The Genteel Arsenal

2010-12-23T12:55:00.004+10:00

After months of blogging absence, I have decided to start a fresh with a new blog. Similar to this one, even with a similar name, for what it is worth, it is merely a record of my reading and some bookish and occasionally library related thoughts. I have decided I need a fresh start, so will not be updating Genteel Arsenal any longer. If anyone is interested, the new blog is The Greatest Arsenal, so not much difference in name at least, I just really like that quote about libraries and the idea of libraries and reading as a source of empowerment. So if anyone sees this I just want to say have a great Christmas and a wonderful year in 2011!

Homeless

2010-07-08T13:29:00.013+10:00

Stone Cold

by Robert Swindells

This is a title from school that is on the list for a grade 8 reading challenge, and as I had not previously read it, I thought I better catch up on what I have missed. The 1994 Carnegie medal winner, aimed at readers from around the age of 12 up, it is an easy, short read that is packed with attention grabbing content. A novella about murder and homelessness. Told in short sharp first person narrative, Link, a homeless teenager tells us his story, illustrating the all to easy process by which a teenager can find themselves on the street. The usual threats are not all that Link has to deal with, a serial killer is ‘cleaning up’ the streets, and the second part of the narrative is recounted by Shelter as he stalks his victims. Short and sharp I read this in one sitting, fascinated by Link’s account of life on the street and his friendship with Ginger. Shelter creates suspense but the character does not have the credibility of Link, nevertheless, this is a very readable tale that should have great appeal even with the reluctant readers. The novels attempt to confront a difficult social issue adds to it’s attraction, letting readers experience someone else’s life for the brief time you spend immersed in it’s pages. As an adult I was painfully aware of the truth of some of Link’s observations :

‘Right now I’m sitting in a doorway watching the passers-by. They avoid looking at me. They’re afraid I want something they’ve got, and they’re right. Also they don’t like thinking about me. They don’t like reminding I exist. Me and those like me. We’re living proof that everything’s not all right and we make the place untidy.’ (p1)

Link describes people apologetic or hostile in their responses to his begging, people trying to rush past, avoiding his attempts for attention, which can’t help but remind the reader of those occasions when they to have encountered the homeless. The account of the well intentioned gift of a sleeping bag from his mother and sister is heart wrenching and his descriptions of the bone chilling cold and the hunger that plagues his and Ginger’s existence make the reader all to aware of the terror of their existence. It is friendship that makes life bearable but the threat posed by Shelter destroys even that little comfort they have.

I really enjoyed this read, despite it’s confronting content and for readers 12 and up, including adults, this is a rewarding reading experience. With a simple vocabulary and a very direct narrative it is extremely accessible, definitely a good choice for a grade 8 reading challenge. It also reminded me very much of an adult crime novel by Mark Billingham; Lifeless, where Billingham has his detective go undercover as a homeless person in an attempt to catch a serial killer targeting the homeless. A diverting police procedural, Billingham’s novel also lets the reader gain some insight into what it is like to have to sleep rough, an all to painful reality for so many. A difficult issue to confront, it is all to easy to be glib or patronising but Swindells’ novella gives a rewarding insight into what is an all to common phenomena in modern life.

Bryant and May, climbing the staircase of experience.

2010-07-08T13:29:00.012+10:00

Ten-Second Staircase. A Bryant and May Mystery.

by Christopher Fowler.

Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May has been one of those wonderful, serendipitous discoveries that great book shops make possible. I first picked up one of this brilliant series late last year in Pulp Fiction, and have been meaning to return to Fowler’s work ever since. The Ten-second staircase is the fourth book in the series, (I am not reading them in order just in the order I find them, so it does not seem to be imperative to start at the beginning). First let me say how much I really like these novels. They are utterly diverting, intelligent, funny and unique.

Revolving around the investigations of the PCU (peculiar crimes unit), and the units unusual senior and aged detectives; Bryant and May, the books provide a highly entertaining ride into the dark heart of London. This particular tale revolves around the mysterious and sensational murders of minor celebrities, starting with the dispatching of a publicity hungry installation artist who expires in her own artistic work; a tank of formaldehyde apparently containing aborted foetuses. What is perhaps more shocking is the fact that a schoolboy witness claims she was placed in the tank by a masked horseman in the guise of an 18th century highwayman. Art and meaning are central themes explored with humour and intelligence as are culture and celebrity, heroes and villians. You would expect nothing less from a novel which contains a discussion on the application of ‘deconstructivist ideologies’ to police work and the value of psycho geography in deriving understanding. The juxtaposition of the sensational past with the even more curious present give a depth and life to London rarely found in fiction, making these novels some of the best reads about London you will find, rich as they are in entertaining detail.

Eccentricity is not hard to create in a character but plausible eccentricity is a real skill in characterisation, a skill Christopher Fowler is a master of. His detectives are men who have spent a lifetime cultivating individuality, which no doubt is part of the reason they attract so much hostility from the powers that be, who seem to be on an endless mission to shut them down. Usefully for the new reader to B & M, this novel begins with a memorandum that gives an overview to the Peculiar Crimes Unit and its infuriating, oddball staff, making it a great introduction to the novel and the series as a whole. From that point the novel progresses to a clash of the generations with the inevitably confrontational Bryant giving a speech to an elite boys school on crime prevention, resulting almost in riot. The school, its staff and students along with the surrounding housing estate are integral to the unfolding mystery. A mystery which is intimately entwined with history in multiple guises. The history of crime as a literary genre is also of significance in Fowler’s novels with joyful parodies of the great works that have gone before, in this work the locked room mystery is revisited and playfully experimented with. Essentially police procedural there is an added reflective depth in these novels, with the traditions of the golden age of detective fiction clearly present within the unfolding storyline. There are occasional demands on plausibility, but overall these books are simply so entertaining the suspension of disbelief is effortless to make.

I cannot overstate my enjoyment of Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May, as mysteries they are amongst the most entertaining and intelligent I have read. The quirky, original quality to these stories would make them appealing to fans of Jasper Fforde, or their intertextuality would appeal to fans of literate police procedurals like those written by Reginald Hill. Ultimately it is not fair to compare Fowler to other authors, as he has taken traditional genre fiction and imbued it with an original depth and humour that seems to be uniquely his own, as rich and unique as London is itself. He is an author I will definitely be reading much more of. I have reviewed another B & M novel previously, The Victoria Vanishes and that review can be found here. And on the subject of links here is Christopher Fowler’s great blog.

Neil Gaiman and Instructions

2010-07-08T13:29:00.011+10:00

While in Brisbane recently I saw the new Neil Gaiman/Charles Vess picture book; Instructions. A beautiful book in the tradition of Blueberry Girl, it evokes the world of fairy tale magic and is in many respects a beautiful companion book to Blueberry Girl. It would make a beautiful gift for a child of either gender but is perhaps a nice gift for a boy given that Blueberry Girl is so perfect for girls of any age. Harper kids has posted this beautiful trailer on YouTube and I have included it here:

Like the previous children’s book; The Black Book of Colours, this one would make a great coffee table book, such books transcend age and have broad appeal. At work we have a couple of couches around a large coffee table and I am wondering if it would not be a good idea to place a selection of such picture books there. I know from talking to year 6 and 7 kids at my last school that they still held a great affection for clever picture books even when the adults around them believed they should have outgrown them. Sometimes it is the sheer beauty and clever brevity of children’s books that instil a long lasting love of books, regardless of the age of the reader.

Colour in the darkness

2010-07-08T13:28:00.007+10:00

The Black Book of Colours

by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria

This unusual and lovely picture book was a gift from my book loving sister-in-law with impeccable taste. A book of entirely black pages with glossy raised black images and stark white lettering explaining what it is to experience colour in a sightless world. A book that is both stark and lush, a Braille text in the same raised black, accompanies the text and gives the reader a very real insight into sightlessness. This is one of those books that transcends age, offering an insight into a very particular experience, illustrating just how rich the experience of colour can be, even without sight. This is a beautiful book, one that has something to offer readers of any age, including teenagers, for a brief moment it lets you walk in someone else’s shoes ultimately enriching your own experience.

Changes and new beginnings.

2010-07-08T13:28:00.006+10:00

Thanks everyone for the support. It has not been a particularly good time in the last year or so but life goes on. I have been thinking about abandoning the blog or maybe just starting afresh but I think I will just persevere.

Still finding it hard believe my Mum is no longer in this world, I keep catching myself forgetting she’s gone. I was in a Tree of Life store, which sells alternative style clothing and bits and pieces and found myself admiring some brightly coloured beanies and scarfs and thinking I should buy one for my Mum she would love them, of course I then remembered there was no point. It is the weirdest feeling to be walking around and to suddenly think you will no longer share things with someone.

We knew my Mum was very frail, in fact it was the main reason we moved back to Toowoomba and yet her passing still felt like a shock. We had a complex relationship and did not always get on, resentment and anger over some things certainly impacted on our relationship, but life is fragile and transitory and there are no second chances. In the week before we had been very worried about the health of an uncle, my Mum’s brother, who has severe kidney disease, he simply seemed to be choosing to give up the fight and I feared the worse, ironically the loss of my Mum hit him very hard, and in his determination to get out of hospital to attend the funeral he seemed to turn things around and has made something of a recovery. It is ironic that even in death my Mum still seems to be helping and supporting family. She cared for my Grandmother when no one else in the family could or would, and that was not an easy task, she was a very difficult woman, who in the past had treated most of her children with a cruel contempt, but my Mum could still care for her in a way I sometimes think she did not really deserve. My Mum was always there for an older brother when no one else was, and she has always cared for her other single brother, for years doing shopping for him and dropping off cooked meals, and it seems it was her death that has stopped him from just giving in. In many ways her life was defined by empathy, kindness and self sacrifice.

When I look at family relationships and history I can see the impact of actions and behaviour of great grandparents I never even meet. I see the cumulative effect of generations of history. It seems important to preserve a memory of the past, while at the same time trying to break free from it, something which I suspect can never be entirely successful.

*******

So this was not meant to be such a ramble, just an explanation of what I feel needs to be a fresh start with the blog, rather than abandoning it and perhaps starting all over I want to start up again. It has been a bit of a struggle for the last twelve months what with work, study, renovating the house, family commitments and the added stress of unpleasant neighbours. So back to reading and blogging and the wonderful world of book blogs.

2010-06-14T23:31:00.002+10:00

I find that things seem to easily disrupt my plans for reading and blogging and I fear I may go silent again for a little while. My Mum passed away a couple of days ago. While she was very frail, her death ( such a hard word to write or say), was still unexpected, she was frail but I didn't believe it would happen just yet. As distressing as her passing is, it was at least peaceful and in her own home, (she feared and hated hospitals and nursing homes), she simply went to sleep and never woke up. So if things are quite here perhaps for a week or so, that is the reason. It may not be the case, I have some half written posts already and I may just finish my current reads, although I have not been able to touch a book all weekend.

Words are powerful

2010-06-14T23:28:00.002+10:00

Black Out

by Sam Mills

This is a new title we have received in the library at work, and it is an interesting addition to the young adult dystopia genre. Set in England in the near future it examines what happens when society over reacts to the perceived threats of violence and terrorism. The state is able to grasp more and more power until an Orwellian environment becomes a reality. Not that the citizens, particularly the young, would understand the reference to Orwell, as amongst other things the government has decided that books are dangerous and must be either completely banned or rewritten with saccharine Disney style story lines and endings. Lord of the Flies is rewritten as a tale of adventure about a group of boys trapped on an island with a treasure trove of lollies, just as the last lolly is consumed, rescue arrives. The Catcher in the Rye is considered simply to dangerous to release in any form.

This is a society where torture is considered justifiable and citizens are documented and identified down to their DNA. Given the nature of reactions to the 9/11 and London Bombings this is not an implausible scenario. The greatest danger from terrorism is that we will sign away our own freedom out of fear, and that is the scenario that underpins Black Out. Censorship and the issue of challenge and banned books is one which libraries are already very familiar, and currently here in Australia we are facing the prospect of a censored Internet with government proposals for the black listing and blocking of sites, a proposal that at its most benign is a rampant manifestation of the nanny state, and at its most malignant is a proposal to allow the beginning of a powerful tool of censorship and suppression; all innocently presented in the name of protecting children, so Black Out offers a plausibly disturbing scenario.

This book is a tense thriller about a boy called Stefan who starts out believing the state propaganda but quickly finds himself labelled a terrorist and on the run. While providing an entertaining narrative this novel also gives readers something to think about. The constant referencing of classic texts is also likely to fuel further reading; The Catcher in the Rye, 1984, Paradise Lost, The Lord of the Flies and Lady Chatterley's Lover are all referenced, even Harry Potter is at one stage referred to as on the banned list. This is an exciting book, both in terms of the suspenseful chase narrative and the ideas it presents, it is a book that, will I suspect be well received in the young adult library and will appeal to the same kids who enjoy the Robert Muchamore novels. It is a novel about fear and violence, it is also a novel about love and father son relationships.

Black Out is ultimately an action driven adventure, it is fast paced and supremely readable, if it has any faults it is that it sometimes strains plausibility, but for young adults, especially boys the fast paced narrative will I think overcome any flaws. It is not a as great as some of the titles that it references but it is highly entertaining and it may just tempt readers into checking out some of the classic titles referred to in this adrenalin driven ride through a frightening world where CCTV surveys our every move and free thought and free words are considered to dangerous for society to tolerate.

The Digital generation and the future of Publishing.

2010-06-09T20:18:00.002+10:00

This video has been floating around for awhile now and I suspect pretty much everyone will have seen it, but just in case anyone hasn’t I decided I would post it. It is a very clever statement on the digital generation’s thoughts and values. It was made by DK/Penguin publishing for a marketing conference but proved so popular they released on YouTube and it is great piece, in order to get the full effect you need to watch it to the end, don’t be mislead by the opening statements.

The Midwich Cuckoos or Emmerdale with aliens

2010-06-09T17:15:00.002+10:00

The Midwich Cuckoos

by John Wyndham

Wyndham has a fascination with Darwinian conflicts, the battles that necessarily occur between competing species in order to survive and the threat posed by the arrival of a superior species. The Chrysalids explored evolution at some length, while Day of the Triffids relied on the impact of a changed environment to allow for the development of one species over another. This novel The Midwich Cuckoos examines the moral dilemmas of dealing with a looming threat from another species when you consider yourself to be a civilised being rather than a primal beast engaged in a battle for survival. From the blurb on the back cover:

The Midwich Cuckoos is the classic tale of aliens in our midst, exploring how we respond when confronted by those who are innately superior to us in every conceivable way.

A fascinating scenario is set up in this novel; a small village experiences a, ‘Day out’, suddenly everything simply stops, the villagers collapse into unconsciousness, an invisible perimeter surrounds the village and anyone or any living thing who attempts to enter also falls into immediate unconsciousness. A dilemma for bureaucracy, and military intelligence who immediately start to investigate when they become aware of the problem, however, the strange effect simply ends and everything appears to return to normal , until some time later when every woman capable of child bearing realises she is pregnant. Such a scenario necessarily invokes fear and confusion, written and set in the 1950s this is a situation that is bound to ensure considerable consternation. If the novel is flawed, it is in the limited way Wyndham gives voice to the women who are experiencing this bizarre challenge. The novel remains dominated by male voices, the principal character, Zellaby, a philosophical academic is the center of the novel and while his wife leads the villages response to their immediate issue, it is Zellaby who explores all the implications and is central to the plot.

I first read this book in my early teens and was fascinated and terrified by Wyndham’s tale of alien invasion, re-reading it I find I am more sceptical about some of his narrative. The villagers unite in deciding to protect their privacy and ensure secrecy, with some help from government authorities to ensure the co-operation of the media. In this age of reality television and fame for fames sake I find it much harder to believe that someone would not have sought out their fifteen minutes of fame and bought the scrutiny of the media onto the entire community, although the characters do discuss this possibility, they decide to unite and enforce conformity to the decision for secrecy.

With the eventual birth of the children, it becomes apparent that they are indeed very different. They all have the same blonde hair and golden eyes, and they display a remarkable ability to compel people to meet their needs. The novel has a distinctly philosophical tone:

“I wonder if a sillier and more ignorant catachresis than “Mother Nature” was ever perpetrated? it is because Nature is ruthless, hideous, and cruel beyond belief that it was necessary to invent civilisation. One thinks of wild animals as savage, but the fiercest of them begins to look almost domesticated when one considers the viciousness required of a survivor in the sea; as for the insects, their lives are sustained only by intricate processes of fantastic horror. There is no conception more fallacious than the sense of cosiness implied by “Mother Nature”. Each species must strive to survive, and that it will do, by every means in its power, however foul – unless the instinct to survive is weakened by conflict with another instinct.’

‘….I am working around again to cuckoos. Cuckoos are very determined survivors. So determined that there is really only one thing to be done with them once one’s nest is infested. I am as you know, a humane man; I think I may even say a kindly man, by disposition.’

‘… as a further disadvantage, I am a civilised man. For these reasons I shall not be able to bring myself to approve of what ought to be done. Nor, even when we perceive its advisability, will the rest of us. So , like the poor hen-thrush we shall feed and nurture the monster, and betray our own species….

‘Odd, don’t you think? We could drown a litter of kittens that is no sort of threat to us – but these creatures we shall carefully rear.” (p. 112-113).

Wyndham’s children are genuinely frightening, they appear to share thoughts and act as one body, they use their remarkable power to get what they want and to punish those they perceive as a threat. How the community responds to the children is what is fascinating. As the story progresses their power is revealed to be immense, just as it emerges that other small communities have also experienced a ‘Day out’. An isolated primitive community dealt with the births by immediately exposing the infants, thus escaping the consequences facing Midwich. In the Soviet Union another village also experienced a similar event, there the powers that be monitored the situation and attempted to utilise the children’s skills but realising the danger they took extreme measures to destroy the threat.

Wyndham’s use of children to embody such threat is inspired, nothing really demands our compassion more and yet also has the ability to terrify us. Other authors have exploited that paradox, not least Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in her masterpiece Frankenstein. Science fiction has much to teach us about ourselves, as well as exploiting our primal fears to thrill and divert.

Missing in action

2010-06-09T17:13:00.001+10:00

I know I have been unbelievably slack. In my defence I was really busy with uni, thankfully I am now on break, and I did start a new job. Also I let the whole situation with the crazy neighbours really get me down, stupid really, I just didn’t feel like doing things, anyway life seems to be back to normal. The new job is interesting, boys secondary college and teenage boys are a whole different ball game to younger kids, more of a challenge.

I have just been deciding what subjects to take next semester. I have decided to take a unit on social networking for library professionals, I couldn’t resist, besides I think it may be a powerful tool in the new environment I am working in. Should be fun.

As to reading, well I have been reading, just not as much as I should, but posts hopefully up soon, I will start with a review I wrote ages ago but didn’t post at the time and will continue with some other bits and pieces. I also have much catching up to do with everyone’s blogs, I was dipping in and out of blogs when I could but didn’t have much time, so along with the pleasure of some uninterrupted reading I will be catching up with the blogs as well.

I am also wondering what classics make great reading for teenage boys, I am especially thinking of kids who have only recently rediscovered the joy of reading. I know some boys who are actively looking for classics and I would hate to suggest a book that may make them think classics are boring, so if anyone knows of sure fire hits let me know, I have a few things in mind but with teenagers I am much more familiar with what girls like. So what should 15 year old boys read?

Bell’s Torchwood Post

2010-04-12T22:49:00.003+10:00

As promised Bell’s particular brand of cultural valium, at least one example of it. Thanks to Bell something is getting posted, although I have some more time now that I have sent off the current impending assignment, yay!

Torchwood: Pack Animals

by Peter Anghelides

“The difference between knowledge and wisdom. That’s one of Jack’s isn’t it?”

“Something to do with tomatoes?” Ianto asked. “Yes, that’ll be one of Jack’s. Sounds more profound than it is, so he uses it when he’s trying to con you.” He buckled himself incongruously into the seatbelt. “Ask me in an hour whether walking into the enemy camp naked was a wise decision.”

Anyone who is an avid watcher of Doctor Who would probably also come across its sexy, adult spin-off; Torchwood. For those that are unfamiliar it’s a show about a secret service dealing with a rift in time in space, which allows aliens and alien objects to fall into modern day Cardiff. Torchwood and its members just clean up the mess that follows. The leader of Torchwood Three is the enigmatic, omnisexual, immortal Captain Jack, first discovered in Doctor Who. The rest of the team are, in this book as the team is in constant flux, Ianto, the archivist and tea boy, Gwen the ex-police officer, Tosh the brilliant techno-wizard and Owen the cynical Zombie Doctor. It sounds like a sci-fi joke, I know, but it’s fantastic.

It’s a bit hard to miss out on the Captain Jack Harkness celebration that Torchwood is and my obsession with Russell T Davies’ brain child has crossed over to books having exhausted the TV show itself. Although Jack belongs to Stephen-Nightmare-Fuel-Moffat, the new producer of Doctor Who, just to set the record straight. Anyway, desperate for some stress relief and some spice in my relationship with Torchwood I decided to cross over to major ‘geekdom’ and buy some books. Pack Animals by Peter Anghelides is my first discovery of the Torchwood paper-verse and to all intents and purposes it fulfilled my quest to rest and relax. However, it lost integrity when Ianto became invisible and then lost all sense of reality when Jack acquired a flying unicorn to save the world on. Not that I'm complaining, too much, it was all very entertaining. Especially, Ianto being forced into the enemy camp naked because his invisible clothes were taken by Tosh. It was amazingly entertaining.

Unfortunately, due to this book I will never look at Pokémon cards the same way again and game shops will freak me out forever. What I love about Doctor Who, and Torchwood is the same, is that in amongst the genuine good fun there is some purely wonderful moments. My favorite has already been hinted at by my mother in the tomato quote.

“Knowledge is when you can tell that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is when you leave it out of a fruit salad.”

I also love this book because it still has the full cast from Season Two. At least some of the books still have the full cast from the first and second series even though the producers of Torchwood seem hell bent on killing off all the main characters. I'm looking forward to what the writers can do in the next series with only one Torchwood Three Member guarding the rift. Well, one and a half if we count her husband. Until then I will content myself with the books.

A quote

2010-04-10T21:06:00.004+10:00

A favourite recent quote:
"Knowledge is when you can tell that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is when you leave it out of a fruit salad" Cpt. Jack Harkness in the Torchwood novel Pack Animals by Peter Anghelides.
Review coming authored by Bell who is filling in for me.

2010-04-03T20:19:00.002+10:00

Just a quick little query, I have just noticed that on some of the blogs I follow, I have disappeared off the follows list, you know the little icon with Lilly standing in for me, I am still getting feed updates as per normal, so it is not a big problem. Just didn't want any one to think I have suddenly stopped following, that is not possible, I am way to addicted to reading blogs for that to happen. This seems to be another little glitch in my relationship with blogger, I must have done something wrong but I just can't figure out what, oh well, at least Live writer is working well and is definitely a better way to compose posts.

Cosy Catastrophe, Emmerdale with aliens, and maybe not all books should be published.

2010-04-03T14:06:00.002+10:00

Let me just say I love podcasts. I love the fact that when I have the time to spend actually listening I can log on and download a weeks worth of Radio National’s Book Show , although I usually just pick the segments that most interest me. One that really interested me from the last week was a discussion about Penguin’s recent release of the previously unpublished John Wyndham novel Plan for Chaos.

As a fan of Wyndham this is a book I have been quite interested in, but from what I have heard and read it is a book that would have been best left unpublished. Wyndham seems to have been enjoying a bit of a resurgence lately, his titles have been re-issued and re-discovered by new readers. I am assuming the publication of Plan for Chaos has more to do with cashing in on that popularity than it does with making available a valuable addition to the authors oeuvre. From all accounts this is not a good novel and certainly not a good representation of Wyndham’s work. In the discussion on the Book Show both the host Romona Koval and her guest James Bradley question the wisdom of releasing this title, click on the link to go listen:http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2010/2858640.htm. One obvious issue is that this book may actually deter potential readers from discovering the best of Wyndham, if it is the first encounter they have with his work, it may well put them off trying anything else by the author.

The idea of publishers churning out every little scrap and fragment of a popular authors work posthumously is not new, but it is certainly a debateable practice. Access to the complete work of an author has clear value for the academic, but it does have the potential to damage an author with general readers. It will be interesting to see if in the future we see new Salinger titles on the shelves?

Romona’s and Bradley’s discussion is interesting, and it got me thinking about not just Wyndham but the particular type of science fiction of which Wyndham is an undisputed master. In the discussion phrases such as; ‘cosy catastrophe’ and ‘Coronation Street with monsters’ are used, I don’t want to trivialise Wyndham, I do have enormous respect for his work and see his major novels as remarkably relevant to the here and now, despite having been written in the 50s, but I was struck by how accurate those remarks are. I am currently re-reading The Midwich Cuckoos and after hearing the Coronation St comment I suddenly thought; Emmerdale with aliens that is what The Midwich Cuckoos is.

Emmerdale has recently become a somewhat guilty pleasure in our house, discovered over a previous school holidays, Bell and I both snatch opportunities to catch up with events in the picturesque English village and oddly enough, perhaps due to the mash up mentality of her generation we have had conversations about potential plot developments if Emmerdale meet Torchwood. The Midwich Cuckoos is probably exactly the kind of scenario that would result. It is that everyday nature of cataclysm that makes Wyndham so intensely relevant and enjoyable, his characters have the quality of us, ordinary people confronting and dealing with challenges that are both monumental and bewildering and yet must be dealt with. Wyndham makes real the potential for the disruption of life as we know it and live it, while illustrating so powerfully the way we have sown the seeds of our own destruction, (apologies for the unintentional triffid pun).

