Paradises Lost is a science fiction novella by American author Ursula K. Le Guin (pictured), first published in 2002 in the collection The Birthday of the World. Set during a multigenerational voyage from Earth to a potentially habitable planet, it follows two members of the fifth generation born aboard the vessel as the ship's society responds to the prospect of landing on a planet after generations spent in space. The novella explores the isolation brought on by space travel, as well as themes of religion and utopia. It has elements of ecocriticism, a critique of the idea that human beings are altogether separate from their natural environment. Scholar Max Haiven described the novella as "a chastening lesson in both the potential and the perils of freedom", while author Margaret Atwood said that it "shows us our own natural world as a freshly discovered Paradise Regained, a realm of wonder". The novella has been anthologized as well as adapted into an opera of the same name. (Full article...).

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradises_Lost

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1447:

Tommaso Parentucelli was elected as Pope Nicholas V in Rome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Nicholas_V

1904:

Scottish National Antarctic Expedition: Led by William Speirs Bruce, the Antarctic region of Coats Land was discovered by the Scotia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Speirs_Bruce

1988:

The Troubles: In Operation Flavius, the Special Air Service killed three volunteers of the Provisional Irish Republican Army conspiring to bomb a parade of British military bands in Gibraltar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flavius

2000:

The Marine Parade Community Building, the mural cladding of which is the largest installation art in Singapore, was opened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Parade_Community_Building

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

forbearance: 1. (uncountable) The action of forbearing (“abstaining or refraining from doing something”); (countable) an instance of this. 2. (uncountable) The action of refraining from enforcing something which is due (such as a debt or obligation) or a right which one has; (countable) an instance of this. 3. (uncountable) Restraint and tolerance under provocation; patient self-control; indulgence, lenity. 4. About Word of the Day 5. Nominate a word 6. Leave feedback https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forbearance

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I reiterate, . . nothing's small! No lily-muffled hum of a summer-bee, But finds some coupling with the spinning stars; No pebble at your foot, but proves a sphere; No chaffinch, but implies the cherubim: And, — glancing on my own thin, veined wrist, — In such a little tremour of the blood The whole strong clamour of a vehement soul Doth utter itself distinct. Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees, takes off his shoes, The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries, And daub their natural faces unaware More and more, from the first similitude.   --Elizabeth Barrett Browning https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Barrett_Browning