The Lit Net Monthly News

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[FONT="Book Antiqua"]August 2010[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]
Welcome to The Literature Networks online newspaper. Keeping you updated with information regarding threads, contests, Book Club and lots more!

[I][CENTER][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Forum Book Club[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

The July novel was [I][URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54096"]Walden[/URL][/I]

There are currently 2 group readings taking place with our August novel [I][URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54827"]Razor's Edge[/URL][/I] and the summer reading [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53954"][I]The Brother's Karamazov[/I][/URL]

Don’t forget to vote in the [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54097"]September[/URL] Reading Poll!

The Book Club is also now nominating for the [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54828"]October Read[/URL].

The Forum Shakespeare Discussion Group is still on Henry IV Part I. Pop over to the sub forum if you are interested in participating[url]http://www.online-literature.com/for...lay.php?f=5895[/url]

The Forum Book Club is always happy to have new participants. If you are interested, you can find it in the Reading section of the Forum Index page.


[I][CENTER][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Official Forum Contest[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

Thank you for the increase in submissions for this months August Elimination in the short story contest there are 5 entries this time round so get voting!!!!

[url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?p=932041#post932041[/url]


[I][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Unofficial Poetry Contests[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]


The Personal Poetry forum is one of Litnets’ most active forums and comes complete with a sub-forum dedicated to poetry games and contests. We have three very popular poetry contests located in the sub-forum; The Picture Poetry Contest (continued…) , The Form Poetry Contest and The Subject Poetry Contest. There is also a new contest set up The Minimalist Poetry Contest. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=50408[/url] Why not pop in and give it a go. You might just win!

[CENTER]The Form winner[/CENTER]

The falling of Night sends icy cold deep into my lifeblood—
The desire for comfort and longing for the silent grave—
Yet the break of dawn sends promise that all is never vanished forever, a renewing hope

[I]by Pendragon[/I]

[CENTER]The Subject winner[/CENTER]

[B]Stonewall Jackson[/B]

I'd been every battle we fought with the North,
Believing in the cause of my beloved South
Never took a bullet in all of that time
Though a couple came mighty darn close
The field was strown with bodies, some ours and more theirs
I thought the battle over and done
Then as I rode in victory back to our ranks
I fell from our own friendly fire
"Let us cross o're the river and rest beneath the trees"
An officer and a gentleman, may I rest in peace

[I]by Pendragon[/I]

In memory of a Southern hero who died from friendly fire. The next to last line are his final reported words

[CENTER]The Picture winner[/CENTER]

The great wall is powdered gold
By the tired sun, slowly rising,
Only to fall back upon his own weight.

The burden of light, sobriety, truth
We fear it
We cherish what it is not

A trickle of lingering night
Floats in the corner of my palace
It chils the air a dark blue

Streaks of surreal colors
Hiccup, laugh, and mourn their drunkenness
They sing a drowsy tune
Tall green forests and rolling fields
Licked azure and vermillion by
Young fauns and faeries

The sun light rushes in
Washing away the leftover
Colors of Dreams

[I]by Alexander III[/I]

[CENTER]The Minimalist winner[/CENTER]

[B]My Liquid Heart [/B]

Your eyes
a watery grave

like these
liquid tongues
which I swim through

in the hopes of
finding you
somewhere
beneath

where only
my reflections
meet.

[I]by Dark Muse[/I]

Congratulations to you all!



[I][CENTER][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Featured Personal Poetry[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]


Every month we post a selection of our favourite poems submitted in the personal poetry section for the previous month.

[B]Academic Prats[/B]
His name is Dr Palm Off
a simple brain knows why
He claims he's academic
but Dr Palm Off often lies

He taps the school funding
for silly research trips
while students wait forever
for grades and learning tips

such luck is not forthcoming
even though they've paid
Dr Palm off is too busy
can't we all just wait?

while he studies man's achievements
in the hope he'll get a look
by standing in fame's glow
he might pen a winning book

Dr Palm Off yearns glory
he thinks being on campus
is utterly gory.