Oddly enough recent elements of Torchwood’s Children of Earth series also reminded me of the Midwhich Cuckoos, the image of children all united in giving voice to alien commands immediately made me think of Cuckoos. Wyndham’s influence is I suspect powerfully present in contemporary science fiction, particularly British science fiction. Recent re-makes of Terry Nation’s Survivors and novels and films like 28Days and Children of Men all powerfully revisit both the themes and style of John Wyndham’s novels, if such works are indeed ‘cosy catastrophe’, then bring it on, it gives us an immediacy and accessibility that makes engaging with the issues not just accessible and relevant, but imperative.

Just on the subject of the late, great Terry Nation, today is apparently ‘Talk like a Dalek Day’, so an appropriate day to think about sci-fi and to remember the work of a writer who aside from other memorable works such as Survivors and Blake’s 7, gave us possibly the most memorable sci-fi villain in television history, the pepper pot on wheels, that terrified generations with its complete absence of empathy and it’s heartless urge to conquest. Intended as an allegory of Nazism, the Dalek has entered our culture as a symbol of absolute evil as manifested by the absence compassion. Many years ago, during the 90s when Doctor Who had long since left television screens, an Australian politician, (I wish I could remember who), in criticising an opposition colleague used the phrase ‘as deaf as a Dalek’ in Parliament. You know something has made a deep cultural impact when it becomes the source of new and inventive political insults. So have fun with talk like a Dalek Day. And check out some of John Wyndham’s seminal science fiction, The Day of the Triffids and The Chrysalids are good places to start and by the sound of things Plan for Chaos is best avoided unless your a committed Wyndham fan.

April is for Shakespeare

2010-04-01T23:41:00.001+10:00

And this is just for fun

words! Words! Words! Posted by jonnytbirdzback on Youtube

Blog maintenance and general renovation

2010-04-01T16:24:00.002+10:00

Beware falling objects and dodgy scaffolding, finally doing some much needed tidying up and renovation. Finally blog lists are being updated, etc.

Orange is the colour

2010-04-01T08:04:00.003+10:00

In 2oo8 Penguin released a new budget range using titles from the classics catalogue and their contemporary list of fiction and non fiction. Exploiting their iconic branding, each title was bound in the iconic orange and cream that was originally used when Penguin was first launched. Limited to Australia and India, this has proved a highly successful piece of marketing. With titles priced at $9.95, the books out sold expectations and have established themselves as book shop favourites. The price is a big factor, here we would normally pay at least double that price for a paperback unless it was a remaindered title. Effectively penguin has created a strong sense of brand identity and loyalty with a whole new generation, while appealing to the loyalty and nostalgia of an older generation. You can check out the list of titles here and read up about the history of penguin. The YouTube clip is part of the marketing campaign for a new list of 75 titles to be released in July of this year. And just for the curious here is a link to an article in The Sydney Morning Herald about the success of Penguin’s re-issues. To the best of my knowledge Penguin has not utilised the same strategy elsewhere, which does surprise me, particularly given the success they have had here. If I am wrong and they have released orange re-issues elsewhere please let me know.

I love the minimalist, orange and cream covers, I especially love the price, and the range of titles is pretty impressive. They make great gifts, especially if you combine them with an item from penguin’s gift range like a coffee cup or a notebook, items which also exploit the company's iconic branding.

Journaling

2010-04-01T08:01:00.002+10:00

I have written journals since I was a teenager as many of us do, and journaling is something I encourage in others especially kids. I always kept notes about what I was reading at the back of a journal, I would turn the notebook upside down and start writing from the other end to give myself enough space to write all I wanted, sometimes a book might warrant only one sentence, sometimes pages and pages of observations and quotes, it was a space to conduct a private dialogue with a book, but since writing the blog I find I don’t do that as much, actually these days I find I don’t journal like I used to and that is a bad thing.

I still go everywhere with a notebook and pens and pencils in my bag but I don’t write compulsively like I used to. In the last week I have been thinking about journaling, why I don’t do it as much, and why I probably should. Time is a big issue, there always seems to be something I should be doing, but that is just an excuse. Journaling is a way to clarify thinking, to write out stress and to plan for the future, it is a place to motivate and inspire yourself, it is a place to play with ideas and language, and for some, to play with image.

My daughter writes notebooks full of amazing images and lines and lines of writing that ignores the restrictions of linearity, I envy her ability to sketch, and to embrace chaos, my notebooks have always been full of scrawled linear text. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t read her journals, I do sometimes get to glimpse what she is doing as she sits industriously scribbling on the couch and occasionally I can comment and be granted the privilege to read what she is writing but I respect the privacy of her journal and would never open it without her permission.

Journals are very private and personal spaces and they can be wonderful spaces; a place to conduct deep dialogues with the self, to bring clarity and perspective to life, as well as record the journey. They can be the birthplace of creativity.

Quite a few years ago I came across a book that left me feeling more liberated and positive about drawing in my journals and for a while pages developed illuminated margins of flames and stars, the colours reflected a determined positivity. Last weekend I pulled out a sketch journal and some coloured pens and just played with colour and paper and made a decision to return to diligent journaling, to find the time for creative play and time to reflect, a journal is my space for myself, so making more time for that is a current project.

The book that inspired me to be more adventurous, with the visual was a self help book I stumbled across. I am not a big fan of self help books, I have on occasion picked one up, or been given one, but I find I am very cynical about books that serve up platitudes and common sense for a price. The book I am talking about was full of platitudes and common sense, but it was also kind of fun in it’s approach. With a printed hand writing style text, filled with lists and naive illustration it was a genuinely fun book to read and think about. If I can find a copy I will dip back into it, the author, who is known as Sark, has written several other books along similar lines, including books specifically on journaling and creativity, but the book I remember reading was an early one by Sark called; Succulent Wild Woman. It was just because I was thinking about the joy of journaling that I was reminded of it. A simple, fun book, in many ways it’s simplicity is it’s greatest virtue, it aims to be positive, inspiring and creative, urging it’s readers on to those very virtues, but it is not an especially substantial book.

I did not really set out to write a review, especially since I read this book some time ago. I was just rambling about journaling.

My journal is also where I keep my ever expanding to read list, these days growing rapidly due to the wealth of books I am exposed to via all the great book blogs out there. The collected wisdom of other readers and fellow bibliophiles has become a significant influence in my reading habits, just as powerful and influential as mainstream media.

Live Writer

2010-04-01T07:58:00.002+10:00

I have installed Live Writer, thanks Shellie, so far it at least makes it easier to see how the post should look, and it feels like using Word, so a very familiar feel, so far so good.

2010-03-20T09:11:00.004+10:00

Okay this is getting really annoying, this post, (post below), looked fine when I previewed it and now it looks like this!!!!!! I am taking Shellie's advice and checking out Live Writer now. I have had the most amazing problems with blogger recently; I can be writing a post and suddenly I get a message saying explorer is no longer responding, that it wants to shut down, but it does not shut down, instead it just deletes the post I have just written and returns to the blank new post page. I also seem to be having problems with flash, I installed a new version and problems still seem to be continuing, did a security scan and found nothing and I just don't know enough to figure out whats going on. The resident expert is away at the moment so until he returns I am a bit stuck. Apologies for the appalling formatting, it must be something I am doing but I have not yet figured it out and frankly I am sick of re-writing the posts.

Random ramblings and Shakespeare

2010-03-18T10:11:00.032+10:00

I have been in this extended rut for some time which is why blogging is sporadic. I have been considering taking a big break from the blog, but hopefully I can escape this swamp soon. I do need to get my act together and stop wallowing in negativity. Need more exercise, and now the weather is moving away from horrible, hot, humid summer and into gentle Autumn there will be no excuse for not taking Lily for some very long walks.

I feel really slack when I look at how much Bell gets done, she still manages to read, despite her heavy study load and her part time job, which due to a staff shortage has been a lot less part time and then she finds time to pursue pet projects. One of her current projects is organising a birthday party for Shakespeare, as a senior drama student she shares in organising drama activities across the school to promote the subject, and celebrating Shakespeare is a pet project of hers. The celebration is to occur on the accepted, if apocryphal date for the bards birthday; 23rd of April, St Georges Day, also of course the date of his death, (how convenient to have your greatest cultural voice celebrate his birthday on the day of your most iconic saint). So far Bell has plans for wandering fools to visit all the PC groups in the morning, quoting comic speeches and throwing Shakespearean insults, a lunch time performance inspired by elements of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Recreations of some of the great verbal sparring from the plays such as, Beatrice and Benedict from Much Ado, wandering sonneteers reciting things like sonnet 116, always a hit with romantics, a lunch time celebration involving a birthday cake, actually two giant birthday cakes if she can convince the school to fork out for the catering. Hopefully it will all come together and should be fun if it does, but organising adolescent girls is a bit like herding cats, so this may be a test of her organisational skills, although she tells me early enthusiasm from the drama students, including the younger students has been encouraging.

Maybe April should just be Shakespeare month, read a sonnet, if not a play or maybe watch a video. David Tennant's Hamlet is available from the UK if not locally and is definitely worth checking out, it has an intensity and dark gothic quality,that is compelling if bleak, the sinister presence of modern surveillance nicely implies an atmosphere of paranoia and dysfunction, and the dramatic execution is outstanding. Then there is always the Branagh version, all four hours of it, which I actually quite like, although it has been a while since I watched it. I keep meaning to watch the Mel Gibson version which seems to be the version most often used in schools, but all I can remember of it, is that Gibson at one stage rides a very attractive black horse, or maybe that was something else, anyway I need to get it out and watch it again as I simply don't really remember it. I bought the Tennant for Bell for Christmas, it fulfilled two of her desires; more Shakespeare and more sexy David Tennant.

Maybe read a book about the man himself, a couple of years ago I read Peter Ackroyd's, Shakespeare The Biography, which I really enjoyed and not long after I read Germaine Greer's Shakespeare's Wife another fascinating read which, while it focuses on redeeming Anne Hathaway from the speculations of men, is also a fascinating commentary on Shakespeare. Both books also develop from the position of social history, immersing the reader in the world of the Elizabethan. They are scholarly, while remaining accessible and entertaining. The Ackroyd, from what I remember is perhaps a little plodding at first but it quickly picks up and while both authors agree on many points there are some points of divergence, such as conclusions over Shakespeare's religious beliefs, both authors agree that Anne Hathaway has been poorly served by speculation about her marriage, the second best bed thing has been hard to live down, but Greer convincingly argues for an alternative interpretation to the view that it proved old William did not love his wife. Both are skillful and intelligent books. Greer actually started her academic life as a Shakespeare scholar, long before The Female Eunuch and her role as professional devils advocate, so this is a bit of return to familiar territory for her. I can recommend both books if you enjoy quality historical biography and skillful social history. And perhaps to tempt here is the blurb from Shakespeare's Wife:

Little is known of the wife of England's greatest playwright. In play after play Shakespeare presents the finding of a worthy wife as a triumphant denouncement, yet scholars persist in believing that is own wife was resented and even hated by him. Here Germaine Greer strives to re-embed the story of their marriage in its social context and presents new hypotheses about the life of the farmer's daughter who married our foremost poet. This is a daring, insightful book that asks new questions, opens new fields of investigation and research, and rights the wrongs done to Anne Shakespeare.

I couldn't let this post go without including the Catherine Tate, David Tennant comic relief sketch, which manages to include Shakespeare and Doctor Who:

And just for fun Patrick Stewart in Shakespearean mode explaining the letter B on Sesame Street:

2010-03-09T09:04:00.003+10:00

Apologies for the poor layout on last post, must find some time to come to grips with some of the eccentricities of formatting in blogger.

Pangur Ban and the joy of hunting words.

2010-03-09T09:02:00.000+10:00

Still going on about poetry and Land of The Silver Apples, at the end of the novel the Bard offers to send Ethne a gift, a cat called Pangur Ban. Pangur Ban of course is the name of the cat in a famous early Irish poem, written by an anonymous Benedictine. Thought it might be nice to include it here. With a couple of pics of my own tribe of cats, although they tend to sleep rather than hunt. It is only a modern translation, but I am sure the original can be easily found on the web. The name I believe refers to the colour of the cat, who is white. This is a lovely poem that anyone who has a love of books and learning, not to mention cats, will appreciate.

And the names of my cats; Hobbes is the gray tabby, Assie, (Aslan) is the marmalade, and the solid grey answers to Dash.

Pangur Ban

I and Pangur Ban my cat,
Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men
Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will,
He too plies his simple skill.

Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

Oftentimes a mouse will stray

In the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.

'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.

When a mouse darts from its den
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!

So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.

Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.

Through the Hollow Lands

2010-03-06T14:13:00.011+10:00

The Land of the Silver Apples

by Nancy Farmer

I have been meaning to post this for so long, I really must be more organised.

Firstly I must say that Nancy Farmer is an author I highly recommend, as a writer for children and Young Adults she is absolutely compelling on several levels, and her books will also entertain and stimulate an adult reader as well. There is so much pure narrative pleasure to be found in her books that even the most reluctant, and hard to please reader will find entertainment and reward. She sparks not just imagination, but curiosity and intellect, challenging readers to pursue questions about history and myth as well as philosophical dilemmas about the nature and value of belief and what is worthy.

In this the sequel to Sea of Trolls, Farmer sets Jack on a new adventure, a quest through the Hollow Lands to retrieve his sister Lucy from the Lady of the Lake, in the process she retells traditional Celtic stories and exposes the interaction between the old pagan cultures and the emerging influence of Christianity. The old legends of Arthur are revisited, Jack is assisted by a descendant of Lancelot and the Lady of the Lake is fundamental in instigating this quest story. Jack's master the Bard is in many respects an archetypal representation of the mythical figure of Merlin and bears similarities with Tolkien's Gandalf. The Bard and Brother Aiden share a joint role of wise council and spiritual guide for their community revealing the way culture and belief evolve and integrate. Brother Aiden and Father Severus serve as heroic figures while Farmer also exposes some of the less savoury elements of early Christianity in the British isles in the form of a greedy and corrupt monastery exploiting the sick.
Farmer makes great use of traditional figures such as kelpies and hobgoblins as well as exploring the mythology of elves, who in this novel are interpreted as fallen angels, those members of heavens ranks that failed to take sides in Lucifer's rebellion, lacking the conviction to be either for or against God, as a result they are banished to earth, to the Hollow lands. Somewhat sinister figures, lacking souls they are selfish and cruel, living in a timeless state they relieve their boredom through the exploitation of others:
"They turn human children into pets. It's considered stylish to have a toddler on a leash. He can be dressed up in funny costumes or trained to do tricks. Toddlers are more clever than dogs, but they're not as durable. Eventually, they fall into despair - lack of love does that. When a child is no longer entertaining, he's left in a forest for wolves to dispose of." (p.243).

The power of glamour is examined and the idea that it is a mistake to judge by appearances is developed. The new character of Pega reinforces that concept, physically unattractive Pega proves a remarkable young woman through the adventure that ensues. The hobgoblins too prove that it is a mistake to judge by appearance.

Farmer displays the same humour that was present in Sea of Trolls when she had Olaf urge Jack, " just say no to pillaging", there is a dark humour in passages like the one quoted above and things like Jack's observation that despite his hunger, glowing mushrooms probably are not safe to eat. This humour is also destined to appeal to young readers.

Farmer creates moral complexity and exposes the difficulty in competing beliefs and cultures living side by side. The Bard and the Christian characters of Brother Aiden and Father Severus negotiate a co-existence in which their competing beliefs must find harmony. The half human, half elf figure of Ethne, who seeks salvation in religious devotion adds another dimension:
"There are many branches to the great tree, child," the Bard said gently, taking Ethne's hands. "Christianity is only one leaf." (p.476) Thorgil, the shield maiden from Sea of Trolls also returns in this novel, her values and culture provide yet another viewpoint and when you add in the Roman heritage of Brutus you see what a diverse, conflicted and evolving world Dark Age Britain was. Farmer is not just writing a history lesson, she creates a vivid and exciting adventure that will keep readers turning pages as they travel through the Hollow lands with Jack, Pega and Thorgil, including a frightening encounter with demons.

While looking for cover images for this novel, I found this short article on Farmer here: http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-farmer-nancy.asp Farmer discusses her early work making text books interesting for reluctant readers, and how that has impacted on her novels, the way that her novels work on several levels; as adventures and as information sources in their own right. Again as in The Sea of Trolls she had provided significant notes at the end of the novel and a list of sources for the interested reader to further explore. These novels are as thrilling and entertaining as say the Harry Potter novels, and will appeal to the same kids that love HP, but I think they display more complexity in terms both of theme and context.

This is a book that sparks off a whole web of possible reading connections some of which will challenge and excite young readers, it presents an opportunity to build connections. Poetry is one of the possible connections and thanks to the web, it is easy to access and print out individual poems, such as Yeats' Song of The Wandering Aengus and The Stolen Child. For the kids excited by this book I would keep copies of such poems handy, as Farmer gives a great context for such poems. At one stage in the novel the character of Brutus entertains the children with Anglo Saxon riddles and again this is something you can introduce kids to, you just have to make sure you are using riddles that do not contain enough innuendo to make Benny Hill blush, here is a link to one such site that contains traditional Anglo Saxon riddles. Further more, Farmer's novels form a great foundation for further fantasy reading, there are numerous fantasy titles that exploit the same mythic traditions and Tolkien would be one such author that will be attractive to readers who have grown with Nancy Farmer.

Oops forgot to mention this was on my list for Aimee's Horns and Halos challenge. I included it because the elves are fallen angels and the kids also have an encounter with demons and Hell.

To the waters and wild

2010-02-24T08:25:00.000+10:00

Still thinking about Yeats, that early poetry which is represented by poems like Wandering Aengus and Stolen child, as a teenager I absorbed it so completely into my consciousness that at times of stress those poems are amongst the first to spring to mind. Lake Isle of Innisfree another of the early poems springs to mind when I am trying to distract myself, when the unstable shoulder dislocates the lines of Innisfree are one of the things I use, it is a calming, distracting mantra. As a teenager I used to swim to relax and stay fit. I am not a sporty person and I find exercise dull, swimming would have to be amongst the dullest, but I never found it so, instead I found it meditative and all consuming, in my mind as I went up and down the pool I used to let lines of poetry run over and over like a mantra. Anyway the end result is that certain verses seem to have become a fundamental part of my consciousness.
When Bell was an infant she was the most exhausting child imaginable, no one really prepared me for that, in fact I had been lead to believe that she would be so much easier than she was. Until she was eleven and half months she did not sleep more than two to three hours at a time and when she was awake which seemed to most of the time, she was not happy, I seemed to spend all my time with this crying, puking alien in my arms. One of the few things that gave either of us any relief seemed to be my chanting out poetry that survived the brain eating, exhaustion, I remember that Yeats was amongst the most often dredged up, and what was perhaps a perverse subconscious wish on my part the changeling poem Stolen Child was particularly prominent. So Bell consumed poetry with breast milk and perhaps it partly explains the dreamy, imaginative, person she has become. Poetry perhaps contributed to saving my sanity and Bell surviving infancy. I did manage to read a little that year, very little and what I read was the most escapist fiction imaginable, definite comfort reading but more on that another time, in the mean time I have been raiding YouTube again and have added this video of Loreena McKennitt performing her version of The Stolen Child:

The video was posted by siberio55
Stolen children and changelings are a feature of the Nancy Farmer novel Land of The Silver Apples.

Fading through the brightening air

2010-02-23T18:52:00.000+10:00

I am a slow reader, I tend to take my time and wallow in language and stories, and I also simply find I have a lot of other things impinging on my time. I need more hours in the day and I wish I needed less sleep but unfortunately I don't function well if I give up sleeping for reading, much as I'd like to. I have been reading two very different, but both wonderful books recently, but I have not yet finished either one, so this is a sort of preliminary post for one.
The book begins with a poem as an epigraph and the poem is Yeats' Song of the Wandering Aengus. W.B. Yeats is one of many poets I love and the dreamy early poetry which draws on a misty Celtic past has a strong place in my imagination. The Scottish folk singer Donovan many years ago did a version of this poem, I do love this gentle dreamy version and I found it on youtube, so enjoy:

The video is by Sissham and can be found here on youtube

The book by the way is by Nancy Farmer and is entitled The Land of the Silver Apples, it is the sequel to the wonderful Sea of Trolls previously reviewed here. A distinctly Celtic mythology is evoked in this wonderful novel for younger readers that despite its target readership holds appeal for a reader of any age. Farmer may use The Song of the Wandering Aengus as the epigraph but another poem by Yeats would also have been apt; The Stolen Child.

Twilight marketing again.

2010-02-22T09:22:00.007+10:00

In My Sky at Twilight: Poems of Eternal Love

Chosen by Gaby Morgan

I recently mentioned the Twilight style marketing of Wuthering Heights and on the weekend I discovered the latest product to be aimed at the Twilight market, a new anthology of poetry. A nice collection of old and new, forming a good introduction to the world of poetry, from Shakespeare to Carol Anne Duffy. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Byron, Keats, Rossetti and Blake all make an appearance. For the teenager who has not yet had much exposure to the world of poetry this would make a nice gift, although I do suspect your die hard romantic will have long since discovered Byron and company. Twilight marketing may well lead some kids into richer reading experiences, ultimately building more informed and critical readers. I wonder what the next classic will be to turn up in a black cover?

contests

2010-02-16T16:41:00.002+10:00

My Good blog friend Sari at The View from Sari's World is hosting her first giveaway, she has three books up for giveaway and with every ten new followers Sari will add another book. Sari really does not need to to offer inducements to increase followers as she writes a great blog; intelligent, discursive and wide ranging, everything from science to religion and philosophy, history to fiction and just about anything worthy of discussion. She is hoping to generate heaps more discussion which is always a good thing. And another reason to check out Sari's blog; she may be forced to start talking to the plants if we don't. Here is the direct link to Sari's contest page

Books by covers.

2010-02-16T16:05:00.002+10:00

In my last post I commented on the misleading perception a bad cover can give of a novel. I am absolutely fascinated by the effect of a cover on our perception of a book and its marketing impact. Books regularly appear with different covers for different regions, America and the UK seem to require different images and in some cases entirely different titles for the same book, are we so different? Here in Australia we usually get the UK version of a book cover. Terry Pratchett's books are a good case in point, below are the respective covers for his most recent title, Unseen Academicals:

The Uk version is on the left, US on the right, personally I prefer the UK version, I generally do with Pratchett covers.

The reason I am thinking about covers at the moment is the variety of covers currently available for Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, I am sure most book bloggers are familiar with the recent Twilight style cover:

An attempt to cash in on the Twilight obsession which I suspect both fails to do justice to Wuthering Heights and misleads the Twilight fan. It may be Bella's favourite book but it is very different to Twilight, and I suspect your average young Twilight fan may feel a bit betrayed by this kind of marketing, or maybe it will lead young readers into this rather unique and remarkable 19th century novel, I'm not sure? The dedicated Twilight fan may also take exception to the sticker promoting it as 'Bella and Edward's favourite book', it is not Edward's favourite at all. I know Scholastic have been promoting this edition in their school book club program and I can't help but wonder if this is a novel that will really appeal to your average 6th or 7th grader (and in Queensland 7th grade is still primary school), or will both the language and the concepts be simply confusing? I certainly believe that if they want to read this, they should, but I would hate to see them put off it by reading it at the wrong time in their lives.

Recently I saw another new edition of Wuthering Heights with a cover that caught my eye:

I really like the art work for this one and wonder if this will appeal to young readers? It is part of a new Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions series with original cover art by the fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo. I do like these editions, there is also a nice edition of Pride and Prejudice and The Scarlet letter with art work by Toledo, but this one is my favourite. The pages on these editions have the effect of cut pages which adds a little extra, but not much to the feel of the book. What I don't like is the absence of notes, or any kind of introduction. Wuthering Heights is not the easiest of 19th century novels, and I wonder if a simple introduction and some guiding notes may not be a good idea.

On the subject of new Penguin editions, I also adore the new range of linen hardcovers they have bought out, these books are truly beautiful:

Borders had a sale before christmas selling these lovely editions for only $19.99 and I was seriously tempted, but when you already own not just one copy of a title but two it is hard to justify buying a third. Wuthering Heights has often been a title my daughter has bought for friends as a gift and now with these beautifull editions available I think it may well become something of a standard gift.

Recently thanks to Celia at adventures of cecelia bedelia I won my choice of a book from the book depository and I choose one of these lovely classics, another Bronte, this time Charlotte's Jane Eyre, as previously mentioned my old copy was falling to bits and I was wanting to re-read it, so it seemed a perfect opportunity and here is what it looks like:

I would like to think a cover would not make that much difference to whether I would read a book or not, but I have to be honest and admit that it can and sometimes does, one of my more shallow inclinations. At least there are often many other factors influencing my decision to read and more significantly buy a book. Sometimes though a book is simply a thing of beauty to hold as you enter into it's indivdual reality, what really matters is what lies between the covers. When I was younger, and poorer, my books were almost always second hand paperbacks and despite their frailty, I still treasure those old books, for starters they possess the smell of divinity, the smell of aging pages, the nostalgia of the first moment of discovery when you read that great book for the first time, and I still buy second hand titles, cheap second hand penguins more often than not, but I also appreciate the luxury of owing beautiful new editions.

The Chrysalids

2010-02-11T12:32:00.000+10:00

The Chrysalids

by John Wyndham

Wyndham's dystopian science fiction was a favourite escape of my younger years, although very much adult fiction I had the good fortune to discover Wyndham while quite young. Last year I re-read the now classic Day of the Triffids and in recent weeks I have re-read another of his timeless, provoking tales; The Chrysalids, a tale of a post apocalyptic world in which mutation is a constant possibility and a challenge.

Set in Labrador, society has been reduced to a kind of pre-industrial , frontier existence defined by a kind of Christian fundamentalism where each member must guard against the threat of the deviant. Narrated by David, a boy at the start of the novel, he reveals a terrifying world in which people live in fear of being found not quite right, of giving birth to a child that fails to conform to the norm. Adages on the importance of purity adorn the walls of David's home, where his father maintains an old testament authority, ritually slaughtering 'Offences', such as a two headed calf or four legged chickens, but much worse than the deviations amongst the crops and livestock are mutations amongst humans, seen as the work of the devil and punishment for failure in faith.

