There has always been a dispute over which is the longest novel in English Literature. Different researchers and critics have always taken different names. However, today I bring before you an easy access to whoever is intrigued by the mystery of the longest novel in literature!!

After a lot of research, my work bore fruit for I found a fabulous guide to all the longest novels from around the world.

Who hasn’t heard of Wikipedia? Every internet user, avid or immature, certainly knows what Wikipedia is. And if you do not (:gasp:), please click HERE.

So, as I was telling you, Wikipedia came to my help again. It is there where I found a list of all the longest novels in the world.

Did you know Wikipedia had a whole page dedicated to it? I’m sure you did not so here’s why I am sharing it with you!

Here is an extract from the page:

Like determining the list of tallest buildings, figuring the list of longest novels would yield different results depending on what criteria are used.

While word and character figures are common standard, word and character become interchangeable depending on the language used. In alphabetic writing, several letters are combined to make a syllable, which are combined to make a word. In the Korean language, each letter expresses one syllable, significantly reducing the number of letters needed to express one word. Japanese, borrowing its word roots in part from Chinese, uses a combination of ideographs combined with syllabic symbols for inflection.

Recently, I read an astonishing news which almost made me jump off my chair in surprise!

70 pounds and not an inch taller than 4 feet, but hey! don’t go by Adora Svitak’s size my friends…..for she stood proudly atop the stage addressing students of one of the best public high school at Chicago, which also counts Michelle Obama as one of the prestigious alumina, giving them advises on how to publish their books!

Yes!!! Can you believe it?

She stood lively in her pink pompom boots and sweat pants in a cherubic blue. It is supposed that almost 135 students listened with rapt attention to her words and most were encouraged and aspired to reach her level.

She told the students to become much more serious about their writing if their dream is to publish a book, and to limit their television time.

Just 11 years of age, and already the happy author of two published books, Adora from Redmond, Wash, was on cloud nine as she shared her experience as a writer with the students. She has already penned down more than 400 short stories and more than a dozen poems. She says that by the ripe age of 4, she conquered the art of reading chapter books and started writing soon enough. She has her own blog which you can visit by clicking here.


In a patent voice and gesticulations that contradict her age, Adora used prudent literary vocabulary like “protagonist,” “conflict” and “plot” as easily as girls her age use words for their favorite pop stars and television shows.

Adora, prefers watching nightly newscasts and reading fantasy, historical fiction and biographies than sitting in front of the idiot-box.

I just wish I was as smart as her. All I can do now is look up to her as an inspiration!

Do you all know who Langston Hughes is? Langston Hughes was a poet and great writer whose works have been admired and looked upon by many amateurs. To read more on this famous African -American author and poet, please visit Wikipedia

The great poet, playwright, novelist, essayist or all-rounder in literary luminary, Langston Hughes achieved fame during the Harlem Renaissance. But do you know how or what he did earlier than that? I bet you do not, so I come here today to share some interesting tit-bits with you!

Before he became famous, Hughes was a common struggling writer, doing some or the other small job to support his promising poetry.

A common day in the year 1925, while working at a restaurant in Washington D.C., something got into him and Hughes arranged some of his poems under the dinner plate of then potent poet, Vachel Lindsay. The mesmerized and pleased Lindsay, shared the poems during his reading that night, and in the morning, Hughes was crowned Lindsay's new discovery, the "busboy poet."

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5. Aesop- An Ugly Slave or A Famous Storyteller?
   

You might have often been intrigued by many  phrases. But ever wondered what was the tale behind their origin? I went on a searching spree and discovered some interesting origins of phrases, that you might never have thought of. So keep guessing while you read!

Raining Cats And Dogs

This means raining very heavily Though the origin is still controversial, some say that the abominable drainage system of buildings in the 15th century caused drains to run over, emitting out garbage and a few unanticipated rubbish. Thus, animals might have lived in the thatched roofs and when it rained heavily, the dead remains would fall! And maybe some even had some dead dogs and cats hit their heads, thus giving birth to the phrase. Anyways, this certainly is a strange way to describe the weather, eh?

Fit to be tied

It means being furious. This phrase originated when the practice of tying irrepressible and often hazardous people was followed.

Wing and a prayer

It refers to being hopeful but unlikely to succeed. It originated during the First World War, celebrating the return of an American Flyer who came back safely in spite of a badly injured wing.

Pass the buck

It refers to passing off responsibility to someone else. It originated from a game of cards. A marker known as a buck is used in card games to mark the player who is the existing dealer. When the buck is passed to the next player, the responsibility for dealing is passed.

Stink to high heaven

It means to have a very strong odor. This expression originated from the well-known Shakespearean play 'Hamlet'. From a dialogue uttered by Hamlet's Uncle, the King of Denmark - "O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon it, A brother's murder."

Face the music

It refers to accepting the truth. It originated from the British Military practice of playing the drums when someone was court marshaled.

