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The Wasp Factory
''The Wasp Factory'' is the first novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1984. Before the book came out, Banks had written several science fiction novels that had not been accepted for publication. He decided to try a more mainstream novel in the hopes that it would be more readily accepted, and wrote about a psychopathic teenager living on a remote Scottish island. According to Banks, this allowed him to treat the story as something resembling science fiction — the island could be envisaged as a planet, and Frank, the protagonist, almost as an alien. Following the success of ''The Wasp Factory'', Banks began to write full-time. ''The Wasp Factory'' is written from a first person perspective, told by 16-year-old Francis Cauldhame ("Frank"), describing his childhood and all that remains of it. Frank observes many shamanistic rituals of his own invention, and it is soon revealed that Frank killed three children before he reached the age of ten himself. The book so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iain Banks
Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of '' The Wasp Factory'' (1984), he began to write full time. His first science fiction book, '' Consider Phlebas'', appeared in 1987, marking the start of the ''Culture'' series. His books have been adapted for theatre, radio, and television. In 2008, ''The Times'' named Banks in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". In April 2013, Banks announced he had inoperable cancer and was unlikely to live beyond a year. He died on 9 June 2013. Early life Banks was born in Dunfermline, Fife, to a mother who was a professional ice skater and a father who was an officer in the Admiralty. An only child, he lived in North Queensferry until the age of nine, near the naval dockyards in Rosyth, where his father was based. The family then moved to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maggot
A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, hoverflies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and crane flies. Etymology "Maggot" is not a technical term and should not be taken as such; in many standard textbooks of entomology, it does not appear in the index at all. In many non-technical texts, the term is used for insect larvae in general. Other sources have coined their own definitions; for example: "The term applies to a grub when all trace of limbs has disappeared" and "Applied to the footless larvae of Diptera".Smith, John. BExplanation of terms used in entomology Brooklyn Entomological Society, 1906. Additionally, in ''Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera'', the author claims maggots "are larvae of higher Brachycera (Cyclorrhapha)." Maggot-like fly larvae are of significance in ecology and medicine; among other r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980s LGBTQ Novels
__NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire *January 28 **Publius Septimius Geta, son of Septimius Severus, receives the title of Caesar. **Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, is given the title of Augustus. China *Winter – Battle of Xiapi: The allied armies led by Cao Cao and Liu Bei defeat Lü Bu; afterward Cao Cao has him executed. By topic Religion * Marcus I succeeds Olympianus as Patriarch of Constantinople (until 211). Births * Lu Kai, Chinese official and general (d. 269) * Quan Cong, Chinese general and advisor (d. 249) Deaths * Li Jue, Chinese warlord and regent * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 British Novels
Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). * January 9 – Van Halen releases their sixth studio album ''1984'' (''MCMLXXXIV''), which debuts at number 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and will go to sell over 10 million copies in the United States. * January 10 ** The United States and the Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations. ** The Victoria Agreement is signed, institutionalising the Indian Ocean Commission. *January 24 – Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh personal computer in the United States. *January 27 – American singer Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire during the making of the Pepsi commercial. February * February 3 ** John Buster and the research team at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo trans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 Controversies
Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). * January 9 – Van Halen releases their sixth studio album ''1984 (Van Halen album), 1984'' (''MCMLXXXIV''), which debuts at number 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and will go to sell over 10 million copies in the United States. * January 10 ** The United States and the Vatican City, Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations. ** The Victoria, Seychelles, Victoria Agreement is signed, institutionalising the Indian Ocean Commission. *January 24 – Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh 128K, Macintosh personal computer in the United States. *January 27 – American singer Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire during the making of the Pepsi commercial. February * February 3 ** John Buster and the research ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Book Club
''World Book Club'' is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her books, often the most well-known one, with the public. Since the programme began in 2002 it has been presented by Harriett Gilbert . History ''World Book Club'' features a famous writer who answers questions submitted by the public about one of his or her books. It is usually recorded in front of a live audience. Listeners around the world can submit questions before the recording. The programme was launched at the Edinburgh Festival in 2002. The first book featured was '' Lake Wobegon Days'' by Garrison Keillor. Until November 2008 it was a half-hour programme broadcast on the last Tuesday of each month in the slot of '' The Word'', a defunct book programme whose remit was absorbed within the output of '' The Strand'', the BBC World Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Frost (musician)
Ben Frost (born 1980) is an Australian-born musician, composer, record producer, sound designer and director based in Reykjavík, Iceland as of 2014. Frost has contributed to albums by Canadian electronic musician Tim Hecker and American experimental rock band Swans. Career Born in Melbourne, Australia, and based in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 2005, Frost composes minimalist, instrumental, and experimental music, with influences ranging from classical minimalism to punk rock and black metal. His early releases include the guitar-oriented albums ''Steel Wound'' (2003) and ''School of Emotional Engineering'' (as part of the band School of Emotional Engineering) (2004). ''Theory of Machines'' (2007) marked a radical shift toward more angular aggressive music and was further advanced on the critically acclaimed '' By The Throat'' (2009). In 2011, commissioned by Unsound Festival, and as part of a collaboration with Brian Eno and fellow Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason, F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. ''The Independent'' won the Brand of the Year Award in The Drum Awards for Online Media 2023. History 1980s Launched in 1986, the first issue of ''The Independent'' was published on 7 October in broadsheet format.Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p. 330. It was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds. All three partners were former journalists at ''The Daily Telegraph'' who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwell' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imagine (AD&D Magazine)
''Imagine'' (printed under the long title ''Imagine: Adventure Game Magazine'') was a British monthly magazine dedicated to the first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' and ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game systems published by TSR UK Limited. History Shannon Appelcine explained, "TSR tried to horn in on the British magazine market in 1983 with ''Imagine'' magazine, but they folded it just two years later. Gary Gygax would much later claim that ''Imagine'' had usually been operated at a loss and was kept around mainly for its useful marketing of TSR's lines. ''White Dwarf'' lead in Britain was pretty much unassailable." ''Imagine'' was published monthly between April 1983 and October 1985. The print run lasted for 31 issues (30 issues and one special edition) before its cancellation. Don Turnbull was cited as publisher and Paul Cockburn as assistant editor for the majority of the life of the publication. Neil Gaiman wrote film reviews for several issues of ''Imagin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