David becomes intensely aware of the fearful nature of society, when he discovers and befriends another child who lives with the dark secret of physical impurity in the form of six toes on each foot. When a child is born in this world, it's existence is not acknowledge until it is inspected and receives a certificate verifying their conformity to the human norm. Sophie, David's new found friend obviously does not possess such a certificate, she has been raised in secret by her fearful parents. What happens to such failed individuals is hinted at early in the novel, the sense of threat is disturbingly intense. As the novel progresses it becomes apparent that David to is not quite normal, but his deformity is not as visible as an extra toe. By instinct more than anything else he realises that his ability to talk to his cousin across distances is not something he should advertise. David and his cousin Rosalind are part of a small group of young people who have the ability to share thoughts.

Scattered through the tension and suspense surrounding David's existence in this community is some serious pondering on the nature of religion, God and our humanity. David's uncle Axel is not the religious Zealot David's father is and he is also aware that David is different, it is Axel that provides an initial dissenting view to the traditional orthodoxy and provides some guidance and protection to the maturing David and his fellow telepaths. Axel while he defends David, perceiving his particular deviation as a positive, still has a eugenicist view of deviants and mutants believing that their wider community is right in not allowing deviants to reproduce. Wyndham portrays the plight of mutants with sympathy but his overall viewpoint seems to be essentially that humans should be devoted to positive evolutionary changes, but he is well aware of the consequences of such an attitude, making this an interesting and challenging book.

Things change for David and his friends when his parents produce another child, Petra, she appears normal, but is in fact a far more powerful telepath than any of the others so far. Due to immaturity and unawareness of the danger she and her brother are in, her overwhelming powers place them all in danger. It is through Petra that David, and the others become aware of another possibility to their own primitive community and the even more bleak existence of the Fringes. Petra can send 'thought pictures' further than any of the others, reaching someone new in a country none of them were aware of, their world is fenced in by impassable 'badlands', created at the time of 'Tribulation', an event not clearly defined but clearly a nuclear apocalyptic event. Petra can reach beyond their known universe reaching out to a completely new people. A people for whom telepathy is not a feared deviation but a desired outcome. This new land, distant from the worst effects of 'Tribulation', is referred to as Sealand (possibly New Zealand) and has managed to preserve technological development. It represents a different view point again, as it represents evolutionary progression and again a claim to racial purity, just from the angle of progress rather than preservation. It's spokesperson takes a tone that is effectively as zealous as that of Joseph, David's father, and while David accepts the assistance of this new human, his open mind is still alert to the prejudice and zealotry of others.

The Sealand woman does present a powerful argument for the changing nature of humanity and the consequences for the preceding and competing forms:
"The essential quality of life is living; the essential quality of living is change; change is evolution: and we are part of it.
'The static, the enemy of change, is the enemy of life, and therefore our implacable enemy. If you still feel shocked, or doubtful, just consider some of the things that these people, who have taught you to think of them as your fellows, have done. I know little about your lives, but the pattern scarcely varies wherever a pocket of the older species is trying to preserve itself. And consider, too what they intended to do ..." (p196-197).

Evolution and it's continuing progression is a principal theme of this thrilling and provocative novel, but the challenge of being different and growing up is another significant aspect. David is a child at the start of the novel, by the end he is a young man in love, we have watched him come to grips with his difference and challenge the society in which he lives. By their very difference these children need to construct careful defences against the world at large:
Rosalind was calling me; the real Rosalind, the one who dwelt inside, and showed herself too seldom. The other, the practical, capable one, was her own convincing creation, not herself. I had seen her begin to build it when she was a sensitive, fearful, yet determined child. She became aware by instinct, perhaps sooner than the rest of us, that she was in a hostile world, and deliberately equipped herself to face it. The armour had grown slowly, plate by plate. I had seen her find her weapons and become skilled with them, watched her construct a character so thoroughly and wear it so constantly that for spells she almost deceived herself. (p149).

The operation of religion and superstition is also examined in this novel, the way we construct belief systems to make sense of our circumstances, but above all this is a thrilling thought provoking novel that entertains while challenging our thinking. The eugenicist theme is disturbing but one worthy of close examination, I can't help but be horrified at it's implications. Despite being first published in 1955 this is not a novel that has dated, it remains relevant and plausible. The idea of humans evolving into telepaths has occurred elsewhere in pop culture, does anyone else remember the kids program from the 70s-8os; The Tomorrow People, reading The Chrysalids I was very much reminded of that program. One of the things I recall was the use of the phrase; 'Homo-superior', which is a term the Sealand character would probably appreciate. I am also reminded of the David Bowie song; Oh! You Pretty Things, which also features the term 'Homo-superior', I am wondering what came first the series or the Bowie song and whether or not either text was influenced by the Wyndham novel?

Finally I want to comment on the cover, the image at the top of the post shows the cover for the current penguin edition and I love this cover, with it's six toed figure it relates directly to the content of the novel. The edition I read was an old penguin with a cover that would have be a serious contender for the title of worst cover for any book ever. Seen below it shows an image of an insectoid figure that bears no relation at all to the novel, this is a novel about humans. Humans that may in fact carry some mutations, such as extra toes or unnaturally long limbs but recognisably human and I must admit to finding the misleading cover highly irritating, what were they thinking?

Excuses and essays

2010-02-11T12:30:00.000+10:00

I can't believe how slack I have been of late, I seem to have been in a bit of rut, stagnating and generally not doing anything worth while. Over summer I took a summer unit for the masters and really I probably should have just tried to unwind a bit, Christmas is stressful at the best of times and the other half decided to use the time to work on house renovations. I am extremely grateful that I now have a functional kitchen with a stove that does not decide for itself what temperature it will cook a meal at, but the process of getting there seemed to add to already high stress levels. Tiling proved a problem necessitating the whole kitchen floor having to be taken up and re-tilted. We still have to get a couple of cupboards made and one small bench top, but it is a much more functional kitchen at last, and I have a dish washer, yay, although again that has proved problematic, still waiting on electrician to come back and try and fix the fault that has resulted in the dishwasher intermittently showing false error messages and stopping mid cycle. I am grateful that I do at least have a dishwasher at last, and a great new stove to play with, plus the remodel of the cupboards and benches has resulted in much more functional space, conducive to serious cooking.

I have a bit of a mixed attitude towards the house, we originally planned too seriously renovate the house for our comfort, to renovate for us, planning on staying for a while but with recent unpleasant experiences, (neighbours from hell), the house has ceased to be a home, my whole attitude towards it and the plans has changed, now I feel like I am just aiming towards it's eventual sale and there is something so dis-spiriting about that process. I have learnt that a home is extremely important to me, a space that is a sanctuary and I have realised how fragile that can be. I would move tomorrow if I could, but we have a number of half finished projects before we can put it on the market and we have decided that we will not move before the end of this year so as not to disrupt Bell's important final year of school. The yard also is a mess, when we first moved in I started to seriously develop a garden but with the early poisoning of plants I rapidly lost interest, now I find I just don't care, I avoid going outside at all, particularly if the neighbours are home as it inevitably results in taunting insults or insulting conversations that I am meant to overhear, or loud speakers moved up to windows and music turned up. I am by nature not particularly social at the best of times, but I have found that I have become quite reclusive, avoiding not just the offending neighbours but the whole neighbourhood, including the quite lovely ladies on the other side of our house. I must admit I also feel quite resentful at the prospect of moving, the stress and the expense, the irritation of the whole sale process and the challenge of finding a new home, I know I should be looking at the positives but lately I have rather been absorbed by the negatives and I can't help but feel a little guilt at selling the house to some other unsuspecting person which is what will inevitably happen. We bought the house thinking we were getting a good deal, the owners accepted our first offer, which at the time surprised us, it was a good offer, but we did expect some negotiation, now of course we know why.

Sorry if the language in the title I am about to discuss offends, amongst my reading recently has been; The Best Australian Essays 2009 and amongst many great essays was one by Keven Brophy entitled 'What're yer lookin' at yer fuckin' dog?', which is his account and attempt to make sense of a violent, frightening, long term, neighbourhood dispute. Our experience has been no where near as bad, but it has been damaging and I recognised similarities in my own experience. Brophy notes such experiences affect out capacity for empathy, they leave you wondering what went wrong and how to deal with what you have, what have been your own inadequacies in the unravelling situation, interestingly the courts did not provide the kind of relief and solace they had hoped for. There is a sense that violence and hypocrisy of one form or another lurks beneath our very flimsy facades, an observation which challenges our sense of ourselves and our perceptions of others, I am still pondering how our own situation arose and why it has had the effect it has. Fear, stress and anger have become it's defining notes and the defining notes of this house.

That is enough negativity, offered in part as an explanation for recent silence. I find it hard to relax and read and blog when I let the negativity overwhelm me, I have also been preoccupied with study but that is no excuse. As to The Best Australian Essays 2009, that is a wonderful and wide ranging collection with essays from so many great writers, to pick just a couple of widely known contributors; Tim Winton, Tim Flannery and J.M. Coetzee but there are many others and many worthy essays in this volume which I will be dipping into through the year.

The joys of spam

2010-01-29T23:07:00.004+10:00

Just very quick post, trying to finish a time consuming report, which is one reason posts have been absent of late, I have been checking mail, which has been alerting me to the increase in anonymous comments and spam appearing on the blog, so with reluctance I have removed anonymous comments and turned on word verification, at least for the time being. I thought the blog was hardly worth spamming but apparently not, hopefully this will make a difference. Be back soon with book reviews, I hope. In the mean time happy reading and blogging everyone. Oh and I must say a quick thank you to Cecelia at Adventures of Cecilia Bedelia, Cecilia was running a competition on her blog for a book of your choice from the book depository, much to my surprise I was one of the two winners, really surprising because I don't win things, but a much appreciated prize. I decided to choose a lovely linen hardcover edition of Jane Eyre, my old paperback is falling to pieces, more on that later.

"Fear is never a noble weapon..."

2010-01-15T13:23:00.008+10:00

Cairo - A Graphic Novel

written by G. Willow Wilson

illustrated by M.K. Perker

At it's most basic this is an action driven, fantasy adventure, at another level it offers a commentary on the social and political state of the modern middle east, and it attempts to offer some comment on the concept of Orientalism, but it never really escapes it's essential simplicity and naivety, nevertheless it is an entertaining read with some interesting ideas behind the action.

It tells the story of a disparate group brought together via a stolen hookah; a petty criminal and drug dealer, his sister and the journalist who loves her, an Israeli soldier trapped over the border, a young American seeking to right the wrongs of Imperialism, a Lebanese American seeking also to exact justice for the past and a jinn. The action takes part in the city of Cairo but also within a fantasy landscape of the Undernile and fantasy figures such as genies and demons people the action. The characters tend somewhat towards cliche and stereotype but this is Wilson's debut as a graphic novelist and despite the cliches it shows a great deal of promise, she does try to engage with a bigger picture. Primarily this is very much an action adventure tale, but Wilson is also interested in questions surrounding Eastern identity and the dilemmas posed by its history, one of her characters is on his way to become a suicide bomber when he encounters the jinn Shams who explains to him: "Just remember something, kid: fear is never a noble weapon ever."

Shams is a remarkably appealing character and he is at the heart of the action and the catalyst that brings the characters together. Shams is tasked with guarding and protecting a box, (I don't mean to mean to throw out spoilers so it may be best to stop reading here)...

The box contains everything and nothing, what matters is who opens it and what they believe it to contain. The box contains the word East and as Shams explains:
"Yes this is the word East in the divine language of Absence, it means whatever those to whom the box is given wish it to mean. For three hundred years years the box belonged to people who didn't live in the east, who judged it and bought and sold it from far away; who feared it and diminished it. I recovered the box fifty years ago, but its been in danger ever since..." I suspect Shams and the post colonialist critic Edward Said of Orientalism fame would have a lot of common ground, but despite the clearly high aspirations of the novel it is still an action fantasy peopled by stereotypes, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It is aimed at young adult readers for whom in this case the use of stereotype may actually aid meaningful reading, if for more mature readers it seems to simplistic. It does provide things to think about in terms of modern middle eastern identity and politics and it provides escapist entertainment.

Wilson is a journalist who has worked in the middle east for some time, while a student she converted to Islam, in fact one of the characters, the young American woman seeking to right the wrongs of Imperialism could be seen as an expression of herself. This is her first graphic fiction and as a captivating read demonstrates a talent to be reckoned with.

I don't feel particularly qualified to comment on the art work except to say that I was seduced by the beautiful cover work and the effective shades and shadows of the simple black and white of the story. I was a little disappointed when I realised the work was not in colour but on reading it I realised how effective the use of shadow was, besides the big advantage of black and white is of course that it helps keep the cost down.

The book does carry the caveat that it is suggested for mature readers and this is an accurate description, language is an issue with the all pervasive f word being dropped early on and some of the panels depict violence though not particularly of the blood spattered gore variety. For older readers in the teen range this would be a great book, it is entertaining, the action is compelling and the fantasy is appealing, the ideas are a bonus. I personally found this to be an interesting and thought provoking read. I would have liked it to be longer with both the fantasy elements further developed, and further exploration of the social and political themes but for the younger reader the length is probably highly appropriate.

I could right for pages about the virtues of the graphic novel, but that can be for later. This is just a short review to keep in the swing, in a couple of weeks I will have to spend some serious time catching up on everyone's blogs. In the mean time happy reading and blogging everyone.

What happens when the old Gods decide to come back

2010-01-10T08:59:00.020+10:00

Giants of the Frost

by Kim Wilkins

This is the second book in what is known as the Europa suite, a collection of three novels connected by their use of traditional, European mythologies to tell a modern story, each novel is an independent entity, so while connected they are completely independent of each other. It is a nice idea and this the second title takes as its inspiration the traditional stories of Northern culture, the figures of Norse myth form the basis for a kind fantasy romance, a reincarnation love story, a modern fantasy where the mythic world of the past collides with the present. Given Wilkins background in horror it is hardly surprising that the novel also presents moments of supernatural terror and a compelling tension that can keep you up at night turning pages.

Victoria Scott is a young climate scientist who accepts a job at weather station on an isolated island in the Norwegian Sea. Victoria is a rationalist of the first order, the world for her is a measurable entity where mysteries can and must be explained by rational analysis. The island, however, confronts her with mysteries she finds both disturbing and difficult to explain. She has a disturbing sense of deja vu, an insomniac, she starts to have nocturnal disturbances she initially attempts to explain as sleep disturbances. She is frightened by a strange figure, a stick creature whose hair takes the form of twigs, who warns her to beware of the draugr. The figure is a wight, a forest spirit called Skripi, and the creature he is warning Victoria about is a drowned soul, a somewhat monstrous creature that seeks to drown others in order to have company. Victoria also encounters a hag who steals her breath as she sleeps but perhaps the most serious threat she encounters is the mysterious stranger Vidar who seems so familiar.

The narrative follows two distinct streams the first person narrative of Victoria that takes place in Midgard and the narrative describing the world of Vidar in Asgard, alternating sections filling in a beautifully wrought tale with vividly realised characters in both worlds. Vidar is a son of Odin who in the past fell in love with a mortal woman, Odin, fearful of the impact of such a relationship, murders her. Vidar rejects his family especially his father and chooses to live alone in the forest with a bond maiden, Aud, for company, awaiting the return of his human love. Aud has her own tale, a passionate love for Vidar adds to the complexity and she has a direct connection to the Norns, those figures of fate at the heart of the World Tree who spin and weave the fates of everyone. And fate is a very hard thing to escape.

One of the things that Kim Wilkins does really well is characterisation, not just her principal characters but those at the periphery of her story as well. In Victoria's world she creates a small scientific community in which people act with plausible complexity. Victoria's boss is a memorable, if unpleasant figure, vividly drawn, as is Gunnar the Nordic nerd and alternative love interest. The character of Skripi could have been an implausible fantasy motif but he is instead a readily believable occupant of the island forest. In Asgard she wonderfully re-imagines figures like Loki, an ambiguous and complex figure, wonderfully drawn in this novel, while the rest of the Aesir are simplistic in their brutality. Good fantasy is dependent on an author's ability to make the implausible plausible and this is something Wilkins achieves, via strong storytelling and realistic characterisation. She also creates a vivid sense of place with evocative and atmospheric description.

The novel is perhaps a little convoluted and over long, but is otherwise an interesting re-telling of the tales of Asgard. It is not a literary novel, but is a well crafted fantasy, a wonderful escapist read, that makes good use of the traditional folklore, although figures like Odin may remain a bit one dimensional for some enthusiasts.

Who will this book appeal to? Fantasy lovers for starters, anyone with a fascination with modern re-tellings of Norse mythology and I would say lovers of romance, as that is what this novel essentially is. Fans of Wilkins earlier horror stories may find this a bit light on the horror but it is still a suspenseful tale. I wonder also if fans of Twilight might not also enjoy this novel, there is not a vampire in sight, but there is a grand and forbidden romance and while Victoria is no adolescent school girl but an independent, educated, young woman that can only be a good thing. Vidar and Loki are striking Norse warriors and while the rest of the Aesir are best avoided, where that pair were concerned I found myself thinking of the kinds of covers one sees on a certain type of romance novel, smooth hunky guys. Aside from Vidar and Victoria's story you also have the complex relationship of Vidar, Aud and Loki.

I got to hear Kim Wilkins speak at a library thing last year, she was a memorable and inspiring speaker. When she is not writing great fantasy and horror she lectures in creative writing at the University of Queensland and has an impressive CV including a doctorate on the English romantics. She would be a great author to have for an author talk for teenagers, especially teenage girls, she is passionate, unpretentious, funny and inspiring. She also writes a great blog here at Hexebart's Well.

***

On another note, blog will be quite for a while, hard to imagine that it could be any quiter than it is now but it may well be, I think I need a bit of down time. In the mean time happy reading and blogging everyone.

The Theban Plays

2010-01-04T14:39:00.017+10:00

The Theban Plays
by Sophocles

I posted on Oedipus Rex ages ago and I have been really slack about getting back to it and finishing Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone.

Oedipus at Colonus sees the aging Oedipus seeking refuge in Athens, a somewhat Lear like figure he is aided by the faithful Antigone. He is a much more frail and less confident figure than in the previous play. After being finally tossed out of Thebes, much of the play deals with Creon's efforts to bring him back due to a prophesy that his grave will protect the land in which it lies, the result is some serious verbal slanging between Oedipus and Creon, meanwhile his sons are arguing over who gets control of Thebes. Piety is again a central theme, the will of the Gods is paramount although in face of Creon's attacks on his character Oedipus does claim to be at least somewhat innocent as he did not know he was committing patricide and incest, bit of a cruel trick really. Here again the play reminds me of Lear, that line; 'As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport'.

Then there is Oedipus' death, wow what a death scene, suddenly the frail and completely dependent Oedipus is leading everyone off to the scene of his grave, thunder and lightning giving the moment a divine drama, (again a bit of Lear moment, remember the storm), Oedipus is not raging against the gods, he is accepting his fate and embracing his death and the final dramatic moment comes when only Theseus is allowed to witness his final moments and resting place. Previously Oedipus rages against fate now he accepts it and embraces his final end, an old man he is ready to die. I gather Sophocles wrote this towards the end of his own life, and it seems to be a reflection on life, fate and mortality.

Then we move on to Antigone what a raw deal this girl gets, first she gets to guide around her blinded and incapacitated father as an exile and social outcast and then she gets to go home and watch her brothers turn her homeland into a war zone ultimately killing each other, and when she tries to do the right thing and bury Polynices, Creon who is fed up with the trouble caused by Polynices, orders that she be entombed alive for orchestrating that burial. Creon lets his anger dictate his actions, there is some great dialogue between Creon and his son who is engaged to Antigone and tries to reason him out of his rash response, but to no avail, only the prophet Teiresias is able to reason him out of it,(or scare him out of it might be a better description). To late Creon decides; 'It is by the laws of heaven that man must live'. Creon buries Polynices, goes to free Antigone, finds her hanging and his son grief stricken at which point as Creon tries to console him he draws a sword and stabs himself, but it's not over yet; a grief stricken mother also takes her life cursing Creon as she goes, and all this takes place over about 38 pages, Sophocles could really pack in the drama. And as a summation:

Hear, men of Cadmus' city, hear and attend,
Men of the house of Amphion, people of Thebes!
What is the life of man? A thing not fixed
For good or evil, fashioned for praise or blame.
Chance raises a man to the heights, chance casts him down,
And none can foretell what will be from what is.
Creon was once an enviable man;
He saved his country from her enemies,
Assumed the sovereign power, and bore it well,
The honoured father of a royal house.
Now all is lost; for life without life's joys
Is living death; and such a life is his.
Riches and rank and show of majesty
And state, where no joy is, are empty, vain
And unsubstantial shadows, of no weight
To be compared with happiness of heart. (p.157)

Antigone is interesting as a feminist figure. She defies the authority of Creon in order to do what she believes is right, despite what she knows it will cost her. She is a truly fascinating figure, defined by compassion and loyalty her death is deeply moving. This is a fascinating play and given it's brevity an easy introduction to Greek classics. I am now interested in seeking out a copy of Seamus Heaney's much lauded translation entitled The Burial at Thebes, hoping the library will have it as I am now curious to see where Heaney will take Sophocles stark eloquence.
I read The Theban Plays for the Really Old Classics Challenge, so now I have at least completed one title for the challenge and the first finished book for 2010.

Giveaway link.

2010-01-04T14:30:00.004+10:00

For everyone who is a fan of Jasper Fforde, Miss Eliza at Strange and Random Happenstance is running a giveaway for his latest book Shades of Grey, so if your interested just click on the link. It has been a while since I have read Fforde. I really enjoyed his post modernist literary fantasises with Thursday Next, sometime I will have to catch up on the Nursery crime series.

Reading in 2010

2010-01-01T16:13:00.008+10:00

I have been reading everyone's summation of 2009 and their goals/ resolutions for 2010 with interest. I don't normally make resolutions, I know myself well enough to know that in all likelihood I won't keep them. I do have some reading plans for the year, in part guided by challenges, in fact I have had to stop myself signing up for several challenges but I intend to read along with some of them anyway. I usually re-read at least one 19th century classic every winter, last year aside from dipping into Bleak House occasionally I didn't really indulge that particular obsession but I have found myself struggling against the temptation to sign up for the everything Bronte challenge here at Laura's reviews, I have an enduring affection for the work of the Bronte's and was really tempted to sign up, but alas I don't trust myself to meet to many set reading goals, although I do now intend to re-read at least Wuthering Heights if not Jane Eyre and Shirley as well. Reading about the challenge had me reaching for copies of the novels and the poetry and thinking about other books that have dealt with their lives and their peculiar genius. The Victorian challenge, our mutual read, hosted by Amanda at the Blog Jar also proved very tempting. Finally the graphic novel challenge 2010, tempting because I have a couple of graphic titles I want to read in the very near future starting with Cairo described as; a magical-realist thriller bringing together the ancient and modern Middle East and Grandville by Bryan Talbot, a really interesting steampunk graphic.
So my only resolution is to promise not to commit to too much, other than that I intend to follow my reading whims wherever they take me and to make an effort to reduce the TBR pile and to stop buying books until I do, (that really is a promise that will almost certainly be broken). I am also going to try and post on a book at least once a week, not always easy with study commitments, but hopefully I can balance out the longer books with a few short ones, well that is the plan. Oh and the other thing I really must do is tidy up and update the margin, soon, very very soon.
Happy new year everyone and may the year bring lots of rewarding reading adventures!

Peculiar crimes require peculiar detectives?

2009-12-31T20:37:00.019+10:00

Bryant & May
investigate
The Victoria Vanishes.
by Christopher Fowler

My last read for 2009, one of the years more serendipitous finds, and a great crime/mystery novel. A police procedural with some unique quirks, a sense of humour, a challenging plot and some entertaining historical trivia as a bonus, not to mention a quite dig at the Dan Brown conspiracy set.

To say that Bryant and May are old school is an understatement, both detectives are past retirement age, they possess the brashness of age and the kind of eccentricities it takes a lifetime to cultivate. They are the senior members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, an unpopular specialist unit set up to solve those crimes that have a somewhat odd signature, often solved in part as a result of the esoteric knowledge and skills of the team. They are an oddity in the modern police force, unpopular with the powers that be, who are apparently determined to bring about their demise, a sub plot that plays out in the background of the investigation. As to the crime which they are required to solve, it involves the mysterious and quite deaths of lonely middle aged women in pubs or as Bryant delineates:

'Two women, two public houses, and an investigation involving drink, drugs, death and Swedish philosophy'
'I assume this means you want to handle the case,' said May drily.
'Oh, don't worry, I will whether I'm allowed to or not. I'm far too old to start obeying the rules now.' Bryant made a hideous draining noise through his pipe stem. " If anyone needs me, I shall be in the pub, conducting a little research.' (p98-99)

Bryant is a wonderful invention, brash and forthright, his funeral oration for a fallen colleague at the start of the novel was worth the price of purchase alone. Bryant also appeals to the heart of the bibliophile with his collection of antique and arcane literature, and then there is the marijuana plant, ( 'for his rheumatism'), no wonder his colleagues find his pipe so odorous. The novel begins with the main protagonists facing up to their age and mortality, May has a serious health scare and Bryant is considering his failing facilities which come further into question when he believes he saw the murder victim outside a pub that never existed, hence the title The Victoria Vanishes. In part a tribute to London's pub history and culture the book presents a literary pub crawl with entertaining historical trivia thrown in along the way. A mystery involving an apparent serial killer attacking women in pubs unfolds with considerable pace and just when you think the mystery is solved it becomes obvious that things are more complex than first thought. At about that stage in the narrative I was wondering about certain elements in the plot, why were the police not investigating where and how the killer acquired the drugs he was using and how on earth were they going to explain the disappearing pub, I needn't have worried as Fowler was still in the process of unravelling the strands of his mystery and the novel launches into a deeper more sinister plot. Eccentric academics, white witches and women with secrets add to the parade of entertaining characters, London itself attains the status of character in this wonderful mystery with Fowler deeply embedding so much geography and history into his tale. The disappearing pub culture is celebrated and mourned, Fowler ends his novel with a list of historic pubs consulted and begins with an acknowledgement of those pubs and the threat they face; 'Since writing the book, some of these have already been destroyed or badly converted by greedy developers.'