So now I want a refund
and a grade for my distress
but the school can't find
the Palm Off
we're sorry, they confess

I must now write a letter
to the Dean who I suspect
is friends with Dr Palm Off
and no doubt will protect
the academic facade
of a non-teaching teach
while students pay good money
for goals that won't be reached.

[I]by Delta 40[/I]

[B]Colors[/B]

I can hear the color blue,
sometimes the sky speaks to me
in clipped foreign syllables
that I never understand.

I can feel yellow-orange,
warming these bones
with a smoldering caress
from arms that are not there.

I can taste chocolate brown,
bittersweet, biting back,
leaving me in wonder
of supple, sun-darked skin.

But most, I smell the green earth,
and scent the memory of home,
and know that, though it is no more,
I will return one day.

[I]by Hack[/I]

[I][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Forum Advertisement[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

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[I][CENTER][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Featured Members Profile[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]


Each month we sift through Litnets member profile pages and selecting one as our Featured Profile of the Month. So get personalizing, decorating and designing your profile.


This month we have chosen [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/member.php?u=26608"]Symphony[/URL]


[I][CENTER][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Blog of the Month[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]


This month we have decided to feature [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?u=34775"]Aunt Shecky's blog[/URL].


[I][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Featured Threads[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]


This month we have decided to go with [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54111"]Name the Painting[/URL] and [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2706"]What are u reading right now?[/URL]



[I][CENTER][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Lit Net Book Reviews[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]


This month’s book review was selected from the Write a book Review sub-forum in general Literature.

[B]Slaughter House 5 ~ Kurt Vonnegut[/B]

Just as the casual customer in a bookstore flips through a few random pages before purchasing a book, Kurt Vonnegut randomly writes his masterpiece, Slaughterhouse 5.

The plot structure (while trying to avoid plot summary or spoilers) is fragmented and seemingly random, and unlike most novels avoids a linear structure. Vonnegut's plot structure gravitates around the opening sentence of the second chapter; Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time. His life is no longer linear. This becomes evident to the reader quickly; each chapter is riddled with passages of Billy being transported to other sections of his life (or in certain situations, other planets). Yet this is not what makes the novel an "American Pastime" of sorts.

Through iconic phrasing and a seeming apathy (mixed with mild doses of dark humor) Vonnegut presents an idea similar to Carlos Castaneda's early novels; that no moment in time is more important than any other; or more briefly, that every moment in time is equal. No favoritism is necessary because everything is equal. Death is equal in status to one's own birthday. Likewise, Vonnegut's method of presenting this said idea distances himself from humanity (and in some ways, modern thinking) yet this idea resonates with the reader. Everyone, whether intentionally or not, plays favorites. It's perhaps our greatest crime. There's always a friend or sibling we prefer more than the others. But to Vonnegut, such an idea is trifling. He prefers the Tralfamadorian approach (and Castaneda's "Don Juan" approach); that all moments are equal in time; that we should "see" the value in each moment instead of "look" at what is present. And because of the striking originality and cleverness of his prose, symbolism and thematic relevance, Slaughter-House 5 is one of the most significant novels of the past 60 years.

[I]submitted by IceM[/I]


[I][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Forum Advertisement[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

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[I][CENTER][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Birthdays[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]



Here are this months Litnet birthdays! Also, don’t forget that many of these members will be sent an interview, so look out for the Getting to Know You thread.

Happy Birthday!

Papayahed; Biggus; Quark; Chava; Madhuri; JBI; Annamariah; SleepyWitch; MorpheusSandman & limajean

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[I][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]New Additions to the Site[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

There are some new quizzes added to the forum by Logos. If you have some free time on your hands, why not give them ago! [url]http://www.online-literature.com/for...iz.php?catid=1[/url]
If you are interested in Keeping track of new additions to the forum and seeing what Admin has now created and changed, please follow the link below. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=45417[/url]


[I][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Letters to the Editor[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

No letters these few months, any letters can be PM'ed to the newsletter account for inclusion in upcoming editions.





[I][SIZE="5"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Special Thanks[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]


I would like to thank everyone who helped contribute to the Newsletter over the last year, whether they were aware they were contributing or not!
Also a special thank you to all those that subscribe to the newsletter.
Yours truly
The Litnetter