An Imperial Affliction (AIA from TFIOS)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

There's a certain Slant of light
By: Emily Dickinson

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons –
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes –

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us –
We can find no scar,
But internal difference –
Where the Meanings, are –

None may teach it – Any –
'Tis the seal Despair –
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air –

When it comes, the Landscape listens –
Shadows – hold their breath –
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death –

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. Is Peter Van Houten's 'Imperial Affliction' a Real Book?

John Green was once a little evasive when it comes to the question of whether or not An Imperial Affliction, by Peter Van Houten — the book over which Hazel and Gus fall head-over-heels in The Fault In Our Stars — is “real.” The answer you’re probably looking for is that, no, An Imperial Affliction is not a book that exists in full in our corporeal world; you cannot find it at your local bookstore or on Amazon. Van Houten is, yes, an invention of Green’s for the purpose of the themes and story of The Fault In Our Stars — as is the epigraph to TFiOS, an apparent quote from An Imperial Affliction:

“As the tide washed in, the Dutch Tulip Man faced the ocean:
‘Conjoiner rejoinder poisoner concealer revelator. Look at it,
Rising up and rising down, taking everything with it.’
‘What’s that?’ Anna asked.
‘Water,’ the Dutchman said. ‘Well, and time.’

— Peter Van Houten, An Imperial Affliction

more at link:
http://www.bustle.com/articles/26735-is-peter-van-houtens-imperial-affliction-a-real-book-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. The book is being pulled out of Middle Schools but, can stay on the shelves at High Schools =

RIVERSIDE: 'Fault in Our Stars' banned from middle schools
‘The Fault in Our Stars’ will be taken off shelves in Riverside Unified School District middle schools but still allowed in high schools following the committee vote.

BY SUZANNE HURT / STAFF WRITER
Published: Sept. 22, 2014 Updated: Sept. 28, 2014 10:51 p.m.

A Riverside schools committee has banned the book “The Fault in Our Stars” from its middle schools after a parent challenged the teen love story as inappropriate for that age group.

Following a parent’s similar complaint over a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel in Cucamonga School District, the Rancho Cucamonga Middle School library reopened to students Tuesday following a book audit launched by the controversy.

On Monday afternoon, Riverside Unified School District’s book reconsideration committee voted 6-1 to pull all three copies of John Green’s 2012 novel from library shelves at Frank Augustus Miller Middle School and not to allow other schools to buy or accept the book as a donation.

The book will be allowed at high school libraries, said committee chairwoman Christine Allen, librarian at Arlington High School, where the meeting was held.

UPDATE: Author, school board members criticize decision

more at link:
http://www.pe.com/articles/book-750585-school-committee.html