While in the cold light of day there may appear to be issues of plausibility, Fowler has undermined those concerns with his own examination of conspiracy theory, creating a clever and satisfying plot in the process, this is a deeply rewarding read, intelligent and funny, with compelling characters, I cannot recommend it strongly enough. For crime and mystery fans this is a great addition to the genre and I am only sorry that I did not discover Christopher Fowler and his Bryant and May books sooner. This is the sixth book in the series and there is at least one more title after this one, the bonus is that I have the pleasure ahead of me of going back to the start and reading through this great series which I will most certainly be doing.
I thought I might end with a fairly typical passage from the novel, Bryant and May are standing on Waterloo Bridge contemplating how the case is unraveling and the threats posed to the very existence of the Peculiar Crime Unit:

'I hate small-mindedness,' he suddenly announced after several minutes of contemplative silence. 'The notices everywhere warning us not to trip over or turn left or take our dogs off leads. That annoying recorded voice in the post office telling you which counter is free. I bought some peas in the supermarket last week and do you know what it said on the packet? "Does not contain nuts." I hate the endless admonishments of a nanny state that lives in fear of its lawyers. While colonies of dim-witted traffic wardens swarm about looking for minor parking infringements, nobody seems to notice that our very social fabric is falling apart.'
'What's bought this on?' asked May puzzled. 'Have you got another court summons over your car?'
'Several in fact, but that's not the point.' Bryant poked his pipe between his lips and lit up. 'Once our children played on bombsites and collected unexploded shells. Now they're driven to school by paranoid parents in armoured cars. The determination of dullards can always be counted upon to challenge the merits of innovators.' He noisily sucked on his pipe until the bowl's embers sparkled against the cloud-grey waters. 'To be popular in this city you have to be average. Our unorthodox approach to the attainment of excellence won't allow us to survive.'
'No one else can handle something like this,' said May. 'We'll be here so long as there are such crimes.'(p248-249).

Christopher Fowler also writes a great blog, http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/blog/ definitely worth checking out.

And some review quotes to further tempt:

'Witty, sinuous and darkly comedic storytelling from a Machiavellian jokester' Guardian

'Fowler's fresh, and unusual characters breathe new life into an established genre in which it's getting harder and harder to find anything genuinely fresh'. Booklist

Something Borrowed

2009-12-22T15:08:00.002+10:00

Something Borrowed

by Paul Magrs

This is the second book by Magrs to feature the elderly, demon hunting investigators Effie and Brenda. Set in Whitby, a location famous for its gothic connections, this is a supernatural mystery with a sense of fun. I picked it up looking for something light, fun and escapist which is pretty much what it is, although it is a bit like eating a mars bar instead of a substantial meal, enjoyable enough in the moment but not particularly memorable or likely to stave off malnutrition.

It is an imaginative concoction filled with refugees from Hammer Horror, Brenda herself has quite a past, (think Frankenstein), and Effie is the decendent of witches. From the blurb on the back:

Brenda tries so hard to lead a quite life. She'd like nothing more than to run her B&B and have quite cups of tea and the occasional night out with her best friend Effie. Unfortunately trouble has a way of seeking out this decidedly unusual pair of investigators.

When poison pen letters start flying around the quiet lanes of Whitby, trouble is exactly what's in store for Brenda. And, what with Jessie the Zombie Womanzee, trips down memory lane with amorous, ghoul hunting and strangely unaged professors of Icelandic history, as well as terrifying encounters with bamboo wickerwork gods from the dawn of time, even Brenda's cup is running over.
But her most challenging battle is the one she must fight with herself - or, at least parts of herself...

Brenda and Effie have a strongly realised presence complete with petty jealousies, suspicions and differences to keep their relationship interesting. Added to this is a cast of characters straight from Hammer Horror; the ghoul hunting professor, the sinister Chinese criminal overlord Mu-Mu and his gangster moll widow, then there is the cliched Count Alucard (an anagram), Jessie the zombie womanzee, transdimensional alien beings and not least the figure Brenda considers to be the absolute embodiment of evil, Mrs Claus the owner of the Christmas hotel where she makes all of her staff dress in elf costumes. Something Borrowed seems an apt title as Magrs has borrowed from everywhere to create his gothic escapism. I am not entirely sure it all works, it did take me a while to get into, not helped by little continuity slips such as Brenda one minute blowing on her black coffee and the next slurping tea,(p28-30), Whitby really is magical if you start out with coffee and find yourself drinking tea.

This is of course pure escapism, there is enough plot to keep you reading but the book does depend a lot on the pure sensation of it's pilfered characters and scenarios and there are a few inconsistencies and events that lack a necessary plausibility, the early murder of one character seems almost trivial.

The novel ends with a teaser of what is to come in the next book with Brenda receiving a crudely written note:
You are mine. And I want to see you. All these years. Years and years. We've never really met. But you are mine.
And I have rites . Conjugal rites.
You are mine and I am coming to see you. I know where you are now. I have been looking. Now I know where you are. And I am on my way.
Your husband is coming to get you.

With the new novel being called Conjugal Rites, I think we can all guess where Magrs is heading. So if your looking for something escapist and fun these may be the go, while not great they have some charm and with a setting where anything is possible the series has some promise.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-21T08:15:00.007+10:00

Just because it is Christmas and it is hot:

The video was posted on youtube by BeautifulPurity
As a very young child I was mystified by all the references to winter and snow in Christmas songs but then there was Rolf Harris and in case anyone is interested Six White Boomers is available as a children's book.

Wishing everyone a peaceful, happy, relaxing Christmas.

Ho ho ho, or, COWER BRIEF MORTALS.

2009-12-16T18:49:00.023+10:00

Hogfather

by Terry Pratchett

(I own both the editions pictured, personally I prefer the sedate black covers.)

Folklore, as fans of the indomitable Terry Pratchett will know, is fertile ground for his transformative imagination. Stories, their importance and power is a familiar theme in his work, few writers have shown such an intense and loving awareness of the importance of story telling and Hogfather is a consummate example of that. The book does require readers to suspend disbelief and accept the internal logic of this fantasy universe, for some readers it may seem silly and absurd but it is a novel worth reading, it rewards both in terms of it's humour and it's insight into human nature.

The Discworld for all it's fantastical trappings is not all that far removed from our own, and like our own world a similar culture operates. Hogfather is Pratchett's dissection of the myths of Christmas, on the Disc it is Hogswatch and Father Christmas is the Hogfather, only this particular Hogswatch a clutch of logical Godlike overseers known as the 'auditors' who are opposed to the sloppy thinking of creative humanity decide to tidy up our messy thinking by getting rid of the anachronism that is the Hogfather, they hire an assassin and seek the Hogfather's 'inhumation', but how do you kill a mythical figure?

When someone dies on the Disc it is Death himself who is in attendance, for the uninitiated Death is the anthropomorphic representation of the inevitable event, like medieval representations of the Grim Reaper he is a gigantic skeleton in a cowl. Death is one of Pratchett's finest creations, and certainly one of my favourite characters, he is a figure fascinated by the world in which he exists and by humanity in particular, he is a student of life and it is that curiosity, combined with naive wisdom and essential goodness that makes him such an endearing character. So with the Hogfather unavailable, Death steps in to save the day; donning the red suit and taking over the sleigh, but he alone can not reverse the situation and he needs the assistance of Susan, his granddaughter:

The sledge hurtled across the sky.

'She'll try and find out what this is all about, you know,' said Albert.

OH DEAR.

'Especially after you told her not to.'

YOU THINK SO?

'Yeah', said Albert.

DEAR ME. I STILL HAVE A LOT TO LEARN ABOUT HUMANS, DON'T I?

'Oh ... I dunno...' said Albert. (p.107-108)

Susan is left considering the possible explanations of Death's behaviour, including insanity, a possibility that increases in probability when she visits Death's home to discover he has taken to adopting stray cats:

... one of the symptoms of those going completely yoyo was that they broke out in chronic cats. (p115-116) ( oh dear perhaps I should be concerned as I have definitely broken out in cats).

The novel explores much of the culture of Christmas including traditional stories such as the Match Girl and Good King Wenceslaus, gently exposing the hypocrisy of our charity. The market forces and economics of the modern experience are not ignored. When Albert suggests a public appearance to boost belief and explains to Death about department store Hogfathers, Death observes that belief then was already compromised. The department store visit provides much in the way of humour, the pretty display is demolished by the giant boars, one of whom promptly urinates on the remains of the display, much to the admiration of the children present. Death being a rather literal being proceeds to give the children what they want and when objections are raised over gifts such as swords he points out the educational value of such a gift, important lessons will be learnt.

Humour abounds in this novel, as it does in all of Pratchett's work, he also holds up a mirror so we can also learn some valuable lessons of our own. Perhaps the most significant of which is that we are by nature metaphorical beings, trickery with words as Death points out is 'where humans live.' This novel contains a passage about the need for stories which is one of my favourite comments on their importance, rather than type out what is a wonderful vindication of the imagination, I will just put up this extract from the TV adaptation which I also watched again this week, this summation of Death's wonderful speech conveys the essence of that passage:

Susan is yet another of Pratchett's strong female characters, he does write wonderful young women, they are never the kind of girls who need rescuing but are often the kind of women from whom others may need rescuing. Michelle Dockery in the the TV adaptation does a stellar job of bringing Susan to life. I have mixed feelings about the adaptation, as the book has lived vividly in my imagination. I would recommend reading the book before watching the TV version of the story, although there is much to commend it, made on a relatively low budget it captures the essence of the wonderful novel without recourse to flashy effects, although I wish Death had been granted a bit more animation. Death is wonderfully voiced by the brilliant Ian Richardson and now whenever I read Death's lines I hear them in Richardson's commanding tones. As an aside, the catch phrase Richardson made famous in his role as the rather frightening politician Francis Urquhart; 'You might well think that but I couldn't possibly comment' , is worked into Death's dialogue. David Jason is also perfect as Albert. Really the casting in general is excellent and clearly this was made with understanding and affection for the original novel. It is a bonus that Terry Pratchett himself appears in a cameo part at the end, as the toymaker, he is after all the master craftsman responsible for this tale.

I have enjoyed the experience of re-reading the Hogfather and whole heartedly recommend it, like all of the Discworld novels it is not necessary that to have read previous stories although to have done so would fill in the back stories, such as how Death came to have a granddaughter in the first place. On the subject of Christmas this is a great book. This is my first book for the Pratchett challenge, many more to come over the next twleve months.

I should add that Miss Eliza at Strange and Random Happenstance has recently reviewed the Hogfather dvd here.

Horns and Halos

2009-12-12T14:10:00.009+10:00

I used to think challenges were to restrictive for me but now I am finding I am getting a bit addicted to them, although this one is the last I will sign up to for a while, I don't quite trust myself on the commitment front to do any more, but the idea of a Horns and Halos challenge seemed irresistible and in keeping with some of my other reading goals. So here goes; Aimee at My Fluttering Heart is hosting a Horns and Halos challenge

The challenge runs from 1st January 2010 to 31 December 2010, there are various levels depending on whether you want to read mainly horns or mainly halos stories or an equal mixture of both, for all the details check out Aimee's blog. Me I am aiming for purgatory, with more devils than angels and while I have not finalised my list, this is the list to date:

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. by James Hogg

This is a book I have been wanting to read for some time and is one I want to read before re-reading another book on the list.

The Testament of Gideon Mack. by James Robertson

A contemporary Scottish novel that has a connection to the previous title and one that I will be re-reading, I enjoyed it the first time round a couple of years ago, but it is quite a complex book with a lot of meta fictive references and I want to fill some reading gaps before tackling it again, hence the first title.

The Divine Comedy. by Dante

This one I will double up with the classics challenge.

Good Omens. by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

This one I will double up with the Pratchett Challenge.

The Land of the Silver Apples. by Nancy Farmer

This is a kids/YA novel, a sequel to The Sea of Trolls and apparently features elves which are fallen angels.

No doubt I will find other titles to tempt me and the list may well expand, but these I feel confident in committing to, after all I have twelve months and two are double ups.

Green Day

2009-12-11T21:51:00.015+10:00

What is worth paying a hundred and two dollars for a ticket?
This:

I borrowed one of the many live videos up on YouTube to try and convey the power of a Green Day performance.
Green Day are a truly awesome live band. Their concerts have all the hysterical fervour of a Nuremberg rally, ironic to some extent, given their anti authority stance and social satire. The chance to see them live was worth every cent of the hundred and two dollars a ticket it cost. The energy was amazing, Billy Joe works his audience like a messiah, demanding they stand and respond to his calls, feeding their adoration with his willingness to interact with fans, pulling them out of the audience to join him onstage and orchestrating stage dives. It was an awesome night out. Surprising in the range of ages at the gig, everyone from old school fans and the current crop of adolescent followers, to families some of whom had quite young kids in tow.
Despite playing together for over twenty years now their energy is undiminished, in fact they seem to feed off the energy and enthusiasm of their fans, reflecting it straight back at them, their performances are something to experience, the intensity and fervour of a religious experience. Few things compare to a filled stadium where every voice is chanting out the lyrics of Minority.
So not a book post, but an experience of words and music worthy of mentioning. Last Wednesday I kind of expected to feel old and out of place going to the Green Day show, being 40 + but I didn't, I felt ageless and timeless and lost in the shared experience.
It is cliched to compare song lyrics to poetry but songwriters to a very large extent are voices of their generations, the heralds of the alienated, the outraged voices of the betrayed, that is why they sell millions worth of cds and downloads and why they have the status of heroes. Perhaps if looking for a literary equivalent we could compare Green Day's Jesus of Suburbia to Philip Larkin's This Be the Verse. I am not suggesting that just because Larkin uses the F word to shock his audience into attention these song lyrics are the equivalent of what is a very controlled and calculated piece of verse, just that both lyrics express a certain hostility towards the hypocrisy of society and both exploit the symbolism of religious cant. And what a great opening line:

"I'm the son of rage and love"

Almost as good as Larkin's:

"They fuck you up, your mum and dad"

Green Day aside, I spent the week catching up, but also some reading, so book posts coming soon. And if you get the chance to see Green Day live take it, the passionate showmanship of Billy Joe Armstrong alone is worth it.
(Hope no one is offended by the language)

Reading is important, just in case we didn't already know.

2009-12-07T08:07:00.003+10:00

Just thought I'd throw up some quick observations from a library text I have been reading, observations on the importance of reading particularly the importance of kids reading, obvious things like an impact on employment and income. Some not so obvious, like the fact that 60% of America's prison population are illiterate and studies that show a link between an inability to read and depression. The text is a little glib and I am sure that these are far more complex issues than can be explained by simply not reading, nevertheless reading is undeniably important in so many ways. As the text says: "Reading is powerful; not reading is dangerous."

Bookshops where has the adventure gone

2009-11-30T10:05:00.017+10:00

I have been away from the computer for most of the week, my late study material turned up and I have been catching up. I did start writing this post on bookshops over a week ago, so about time I finished and got something up.
Last weekend Sari at Sari's world wrote this great post on the changing nature of bookshops and how homogeneous they are becoming, seemingly evolving into these outlets of mass produced, mass marketed, clone books. They really do seem to be stocking an increasingly limited range, usually of heavily hyped, populist fiction, and not a lot else.

I live in a large rural city, we have a representative book store from all the major Australian chains; a Dymocks, an Angus and Robertson and a QBD store, the closest we have to an independent is a small Mary Ryan outlet, and over the years I have noticed a distinct decline in the quality of these stores. They still have some great staff but not all their staff have the kind of knowledge and courtesy I once came to expect. As Sari noted the dominate displays in these stores now seem to be vampire fiction, Twilight and it's clones, don't get me wrong I don't begrudge anyone their fix of vampires. Beyond the vampires I can practically name what will be on their new release shelves before I even walk into the store, just as I know almost exactly what will be on the literary fiction and kids shelves, I also know what in all likely hood I will not find there. Perhaps I can best illustrate what I am getting at by recounting some of our recent efforts to buy books.

Not that long ago my resident teenager discovered Byron, concluding that Byron was her new grand passion and frustrated that he had virtually no presence on our home shelves, she set out to purchase a descent collected edition, if not a complete edition of his work. That mission proved a futile one, not only did none of our local book stores stock anything by Byron when she asked for assistance she was meet with blank looks and the question 'who?', followed by; 'who's he?'. Bell also informed me that the whole experience made her feel as if she was 'weird' for even asking for such a book. Recently I was searching for a copy of The Pillow Book a Japanese classic, I didn't really expect to find it and I didn't, I mentioned it previously here and Bookheaper left a comment that made me smile saying that when they asked for it they thought the assistant thought it was porn, it was a wry smile because I knew that is probably the response I would have received if I had asked, for that one. I just looked on the shelves for myself and now that I think about it the reason I didn't ask for assistance is because I also sometimes feel 'weird' for asking for something that is a bit unusual and that is most definitely not how a good book shop should make you feel.

Sometimes I do go in thinking that surely I will find the book I am after, but lately even those books have not been available. A few months ago I was after a copy of Neil Gaiman's Blueberry Girl and I really thought that one would be in stock, but no. I did eventually get it from A&R whose staff are always helpful and ordered it in for me. Again recently I went looking for Bog Child believing that a book that won this years Carnegie medal would be on the shelf for sure, and again no luck, but again A&R offered to order in a copy for me. Earlier this year I wanted to fill in a gap in my reading and read David Almond's masterpiece Skellig, now this is a relatively old book first published I think in 1998, so I guess not unreasonable for it not to be in stock, and again A&R could not have been more helpful in ordering in a copy for me. But this makes we wonder why do our book stores do not keep in stock at a least an odd copy of books that are destined to become classics, timeless books that will endure and Skellig is definitely one of those. What is on their shelves is very much of the here and now and it seems to me at least very much material that has a lot of marketing might behind it. There is a distinct preference for established authors and those books and authors that seem to generate a lot attention.

When the Booker short list is announced try finding all those books, if Ian McEwan is on the list than yes you will find the book or if any Australian author gets a nomination then they to will be easy to find (we are nothing if not parochial),but if a relatively unknown author is on the list than forget it, you certainly won't find the book in our local book shops, for me this year the title was The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds, I still don't have a copy. On the subject of the Booker, I witnessed a frustrating attempt by an elderly customer to purchase a Booker winner, it must have been two years ago as the book this customer was looking for was The Inheritance of Loss. The sales assistant responded to her query about the Booker with the line; 'I have never heard of it, are you sure it is called the Booker prize?' She said yes she was sure, his response was what I now realise is, the you are weird look, for asking for something I have never heard of, his body language said well I can find nothing on the system, (you know the meaningful staring at a screen thing). The lady seemed confused, and a bit disheartened so I intervened and explaining to the assistant that yes the Booker prize is in fact one of the most significant prizes for literature on the planet, perhaps he should try Man Booker prize as it is sometimes prefixed by the sponsor. While he stood there pretending to look interested, I asked if it was the current winner she was after, and yes it was, she just couldn't remember the title or author, I informed our not very knowledgeable assistant and he established that yes the store had a copy and wandered off to find it. This was not the end of it, he returned to inform us that he could not find a copy even though they apparently had it in stock, so again I interfered by pointing out that aside from the general fiction section the store also had a small section devoted to literary fiction and he would probably find it there. By this stage the lady's husband was starting to look distinctly fed up, so she apologetically said she would not worry and it was okay he didn't have to look anymore and promptly begun ushering the husband out. She clearly felt she had been an annoyance to both the bored husband and the unhelpful and woefully ignorant assistant and I felt both sad and a bit annoyed. I know staff generally do their best and I have known some wonderful bookshops and some great assistants but there really has been a deterioration in service in recent years, either that or I am just turning in to a grumpy old woman.
The Spaceman, my partner has a passion for science fiction, not particularly intellectual sci fi just relaxing escapist fiction and he has been known to spend even more than I do on books but over recent years he has seen the availability of his particular favourite genre decline to virtual non existence. As a result we now make regular trips to Brisbane especially to shop for books.
In Brisbane our first stop is always a truly wonderful independent, Pulp Fiction, they specialise in genre fiction, crime, fantasy and science fiction. I cannot stress the virtues of this little store enough, it is staffed by people who are passionate and knowledgeable about their stock, a tightly packed treasure trove, this in one of the few places I can still just browse and come away with something new as well as the most recent crime interest I may have. Years ago when Jasper Fford was still an unknown with one book to his name, The Eyre Affair, I stumbled upon it in Pulp Fiction, long before any of the other book shops carried this novel, they stocked it and on impulse I bought it. One wonders how an author like Fford could have reached the cult status he now maintains if it had not been for places like Pulp Fiction that first broke the ground. Because I am weird about books I actually look to see if other stores carry the new book I might notice at Pulp Fiction, usually they don't. On our last visit while the Spaceman stocked up on his SF fix I browsed, finding an author I had not previously read and a book I could not resist, this will probably reveal me to be terribly ignorant but I had not heard of the Bryant and May series by Christopher Fowler before, I certainly have not seen any of the Bryant and May titles locally. I had to buy Bryant and May investigate The Victoria Vanishes, I still have not read it but I am hoping it will turn out to be a gem, a story about a couple of elderly detectives who work for something called the peculiar crimes unit and a crime that apparently involves the disappearance of an entire landmark, plus an odd serial killer( aren't they all) and a pub crawl. If anyone has read it let me know, I will be interested to hear what it is I have to look forward to. Anyway my point is that if it was not for Pulp Fiction I may never have discovered this book. How many gems go undiscovered because bookshops don't take risks anymore?
It is this joy of discovery that I think I miss most. We used to have other independents locally, now effectively we have none. Those shops we do have allow publishers marketing to dominate their stores, I can depend on having to negotiate tables full of books by the likes of Dan Brown or Kathy Reichs or the new sensation Her Fearful Symmetry, before I even get to the selves where I might find something I might want. It used to be that I could not walk past a book shop, now I wonder why I bother to go in. Sometimes I let helpful staff order in what I am looking for but more and more I am just ordering online. And as to the joy of browsing and the discovery of a gem, well there seems little point these days, as the range available just does not allow for that process of discovery. I still discover new titles that tempt me online, often through blogs and sometimes in the library (thank all that is divine for the grand institution of libraries, they truly are cultural bastions), but what will happen when our choice becomes increasingly limited, already a book that is the most recent winner of the Carnegie is not considered worth stocking by our major local stores. I used to make a point of buying from book shops rather than major department type stores, now I see little point, I might as well just save myself a few dollars and buy from the big, undercutting giant, my book shop now maintains a stock collection that varies little from theirs, of course doing that just compounds the problem. But if book sellers fail to service their core clientele, their eventual demise should surprise no one.

Enough ranting, check out Sari, my frustration is not unique, maybe I just need to look harder, or maybe I am just hitting the unfortunate age of nostalgia, when everything was always better when I was young. I still get great service most of the time, but I might as well order everything myself as have the book shop do it. And I still find things in book shops, at least when I visit Brisbane and the stores are larger. Although Bell tells me she asked at Borders for Byron's poetry and was offered a choice of two biographies but no poetry, so even a previously reliable large retailer is clearly slipping, or does no one read poetry anymore?

Kids and books

2009-11-29T09:26:00.013+10:00

I have had a slack reading week again but I am thinking about the last book I reviewed and the issues surrounding what makes good reading for kids. In anticipation of the Pratchett challenge and in relation to what kids should or shouldn't read I am also thinking of a passage early on in Hogfather:

Now she sat down on a bench and read a book. She made a point of taking the children, every day, somewhere where they could meet others of the same age. If they got the hang of the playground, she thought, adult life would hold no fears. Besides, it was nice to hear the voices of little children at play, provided you took care to be far enough to away not to hear what they were actually saying.
There were lessons later on. These were going a lot better now she'd got rid of the reading books about bouncy balls and dogs called Spot. She'd got Gawain on to the military campaigns of General Tacitus, which were suitably bloodthirsty but more importantly, considered too difficult for a child. As a result his vocabulary was doubling every week and he could already use words like 'disembowelled' in everyday conversation. After all, what was the point of teaching children to be children? They were naturally good at it. (p.37).

This passage touches on two issues I am concerned about; one that we overprotect, and two that we dumb down. Certainly parents should take an interest in and be concerned about what cultural products their children consume, in fact I wish more did take an active role in kids reading, no one has the right to make those choices for you or your kids, but sometimes I think we have become to cautious and hypocritically so.

I am often confronted with the idea that a book is too frightening for children, libraries(school based), sometimes feel the need to take a conservative path in terms of their collection development out of fear of parental reaction to their collection, I find this endlessly frustrating, I also find it often hypocritical. If a book deals with death or anything controversial, if it finds it's way into the collection at all, it is often labeled as senior fiction and access is limited. I do believe guidance is relevant and important but I sometimes think it is possible to limit kids reading experience too much. How do they learn to deal with fear, if they never have to face it. How do they learn to deal with big challenges in life if we don't provide them with the tools to negotiate them.

I have seen concerns raised over letting children read books about the Holocaust for example, and while this an undeniably confronting and ugly piece of history it is important that we that let them learn about it and from it. The horror of human violence can be seen nightly on the news but its explicit regularity can give it a remoteness that makes it less real, it is the individual stories and the difficult choices individuals are faced with that bring home the moral dilemmas, the ethical challenges and inspire empathy and compassion. The holocaust was not an isolated event, and atrocities continue to happen, books offer one tool in creating a society that will not tolerate such vileness. They are a tool in creating compassionate and empathetic individuals, responsible individuals, but not if we limit their reading to only the happy, fun, escapist things in life, (althought the fun and escapist are also important).