I have a bone to pick with you

Which means, I have an unpleasant matter to settle with you. It is believed to have originated when at the marriage banquets of the Sicilian poor, the bride's father, after the meal, used to hand the bridegroom a bone, saying, "Pick this bone, for you have taken in hand a much harder task." Another origin might be from the British where a bone to pick was a profitable appointment given to a difficult opponent in order to silence him. The reference is to throwing a bone to a dog to keep him from barking at you.

To read more origins of phrases, the best site I can suggest is "The Phrase Finder". Do read many more phrases and any more interesting information regarding their origins, is welcome. So all game to share your knowledge with me through comments? Any additions to the list are welcome!

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Charles Dickens has always been my evergreen favorite author for his brilliant works which one cannot resist. But it is not only today that we realize his worth and extol him, it has been so even in the past years. Dickens has been the most famous author who ever lived.....and the only one who had his clothes ripped off by fans!!! You can read more about the famous author on Wikipedia.

It has been said that if there was ever a magazine for celebrities at that time, Dickens would certainly have featured on the front page of something called "Fashion from Boston"! He was certainly a very Mr. Popular. While in New York, Charles complained that he had multitude of followers as soon as he turned into the street.

Nonetheless he enjoyed his celebrity status. But did you all know that Charles Dickens had his clothes ripped off by crazy book fans at that time. I'm sure he's even famous than any other celebrity of our time, having clothes ripped off!

If this news has intrigued you and you posses any similar bizarre information about the author, I would be glad to hear it. Please do share you thoughts with me through your valuable comments!

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While browsing through the net to provide my readers with something interesting, one of the posts on Writers Digest caught my attention.

Writers Digest as it's description says- Write Better Get Published, is a wonderful writing site that will interest every amateur and budding writer. Along with giving valuable tips to young writers to help them enhance their writing, it also gives professionals an opportunity to help them get published.

One of the posts, Sub-Genre Descriptions is really very interesting, so I thought I'd share an extract of it with you too.

The Horror section particularly interested me.

according to the Wikipedia. Thus today, I share with you the definitions/descriptions of some commonly used terms in the genre of horror fiction.

Dark Mystery/Noir:inspired by hardboiled detective tales, set in an urban underworld of crime and moral ambiguity.

Gothic:a traditional form depicting the encroachment of the Middle Ages upon the 18th century Enlightenment, filled with images of decay and ruin, and episodes of imprisonment and persecution.

Hauntings:a classic form centering on possession by ghosts, demons or poltergeists, particularly of some sort of structure.

Magical Realism:a genre inspired by Latin-American authors, in which extraordinary forces or creatures pop into otherwise normal, real-life settings.

Science-Fiction Horror:SF with a darker, more violent twist, often revolving around alien invasions, mad scientists, or experiments gone wrong.

Weird Tales:inspired by the magazine of the same name, a more traditional form featuring strange and uncanny events (Twilight Zone).

If you enjoyed this extract, pay a visit to the site, Writers Digest, to read more of these Sub-Genres and I'm certain you'll enjoy them!

Okay, so this comeback post stands for all Harry Potter fans like me. I'm an ardent lover of that magical wizard. And so I guess is every second person in the world!!

But do any one of you know much about the unique and miraculous author, J.K Rowling?

So here's a chance for you to know more about her through this post. Read on friends....

J. K. stands for Joanne Kathleen. J. K. Rowling chose to use her initials for the book because her publisher feared that if readers knew she was female, the boy wizard, Harry Potter, would not gain as much fame as it deserved. Of course, everyone later learned this was hardly the case. And I wrote a post about it too. You can read it here, Female Writers Won't Appeal To The Masses!

The interesting thing is that the extraordinary story of the magical wizard was created quite normally, like every second struggling writer.....that too, on napkins!! Yea! She wrote the story of Harry Potter while travelling on train being a single mother then.

J.K Rowling was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Beleive it or not, the richest author in the world was an ordinary woman at a time. She completed her first book-length manuscript on an old manual typewriter while she was unemployed and living on state benefits.

It is known that about twelve publishing houses initially rejected her first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. A small publisher, Bloomsbury, in hope for some job, finally decided to give Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling a break, even giving the author a small advance.

But that small advance was quite a big turnaround for her, after the success of her books. In 2006, the author was named the second richest female entertainer in the world behind Oprah Winfrey. Her fortune is around over One Billion U.S. Dollars.

It is recorded, even in the Guinness Book of World Records that her sixth book of the Harry Potter series sold more copies in twenty-four hours than The Da Vinci Code sold in a year. Any guesses how many copies were sold, or how much money she earned every twenty-four hours?? My head turns just imagining so!

After that, as we all know, J. K. Rowling has assured the world that the seventh book in the Harry Potter series will also be the last. Many famous authors like Stephen King and John Irving have begged J. K. Rowling not to finish off the dear little boy wizard but unfortunately, for all of us alike, she has been sure footed about his destiny.

