’t try and forget what that mean person said about you, you’ll try to forget what he said about you.

Honestly, I don’t know where or how this started, but we all need to try and to make it stop.

Class dismissed. =)