When the last Harry Potter novel was being anticipated there were concerns floating around about how children would be able to deal with the potential death of the main character, as it was J.K. Rowling did not kill off Harry, but she did oversee the massacre of many loved characters. The point I want to make is that such a book gives kids the opportunity to rehearse grief. It lets them see that the world and life is finite, and there will be times when they must face and deal with loss. It is far kinder to prepare our kids for the realities of life than to shelter them completely and fail to let them develop as mature individuals. Such a book also illustrates the moral dilemmas in choosing whether or not there are things worth fighting for. What we should be doing is encouraging them to think critically about such scenarios and the ethical challenges they present.

In terms of hypocrisy, I have seen certain titles restricted because their content is considered too confronting, and yet I have seen other titles provided because they are classics. A good case in point is Black Beauty, this is a book that is extremely confronting, filled as it is with cruelty and death and yet I know for a fact that this is often a standard provision on kids shelves.

Personally I think this is a book that should be available and read, I also think that it is a book that some children will find deeply disturbing. I first read it at the start of the fourth grade and it has haunted me ever since, I also loved it. When a child goes to take this out and often they are around the same age I was when I first read it, I do warn them that this is a wonderful book but it is no happy pony story and some very sad things occur within it's pages, no child has ever changed their mind and I have known kids to come back and tell me what they thought and why, and sad as this book is I have yet to see a child express regret at reading it. (Involvement with animals is another opportunity for kids to grow and another opportunity to learn maturity, responsibility and compassion, but that is a whole other post).

In terms of kids and horror, they seem to thrive on the vicarious thrills fiction provides, I would add that is not true of all kids and some are genuinely disturbed by horror and violence and again this is where parental guidance is important, but I do not believe we are right to restrict their access to scary stories too much. Goosebumps is to a large degree fairly dreadful pulp but it is loved by kids and often those very kids who are most reluctant to read and explore the world of books. The gory and garish covers are a large part of the attraction but once you have their attention you can encourage their exploration of reading. In recent times there has been a growth in gothic type fiction for kids, some of which has been truly outstanding in terms of quality, wonderful eloquent, imaginative stories, stories that capture a kids imagination and provide them with a valuable escape from reality and often things to think about. That such stories may be scary is half the attraction and the value of being scared should not be underestimated. I am sure there is a famous quote somewhere that says that courage is not the absence of fear but the mastery of it. It is in the vicarious thrill of reading a scary book that kids first learn to confront fear and master it. They learn to be able to withstand fear and that can only be a good thing. Fear also lets you know you are alive because ultimately what we are most afraid of is mortality, that we can confront that and overcome the fear it engenders lets us grow into mature individuals.

Back on the subject of classics and dumbing down, this is another area I feel some frustration, sometimes we underestimate what kids are capable of and if we never give them the opportunity to show us and themselves we are perpetually limiting them. I don't advocate forcing classic literature on kids because quite frankly they often do not have the knowledge or maturity to read certain texts and certain texts are just plain dull until you develop the social maturity to get it. I do though think they should have the opportunity to experiment with classics and that doesn't mean just sticking the likes of Austen and Dickens on shelves. Some authors are more accessible than others, Charlotte Bronte is definitely more relevant to a 6th or 7th grader than Austen for instance. Giving a kid Austen is simply most likely to put them off for life, (I know there are exceptions to that). But Jane Eyre has the potential to speak to the youngest reader and to become a book that grows with them, (a personal bias, I know). I may well be very wrong about this, but I think Austen is most likely to be appreciated by the sophisticated teen.

I have seen people just assume that because a book is a classic that is the book they should be forcing on an unsuspecting child, I remember watching a knowledgeable and caring sales assistant try and guide a customer in the purchase of a book as a gift for a 12year old, she asked all the right questions about his current reading his likes and dislikes, established that he was not a keen or competent reader and then attempted to suggest some suitable titles, the customer who clearly had no knowledge of the books she was suggesting or for that matter any real knowledge of the books he thought were appropriate kept insisting that the book must have 'literary merit'. I just wanted to slap him and say what are you trying to do put an already reluctant reader off books for life, I also wanted to say if you are giving this child a classic are you going to sit down and read it with them? In the end the frustrated assistant let the customer purchase a book that clearly appealed to his pretensions but in all likelihood would go unread by the recipient. Classics are great but you need to be ready for them. This is where I don't understand why parents don't spend more time reading with their kids because classics often make great read aloud books and it is having such a book, with a demanding vocab and complex ideas read to you that you learn to understand and appreciate such works. Peter Pan is a book that contains demanding language and ideas , it is a book that is eminently suitable for kids but for most kids the language will be off putting, and yet this is a great book to read aloud. Alice in Wonderland is another wonderful book and a great book to read aloud, books like these offer a path into more and more demanding books and when shared with a book loving adult can be the beginning of a life long love of books. Forced onto unprepared readers by pretentious adults they can also put a kid off books for life. That there is much hypocrisy surrounding the choice of books for kids is evidenced in the double standards that apply to classics and contemporary fiction. An adult may think that the Jungle Book is suitable for a fourth grader and that Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (which is a re-telling of the Jungle Book) too terrifying for such a young reader, (believe me Shere Khan is just as terrifying as the man Jack of Gaiman's book, and Kipling is if anything more violent as I remember it, and yet I cannot recall hearing the suitability of The Jungle Book questioned). Classics are great it is just that some will always be more suitable than others, depending on the individual child, and sometimes we need to share that reading experience with them in order to let them explore the world of books and language more fully.

Kids can and do appreciate quite demanding books, sometimes quite surprising choices. As a parent I was initially surprised that my daughter at 5 could enjoy Shakespeare, in hind sight why wouldn't she? That first encounter with Shakespeare was via Midsummer Night's Dream and let's face it faeries are always a winner, a guy turned into a donkey is a bonus. It was, however, more than just the novelty, she had a genuine appreciation for the music of language and this positive initial encounter encouraged both her and us to provide her with more opportunities to experience and enjoy. I have always felt a little embarrassed by her precocious knowledge, I have felt that people assume we must have intensively educated her on this point but we didn't, we merely shared our own love of stories and language and encouraged her to explore stories and language for herself. In primary school amongst her favourite books were Harry Potter and Midsummer Night's Dream (a standard version of the text) all of these books lived on her bedside table and were her favourite reads of a night time. English for Bell, as a subject has been a breeze, except for the punctuation thing, that she does show a complete disregard for, (unfortunately so do I). Aside from this early and quite accidental introduction to Shakespeare we have shared many books with her, reading aloud and encouraging her to satisfy her curiosity by reading just about anything that took her fancy. I have sometimes been surprised by her choices but have always encouraged them, I have on occasion advised against a certain book simply because I thought the content may be something she was not ready for. She has had a very privileged upbringing growing up as she has in a book loving family and she has reaped clear benefits in terms of her academic development, I wish kids everywhere had the same opportunities, many in fact do, but just as many do not.

Okay enough ranting and meandering, I need to actually go read a book while I still have time. I decided to take a unit over summer for the masters and I really need to make a start on that, hopefully the required text will turn up soon, actually a bit annoyed about that. The uni bookshop listed the book as out of stock, so I contacted them to confirm how long it would take to get and they told me it would take 4 to 6 weeks and was definitely out of stock, so I looked for an alternative supplier. Amazon in the US offered the best price and had it in stock so I ordered from them but it still hasn't turned up, now I am starting to panic. And the uni bookshop it turns out had the book all along, they made a mistake but I only found that out after Amazon had supposedly dispatched the copy I ordered, so not happy, hopefully it will arrive this week. Things always seem to arrive promptly from the UK but they take forever from the US, something I must remember in future if this happens again.

Tales of Terror

2009-11-23T23:45:00.002+10:00

Last week I read Chris Priestley's suspenseful, maritime horror story for kids; Tales of Terror from the Black Ship.. Two children in an isolated inn balanced on a cliff top in Cornwall wait out a 'killing storm',alone, their father has left seeking a doctor as they are ill, but they are not alone for long, a stranger knocks at their door seeking refuge and in exchange for brief sanctuary he tells them tales of terror to while away the hours.

While this is a tale with a beginning, middle and an ending with twists, each chapter is quite self contained and can be read as in independent short story, while still maintaining suspenseful connection between each chapter and building a sense of foreboding threat. It is a perfect book for reading aloud to kids and while I am sure some would express concern about the macabre content it is suitable for most kids from about 10 up.

It is one of those books that puts librarians on their guard as it does contain some minor language concerns and the scare factor can concern some parents. Personally I have no problem with it but I have learnt from experience that others don't share my liberal views and there is always the possibility that a parent would come in and berate the hapless librarian for supplying a book that contains the word 'bastard' and some delightfully gruesome descriptions of maiming, murder and flesh eating snails. Most kids however, love this stuff, and as to the language, it is unfortunate, but true that most kids know far worse words than the one mentioned. Having said all that, I think this is a great little book with broad appeal to the designated age group. Chris Priestley skillfully tells his gothic tales, and because his story telling is so disciplined and skillful this book will appeal to older readers as well, including adults.

One of the things I like best is the self contained chapters, it is perfect for reading aloud in short bursts, one scary chapter at a time, and in that it is similar to Neil Gaiman's great gothic novel for kids, The Graveyard Book. The Graveyard Book, also contains chapters which can be read as unified stories within the larger framework of the novel, in fact I think this would be a great book to give to anyone who enjoyed Gaiman's novel, both books offer rewarding excursions into the gothic. That kids love scary stories is evidenced by the long running popularity of Goosebumps, the writing and story telling in Tales of Terror is however, superior, making this a great way to tempt the Goosebumps fan onto something else. ( Book series like Goosebumps are a bit like Mcdonalds, kids love them in part because they are a known quantity, they can be sure of what they will get and that what they get will satisfy their hunger, and while they are great for getting kids to read it is nice to get the opportunity to educate and extend their reading palate.) Accompanying the text are some great simple illustrations by David Roberts that nicely echo the stories, I particularly liked the simple image at the start of chapter one that shows the precarious isolation of the inn.

I think quite a few people chose to read this great little book for the R.I.P. Challenge and that has got me thinking about the virtues of issuing a Readers Imbibing Peril Challenge in the library. The idea of imbibing peril will defiantly appeal to kids and I can think of so many books to promote with such a challenge, this one and Graveyard Book just for starters. The R.I.P. challenge happens around Halloween so ties in perfectly to some established promotion themes. This particular book would also be a fun one to use with speak like a pirate day, one of the terrifying tales deals specifically with a pirate but the overall maritime theme lends itself to the pirate theme.

With Xmas rapidly approaching I am thinking this book would make a great gift, in the northern hemisphere with winter demanding cosy retreats this book would make a perfect companion and here in Australia with families retreating to the beach for summer I am thinking this book would also be ideal, especially if we get lucky and it is a rainy summer, a chapter or two of Tales of Terror from the Black Ship is guaranteed to keep kids quite and entertained.

My favourite chapter was probably Nature which involved the transformation of something everyday and insignificant into the gruesomely powerful and threatening. And as a taste of what Chris Priestley has to offer I will just quote a couple of lines from the start of the novel:

The storm was a killing storm and had raced across the Atlantic without warning, like some wild, ravenous beast. Fisherman all along the coast were caught in its claws and their wan-faced widows haunted the quays and harbour mouths. (p.2)

I think I may have seen this deliciously disturbing little book reviewed on a few sites, but it was Cath at Read Warbler that most recently brought it to my attention, so hear is the link to Cath's review, check it out. If anyone else has reviewed this one and would like to put in a link just let me know.

Pratchett Challenge

2009-11-22T10:43:00.012+10:00

Marg at ReadingAdventures is hosting a Terry Pratchett reading challenge and I do love Terry Pratchett. The challenge runs from the 1st December 2009 to 30th November 2010, so a year in which to explore as many witty and wise Pratchett works as you desire. I should add that I first heard about the challenge at Aimee's wonderful blog My Fluttering Heart.

There are numerous levels for this challenge:

1-3 books - Cashier at Ankh-Morpork Mint
4-5 books - Guard of the City Watch
6-8 books - Academic at the Unseen University
9-10 books - Member of Granny Weatherwax's Coven
10-12 books - Death's Apprentice

The challenge is not restricted to the Discworld novels and even allows for the watching of tv adaptations. Personally I find the later novels to be the best and if you are new to Pratchett would recommend starting with a later novel, the YA novels are excellent. Hogfather, a personal favourite, is currently on my bedside table, I have been dipping back into it, just a few pages at a time, and was planning on blogging it in December. So I will start the challenge with Hogfather. I am still deciding which other titles to include but Lords and Ladies and Maskerade are definitely on my list. I may also re-read Witches Abroad, actually I will probable use this challenge as an excuse to re-read quite a few old favourites.

On the subject of Witches Abroad, A.S. Byatt in a collection of essays entitled; On Histories and Stories, discussed that very novel and I will end with a quote first from Byatt's essay "Old Tales, New Forms", and finally with the passage from Witches Abroad that Byatt goes on to quote.

One of the best stories I know about the dangerous aspect of the network of tales is by Terry Pratchett who writes wise and comic fantasies set in the Discworld. In this one three witches set out to stop a Princess from marrying a transfigured frog in a city called Genua which is in the power of a witch called Lilith, who works magic with mirrors to make everyone's lives conform to a fairy-story vision of the world, and fairy-story expectations of satisfactory plots, intrigues and endings. (Pratchett is very good on the misery of animal minds trapped in human metamorphoses. His wolves, snakes, frogs and even cats are anguished and distorted.) Pratchett in my view is one of the great modern storytellers. (On Histories and Stories. by A.S.Byatt p.148-149.)

She goes on to quote the following passage from Witches Abroad, where Pratchett discusses the power of stories, a familiar and recurring theme in his work:

People think stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way round.

Stories can exist independently of their players. If you know that, the knowledge is power.

Stories, great flapping ribbons of shaped space-time, have been blowing and uncoiling around the universe since the beginning of time. And they have evolved. The weakest have died and the strongest have survived and they have grown fat on the retelling...

And their very existence overlays a faint but insistent pattern on the chaos that is history. Stories etch grooves deep enough for people to follow in the same way that water follows certain paths down a mountainside. And every time fresh actors tread the path of the story the groove runs deeper.

This is called the theory of narrative causality and it means that a story, once started, takes a shape. It picks up all the vibrations of all the other workings of that story that have ever been.

That is why history keeps repeating all the time.

So a thousand heroes have stolen fire from the gods. A thousand wolves have eaten grandmother, a thousand princesses have been kissed...

Stories don't care who takes part in them. All that matters is that the story gets told, that the story repeats. Or, if you prefer to think of it like this: stories are a parasitical life form, warping lives in the service only of the story itself.
(from Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett, quoted by Byatt in On Histories and Stories p.149.)

Persephone treasure, Good Things in England.

2009-11-21T19:46:00.007+10:00

Just a quick post, I had some books arrive from Persephone books this week, a couple are destined to be xmas gifts, but Consequences by E.M. Delafield is one for my TBR pile. I have heard only positive things about this early 20th century feminist novel and my daughter is also keen to read this one. In the meantime I noticed that Mrs B at The Literary Stew reviewed Consequences a few days ago, writing a post that just made me want to read it even more and here is the link to her review.

Another Persephone purchase was Florence White's Good Things in England, a rather glorious cook book, a compendium of recipes some dating back to the 14th century. I am not a particularly enthusiastic cook but have been known to intensively research historical menus and prepare such dishes for friends and family. I think I enjoy the research process and the experience of a kind of living and very sensual and sensory history. Cooking itself does not really excite me, I watch the likes of Jamie Oliver and Nigella and envy their enthusiasm, I wish I could be that passionate about food, but when I am in the kitchen mostly what I think about is how much mess will have I have to clean up when I'm done.

I thought I might share a couple of literary themed recipes I discovered in this little culinary treasure. The first one is a kind of mulled wine, that utilises white instead of the usual red wine, and has a Shakespearean connection.

'The Gossip's Bowl'

Lamb's Wool

This is a very old English drink, and the recipe is sent by Mr. S Taylor of Haverthwaite, Ulverston.

INGREDIENTS: Ale 1 quart; white wine any kind 1 pint; nutmeg 1/2; moist sugar to your taste. Roasted crab apples.

METHOD

1. Make the ale and wine hot.

2. Add sugar and nutmeg

3. Roast some crab apples, and float them on the the hot ale.

This is the drink referred to by Shakespeare: -

When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl.'

Love's Labour Lost, act v., Sc.2.

Also in Midsummer Night's Dream, Puck says: -

'And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl,

In a very likeness of a roasted crab,

And when she drinks, against her lips I bob.'

Act ii., Sc.I.

(p278-279)

The other recipe I thought I would share, relates to the Brontes,that they actually consumed said recipe is more speculation than fact but a fun idea, nevertheless. It is also reproduced on the accompanying bookmark to this volume.

Bilberry Pies

Hawworth, Yorkshire, 1867

These pies we may be sure were enjoyed by the Bronte Sisters, at Haworth Parsonage.

INGREDIENTS: Bilberries 1 1/2 pints; castor sugar 4oz.; baked apples 2; pastry; white of egg. Cream if obtainable.

METHOD

1.Mix the bilberries with 2 or 3 oz. of sugar.

2.Bake the apples in the usual manner scrape out the pulp, sweeten it, and mix it with the bilberries.

3.Grease a pie-plate, and sheet it with short or puff pastry.

4. Fill it with the bilberry mixture; do not on any account add a drop of water.

5. Cover it with a thin sheet of pastry.

6. Brush with white of egg, dust this with castor sugar; or leave plain; bake (in quick oven at first to cook the pastry and afterwards in a slower one to cook the fruit).

N.B. - All fresh fruit pies, gooseberries, blackberries, raspberries and red currants, strawberries and raspberries, apple, peach, etc can be made in this way.

My note, for bilberries read blueberries. This is definitely a recipe Bell and I will be trying as soon as her end of year assessment panic is over.

I actually bought this book as a gift for someone else, but I have had so much fun going through the recipes and all the accompanying folk lore and history that I will be ordering a copy for myself as well. It is a fun culinary compendium and comes with notes on weights and measures, but is in imperial measurements being originally published pre-metric, first published in 1932.

This is a great addition to any culinary collection, I never thought a cook book could be so much fun, this is the first time I have reviewed one. Persephone's trademark individual end paper and bookmark is in this case a cheerful yellow print that really reflects the homely warmth and fun that is Good Things in England, the print called 'Grapes', is a 1932 Duncan Grant fabric which Leonard and Virginia Woolf had as curtains and a sofa fabric. This book is a great gift for the cooking enthusiast and a great reference for anyone with an interest in food and it's history, a very rewarding purchase from Persephone.

Dawn French comedy diva and why are celebrity biographies so popular?

2009-11-17T08:54:00.000+10:00

I don't normally read celebrity biographies, mostly I see them as a waste of trees, not that celebrities don't have stories to tell I am sure some of them have great stories to tell, it's just I don't really want to wade through a lot of self indulgent gossip to get to any possible pearls of wisdom that may be lurking there. It is not that I have never read celebrity biogs, I have, usually lent to me by their star struck owners. (I have bought one celebrity biog, but that was largely because I enjoyed the authors other books). Okay I know I sound like a snob, but I find the obsession with celebrity disturbing, especially since it now seems to have generated a lust for fame itself, not the desire to achieve in a particular artistic profession, just a desire to be famous, (reality tv has a lot to answer for). The obsession with celebrity also seems to display a disturbing voyeurism, don't we have better things to do and better things to read. I am stunned by the popularity of the celebrity or sporting biography, the world is full of wonderful wise books and yet we seem to spend a fortune on these books, why? I think our peculiarly Australian phenomena of the worship of sports stars disturbs me most, in some cases these role models to our kids have openly bragged of never having read a book themselves, and yet they expect to us to buy and read their obviously ghosted reminiscences, not to mention the endless stream of reports of athletes charged with assault, sexual assault and drink driving, (mostly footballers). Okay enough snobby ranting, now to admit to the ultimate hypocrisy: I have been reading a celebrity biography.

A friend was reading Dawn French's autobiography Dear Fatty and I expressed an interest, at least Dawn French seems be a proper grown up, rather than the whining puppet of a greedy publicist, so now I have read Dear Fatty. Not really an autobiography more a vague reminiscence expressed in a series of guarded if relatively entertaining letters to those concerned. I get the impression Dawn French is not a fan of the celebrity biog either. She herself has some interesting things to say about the disturbing cult of celebrity, questioning why we pay 'so much attention to the wrong people', as well as commenting on the disturbing impact the cult of celebrity has on her own life and the life of her family. She rightly points out that she doesn't underestimate the value of entertainment, she just questions the 'perverse social structuring' that has resulted from our modern obsession. Scattered amongst these letters to family and friends are French's own fan girl letters to early idols and some very funny letters of advice to Madonna, she makes great satiric comment on our worship of the famous, and this is one of the charms of her book.

She is a guarded narrator on her life story, admitting to vagueness and possible exaggeration, she is cautious in what she writes, but nevertheless reveals much about herself and her family. There is something quite beautiful in her descriptions of her loving parents, and the gift of self confidence they bestowed on her. There is some darkness in her story, the suicide of her father is one such dark moment, much of the book takes the form of a letter to her dad, filling him in on what he has missed, including her college years and early teaching. The Fatty of the title is Jennifer Saunders and Dawn describes their meeting at college and the early days with the Comic Strip. She does not throw in any salacious detail about fellow comedy stars, merely respect and fondness. She reveals a profound privacy and respect for the privacy of others in her story. She mentions in passing the trials with IVF and miscarriages and ultimately adoption, briefly mentioned and notable for the way in which she and Lenny kept this most intimate part of their lives quite and hidden from prying eyes, and yet I suspect that in those episodes lies a real story and one that many couples could relate to. IVF is notoriously hard on marriages, it is a heartbreaking, humbling experience and I suspect hearing about others experiences is heartening for those who choose to go through it, same for the whole adoption experience as well. But you can respect her reticence.

Witty, emotionally wise, a mix of heartfelt reminiscence and piss take, Dawn French's book is a nice read. I enjoyed her accounts of college, teaching and her early comedy career. But I think my favourite bit was her letter to her niece Hannah where she discusses body image:

I am a sedentary person, I've got the kind of well-spread bum that is perfect for sitting and watching, and that's what I do best. I'm sorry to boast but I really am good at it. (p22)

Dawn goes on to list the things that are worth moving for, but I will leave that for you to discover yourself, she adds some truly stellar advice:

That's the key, you know, confidence. I know for a fact that if you can genuinely like your body, so can others. It doesn't really matter if it's short, tall, fat or thin, it just matters that you can find some things to like about it. Even, if that means having a good laugh at the bits of it that wobble independently, occasionally, that's all right. It might take you a while to believe me on this one, lots of people don't because they seem to suffer from a self-hatred that precludes them from imagining that a big woman could ever love herself because they don't. But I do. I know what I've got is a bit strange and difficult to love but those are the very aspects I love the most! It's a bit like people. I've never been particularly attracted to the uniform of conventional beauty. I'm always a bit suspicious of people who feel compelled to conform. I personally like the adventure of difference. And what's beauty, anyway? (p23)

Advice my daughters teenage friends should read and take to heart, but I suspect Dawn French is not the kind of celebrity they are desperate to read about.

Oedipus, primal crime for the Really old classics challenge

2009-11-14T18:04:00.000+10:00

Oedipus Rex

by Sophocles

I have made a start on the really old classics challenge and read the first of Sophocles Theban Plays, Oedipus Rex. I first read this in high school and loved it then and nothing has changed, I still love this primal piece of literature. Reading E. F. Watling's translation in my old penguin edition I was struck by what an easy and compelling read it is, beginning with the tantalising introduction of the Theban legend:

There passed some fifteen years of seeming prosperity. But beneath the deceptive surface a hideous depth of shame and infamy lay concealed. The gods could no longer brook in silence the affront of Oedipus's unwitting sins...(p.24)

We have already been told that Oedipus is 'a happy man, a wise and resourceful man and ...a man of peace' and now Sophocles is going to let you watch him suffer. He might be a good man but he is not going to escape fate. He is in many respects the quintessential patriarchal hero, protector to his family and his people, who turn to him in time of crisis to exorcise the evil in their community. Of course the evil that needs to be exorcised is an undetected crime; the identity of the murderer of Laius. Oedipus as a proto detective must question witnesses and ruthlessly pursue the truth. In brilliant, cruel irony the well meaning Oedipus rushing to serve his people must seek his own tragic truth and find himself to be both a patricide and incestuous. I have vague memories of a discussion of Oedipus as the first crime/ mystery story, from long ago, and having re-read it I can see the obvious connection. Like good crime stories the play is driven by the need to uncover the truth of the mystery at its heart and in this case there are suitably tragic and bloody consequences, is there any wonder the adolescent me was enthralled by this play.

The bleak and angsty pronouncements from the chorus just added to the appeal:

All the generations of mortal man add up to nothing !
Show me the man whose happiness was anything more than illusion
Followed by disillusion.
Here is the instance , here is Oedipus, here is the reason
Why I call no mortal creature happy. (p59)

This brief, (no more than 50 pages), intense little play offers great reading, surprisingly modern, despite its antiquarian concerns with man's powerlessness in face of the omnipotence of the gods. As a text that is part of the bedrock of our culture it really should be recommended reading for everyone. It has the bonus of being eloquent, accessible, entertaining and stimulating. Having seen quite a few classic texts adapted into graphic format, a great means of interesting younger readers, I am wondering if there is a graphic edition of Sophocles plays, perhaps there should be.

