Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin
Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin
Tales of the Dervishes
World Tales: A collection of illustrated stories from every continent.
These books can always be found on Amazon.
Radio and Television
In Europe printing was first used about 500 years ago. From that time written language became more important than it had been before. Even before printing the only way to keep a record of language was to write it down. Only those who could read and write could keep records or communicate with people in other places or other times. For a long period printing was the only method of mass communication and the only method of transmitting ideas at a distance. If someone wanted to hear a person he had to travel personally.
Electronic media
The inventions of the radio, film, television, tape recorder, telephone and internet have changed all that. Now, as well as writing, we have recordings on magnetic tape, discs, films and other means. Spoken language has gained an advantage over written language again. In many countries the radio is more important than writing for people. In those countries where most people cannot read or write they can still listen to the radio or watch television.
In some ways the tape recorder can preserve language better than writing. A sound recorder can preserve the intonations and stresses more easily than a written record. A video recording can show the expression of the face and body as well. A writer can do these only in a roundabout way - to indicate what someone is feeling. (Though of course a writer can do things which a film cannot - especially to tell the reader about what people are thinking and feeling.)
The study of literature as language use can include the study of film and television and the use of radio. For School Certificate, however, we are confined to the study of written material, though when you are studying the play it is useful to see a film, video or stage presentation.
International radio services, such as the BBC World Service, may have radio programmes about literature. The BBC in particular broadcasts many plays, some written specially for radio and others adapted from stage plays or novels. There are also programmes about books.

DISCRIMINATION
The skills you will gain in the study of written material you can apply to the other, non-written, forms.
The most important of these skills is the art of Discrimination between good and bad.
The true meaning of Discrimination is telling the difference between one thing and another and especially between good and bad. (The word is sometimes also used for the bad practice, in such countries as South Africa in the past, of preventing one group of people from gaining work or living in a particular place.)
Differences we look for
We can ask ourselves or debate with others whether a book is badly or well-written. We can compare one book with another. People do just the same with films and television programmes.
The main aim of the study of literature is to give the student a chance to learn the arts of discrimination.
Here are some of the questions we can ask:
How does a book by James Hadley Chase compare with one by Chinua Achebe?
Can we compare Wole Soyinka's plays with Shakespeare's?
Is all poetry equally good?
Is everything which looks like poetry fit to be called poetry?
Are all books worth reading?
These are not questions which have a certain answer. They are not like mathematical problems. However, they are all questions which are worth considering. It is worth trying to find answers to them, even though the answer will differ according to who is doing the thinking and even according to the time when the question is posed. Different people may have different answers to some of them. At more advanced levels of literary study much of the work consists of thinking about what other people have thought about a writer's work and comparing the different appreciations so that the student may come to know what he himself thinks about the book.
The great religious and philosophical thinkers have all said that the most important study for a human being is to "know yourself".
Perhaps then the true end of the study of literature is to study how you