J. K. Rowling, a modest woman, even contributes a good deal of money and supports charitable causes. She has even suggested to publish an encyclopedia about the magical world of Harry Potter, and contribute all earnings from the publication to charity.

Was it not wonderful to know about this great personality? And if you know any additional information about her, please feel free to share it with me!

Who has not heard of Egar Allan Poe??? Everyone has, irrespective of being a literature lover or not! But did any of you know him as a Sergeant-Major? It's true. Poe already had published his first volume of poetry, Tamarlane and Other Poems, when he joined the U.S. Army as a Private in 1827.

So what with it, eh? Apparently, the next year, in 1830, Poe secured an appointment to West Point. Poe excelled in his studies at first, but after an argument with his adoptive father, John Allan, Poe apparently let his studies degrade deliberately. After a court-martial in January of 1831, Poe was dismissed from the academy and from the army.

Edgar Allan Poe's classic poem "The Raven" talked about his reputation as a black-feathered literary master of the macabre. Later, Poe mixed poetry with work as a soldier in the U.S. Army. He was dismissed from West Point and moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he began writing prose.

Poe wrote for various magazines in Richmond, Philadelphia and New York, and also published creepy short stories and poems, including "The Purloined Letter," "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado." His story The Murders in the Rue Morgue is widely considered to be the first modern detective story, with Poe, later emerged, masters of the craft like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.

Being a heavy drinker and smoker, Poe was never in robust health. Poe thus, died under mysterious circumstances at age 40 after visiting Virginia to lecture. He was found languishing on the street in Baltimore and taken unconscious to a local hospital, where he died.

Now, as I say….life histories about writers are always interesting and Edgar Allan Poe’s biography is one of the most interesting of all others! Hope you enjoyed reading and please pardon my for a while for not posting regularly for me exams are around the bend…..But I promise to be back soon!!!

I would not believe it if any of you said you do not know who Aesop is. However, Aesop is actually said to be the author of a plethora of animal stories and fables, which are fairly similar to the Indian Panchatantra and teach worldly knowledge and wisdom!

Now comes the information I attained, they say that according to Greek historian Herodotus, Aesop survived on planet Earth sometime during the 6^th century BC. He is said to have been a pitiable slave on the island of Samos. Much has been said about his uninviting physical characteristics. It is said the Aesop was the ugliest of men to survive on Earth. He had a deformed face, crooked nose, shrewd mouth and unruly hair with sore eyes.

People, as they are, used to laugh more at Aesop and his bleak beauty rather than his stories. But Aesop, being a man of fortitude and patience bore through the pain and canalized his anger or agony into producing better and better stories. And at last, they say he succeeded for half the people in the 21^st century do not know that Aesop was probably a real person. His name has become phenomenal and synonymous to the word “fable” and many tales not composed by him were nevertheless attributed to him.

So here comes the final verdict, “Every cloud has a silver lining!” What is yours?

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• Improve Your Writing By Keeping A Rotten Apple!
  

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Once again, I have stumbled upon some unknown and interesting facts about famous authors. This time, I target none another than the renowned romantic classics writer, Jane Austen!

So….what about her?, you ask! Just a little patience and you will know! For further reading about this famous author, you can read more about this great author on Wikipedia.

Unfortunately, Jane Austen’s first novel was presumed to be literature of the lowest level by her publishers. Others were no better. Jane had a troubling life as an author to convince publishers and editors for her living.

But later, she emerged as a star and stunned all her predators by the ever famous, Pride & Prejudice which has been made into a film in Hollywood and Bollywood too.

And you know what? Many of Jane’s novels did not even mention her name. They just said ‘by a lady’. Now…that’s harassing, is it not? What do you have to say? Is it, as I said in my earlier post about J.K Rowling, Female Writers Won't Appeal To The Masses, women authors do not usually get the required fame?

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“It only takes one rotten apple to spoil the basket!” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe would certainly disagree with this saying. I suppose he adheres to the saying, “Old is Gold”.

Goethe was so addicted to the saying that he could not write if he had no rotten apple in his desk. He says thoughts emerged in his mind only after he looked at the rotten apple!

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the renowned writer, is a German poet and novelist. Some of the renowned works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe include Faust; The Sorrows of Young Werther and Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. To read more about him you can visit this great article. Reading some famous quotes by Goethe at John Petrie's Collection is a must. For more information about this great author, visit Wikipedia.

Goethe's works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, humanism, and science. Goethe's magnum opus, lauded as one of the peaks of world literature, is the two-part drama Faust.

Maybe it was just a hallucination by the writer to think that keeping a rotten apple in his desk helped in improving his writing; but why not give it a try?

Goethe has revealed this astounding secret of his success of the rotten apple, now it’s time to share yours! I would love to know what you do to bear sweet fruits!

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Here's good news for every child who gets a scolding from his parents every time he is playing or having fun. Are your parents asking you to study all the time?? So here's news for you all.