I will read Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone over the coming weeks. I was hoping to find a copy of Sei Shonagon's The Pillow Book for the really old classics challenge, but no luck so far. I am planning a book shopping trip to the city next weekend so hopefully I will locate a copy then. The Divine Comedy is another possible title for the classics challenge but I will see where the reading urge takes me, I may end up re-reading a few old faithfuls, but hopefully I will pursue some new, previously unexperienced classic greats.

http://reallyoldclassics.wordpress.com/join-the-challenge/

Awards and so many wonderful blogs

2009-11-13T22:09:00.000+10:00

The cool thing about blogging is the opportunity to experience the thoughts and ideas of others, to share enthusiasms and to discover things new or sometimes things over looked. With book blogs this seems especially true. Sometimes you read a book and come away with a completely different perspective to someone else, sometimes you read a book and you miss something, or someone else's mind adds an extra dimension to what you read or saw in a book, the blogging community enrich the reading experience. In fact the blogging community can lead to whole new discoveries. (Persephone books was one such discovery for me, I had not heard of this exciting publisher until I read about them on the blogs of others.)

In relation to criticism and journalism I am finding the role of blogs interesting, as the papers I read are reducing the number of pages they are devoting to the arts and shortening their articles and reviews, I am finding I am becoming more and more interested in the posts of bloggers. So many commercial media reviews are brief, uncritical, virtual adverts for books rather than discussions of their merits or otherwise. (Not universally true, there are still newspapers I value highly, although I am tending to read them more and more online to). That blog posts often contain a personal dimension, adds to the readability, and relevance, the personal helps you to decide how relevant the opinion may be to your personal tastes, it also adds to your understanding of books, others and yourself. It opens us to new experiences as we pass on our bookish discoveries and it creates a sense of global community. (If only I had a Babel fish, blogging would be even more fun, able to understand all languages, now that would be cool).

Anyway, the point of this mental meandering is the subject of blog awards. They are a way to acknowledge each other and generate links in this great, constantly weaving web of connections we are making, and I would like to thank and acknowledge a wonderful blogger in thinking of me. Miss Nobody, who is indeed somebody, has passed on a number of awards to me. My dilemma is in passing them on. Since I am running out of people to pass awards onto I thought I might just use this post to acknowledge both Miss Nobody who is a witty and entertaining young blogger who shares her thoughts on life from Calcutta, and to acknowledge all those other wonderful blogs I read and enjoy.

Since I started to write a blog I have realised just how much work goes into a blog. This is an activity that requires time and thought on the part of participants. Time you could spend just vegging out or reading a book or blog hopping yourself. The process of taking time to comment also requires thoughtful effort on the part of those kind enough to leave a comment and I just want to say how much I appreciate the efforts of others. I am often slack myself, neglecting the blog and worse, failing to acknowledge how much I enjoy the posts of other bloggers by not leaving a comment, I am very, very slack. And I really do enjoy reading blogs. I enjoy Miss Nobody Scribbles for her wry sense of humour, her unique and individual view, and her empathy eloquently expressed and this is a blog she writes in between the demands of study. Miss Nobody's last post is not a happy one but it is deeply moving. I just want to say how much I have enjoyed the privilege of reading her thoughts and the thoughts of others.

So this is a post to acknowledge all those wonderful blogs and the bloggers who take the time to produce them. Rather than pass these awards on individually I thought I might just list the great blogs I read and leave it up to their industrious authors to decide if they want to accept the award and pass it on. So to Miss Nobody, thank you and please check out her blog, it is well worth the effort. When she disappeared from the bloggoshpere for a while I missed her entertaining posts.

So with no further waffling here is the list of blogs I am very much enjoying, wonderful, individual, creative, thoughtful and thought provoking blogs, all of whom deserve acknowledgement. I just want to use this opportunity to say thanks and highlight first Miss Nobody and then to acknowledge all you other wonderful bloggers, in no order except perhaps alphabetical:

A Few Minutes with Michael
A Life Twice Tasted
A Majority of Two
Bloomsbury Bell
Book Calendar
Book Snob
Bookheaper
Chick with Books
Coffeespoons
de papel
Diamonds and Toads
Here, There and Everywhere (2nd edition)

KyusiReader
Layers of Thought
Libri Dilectio
Ms Textual
My fluttering heart
Pages to type before I sleep
Paperback Reader
Quilterjo Learns New Things
Read warbler
Strange and Random Happenstance
The blog jar
The Book Nerd Club
The Courtier's Book
The Dangerous Pages Review
The Life and Ramblings of a bibliophile
The Reading Life
The View from Sari's World
Today's Adventure
True Crime Book Reviews
Twisted Quill
You Can Never Have Too Many Books

These are not all of the blogs I read, and I don't always read everyday, I am also constantly discovering new bloggers whose posts I enjoy, but these are the blogs I read most regularly and with greatest interest, so again thank you to all, you wonderful bloggers and especially thank you to the somebody who is Miss Nobody . Please click on the links, they are links to reading adventures.

And now hear are the award badges, excuse the dodgy formatting. And now I am going to declare myself an award free zone. Have fun everyone and happy blogging.

This one; Your blog is Over the top, comes with a meme, and if you want to accept the Over the top award copy and paste the questions and pass the award onto 6 other bloggers, ( I have kind of stretched the rules a bit with this mass acknowledgement of great blogs). Answers must be one word.

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket

2. Your hair? brown
3. Your mother? unwell
4. Your father? rebel
5. Your favorite food? Spicy
6. Your dream last night? Disturbing
7. Your favorite drink? Coffee
8. Your dream/goal? Travel
9. What room are you in? Bedroom
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Toads
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Elsewhere
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? Brave
15. Muffins? Blueberry
16. Wish list item? new-Desk-chair (it's got hyphens, now it is one word)
17. Where did you grow up? Australia
18. Last thing you did? Read
19. What are you wearing? Jeans
20. Your TV? Off
21. Your pets? Demanding
22. Friends? Few
23. Your life? Crazy
24. Your mood? Neutral
25. Missing someone? Maybe
26. Vehicle? Blue
27. Something you’re not wearing? Socks
28. Your favorite store? Book
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday
31. Last time you cried? Yesterday (reading a certain persons blog post)
32. Your best friend? Beside- me
33. One place that I go to over and over? Book-shops
34. One person who emails me regularly? no-one
35. Favorite place to eat? out

You can read Miss Nobody's answers here and now for the rest of the awards:

P.D.James The private Patient. Love apparently conquers all.

2009-11-05T21:27:00.010+10:00

The Private Patient
by P.D. James

I have quite enjoyed slowly meandering through P.D. James' country house murder mystery, perhaps not her best novel but an enjoyable read nevertheless. A bit formulaic, but the character development is strong, some implausible parts but overall a satisfying escape from reality. James seems to write a kind of blended mystery, largely police procedural in format, but with some distinctly cosy elements. Modern emphasis on forensic detail is present in this novel, but there is something very old fashioned in the isolated setting of a country manor house and it's enclosed community. It is very like the country house, murder mysteries of Agatha Christie.

Murder, by it's very nature is a gruesome affair, but James does not wallow in graphic forensic detail, and when she does in this novel it seems clumsily done, nor does she linger on bedroom gymnastics, her language is never rich in expletive, in fact she seems very old fashioned in her style and there is something distinctly comforting in the vicarious fear she provides. There is a gothic element to this novel, with hints at ghostly goings on. The setting is Cheverell Manor a Dorset country house owned by a prominent plastic surgeon who has turned part of the house into a private clinic for his elite patients. Attached to the estate are two cottages, one for visitors, one lived in by his assistant and his assistants sister. To this tight knit environment comes Rhoda Gradwyn, investigative journalist, to have a facial scar removed. The estate also boasts a stone circle in which a young witch was once burnt alive, and she vaguely haunts the story.

James leaves no doubt as to where she is heading, as her opening sentence establishes the stories direction:

On November the 21st, the day of her forty-seventh birthday, and three weeks and two days before she was murdered, Rhoda Gradwyn went to Harley Street to keep a first appointment with her plastic surgeon, and there in a consulting room designed, so it appeared, to inspire confidence and allay apprehension, made the decision which would lead inexorably to her death. (p3)

Gradwyn is an investigative journalist and as such is not lacking in enemies, an intensely private person herself, her life is characterised by secrecy and solitude. When asked why she wants the scar removed now, her response is; 'Because I no longer have need of it.' (p13). She offers no further explanation. James builds a sense of sympathy with Rhoda, despite her reviled occupation. The scar was inflicted by an enraged alcoholic father and he is not the only abusive parent in the novel. The harm we do to others, both thinking and unthinking is one theme of the work, and Gradwyn has done her share of harm.

The novel progresses slowly, dwelling on character, touching on social issues. The kitchen at the manor is staffed by a young couple who left London due to the young wife's inability to cope with the demands of busy city restaurants, forcing her talented husband to surrender his plans for his own restaurant. How many modern couples are familiar with the give and take and sacrifices made, so one partner can pursue their ambitions while the other sacrifices theirs. The sacrifices made out of love, but not without some resentment.

In a very peripheral way James introduces the vulnerability of teachers to scandal and the horror of a child murdering a child:

Kate said, 'she has managed to do some to do some appalling harm in her short life. A child murdered and a good man's job and future at risk. It's hard to look at her without seeing an image of that smashed face superimposed on hers.' .

Mrs Rayner said, 'The anger of a child can be terrible. If an out-of-control four-year-old had a gun and the strength to use it, how many families would be left standing?' (p 262).

There are some nice evocative passages in this book, but also some rather clunky ones. Morality and ethics are raised as the dilemma of the modern citizen; '...all civilised people have to be ethicists.' (p370). To an extent, perhaps the novel in its old world feel reflects a dissatisfaction with the modern world:

She knew that already she had become used to viewing the wider world beyond the manor as essentially hostile and alien: an England she could no longer recognise, the earth itself a dying planet where millions of people were constantly moving like a black stain of human locusts, invading, consuming, corrupting, destroying the air of once remote and beautiful places now rancid with human breath. (p391).

Throughout the book James gives vent to rants about the state of modern society. In a sense this book also seems to be a tidying up of loose ends, her detective is contemplating his future away from police work, and finally his solitary existence is relieved as James has provided him at last with a wife. James does not do romance particularly well, at one stage towards the end of the novel there is the most dispassionate proposal of marriage I have ever read, followed by the most dispassionate acceptance, I had to laugh as I read it, there was a distinct ring of implausibility in that scene.

In conclusion, this is not a great book, certainly not P.D. James best work, but it was an easy read, demanding little of me as a reader, and providing a brief diversion. I am unsure about the concluding lines of the novel, they seem too saccharine and histrionic for my taste but James does deserve the last word:

The world is a beautiful and terrible place. Deeds of horror are committed every minute and in the end those we love die. If the screams of all earth's living creatures were one scream of pain, surely it would shake the stars. But we have love. It may seem a frail defence against the horrors of the world but we must hold fast and believe in it, for it is all that we have. (p395).

R.I.P. Challenge concludes

2009-11-05T19:48:00.005+10:00

It is already the 5th of November and I have not posted a round up on the R.I.P challenge. So some house keeping to start with. I set out to do Peril the Second and read two books which I accomplished, but I also had a few books in my reading pool which I didn't get to, in total I read three titles all of which were wonderful books.

John Marsden's Hamlet was a suitably gothic tale, tense and insightful. The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marginita Laski was a thought provoking and discomforting read. Finally I included David Almond's divine YA novel Skellig, with it's gothic elements it seemed appropriate, a wonderful book, my favourite of the three. I enjoyed the R.I.P. challenge immensely and will be participating next year, probably reading some of the great books I have discovered via other R.I.P. participants this year.

Reading frustration

2009-10-30T16:36:00.000+10:00

Okay it has been a frustrating week, I have been reading one of the larger books on my TBR pile, the problem is every time I pick up the book I end up feeling really depressed and it is not a depressing book, actually it is an escapist, sensationalist thriller, a bit dark but not depressing. After getting a considerable way into the book I didn't want to quit, but I was not enjoying it, not sure why it was having this effect on me, but as this seems to be definitely an unproductive exercise I have decided to put it on hold and come back to it at some time in the future. So this is a book blog post, without a book. I feel incredible frustration at not being able to finish this book, I am feeling incredible frustration with myself at the moment. As this particular book is a 700 page, plus epic I feel like I have wasted so much time. Right now I seem to need relatively light, short, diverting reads, I may just go back and read some more Terry Pratchett, I also have a P.D. James novel I have not yet read perhaps that will provide a suitable diversion.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy contest.

2009-10-28T09:34:00.004+10:00

Just a quick post to put up a link to an interesting blog; Strange and Random Happenstance, run by Miss Eliza who is currently holding a contest to win a box set of Douglas Adams legendary sci-fi comedy; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a trilogy in five parts. The Spaceman is currently reading Eoin Colfer's new sequel to Adams classic; And Another Thing, not sure how I feel about another writer resurrecting Adams' masterpiece. I will eventually read this, but I am thinking about re-reading the whole hitchhikers saga from the beginning first. I absolutely loved those books in high school, they provided a much needed hilarious escape, and are books about which I have very fond memories.

Really old classics challenge

2009-10-26T10:32:00.007+10:00

I have decided to try another challenge; Really old classics challenge. A four month challenge running from 1st November 09 to 28th Feburary 2010. It only requires you to read one book written before 1600. But you can get extra credit for reading up to four books and a modern retelling of a classic. So I think even I can manage at least one title, but I am hoping to read four, I just haven't decided which four. I have decided on one title, Sophocles Theban Plays. I have been wanting to re-read this for a while, so now seems like the time. For the other choices I am still not sure, open to suggestions.

Bog Child

2009-10-22T21:22:00.003+10:00

Bog Child

by Siobhan Dowd

I have been wanting to read this ever since I heard it had won the Carnegie medal, and it did not disappoint. Aimed at older readers, it is set in 1981 on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, a coming of age story, it is the story of eighteen year old Fergus, who is finishing school with hopes of escape to university: Three Bs you've a place for medicine in Aberdeen, Fergus McCann. A whole new life. A whole new world. (35)

While out illegally cutting peat with his uncle, Fergus finds a body in the bog, at first it is assumed to be a murdered child. Dowd beautifully crafts an involving tale with subtle twists and turns, things are often not what they seem and certainly never simple. The body turns out to be iron age rather than recent and carries a complex story of it's own. History, its lessons and what we choose to make of it are one of the themes of this really quite wonderful novel. It is a complex, layered tale about sacrifice and loyalty, and the way the personal always impacts on the political and the historical.

Humour also permeates what at first glance is a harrowing tale. Fergus has a brother Joe, imprisoned in Long Kesh. This is the time of the hunger strikes when Irish prisoners chose to starve to death in protest at not being accorded status as political prisoners, Joe joins the strike and while Fergus prepares for exams and his hoped for escape, he and his family watch Joe slowly starve himself to death. In the background the story of Mel the bog child also unfolds, as Fergus dreams and imagines her story. Mel speaks in a surprisingly modern idiom, which may irritate some readers, but given the magical realist quality it hardly matters whether or not she sounds authentically iron age or like a 20th century teenager. The story is a complex and surprising one. Entwined in all of this, Dowd weaves a tale of first love and sensitively explores its complexities. All the while, the tension and violence of the 'troubles' plays itself out in the background.

Lyrical and clever this novel reminded me of another recent read; The Victorian Chaise-longue, another tale where past and present merge, creating a sense of timelessness and being present in all moments and all events:
He looked up towards the silhouette of the mountain, imagining the huts Cora had drawn and the life it had once supported. A feeling of all time running concurrently came over him. Was it AD 1981 or AD 80? Could both times exist at once? Could the last kiss with Cora by the crab-apples be happening for ever, in a universe where every moment was eternally present? (p.287)

This really has been an enjoyable read, I quickly became gripped by Fergus's story. It is a relatively short novel with direct and elegant prose, dialogue that has the ring of authenticity and a captivating narrative. A beautiful book it captures a time in history, while remaining timeless like it's central themes. Beautifully crafted it displays a virtuoso talent which adds to the poignant tragedy of Dowd's death. The book was finished in May of 2007, Dowd died of cancer in August of the same year. The Carnegie was awarded posthumously. The Guardian carried an interesting article if you want to know more. This is a great young adult read especially for the more mature reader, adult readers also will find this a rewarding and memorable read.

It is never just about the football

2009-10-19T11:37:00.017+10:00

Unseen Academicals

by Terry Pratchett.

Pratchett is many things to many people, but first and foremost he is a consummate humanist. Occasionally 'accused' of literature, frequently accused of satire, dammed as a fantasy humorist, he is beyond it all, a recorder of human nature in all its ugliness, beauty and absurdity, and Unseen Academicals is nothing if not an entertaining portrait of human nature. Pratchett's 37th discworld novel, sees the return of many old familiar faces in this novel set firmly in Ankh-Morpork and revolving very much around the old crew from the Unseen University. Ridcully returns in fine form to oversee his unique faculty, the librarian and Ponder are back, so to is the Dean, but with a change of circumstances much to the annoyance of Ridcully. Changes are a foot, new challenges are arising, new threats to the wizards cheese trolley and new faces are appearing, the Patrician is engineering change and demanding his citizens, including the wizards at UU keep up, old blood sports are getting an overhaul and a new game is a foot.

Football has come to Ankh-Morpork, Pratchett the master of meaningful metaphor knows that: 'The thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football'. Just as he also knows that the thing about celebrity and fashion is not the thing itself but the dream it sells. In choosing to satirise the celebrity world of fashion and football Pratchett has a target rich subject but the old blood lusts are not forgotten and human ugliness is exposed in order to remind us of our darker natures, but it is done with a laugh, not a lecture, displaying the wisdom of Pratchett in entertaining, not preaching to readers, although he still lets us know that if there is a supreme being, 'it is up to all of us to become his moral superior' (p229). With the football, also comes a mystery and a love story. Mr Nutt is a mystery to himself as much as others and the book is a journey of discovery for the characters, not just Nutt but Glenda, Trev and Juliet, all of whom must find their strengths and decide what kind of people they are.

Glenda, the young woman who runs the night kitchen at UU is a typical Pratchett heroine, a woman to be reckoned with. She does not have the dazzling looks of her friend Juliet, who is destined for wealth and celebrity, but she has a mind and a will and it takes quite a bit of intestinal fortitude to demand to see the Patrician and give him a telling off, not to mention offering advice to the wizards. When it comes to meaningful metaphor, Glenda's realisation that life is like a bucket of crabs, is priceless.

Filled with jokes and puns, Unseen Academicals is very funny, but is more than just funny, it is wise and enlightening, filled with the gentle humour of a man who knows how to look at the world with both fondness and honesty. This is Pratchett at his best; funny and provocative, he makes football and fashion compelling subjects for a fantasy novel, as only he can, and while this is a tale that will keep you chuckling and turning pages it is also a book that bears revisiting in order to fully appreciate all its nuances and references. I used to think that books by Terry Pratchett were for geeky guys, (I can say that, I am married to one), and fourteen year old boys, (maybe it was the old covers; buxom wenches and outlandish fantasy characters), what an ignorant assumption that was, Pratchett is for everyone and I am so glad I discovered that truth. Unseen Academicals is definitely a return to old form and clearly Pratchett's wit and intellect are unimpeded by his unfortunate ill health.

Wombats

2009-10-18T20:47:00.025+10:00

Dante Gabrielle Rossetti couldn't resist them and Australian author Jackie French will tell you they are impossible to resist even if you want to resist them, they are a force of nature. They are to quote Rossetti; '...a joy, a triumph, a delight, a madness', they are masters of the subterranean, they are victims of modernity and they are beautiful. True Australian natives, they are often overlooked in favour of our more outlandish wildlife, but they are wonderful, fascinating creatures, and Jackie French has captured their simple determination and beauty in her wonderful children's picture books. Starting with the very funny, Diary of a Wombat.

Diary of a wombat is a bit of a favourite in our house, the beautiful illustrations by Bruce Whatley perfectly enhance Jackie French's text detailing the day to day activities of this gentle bulldozer with an endless appetite and sense of adventure. Comic and informative this book well and truly deserves it's status as something of a modern classic in children's literature and now Jackie French has given us a sequel, a continuation of the story of the indomitable Mothball. She has just bought out her new title; Baby Wombat's Week:

He sleeps. He eats. He gets bored.

He creates havoc wherever he goes!

He's Mothball's baby - he's even cuter, naughtier

and more determined than his mum.

This is a great addition to Jackie French's growing body of work, again beautifully illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Simple, immediate text and pictures, telling a story even the youngest child will be able to identify with, as two infants; one wombat, and one human explore their world, causing havoc and finding friendship. This book doesn't have the same humorous impact of the original Diary of a Wombat, but it does have immediate appeal for children, with a story that reflects their experience of the world. This is a book that will encourage empathy and understanding and offers a nice introduction to the natural world for even the youngest reader. Together with Jackie French's non fiction companion book The Secret World of Wombats, these books form a great introduction to the world of the wombat, sparking curiosity about the natural world and encouraging empathy with other creatures, they are wonderful, entertaining books.

Wombats really are the most appealing of creatures. Unfortunately their own conviction of indestructibility, combined with their slow march through life often ends in tragedy and our roads wreak havoc on their numbers. Wildlife parks always have animals that were found on the roadside injured, or infants beside the bodies of their mothers. Dogs also are an issue for wombats. Fortunately places and programmes exist to rescue and rehabilitate such animals. One such place is Birdland Animal Park at Bateman's Bay on the Southern New South Wales coast, when we lived in Canberra, Batemans Bay was where we would go for a beach holiday. When Bell was little this was where she had her wombat encounter and I have included some old photos. The park had a grassy yard where they would bring out the young wombats and the visitors could go in and mingle with the animals. It was a curious encounter as both the children and animals seemed to have an equal fascination with each other. The younger wombats would initiate play with the kids, Jackie French's new book Baby Wombat's Week reminded me very much of those encounters.

Unfortunately wombats are not as common in Queensland as they are down south, out local species the northern hairy nosed wombat is teetering on the brink of extinction, which is a true tragedy.

We should also remember that a wombat is supposedly the inspiration for the mouse at the mad hatters tea party in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The particular wombat that inspired that piece of literary history was reportedly Rossetti's wombat who would apparently curl up and go to sleep in the middle of the dinner table, regardless of guests and the use of the table. So this post is for the wonderful wombat, and Jackie French's glorious celebration of these fascinating and endearing creatures.

***

I have been going through something of a rut with reading lately, not being able to read is a bit like saying; not being able to eat, it is a frustrating experience, you crave the stimulation and escape but you are unable to focus and move beyond your own awareness. There has been much picking up and putting down of books lately, but finally I seem to have broken through the barrier and am again devouring books, it just took the right book, the right author and some perseverance from me. And the book, the wonderful block breaking book: Unseen Academicals by the wonderful Terry Pratchett. Review post coming soon.

'...a joy, a triumph, a delight, a madness'

2009-10-16T20:10:00.005+10:00

What do Dante Gabrielle Rossetti and Australian children's author Jackie French have in common?
Answer soon.

Desperate Romantics

2009-10-12T09:55:00.017+10:00

Desperate Romantics is a sensationalist drama very, very loosely based on the lives of some of the principal players in the Pre-Raphaelite movement. I did try to like this, and up until the final episode I was able to watch and enjoy, despite the distortion of the real history. If your interested in the Pre-Raphaelites and have read a lot about them, then I think this series will ultimately prove irritating rather than entertaining. It is very much a fictionalised account of the lives of Millais, Hunt and Rossetti, but it distorts the facts, leaves out much that is relevant and completely ignores both the truth and many of the people that are important to their story.

For the purpose of the story a completely fictional character has been introduced to the group, Fred Walters and it is largely from Fred's perspective that we view the story. Fred appears to be an amalgamation of some of the real figures from the Pre-Rapaelite story; William Rossetti , Frederick Stevens, Walter Deverall and perhaps Ford Maddox Brown. In this fiction it is Fred that discovers the beautiful Lizzie Siddal. The circumstances of which transform the reality into a briefer and distorted version of the truth and this is just the beginning of many misleading incidents. The series implies that Lizzie is the model for Rossetti's striking image; Ecce Ancilla Domini, when I think the model was Christina, Rossetti's famous sister. Christina Rossetti does not make an appearance in the story nor is she ever mentioned, in fact Rossetti's complex family are never mentioned at all and no reference is made to Lizzie's difficulties with her lovers family. Personally I find the known facts that surround these figures from a significant time in cultural history, to be as dramatic and fascinating as anything anyone could make up, so I find it hard to understand why the story needed to be told and embellished/distorted in the way that it is done in Desperate Romantics.

The series highlights the sensational aspects of their lives particularly their sex lives, Hunt is portrayed as a religious zealot, which to an extent he was, but in this he is constantly battling with Annie Miller to keep his pants on. He is painting the Awakening Conscience, while Annie is awakening something else entirely. On the positive side I did enjoy the portrayal of Annie as an independent and forthright woman, discussing the series with Bell she also liked the way Annie emerges from the history to quote Bell; 'as a kick arse kind of girl, not just a slut'. Jennie Jacques brilliantly brings Annie to life, in many respects it is the performances of Jacques and the other actresses playing the women in these mens lives that make the drama worth watching. Zoe Tapper and Amy Manson also bring vivid life to Effie Gray and Lizzie Siddal.

The sensationalist nature of the drama distorts the facts of Effie's and Millias' romance, and largely reduces Ruskin to a creepy and controlling figure hinting at pedophile tendencies. Given Ruskin's behaviour the circumstances of Ruskin's and Effie's marriage holds a macabre fascination. While the series does attempt to explore some of the complexity in this much discussed relationship, it fails to add any real insight. Millais' innocence is exploited for laughs and the sexual aspects of the story for titillation.

The story of Lizzie and Rossetti is grossly simplified and concludes with a gross distortion of the facts of their last days together, her death and the subsequent events surrounding her death and burial. In fact, this the final episode was the most annoying of them all, not only is the story of Lizzie Siddal grossly distorted but the series introduces the figures of Edward Burne Jones and William Morris only to portray them as ridiculous cartoonish characters. Morris is reduced to an inarticulate, babbling lunatic and with Edward Burne Jones comes across as creepy acolytes of Rossetti. Up to that point I had been able to suspend disbelief and just go with the flow but I really did find the final episode just to ridiculous for words.

