what else do you do besides playing chess?

Darn, Iwas busy - it 3.30 a.m. here - missed the reply but, yeah, it probly is

 "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."  Albert Einstein

Yeah Dostoevsky so picks up his material from elsewhere.  He was big on newspaper stories of the time, for one.  Doesn't make him any less of a great writer.  No art is made in a vacuum.

And while I'm here, the idea that Dickens and Austen don't have precedents is so baffling, I'm tempted to give it a wharrgarbl.

Concerning Zippo lighter's:

http://www.zlighters.com/Knight-Chess-Piece-Emblem-Zippo-Lighter-200-p/20869.htm

 Thanks for reminding me to reread Conrad. I really like him.

Its futile to discuss which writers are original and which aren't. All writers are influenced in style and theme by writers who went before them. Themes like Dr. Faustus have been taken up several times in original ways. There are many writers who I believe are Shakespeare's equals, but Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained are truly impressive. Good luck getting your students to read Milton.

I was thinking of Milton just before you mentioned him lol.

1) He is one of those throughout the centuries, as a great writer, who cites Shakespeare as a master. When the other "players" continue to call you great, you're great.

2) Sam Johnson, one of those great writers who lauds Shakespeare extravagantly, also said of Milton (rough paraphrase) "Everyone acknowledges the greatness of Paradise Lost. No one wants it to be longer."

Poison...I was talking about English writers. 

As for Milton, I have never read him formally so I've missed out on all the subtext and deeper meanings.  I have tried to read Paradise Lost and it just entailed way too much effort...though I was 17.  I might give it another look-see someday.

Dostoevsky...I don't care if he got his ideas from someone's waste bin.  He brilliantly depicts all things so vividly that a couple books in and you feel like you've actually weathered bureaucratic Russia.  And sometimes what makes a writer great might be just how much you relate to his topics and issues...in addition to how cleverly they pierce the heart of the matter. 

Dr. Seuss is good too.

The point I was making/will make is that he synthesised all sorts of discursive materials (from both high and low genres) into a superb mode of storytelling.  Which is pretty much the task of any writer, and indeed any other kind of artist (chess included, when you think about it).  To say he took material from newspapers and whatnot is not to imply that this cheapens his texts; rather, it is to recognise that they are a perfect embodiment of their necessary relationship to the multiple spheres of life and living.

Ripping good yarns, too.

I wonder, though, who killed Fyodor Pavlovich?

how long are the selections you have them read, ilikeflags?

I assume you don't take off points for spelling errors.

Spelling is overrateded

Blues guitar player as a hobby

Telecommunication Engineer as graduation.

Currently working with IT presales and ITIL processes.

wort dude!

I read, go into the depths of the internet, play video games, and read.

Have you read Mikhail Bulgakov? If you like Dostoevsy you'll probably like him  ...The Master and Margarita in particular.