Tag: travel

RFM’s Rising Popularity Among Sri Lankan Readers

RFM has had a significant uptick in the number of views it has been receiving from Sri Lanka. I don’t know what is driving this, but I appreciate it very much and I hope that our Sri Lankan readers find and enjoy whatever they are seeking in RFM.

RFM has had a significant uptick in the number of views it has been receiving from Sri Lanka. I don’t know what is driving this, but I appreciate it very much and I hope that our Sri Lankan readers find and enjoy whatever they are seeking in RFM.

If you are not familiar with Sri Lankan literature, here is a link to the Wikipedia page on Sri Lankan literature. Also, here is a link to the list of popular Sri Lankan Literature books on Goodreads.

I was surprised to find out that Michael Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan-Canadian author. Perhaps his best known work, The English Patient, came out in 1992 and was made into a popular movie in 1996. I have read the book and have seen the movie. I found both fascinating and the movie helped my visualization of the book immensely. However, the ending of the film varies from that of the book, which I thought was a great ending, but I can see how capturing it on film in 1996 might have been difficult.

I thought the book was beautifully written and I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys good literature that transcends genres. It is poignant and intricately woven. Ralph Fiennes stars as Almasy, the lead actor and Kristin Scott Thomas as Katherine Clifton, his love interest. Wikipedia sums up the film thus:

The eponymous protagonist [Almasy], a man burned beyond recognition who speaks with an English accent, recalls his history in a series of flashbacks, revealing to the audience his true identity and the love affair in which he was involved before the war. The film ends with a definitive onscreen statement that it is a highly fictionalized account of László Almásy (died 1951) and other historical figures and events. The film received widespread critical acclaim and emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office.

I recommend highly that you read the novel and watch the film in that order.

–Phil Slattery, Publisher, RFM

Image generated by AI. Please let me know if this does not capture Sri Lankan culture accurately.

Was Lovecraft an Agoraphobe?

H.P. Lovecraft, 1915
H.P. Lovecraft, 1915

I was sitting on my sofa just now, contemplating various matters, one of which reminded me of Lovecraft’s “Shadow over Innsmouth”.  I started thinking about how Lovecraft describe it and all his locations eerily.   It occurred to me that he lived almost his entire life in Providence and seldom went out of its vicinity.  In fact, most of the settings for his stories occur relatively near to Rhode Island.  Apparently, he did not travel or often from his home.  I started thinking that if he traveled little and only to nearby areas and if he saw the few places he went as spooky or eerie (which would explain why he could describe places so eerily), then maybe he was uncomfortable or had a fear of going outside his physical comfort zone.  From what little I know of his day-to-day life, I have the impression that he probably did not leave his home very often and probably spent his time in his room writing or editing stories and writing tons of correspondence to his friends and colleagues.

This makes me wonder if Lovecraft had at least a touch of agoraphobia, a fear of public places.

He seems to have been fascinated with architecture and is very descriptive of it, but I have to wonder if that isn’t because if he was fascinated with it because it frightened him.  If something frightens me, I watch it very closely and find out what I can about it in order to alleviate my fears.

I have never read anything about Lovecraft having agoraphobia and I am no psychologist.  If anyone knows of an article on this subject, please let me know.  I would also love to hear your thoughts and comments on this topic.