Perhaps, with no prior knowledge of the history of these people the series may have made for more entertaining viewing, certainly it has drama, humour, lots of sex, a good cast and costume glitzyness, but ultimately, for me at least, it didn't work. I do think if you get the chance it is worth watching at least once. Bell also has a fascination with the art and artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement and she enjoyed the series a lot more than I did, she was more able to put aside her prior reading and just go with the flow, ignoring the inaccuracies and distortions. So Far this hasn't been shown on Australian TV and nor is it available as a DVD here, I wonder what the response will be when it is shown?

Apparitions, exorcism for the 21st century.

2009-10-09T21:34:00.024+10:00

Okay, second DVD review, another BBC drama, still in the realm of the supernatural, this time about a 21st century, reluctant exorcist, played convincingly by Martin Shaw. Largely written, and directed by Joe Ahearne, whose credentials include; This Life, Ulraviolet and work on the first season of the revived Doctor Who. I don't quite know how to begin to describe this unusual series: Supernatural for grown ups perhaps. It is quite a challenging drama series with elements of horror. It is about a priest whose principal task is to investigate miracles and to examine the worthiness of candidates for canonisation, it just happens that he seems to attract disturbed, (possessed), people and he has a talent for exorcism.

Provocative, it was always going to generate controversy, but at least they are pretty egalitarian in who they offend; they offend just about everyone, but only if you stop thinking while your watching. The content of the series has the potential to offend catholics and atheists, gay rights supporters and proponents of the demonisation of homosexuality, other religions, fans of Mother Teresa, pro lifers and pro choice supporters, it is nothing if not provocative. But in a way the greatest provocation comes from its refusal to take sides in any argument, it leaves judgemental declarations for others. This is probably best epitomised in episode four which revolves around the issue of abortion When stopped at the gate to the clinic and asked to pray by the pro life protesters Father Jacob offers up a prayer that blesses women faced with difficult choices in pregnancy as well as blessing the protesters who Jacob asks that God's wisdom and compassion would prevent from judging others. Unlike Dan Brown's blockbusters this does not portray the catholic church as a monolith of conspiracy and evil, but does revisit some of the churches darker moments such as its possible complicity in the holocaust and openly discusses the practice of baptising the dying at Mother Teresa's hospitals regardless of the individuals religious beliefs.

The six episode series follows some interesting scenarios, character development is progressive but utilises some interesting twists, and there is ambiguity enough to leave you wondering about some of the characters. The story revolves around people apparently possessed by demons. One figure seems to unify the entire series, a homeless man who perpetrates acts of unspeakable violence and the subject of Jacob's good versus evil crusade.

Ambiguous threat is provided by a cardinal who opposes Jacob, sending a nun to spy on him, Sister Ruth portrayed by Siobhan Finneran, provides a credible foil to Jacob's self confident assurance and dialogue between these two principal characters not only propels the narrative but provides some light relief in what are often quite dark stories. Overall, I enjoyed this series, it is certainly different, it generally manages to avoid silliness, is well written and well cast. Martin Shaw has an undeniably strong screen presence which helps carry the story, I do wonder if a less charismatic actor would have made a difference to how watchable this is. As a committed but curious fence sitter, (agnostic), I found this drama intriguing, and entertaining, it has the potential to lead off into interesting areas, but after a quick google I see that the BBC did not commission a second series, after low ratings and many complaints, which is a pity really, as it offers something different from usual TV drama, and don't let that put you off viewing it if you get the chance. I would be interested in hearing other opinions, as I haven't really known what to make of this.

All things supernatural seem to be the vogue at the moment everything from Twilight and all the clones it has spawned, both the print and screen versions, then there is the trend for zombie fiction and TV shows like Supernatural, The Medium and The Ghost Whisperer, not to mention the previously reviewed Being Human. I am wondering what this says about us and our culture, it reminds me of the Victorian / Edwardian fascination with ghosts and spirits, and everything from faeries to vampires. And where does the current discussion on atheism and fundamental religion of various types fit in. I have a brother who in his youth went through a stage of fundamental Christianity and these days he's an atheist and what I would call a fundamental atheist at that, completely intolerant, I am not sure which was the more annoying. Oh well there is nothing like politics and religion for starting an argument.

***

I seem to have been reading and viewing a lot of rather gothic material of late. I am still reading The Ressurectionists, I am just having trouble concentrating on the written word at the moment and that is not a reflection on the book, just me. I have really enjoyed doing the R.I.P challenge and it has drawn a lot interesting books to my attention. I will be collecting some suitable reads especially for next years challenge, I will certainly be joining in again. One more DVD post to come; Desperate Romantics, and then hopefully back to normal book blogging.

Award

2009-10-09T15:45:00.000+10:00

I am generally very slack about awards, acknowledging and passing on. So this is a catch up post. The very entertaining Miss Nobody gave me the Beautiful blogger award, so thank you to Miss Nobody, she is a great blogger and has written some really great posts recently, especially her recent short story posts on the theme of 'Indian dreams' and her account of her lovable and excessively loving mutt who gives new meaning to the phrase puppy love. Miss Nobody is also the next stop on Michael's Around the world in 80 days tour, so please check out her blog.

Okay so usual routine, post it, (done), acknowledge it (done) and pass it on:

Firstly to Hymuki, a relatively new young blogger with a book obsession, especially for writing of the supernatural variety, Hymuki's blog is called The life and ramblings of a bibliophile I know Hymuki personally, (a friend of my daughter) and she really is a beautiful person.

I would also like to acknowledge Michael at A Few minutes with Michael. Michael has come up with the great idea of sending a copy of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, around the world, the book will be a gift for his son and it is an exercise in connectivity, the way the internet brings us all closer together regardless of our geography. An event that celebrates reading and blogging.

Also I would like to acknowledge DesLily who writes Here There and Everywhere (2nd edition), I am a recent reader of DesLily who is celebrating four years of blogging, she writes a great blog mainly on books, but other things as well and posts wonderful photos, check out her recent photos of an egret, they are beautiful.

For now I will leave it at that.There are so many bloggers who I admire greatly and read regularly and I really want to say how much I enjoy reading them all.

And just an extra note, I notice Fifecat who set out to read a book a day for a year, recording her progress at her blog; a book a day or the year of reading dangerously has almost concluded her challenge. That is a pretty amazing achievement, I wish I could read a book a day, but I am way to slow a reader to even contemplate that, a book a week maybe but even that seems to daunting.

Feeling crazy like Heathcliff and wishing I lived at Wuthering Heights.

2009-10-07T18:35:00.020+10:00

I have been feeling incredibly stressed the last couple of weeks due to ongoing conflict with a neighbour.

I have tried to hide my lack of enthusiasm of late, but, if it has been noticeable that is the reason, just as it is the reason for a lack of actual reading, I find it impossible to concentrate on a book at the moment, bit hard to write a book blog if you are not reading. I feel like I have just mentally given in. I am the kind of person who needs privacy and solitude, a sense of safety, a retreat and that is not what our home provides anymore. So if the blog seems sporadic and lacks enthusiasm, it is a temporary lull. I have spent some time watching DVDs, it seems so much easier to just vegetate in front of TV, hence yesterdays post on Being Human, and I will post on some of the others. In fact the blog seems to be good therapy as it is one of the few things that distracts and occupies me at the moment. Besides, the things I have been watching seem to tie in with the themes of the Readers Imbibing Peril challenge, perhaps there should be a V.I.P challenge; Viewers Imbibing Peril.

Michael's book Around the world in 80 days is currently on it's way to India, that was one of the things I had intended to post more on but I am sure Miss Nobody will have something interesting to say when she receives it.

Being Human, life is a laugh and a struggle to remain human

2009-10-05T10:54:00.020+10:00

Being Human has a premise that sounds like a bad joke; a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost decide to share a house together, but despite the ludicrous sounding premise this is actually, a compelling, entertaining and thought provoking series. It works largely due to strong scripting and great casting that has resulted in convincing realisation of the characters. A comedy drama that is essentially a flat share story, it is about the meeting of misfits who find support and strength in each other. Mitch, ( Aiden Turner) is a vampire, trying to live without killing, a struggle that at times becomes overwhelming for him. George (Russell Tovey), the wolf who refuses to surrender his humanity to his condition and Annie (Lenora Crichlow)who is already resident in the house after she died there suddenly. Confused and lonely the arrival of Mitch and George is the life line that allows Annie to reconnect to the world and her humanity. Added to this is a cast of peripheral characters that provide the drama of relationship issues and a vampire villain; Herrick, whose plans, threaten the precarious existence of the three friends particularly Mitch and his efforts to remain an ethical individual. Herrick, a rather ordinary looking figure is entertainingly played as a smiling villain by Jason Watkins.

The series combines humour with drama and pathos to expose what is both best and worst in being human. An episode that involves Mitch getting close to a neighbourhood child, results in allegations of pedophilia, and a murderous mob, reminiscent of the flaming torches and pitchfork villagers of old Frankenstein movies, raises issues about what constitutes monstrous behaviour and challenges the values of the characters and the audience. To a large extent the series examines how we go about living as ethical individuals. George is faced with the challenge of accepting or denying his personal reality, and learning how to live with his condition. Annie is confronted with harsh truths that challenge her ability to cope, she is at one stage transformed into an out of control, crockery throwing, light exploding, poltergeist, (how many of us can identify with that), friendship and the support of George and Mitch are the counter to Annie's pain., that, and their need for her support. In fact their survival is dependent on their friendship, their love for each other, that is what it is to be human.

There is considerable humour amongst the drama, like when Seth another vampire says to George that; 'the only reason he hasn't torn his face off is because he has just done the hoovering', after subsequently attacking George, Annie coming to the rescue, hits him with a chair, to which Seth responds with; 'did you just hit me with a chair, what is wrong with you people that totally f....ing hurt'. The scene continues with George yelling, 'hit him again' and finally throwing a girly punch of his own with the statement that; 'that was pathetic we are like the world's gayest ninjas'. The reason they are fighting with vampires at all is that they are trying to save their friend, and most particularly save his humanity, by stopping him from involving himself with something that is intrinsically corrupting. There is a lot of darkness amongst the light, as Herrick reveals; Mitch, 'once had the darkest heart of us all'. That statement reminded me of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, (reviewed here previously) and Silas' revelation to Bod that he once had a heart darker than the man jack who had murdered Bod's family. In fact I can safely say that if you liked The Graveyard Book you will enjoy Being Human.

This is a story about love and friendship, sacrifice and learning what it is to be human. It is also about being different and coping with being different. In an age when the supernatural is so popular that it is becoming banal and childish, this is a story that retains originality and maturity, it is a rich deep human story, told with humour and reality, despite it's unreal premise. It is characterised by strong performances and great writing, it is extremely watchable and even if your not into speculative story telling this program has much to commend it. It has the self effacing humour of Buffy vampire slayer and the grungy reality of the 90s house share drama This Life. It reminded me of This Life in that it is also a house share drama about a group of 20 somethings, it is just that these guys have some rather unusal extra dimensions to their relationships.

I lifted the trailer off youtube, and while it gives a taste of what Being Human is about, nothing short of sitting down and watching the whole six episodes of the series will really do it justice. As a final note I just have to say George is my favourite character, with his nerdy, social clumsiness, his insecurities, his desperate battle with the challenges life throws him his, loyalty to his friends, and his fundamental goodness, he is the most endearing of monsters and Russel Tovey has brought him brilliantly to life. The casting for all the characters is great, I couldn't imagine them otherwise.

Around the World in Eighty Days

2009-10-04T15:02:00.010+10:00

Decided the sign with all the distances to famous cities around the world was the best place to take a photo of Michael's Around the World in Eighty Days, I hate photo's of myself, so I decided to hide behind Bell and Lily.

We also took a couple of photos with the view from the point.

And one with a statue of a dog that was something of a local legend, Puppy, he was the mascot of a local pipe band.

I will be sending Around the World onto Miss Nobody in India, this week, so it really is covering some ground. Everyone should check out her last post, it consists of three, short, sharp engaging stories, she is quite an impressive writer. Also check out Peter's blog at KyusiReader, Peter in the Philippines was the first stop on this international tour, he writes an awesome book blog.

Suddenly the whole world seems like a much smaller place, we can connect instantly via the web and it can really bring home events, both the good and the bad. News stories can make things seem remote, maybe even insignificant to us in our everyday comfort. The Philippines has just been hit by a super storm, accompanied by destructive flooding. Another blogger in the Philippines, Coffeespoons kind of bought the full impact home to me this morning when she posted on the flooding of her home and the loss of many personal possessions, the things that equal memories, and can never really be replaced. Thankfully she and her family are safe and that is what matters most. Check out her post, in the face of disaster, she manages to write a book post that has great power.

Dust

2009-10-04T08:24:00.008+10:00

Michael's book Around the World in Eighty Days arrived on Friday so photo coming soon, went to take a photo at Picnic point yesterday but we had another dust storm, so will do it today. On the subject of dust storms, we have had a couple of amazing dust storms recently, it is bad enough having one but yesterdays was the third, admittedly only a mild one. A work colleague of the Spaceman; Ian Young, took an amazing photo of the first storm from his office, see below, Ian had an exact photo of the view on a clear day. The dust photo doesn't show the storm at it's peak, then everything but the trees in the foreground was totally obscured. Thanks Ian for letting me use your photos.

Breathing in the earth is not fun, it would have been a hard day for asthmatics It did do cool things to the light, aside from the gold red glow, it seemed to filter out the some of the red spectrum and cars and lights seemed to be reflecting a distinctly blue light, which gave a surreal quality to the day.
Bell in her typically dreamy fashion thought it was it cool, to her it gave the day a magical quality, a promise of adventure, she said you could imagine someone exciting emerging from the dust, someone dramatic and Byronic. I think perhaps I should have made her clean up the fine layer of red dust that ended up everywhere, including in the house, then maybe she would have seen it as a pain in the arse, which is how I saw it.

Reviews coming, I know I have been slack, still finding it hard to concentrate and get into books, still seem to be feeling ridiculously stressed, and in a bit of a rut. I have a massive to read pile including a couple of door stops, books I really want to read but just can't seem to get into, it is defiantly not the book that is the problem. I have been wanting to read Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, and Dan Simmons' Drood. Drood seems to have had a mixed response, which kind of made hesitate at first, and the size kind of put me off because of my lack of time, but DesLily wrote an enticing review that addressed the very things that put me off, so I decided to give in to temptation. Also I purchased the new Pratchett, Unseen Academicals but Spaceman and Bell will read that first, maybe Pratchett is what I need to break this negative spell. I am thinking of posting some reviews of some DVDs I have been watching, normally I would be devouring books, but lately it has seemed easier to switch on the TV. A couple of DVDs seem to have been very much in keeping with the themes of R.I.P., more on that soon.

The Victorian Chaise-Longue another R.I.P. book.

2009-09-26T18:37:00.015+10:00

The Victorian Chaise-Longue

by Marghanita Laski

This is one of my nominated R.I.P. challenge reads. A book I have been wanting to read for a while, and my first Persephone book, (and I suspect the first of many books I will buy from this publisher). A strange, and remarkable book, it is not quite the horror tale it is often billed as, but rather a discomforting and disturbing tale of dislocation. A time travel, reincarnation story, it considers quite metaphysical concepts on time and identity, in much the same way that T.S. Eliot does in The Four Quartets. In fact the books begins with an epigraph from Eliot: 'I am dying in my own death and the deaths of those after me.' The story reminded me very much of Eliot's meditations on time and the circular nature of existence. The book also conveys the way standards and behaviour can change over time, with specific emphasis on the impact of social mores on women, with some distinctly feminist concerns, it is as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 1953.

It is a story about a young woman recovering from the birth of her first child and tuberculosis contracted during the pregnancy. When the main character, Melanie was introduced I was struck by her irritating childishness and sheer silliness, she is a child woman, not a woman, because she chooses to be complicit in disempowering male expectations and desires: "But I like you silly,' said Guy, and so he does, thought Dr Gregory, watching them. But Melanie isn't the fool he thinks her, not by a long chalk, she's simply the purely feminine creature who makes herself into anything her man wants her to be. " (p5). Melanie is what my cynical daughter would call a 'barbie doll', a barbie is a girl/woman who chooses to be an image obsessed, apparently silly female, who devotes herself to pleasing males. Pink, the pop punk artist summed up that type of modern girl perfectly in her song Stupid girls, and I found myself pondering the feminist implications of Laski's novella as Melanie reminded me very much of a Barbie. Underneath all the apparent compliance is, nevertheless, a seething anger and resentment at her physical situation, which, perhaps hints at a resentment of her social imprisonment.

When Melanie is allowed the treat of leaving her bedroom for the first time in months she is transferred to the chaise-longue of the title. This item of furniture she had felt compelled to buy on the day she was diagnosed with TB. There are sinister overtones in Melanie's compulsion to buy the chaise; deja vous and past lives are hinted at:

'From long-enjoyed usage of day-dreams, she tried to envisage the frail young mother in the floating clouds of negligee, the tender faces of solicitous admiring friends, but the picture remained in unfelt words, and instead of it there was only her body's need to lie on the Victorian chaise-longue, that, and an overwhelming assurance, or was it a memory, of another body that painfully crushed hers into the berlin-wool.' (p.19).

Lying on the chaise Melanie falls asleep in a state of transcendent ecstasy, only to awake in a nightmare of entrapment.

She wakes to find herself not Melanie in the 20th century, but Millie in the 1860's, surrounded by strangers that have a distinctly familiar feel, she is unable to move from the chaise, or convince anyone of her plight. Her pleas dismissed as the ravings of a physically and spiritually corrupt mind. It becomes obvious that Milly has committed some great moral transgression, and the novella skillfully teases out the story of Milly. Like Melanie it becomes clear that Milly is suffering from TB, a disease that in the past was fatal, adding another frightening dimension to her plight. As the story progresses it becomes apparent that Millie also is a mother, but unlike Melanie, she is no happy new mother safe in a position of comfort and love, rather she has committed a sexual indiscretion and is now bearing the social burden of such behaviour, in such a time. Here Laski highlights the injustices inflicted on women, Melanie behaves little differently than Milly and yet for her, the actions result in security and privilege, for Milly suffering and condemnation. Melanie's early childish behaviour contrasts with the desperate situation faced by Milly, and the situation now faced by the character of Melanie trapped in the past.

Some things clearly do change, the social expectations of society for one, and perhaps Melanie's experience is an object lesson in not taking our circumstances for granted. It is also a meditation on the nature of time and our existence within it, making this a stimulating, thought provoking little book. Through Melanie, Laski contemplates the nature of time and our existence:

Time had been blotted out while he listened to the lark. That was what her mind said in the desolation, and in the instant while the Vicar stood waiting, she had recalled the story that ended with those words, the monk wandering out into the cloister garden to hear the lark, and returning to find that a hundred years had gone by. And I was perceiving the spring, she remembered. I was in ecstasy as I fell asleep, ecstasy one experiences perhaps once, twice, half a dozen times, when to be human is no longer a lonely terror but a glory, when time is blotted out by perfection. Ecstasy is timeless. Is that perhaps the clue? she said; is ecstasy existence in all time and none, and the return into time a random chance, one moment in time's duration as likely as another? (p.69)

From the preface written by P.D. James I learnt that Laski, 'repudiated any religious belief...,' but remained 'profoundly interested in religious experience.' Laski in this book is exploring the nature of transcendent experiences in much the same way T.S. Eliot does and I found myself thinking that Laski seems to be quite influenced by the poet. Baroness James has written a brief introduction that offers only the briefest of insights into Laski and this her most famous work, but is, nevertheless, a useful introduction.

I have read some mixed opinions on this book, many readers seem to find it to be rather tame as a horror story, certainly it does not frighten the way a great ghost story might, but it does disturb and for the reader willing to contemplate the implications of the work it is a stimulating and though provoking book, if somewhat discomforting. It is an easy and brief read, easily read in one sitting and compelling enough to keep you sitting and turning pages until the end, I personally very much enjoyed the book and will be reading other works by Laski. A clever, disconcerting tale, it is a worthy Imbibing Peril read, perhaps not horrifying, but certainly interesting. I also have to say how much I appreciated the quality of this publication, with it's slim, elegance, simple cover and the quality of the materials, it was a delight to hold and to read.

So one more R.I.P. book completed.

Around the World in Eighty Days

2009-09-26T18:16:00.006+10:00

Michael a bloger in America has come up with a great way to celebrate reading and the connectivity of the modern world, while also creating a great gift for his infant son. He has sent a copy of Jules Verne's A Round the World in Eighty Days on a journey around the world, the book is travelling from blogger to blogger on a journey that will hopefully cover most of the planet. You can read about it on Michael's blog via this link.

First stop was with Peter in the Phillipines and you can read Peter's thoughts on his blog KyusiReader. Now thanks to Michael and Peter the book is on it's way here to Australia.

Surprises

2009-09-24T19:23:00.009+10:00

Tuesday was a day of surprises. The dead rat in the backyard was one, maybe completely innocent, but I can't help but think my lunatic neighbour has something to do with that little gift.

There was a surprise in the post. Amazon UK sent my last book order early, I had ordered The Victorian Chaise-longue with the DVD of Desperate Romantics, ordered together because I only wanted one postage charge, but wonderful Amazon had sent my book on early at no extra charge, so a big thank you to Amazon UK, and hopefully Desperate Romantics will arrive soon, as it was dispatched on Monday, and the resident desperate romantic (Bell) is hanging out for it.

The other really nice surprise was courtesy of Bell. After spending the morning downtown with friends she bought home a small surprise; the kind and cheery gift of tea. We have this little hole in the wall shop that sells glorious teas and coffees, so courtesy of my thoughtful daughter I have some 'arctic fire' and a spicy herbal tea called 'inspiration', a tea that is worth making just for the wonderful aroma it exudes. I also love the stickers Coffee Tea or Me put on the bags; 'Stay calm and carry on', a WWII poster apparently, rather apt and very cheery. See photo below, I will spare you any photos of the rat.

Hamlet the novel. 'Do you believe ghosts?'... let alone believe in them.

2009-09-20T19:53:00.023+10:00

Hamlet. A novel.
by John Marsden.

'Do you believe in ghosts?' Horatio asked him.
He was lying on Hamlet's bed.
Hamlet was sitting on the stone floor, in a corner, the corner furthest from the door. The prince was eating strawberries. He smiled. It was the first time Horatio had seen him smile since the funeral. Hamlet traced a line on the stone with his finger. He looked down, watching the invisible line. 'I don't believe in floors,' he said. 'I don't believe in lines.'
'But so you believe in ghosts?'
'I don't believe in walls or ceilings. Or stone. I don't believe in people. I don't believe in strawberries.'
'But ghosts?'
'I don't believe in anything you can see or touch or taste.'
'So you do believe in ghosts?'
Hamlet smiled again. He wriggled, on the hard floor. His grey eyes, lifted and met Horatio's. 'My bum's getting sore. Let's play football.'

And so begins John Marsden's young adult re-telling of the Shakespearean classic. Short, sharp, sinister and compelling this is an easy read, aimed at the adolescent reader, it still manages to hold interest for mature and literate readers, as Marsden brings an original perspective to the familiar characters and story; sinister, abusive adults, suffocating, unconsummated eroticism, a brooding atmosphere of threat, it is a claustrophobic and intense re-telling.

It is a brave writer that attempts to render anew some of the greatest lines ever written, but Marsden makes a credible attempt at making fresh, and accessible, this greatest of literary masterpieces. The 'to be or not to be' speech is tackled early, rendered in a basement, in an atmosphere of desperate sexual hunger, Ophelia is the confused audience for Hamlet's despair:
"Why, whether we are to live or not to live. To dance or to die. To breathe the painful air, or to sleep.'
...'To stand in the shallows with a sword to fight the surf, or to let the waves wash you away.' He took her by the elbow and leaned closer to her ear and whispered into it. 'To be or not to be." (p.53-54).

The language has a contemporary immediacy, with imagery designed to be familiar and appealing to the adolescent of today, particularly the male teenager whose interests may be more in the realm of sport, and sex, than reading and books, which I think helps explain Marsden's references to football, surf and a kind of proto golf later in the book. A teacher, Marsden knows his audience well, appealing to the interests and concerns of that audience. The age old struggle for independence and maturity is given a mythic quality. Marsden's Hamlet becomes a story about controlling/abusive parents and the struggle to escape the control of others. This Hamlet is undeniably young, definitely an unfinished youth rather than a wavering adult. His path to maturity blocked by selfish adults. His mother denies his escape to school and his dead father condemns him: 'The king had come back from death to rule his son, so that once again nothing existed in Hamlet's life but the decrees of the father, one man using the boy to attack and destroy another man...' (p.45).

Like many readers I have always found Hamlets age to be problematic, the gravediggers indication of Hamlet's age at around 30 never seems to fit with the Prince's behaviour. A year or so ago I saw an excellent production of Hamlet, that was a combined production of the Queensland theatre company and the state theatre company of South Australia. Their Hamlet was young and vibrant, played by Cameron Goodall, with an angst ridden, youthful intensity. In many ways it was a perfect production to introduce a new generation to Hamlet. Goodall was a brooding, angst ridden, athletic Hamlet whose emotional intensity would have been familiar to many in the audience. It certainly made an impression on Bell who watched the performance on the edge of her seat and came out at the end with a comment to the effect of; 'Oh my God, that was amazing', it was the first time she had seen Hamlet performed. Anyway if your interested in the debate about Hamlets age and the conflicting evidence of the differing quartos you can check out the link, it provides a useful overview: http://princehamlet.com/chapter_1.html

One of the things I do really like about Marsden's re-telling of the tale is the sinister cast he puts on Polonius. Like a director or an actor coming to the play, Marsden has re-interpreted it with his own original perspective, re-imagining and re-interpreting just as a director or actor would. In the character of Polonious he has challenged the convention of Polonious as a somewhat bumbling but well meaning figure. Marsden's Polonious is a dark conspirator, a control freak who distrusts his children and sees them merely as pawns in his wider game. Intensely unpleasant he is another example of the selfish, distrusting and destructive parent. The character's famous speech on what constitutes appropriate rules of behaviour, becomes here, about self righteous control and judgemental superiority, the oft quoted lines here have distinctly sinister overtones, as he organises to spy on and entrap Laertes, while Ophelia feels like a guarded brood mare coming into season.

Hamlet too, is harshly portrayed as a genuinely disturbed individual, mired in self absorption and a sadistic anger that displays no capacity for understanding. His cruelty towards animals mirrors his cruel rejection of Ophelia, and incapacity to act with any kind of conviction. In slaughtering animals he rehearses his role, without finding the conviction to act. Only Horatio emerges with any kind of honour intact and in this relationship Marsden again hints at a suppressed eroticism. Horatio's actions though are clearly not motivated by base instincts, he genuinely loves his prince; 'To see Horatio now was to see love at work' (p.224). Love seems to be the thing that is missing in all the parental relationships portrayed in the book, Hamlet also cannot seem to love, absorbed as he is in his own dilemmas.

This is a compelling novel, a dark gothic tale, expressed in tight, well crafted prose, it may well never compare to the genius of the original, but it does bring a fascinating insight to aspects of the play, making it a worthy read for adults as well as teenagers. For young adults the book offers an accessible introduction to Shakespeare's great play, giving explicit clarity to some of the themes and issues, while remaining relevant to a contemporary teenager's concerns. Marsden is always an interesting writer, his work is often dark and confronting, sometimes controversial, he writes with a brutal honesty, and a narrative drive that keeps his readers hooked from first to last page.

I just want to say how much I love the cover for this book, I have the hardcover edition shown above, with stark skull on a subdued background. When you take the dust jacket off, as I often do when reading a hard cover, you are left with an even starker cover, the skull is printed onto the board but with no overlying title or author, just the skull. The art work for the cover will I suspect also appeal to the intended audience of young adults. I have seen t shirts declaring Hamlet as the original goth or the original emo, a not unreasonable suggestion, and if it draws kids into the rich world of Shakespeare that can only be a good thing.

For Readers Imbibing Peril, this is a great book, a sinister atmosphere, ghosts and madness, this is where Ophelia really does go mad, the dark world of Elsinore makes for a great gothic tale. It is hard to judge this book given the nature of the work on which it is based, for Shakespeare purists, I suspect it will not be an enjoyable read. Like many productions of the play, things are left out and emphasises highlight some aspects at the expense of others. I found it an easy read, and can imagine it being taught in high school alongside the play, certainly it would be much more fun than reading cliff notes to get a grip on the play.

2009-09-12T07:51:00.002+10:00

I did put up a post yesterday, that wasn't about books, decided to just stick to books, suffice to say feeling stressed. Stress seems to impact on my ability to read, the irony is, that, is when you most need that escape of a good book. Sometimes I just don't have the energy for a literary novel, the kind of book that demands something of you, if I'm feeling a bit overworked and my mind is constantly on work and study, I find I can't devote the level of concentration that such books require, although I do love such work. So then, I resort to the fun books; the engage brain in neutral books, and just go along for the ride, also occasionally referred to as cultural valium by me. That is not meant in a derogatory way, I love my cultural valium, it is how I relax, genre fiction is the great escape. For me the drug of choice is crime fiction or science fiction, for others it might be romance fiction. It is just that sometimes stress can be so all consuming that even that escape seems blocked, perhaps that is when it is time to resort to television, at least temporarily.

One thing I did notice this week was an interview with the English novelist Philip Hensher, on the Book Show. Hensher talks about the art of the reviewer, aside from being a novelist of considerable merit he is the chief book reviewer for the Spectator magazine. I have included the link so if your interested, just click and go listen: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2009/2681942.htm

I notice someone has also started a discussion on the subject of reviewing on Bookblogs ning, on the question of; do you, or don't you, give a book a bad review. Personally, because I know that I will sometimes read a book that is hugely popular, an award winner even and just not get it, I am reluctant to make sweeping negative statements. Jeffrey Eugenides novel Middlesex, was one such book. I can remember reading it, and feeling annoyed by what I perceived as a kind of self conscious cleverness, it seemed technically brilliant, but irritating and that seemed to stop me from caring much about the characters, and the story, and even the ideas. That is a very personal response and it seems wrong to potentially put someone off a book, just because I don't get it, and given the success and popularity of that particular book, the issue clearly was with me, not the book.

I also love a lot of literary fiction that people I know just loath, so I am careful to make qualified recommendations, a book I love, others may consider to be a huge waste of money. I loved Ali Smith's Accidental, and no one I knew personally who read it, liked it, I thought it was one of the best books of the year and that was 2005, a year when quite a few quality novels seemed to come out. Actually what Hensher says about people being more likely to disagree with the good reviews is interesting.

I think part of my problem with negative reviews is that, I have such respect for someone, who can sit down, go the hard yards and produce a finished, published work. I will say if a book is a bit mediocre but I would never completely condemn any book, on the basis that it may just not be the right book for me. Aside from anything else the whole book blog thing should be about fun, and if your not enjoying a book why punish yourself with continuing to read it and then wallowing in the unpleasurable experience by blogging it. Although I wish I could just stop reading some books, but a misplaced sense of duty usually compels me to keep reading to the bitter end, but that is a whole other question.

Skellig

2009-09-05T17:22:00.019+10:00

Sometimes great complexity and wisdom is conveyed in the greatest simplicity, that is the case with David Almond's now classic first novel Skellig. Like the poet William Blake, who forms a core to this wonderful fable, images and language are deceptively simple while being intensely powerful. Almond embraces the mysterious in life and finds the means of conveying the wonder and terror of our existence. For those who are not familiar with the novel the story revolves around Michael, a boy who moves to a new home, (a renovators dream as they say), with his parents and baby sister. The baby is ill, very ill. Outside in the garden is a derelict shed and it is in here that Michael finds the strangest creature, a homeless man, crippled with arthritis, smelly and objectionable in every way. Michael can do little for his sister but he begins to help the man he finds in the shed, taking food and aspirin.

Michael is studying evolution at school, and when he makes an odd discovery about the man in the shed it raises all sorts of questions. Almond understands the importance of ambiguity and never tries to give you all the answers, he creates a glorious sense of wonder. The same sense of compassionate wonder and mystical beauty that characterises the poetry of Blake. Michael meets a girl, Mina, who is home schooled and knows how to approach the world with a genuine curiosity and sense of inquiring wonder, Mina introduces Michael to Blake and clarifies his thoughts on evolution and the natural world, through Mina, Michael learns that we are indeed 'tender savages'. Nature red in tooth and claw is not glossed over and the mysteries of existence and suffering are exposed in powerful simplicity. The novel is filled with images of birds and flight, nestlings echo the dramas faced by Michael's family, the battle to protect and nurture them to adult hood.

Humans may be evolved from primates but the man in the shed raises other possibilities. Skellig is something all together mysterious and remarkable. Humans may be evolved from primates but Skellig raises other possibilities, protruding from his shoulder blades are atrophied wings. Like an owl he feeds on small creatures that cross his path and like an owl he regurgitates pellets of indigestible fur and bones. So the question arises what is Skellig: "Something,' he said. 'Something like you, something like a beast, something like a bird, something like an angel." (p158) The point is we really should have a sense of wonder at all life, but Skellig highlights the possibilities of life; it is wonderful, mysterious, and fragile, and the divine is everywhere. It is Michael's and Mina's love and caring, their tenderness, that brings Skellig back to life; "love is the child that scatters death."

A truly transformative novel in so many ways, this is a beautiful book and one every child should have the privilege of reading. But not just kids, like any good book this one transcends age barriers, and has appeal for readers of any age, it is simply a great, thought provoking book. It's message on the power of positive thinking in overcoming the effects of aging is surely relevant for us older readers. A good book to read with Phillip Pulman's last two books in the Dark Materials trilogy. Pulman also takes inspiration from Blake, and challenges our conception of angels, and of course ourselves. From Skellig to Blake, the possibilities for further reading and discussion are endless, this is a great book to generate thought, and that all important sense of wonder.

At a mere 170 pages and with it's disciplined, beautiful prose this is a very easy read and yet the ideas and style are exciting and challenging. If I were making a list of all time great books for kids, this book would be on it. If I were making a list of books that were great regardless of intended audience this book would also be on that list.

I am a bit sorry I didn't choose Peril the First for the Readers Imbibing Peril challenge, as I think I could easily claim Skellig as an appropriate choice for the challenge with its elements of gothic fantasy. The book was first published in 1998 and won the Carnegie medal in the same year, on the off chance you have not previously read this wonderful book I urge you to seek it out, it is truly remarkable.

Oh, and Roald Dahl day is rapidly approaching, the 13th of September, I'm still thinking of what to do for school, unfortunately the actual day falls on a Sunday but I cannot let the day pass without some celebration. I am also thinking I will re-read my personal all time favourite R.D. novel which is The BFG, Mathilda is a very close second so maybe I will find time to re-read both. If anyone has suggestions for RD day at school they are all welcome.

Serendipitous finds and Desperate Romantics

2009-09-02T20:29:00.007+10:00

It is amazing the cool things you can find on the web, the cool things you find through other bloggers. Recently I found a wonderful small publisher via other blogs. The publisher is, Persephone Books and I first saw them mentioned at Bloomsbury Bell, through some subsequent wandering from blog to blog I discovered they were no secret. They are a publisher who specialises in reprints of neglected 20th century classics mostly written by women. Their homepage quotes an article in the Observer which describes them as: 'the most extraordinary, most lovely of publishers.' And they produce lovely books, the kinds of paper beauty, bibliophiles go weak at the knees over. In their elegant grey covers the books are the embodiment of elegant simplicity, inside the works come with individual endpapers that reproduce fabric prints from the time period of their original publication. Having wandered over to Persephone Books I discovered they published a now almost forgotten classic of gothic fiction; The Victorian Chaise-longue by Marghanita Laski, a book I have been wanting to read for some time, but have been unable to locate a copy, but success at last.
I intended to order it directly from Persephone, and feel guilty to admit that I ended up ordering from Amazon. I only did so because I had another item to order from Amazon and thought I would save on postage. My resident desperate romantic, is desperate to see the BBC drama Desperate Romantics, the story of the Pre-raphaelite brotherhood, so after offering me some of her book gift vouchers in exchange I agreed to order it for her. Bell did show me some of the episodes she found on the web and while the drama may not be historically accurate it seemed to be high on entertainment value. It does star the rather attractive Aidan Turner who also featured in Being Human, as the vampire Mitch, in the flat share drama about creatures of the night, in this he portrays Rossetti. Bell has recently discovered Rossetti's poetry and has been sharing it with friends, I gather a new teacher at school stumbled across Bell and company reading his work at lunch time and was impressed to the effect of; 'wow you read poetry here', ah, I suspect she left with a misguided impression. Bell informs me Rossetti is now referred to as 'dirty Dante' by herself and friends, and that may have something to do with their lunch time fascination. I guess I had a similar fascination with poets, especially the romantic poets when I was younger. I can remember in my early teens believing that sex was invented in the 60s and then I read Shelly and poets like Herrick and realised it had been around much longer than I had previously thought.
Time to stop blathering on, so finally if Persephone books is new to you I urge you to check them out, they offer a treasure trove of almost forgotten gems. I have no doubt I will be ordering from them in future, I am already considering xmas gifts.

RIP IV Reading challenge

2009-08-31T19:49:00.009+10:00

I have not previously participated in a reading challenge, but having stumbled on the gothic reading challenge hosted by Carl V at Stainless Steel Droppings I thought this might be a good place to try the challenge experience. The challenge apparently runs from 1st September to the 31st of October 2009, and it has a number of levels of participation from reading four novels to only one and even a short story challenge, so nice and easy, I hope. The books can be anything from the gothic, thriller type genres apparently. I have chosen Peril the Second which means I need to read two books. I feel confident I can finish two books. Peril the first requires four books.

So the books I am thinking of reading are:

1. The Victorian Chaise-longue by Marghanita Laski (which I ordered today).

2. The Resurrectionists by Kim Wilkins (already on the TBR pile).

I also have a couple of fall back books:

1. The girl with the Dragon Tattoo by steig Larsson (I think mysteries, thrillers count)

2. Hamlet a novel. by John Marsden

3. A Fine and Private Place by Peter S Beagle.

Recent reading, some brief notes

2009-08-30T15:27:00.010+10:00

Just a quick post on recent reading, which has been a bit sporadic. I have been slowly working my way through Byatt's The Children's Book. This is something of a grand work, rich characterisation, rich with period detail, clever use of history and other texts, Byatt creates clever metaphor and allusions where fantasy serves the purpose of reveling hypocrisy and dark truths. Underground landscapes become metaphors for the horrible reality that looms ahead of the idealised childhood of the Edwardians. Thought provoking, it encourages serious consideration of the story itself and the role of the writer or artist. She raises questions about truth and illusion, maturity and responsibility. Through this artful novel, she scatters the incident of social history, a study in the rise of the Fabian movement, the arts and craft movement, the suffragette movement. Significant figures make cameo appearances, the likes of William Morris and Oscar Wilde appear briefly. The novel attempts to capture an entire age, and I found myself finding similarities with our own age.
I haven't had much time for reading lately, and still have a few pages to go, I will have more to say when I finish and give more thought to this novel. I wish I had saved it for the next end of term break when I could have read this book in leisure. It is in many respects an easier and more accessible read than some of Byatt's other great novels and yet it failed to thrill and excite me the way the Frederica novels or Possession did, perhaps that is due to excessively high expectations. When I first read The Virgin in the Garden I had come to Byatt with no preconceived ideas or expectations and was simply blown away by a writer of incredible intellect and complexity, a master craftsperson who rewarded her readers with a work of sheer narrative pleasure and intellectual stimulation.
In summary I highly recommend The Children's Book, just give yourself the time to really enjoy and appreciate this great novel.
Lately I have been dipping into a few books, but have felt distracted by work and study, I suspect that distraction may continue to intrude on reading for a while. I really should say something about the CBCA awards. Shaun Tan won the older readers category with his Tales from Outer Suburbia, he had some stiff competition and even though I am a huge Shaun Tan fan I was a little surprised he won. Interestingly at school Tales from Outer Suburbia has been a book that adults/ teachers like but the kids seem to have totally ignored, I think I might ask the kids what they think of this one.

2009-08-24T15:46:00.002+10:00

Just wanted to draw attention to an interesting discussion that Susan at You can never have too many books started about the validity of using real people in fiction or re-using another authors characters.

I find myself thinking about so many novels that revolve around fictionalised accounts of real people, I am thinking about the way in which a historical figure can be mythologised by fiction.
Do writers have a right to put words, thoughts and deeds onto real people? Susan has started a fascinating discussion.

Awards

2009-08-23T14:48:00.018+10:00

I tend to be appalling slack about awards, it is nice that people think of you, and I reward them by putting off posting and passing on the acknowledgement, very slack. So today is a catch up on awards post. Susan over at Chick with books passed on the Heartfelt award ages ago, so here I am finally posting it. A big thank you to Susan who writes a great book blog with lots of interesting discussions, and giveaways, very definitely a blog worth checking out. The terms of the award are detailed below.Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea when you’re relaxing, seeking comfort, sharing a plate of cookies with family & friends?
You know that feeling you get when you drink a yummy cup of cocoa, tea ~ or a hot toddy?
That is what the Heartfelt award is all about feeling warm inside!
Diane @ The Book Resort, created this award to express that toasty feeling.
The Rules:
1) Put the logo on your blog/post.
2) Nominate up to 9 blogs which make you feel comfy or warm inside.
3) Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let them know that they have been nominated by commenting on their blog.
5) Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

So now to nominees:

1. Wendy at a Life twice tasted. Wendy is an author who writes a great blog about life and in particular the creative life, hers is a wonderful eloquent blog, always worth reading, insightful and thought provoking I encourage everyone to visit.

2. Ruby Isabella Jones, life and philosophy from a dog Ruby will definitely make you feel warm inside. She dispenses canine wisdom to inspire. Her blog also contains some beautiful photos of Ruby.

3. Miss Nobody at Miss Nobody scribbles, Miss N is a great young Indian blogger whose blog I have enjoyed very much. Right now she seems to be missing in action, no posts for a awhile, which is a pity. Miss Nobody where are you?

4. Niffty books at the Quotable paperback. Niffty books has a different approach to book blogging. They read books, mostly classics and then post a selection of favourite quotes. This makes for some interesting reading, offering a great overview of an author or their work, and making for some very pleasant reading.

Wendy at A life twice tasted also passed on an award; the Kreative blogger award, so again a big thank you and I urge you to visit Wendy's blog, a professional writer, Wendy is a blogger who captures life and offers insight into the creative process, all expressed with intelligence and perception, A life twice tasted is a great blog to read.

Now my task is to post seven things about me that people might find interesting, (that is a hard task, as a person who goes to work in a library, whose principal hobby is reading books, no extreme sports or daily work dramas to blog about, oh well I'll try and think of something.) I also have to nominate seven blogs to pass this on to, so I think I will start with the nominated blogs:

1.Ms Textual a remarkable, discursive, intelligent, stimulating blog that discusses books of many genres, and literary interests in general all with linguistic flair; and knitting. Unusual knitting projects that reflect the amazing creativity of their uncommon creator. The tea cosies are sculptural masterpieces and the knitted books must be seen, my personal favourite was the pink book with breasts. If anyone deserves the Kreative blogger award it is Ms Bubblefish at Ms Textual.

2. Suzanne at Chick with books a dynamic book blog with regular interesting updates, interesting discussion and regular competitions. Check out Suzanne's great book blog, it is a great place to keep up with new titles.

3. Peter at Kyusireader, another great, diverse book blogger who ranges across genres and issues. Check out his book shelf project as well as his great review posts.

4. Susan at You can never have too many books. A blogger who writes fascinating reviews and articles with stimulating discussion points and a particular interest in fantasy but ranging across many genres, providing lots of interesting observations and links.

5. Bloomsbury Bell. Another great book blog, clever, creative,wide ranging and inventive.

6. Dangerous pages review Reading is indeed a dangerous pastime, this is an awesome blog that focuses on the power of the written word to challenge our thinking and change the world. And the need to champion the written word in a world where ignorance is often the loudest voice.

7.Fehmida at depapel another great blogger who writes stimulating posts on books and other aspects of culture, check out her great posts.

Now for interesting things, or not so interesting:

1. The Spaceman romantically proposed marriage, down on one knee, (the whole cliche), under the dinosaurs in the dinosaur garden at the Queensland Museum, (nothing says geek like a proposal with dinosaurs).

2. I have spent a lifetime escaping into books, I wagged school to read books, I lived in my head and between the pages of books. Actually I still do that, reading, not the wagging school thing.

3. I love trains and buses and often just want to jump on one, not really caring where it is going, I just like the idea of a journey, the idea of moving towards something new, the possibility of adventure.

4. I love spicy food, especially Indian and Thai, and I love vegie food, (not really interesting, I know), and fantasize about one day travelling to India, one of the most fascinating, complex countries on the planet. I wonder if the real thing will live up to my imagined India, both the good and bad?

5. I am a mad cat woman, but it's not my fault, they just decided to move in and make me their slave.

6. I grew up a bit like Mowgli, a bit wild, my days spent in the companionship of dogs and horses and a cow called Casper, she was an orphaned calf, hand reared. Still seem to prefer animals to people.

7. Feminist at 10, Marxist at 14, Buddhist at 16, disillusioned cynic at 40.

Finally, the requirements to pass on the award; thank the person who nominated you for this award. Copy the logo and place it on your blog. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting. Nominate 7 of your favourite Kreativ Bloggers. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated. Happy blogging.

Picture books that make great gifts

2009-08-18T21:19:00.008+10:00

I've written before about the ageless, timeless nature of good picture books, sometimes the wit and wisdom defies boundaries, or the art is transcendent or the book bespeaks a sentiment we wish to share. It is the later concept that makes Charles Vess and Neil Gaiman's wonderful picture book Blueberry Girl so noteworthy. I am sure fans of Gaiman's work are already familiar with the story of this book, how it originated in a request from friends to write a prayer, a wish for their unborn child who at the time was just referred to as the blueberry, Gaiman offers insights into this and other works via his site mousecircus and his blog if your interested. I just thought I'd include the video promo of the book here, it is rather beautiful, just switch off the music player on the side before hitting play on the video. It is a book that has special appeal I think for parents of girls, and girls perhaps, really past the general perceived age of picture books, although I believe you are never to old for picture books. It expresses those often unspoken wishes, with a simple eloquence it is often hard to find.

My favourite gift book to parents of new daughters used to be Babette Cole's Princess Smartypants, a subversive feminist fairytale, it is still a favourite but I think Blueberry Girl has become my new preferred gift to girls.
I am wondering now about other picture books that make great gifts; Dr Seuss Oh the Places You'll Go is another obvious example and I personally I think Shaun Tan's The Red Tree can be a book that speaks to adults as much as children. My bookish sister in law once gave her brother another Babette Cole book as a gift, it was called Mommy Laid an Egg, a delightfully funny version of how babies are made, and when read to children you soon overcome embarrassment over the facts of life.
For adult friends who are fellow book lovers, I have recently started giving Alan Bennett's novella The Uncommon Reader as a gift. I am interested to know what books others consider to be great gifts and why, so please feel free to comment.

Happy birthday to a girl who makes the days and nights shine for me.

2009-08-14T20:12:00.012+10:00

Today is special, for our family at least, 16 years ago today the most special person I know entered the world, nothing makes me prouder than being able to say that this wonderful, kind, mature, funny, caring, sometimes wisely cynical, courageous, creative young woman is my daughter. Sometimes I look back and remember some of those moments where I felt so proud and amazed by this person, the moments that really stand out as truly special are those rare moments when I got to see what a truly beautiful person she is. Those insights come at rare, unexpected times, they are not the run of the mill moments of parental pride, they are something else, rare privileged glimpses into a pilgrim soul.

One such moment occurred when Bell was in her final year of primary school, at a inter school swimming carnival. I sat a couple or rows behind her and watched as some younger kids were watching her sketch in her art book, when she realised they were watching and bored she offered them sheets of paper and her pencils but she did more than that. One of the little girls looked at the work of the other two and then screwed up her picture and went to put it in her bag, Bell took it off her and asked her why she did that. The girl was embarrassed and told her she thought her picture was no good, Bell smoothed it out and said no, it was great, the best of all, she just wasn't looking at it right. She got her to add lines, creating a face over the scribbled out image creating a layered abstract image, she told her about how she had seen paintings like that and a famous artist called Picasso who did pictures like that, she told her she could really be a great artist and shouldn't judge her self so harshly. You should have seen the look on the girl's face, she looked as if she felt ten feet tall, this older kid had taken the time to make her feel good about herself, to believe in herself. Bell then went on to look at the work of the other two girls, praising and encouraging both, she took the time to make three kids younger than herself, that she didn't really know, feel not just good about themselves but empowered. She did this so unconsciously, it was just the way she responded to people and I felt such amazing pride in her. That she achieved in other ways has been a source a pride but moments like the one described have made me prouder than anything.

A couple of years later I had another moment like that. At a school event another Mum approached me to tell me how grateful she was for the support Bell had given her daughter. Her daughter, another lovely girl, was at the time on the receiving end of some nasty and sustained bullying. I knew from things Bell told me that things had been really unpleasant for this poor kid, I also knew she was sticking up for her friend despite what it was costing her in terms of social credit at school. The other Mum told she didn't know all the details but she knew that Bell had stood up to girls who had been her close friends and that no matter what, she hadn't abandoned this friend who the rest of the group were trying to exclude, again I felt so privileged to know this beautiful person who lives a life of quite principal and everyday heroism. The people in her life should treasure her friendship, her loyalty is absolute. I am very proud to know her. Happy Birthday my girl of thunder and fire!

Just Macbeth

2009-08-14T17:56:00.007+10:00

A quick assessment of Just Macbeth: "You should read this, it's great its, about murder and stuff and its funny, it's really great, really you gotta read this," some overheard enthusiasm yesterday, clearly it is going to be awhile before I get to read this one.

Literary billboards again and an exciting new release.

2009-08-08T14:49:00.018+10:00

Just for a quick post I thought I would put up links to the latest T shirts. Spaceman bought me a new Pratchett shirt with a matching coffee cup for work, the images are of Nanny Ogg's cat Greebo, I love the caption on the cup: "To Nanny Ogg he was merely a larger version of the little fluffy kitten he had once been. To everyone else he was a scarred ball of inventive malignancy." The t shirt has Greebo with the caption; "something wicked this way comes". I haven't included images, the artist, rightly protects his copyright, it is after all his source of income, but you can go to the site to check it out and trust me it is worth the visit, the art is great. I also have a Feegle shirt, that uses the iconography of Trainspotting only on the shirt it is Feeglespoting. The Feegles, the wee free men, those misfits of fairy land are a great Pratchett invention, and the books in which they feature are great young adult novels, full of wit and wisdom. Below is the link http://www.paulkidby.com/index.html I urge everyone with a Pratchett fan in their life to check it out. The site also carries news updates on Terry Pratchett, his work and his involvement with Alzheimer's.

The other recent addition was a Shakespeare shirt with a line from Merchant of Venice, the kids may not appreciate the irony but I do. It actually says; "I am not bound to please thee with my answers", it is a line spoken by Shylock when everyone tries to talk him out of chopping bits off Antonio, but before Portia throws the spanner in his plans, sorry I can't remember the exact reference, but if I remember correctly he is speaking to the Duke. The cafe press shop is BGs quips and quotes , just click on the link, they have other great shirts and I will be ordering another one from them in the future, I am thinking; "Though this be madness, yet there is method in it." Sums up my work perfectly.

The bard is getting quite a bit of attention at the moment as Andy Griffith's adaptation of Macbeth, Just Macbeth has just been released. So popular is Griffiths that I have not had time to get this book out on the shelf before requests started rolling in, I was hoping to read it myself, no chance, even before we got it, the kids were asking, so our two copies went out as fast as I could get them processed, and with a list of reserve requests I may be waiting a while.