Mysterious paper sculptures - Central Station Blog post
The sculptures are fabulous, as is the story.
Things like this give me hope.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Eat, Pray, Love
By Elizabeth Gilbert
So, I finished reading this and thought, hell yeah! I want to be paid to write a book about traveling. Especially if I get to stuff myself with Italian food.
Gilbert conceives of her year-long journey (four months each in Italy, India, and Indonesia) after her divorce and an on-again, off-again relationship that’s taking an emotional and mental toll. She knows she needs to leave and gain some perspective.
I suspect this book is so popular because a lot of people would love to travel, and Gilbert is forthcoming: you feel like you’re chatting with a good friend. She confesses to not doing scads of research, but rather letting aspects of the country she’s in capture her attention.
By her own account, she’s a successful traveler because she’s friendly. I would be so doomed. I seem to have a perpetual disdainful look on my face, whatever my mood, and I find people petrifying, so I freeze up and they assume I’m judging them. I tend to be solitary anyhow – not one of Gilbert’s complaints. She’s taking this trip to learn how to be by herself. She’s always had a guy (or two) in her life: for that reason, she decides to forgo sex for a a year.
One reason I appreciated this book was because she debated the merits of having children. I am childfree by choice, and enjoyed seeing someone else discuss what it is like.
I suspect this book was so popular because Gilbert is so refreshingly direct.
So, I finished reading this and thought, hell yeah! I want to be paid to write a book about traveling. Especially if I get to stuff myself with Italian food.
Gilbert conceives of her year-long journey (four months each in Italy, India, and Indonesia) after her divorce and an on-again, off-again relationship that’s taking an emotional and mental toll. She knows she needs to leave and gain some perspective.
I suspect this book is so popular because a lot of people would love to travel, and Gilbert is forthcoming: you feel like you’re chatting with a good friend. She confesses to not doing scads of research, but rather letting aspects of the country she’s in capture her attention.
By her own account, she’s a successful traveler because she’s friendly. I would be so doomed. I seem to have a perpetual disdainful look on my face, whatever my mood, and I find people petrifying, so I freeze up and they assume I’m judging them. I tend to be solitary anyhow – not one of Gilbert’s complaints. She’s taking this trip to learn how to be by herself. She’s always had a guy (or two) in her life: for that reason, she decides to forgo sex for a a year.
One reason I appreciated this book was because she debated the merits of having children. I am childfree by choice, and enjoyed seeing someone else discuss what it is like.
I suspect this book was so popular because Gilbert is so refreshingly direct.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Crimes and Misdemeanors: New and Original Stories of Love and Death
Authors: multiple (see below)
Edited by: Elaine Koster and Joseph Pittman
Year: 1998
Genre: Short Stories
Let me just say, this book was not entirely what I expected. I thought, from the title, that most of these stories would have to do with either love or death, or love and death. How silly of me. It turns out, when reading the introduction, that this book is actually a compilation celebrating the 40th year of Signet Books.
I picked it up at a library sale, mostly because I like reading short stories. The contributing authors include Stephen King, Sharyn McCrumb, Eileen Goudge, Erica Jong, and other "big names" I've either read and liked, or have heard of and not quite gotten around to reading. So how could I lose?
Overall, the stories were passable. A few truly stood out. I was thinking I'd consign this book to the "for sale" heap, but then I read a few stories I really liked, so I will have to ponder the disposition a bit.
For want of a better way to do this, I'll just review each on its own merits. None is so outstanding that it deserves its own post.
I'm still not sure about the final disposition of this book. What might happen is that I'll keep it until I get around to reading some of the authors so I know whom to look up.
The stories in this anthology were strong enough that I think an aspiring writer could learn from reading them, and that a reader would enjoy most of them.
Edited by: Elaine Koster and Joseph Pittman
Year: 1998
Genre: Short Stories
Let me just say, this book was not entirely what I expected. I thought, from the title, that most of these stories would have to do with either love or death, or love and death. How silly of me. It turns out, when reading the introduction, that this book is actually a compilation celebrating the 40th year of Signet Books.
I picked it up at a library sale, mostly because I like reading short stories. The contributing authors include Stephen King, Sharyn McCrumb, Eileen Goudge, Erica Jong, and other "big names" I've either read and liked, or have heard of and not quite gotten around to reading. So how could I lose?
Overall, the stories were passable. A few truly stood out. I was thinking I'd consign this book to the "for sale" heap, but then I read a few stories I really liked, so I will have to ponder the disposition a bit.
For want of a better way to do this, I'll just review each on its own merits. None is so outstanding that it deserves its own post.
- Stormy Weather - Lisa Alther
Jesse is sunning herself naked by the pool when her ex-husband and his current wife come by to drop off a gift for her 50th birthday party that night. An OK story, but not particularly engrossing. - Headaches and Bad Dreams - Lawrence Block
A psychic locates the body of a missing boy. The resulting accolades change her life; she gets recognition and her business booms. A nice twist at the end. - Baby-sitting Ingrid - Larry Collins
A G-man falls for the woman he's protecting. She is murdered, and he tried to find justice for her (he knows who killed her but can't pin the guy on charges). Nothing special. - Wrong Time, Wrong Place - Jeffery Deaver
A cop pulls over a couple of thugs in a stolen car, thinking they're the ones responsible for the bank heist earlier that day. Nice suspense and a good twist to the story. - Untitled - E.L. Doctorow
Set in a train on the way to a concentration camp. I am so totally going to read one of his books, now, as I loved his language. I think this is the first E.L. Doctorow story that I read: it will not be my last. - Mother's Day - Joy Fielding
A mother is waiting for her teenage daughter at an orthodontia office. Good description of characters; nice slice-of-life plot. I'd probably pick up a book by her, although I'm not sure I'd go looking for one. - Paranoia - Stephen Fry
The OCD wife of a senator-elect has been having bad dreams and consulting psychics. She is sent to a mental hospital because her paranoia has led to a death. A great story, with a nice twist at the end (and it shows what an omniscient narrator can do for you, too). I'd read more by him, that's for sure. - The Price of Tea in China - Eileen Goudge
Siblings gather to celebrate their parents' 50th anniversary, knowing that their father has been conducting an affair and their mother would never believe it. A good, tight story. Nothing overly dramatic. I'd also read her again. - Six Shades of Black - Joan Hess
A stay-at-home mother takes action. A great revenge story. A short great revenge story. I so want to read more of her writing. - The Naked Giant - Wendy Hornsby
A woman planning to celebrate her anniversary discovers her husband cheating on her, and gets a last laugh of sorts. Very well done. - Songs in the Key of I - Erica Jong
Poems and an essay. The essay discusses the solitude needed for both readers and writers of poetry, and how suspicious we are of solitude in our modern lives. My favorite poem was "Waiting for Angels." Good imagery in all of her poetry. - L.T.'s Theory of Pets - Stephen King
A man shares the story of how his friend L.T's wife left him. Another demonstration of why Stephen King is so popular - he is a damned good writer and knows how to use telling details. Also, he manages to convey quite a lot about his characters in the way they speak. - Djinn and Tonic - Tabitha King
A man and a woman find a strange bottle while walking on the beach. Some good lines: "There was no arguing that men...had a terrible trouble distinguishing a number of things from a vagina." - Where or When - Ed McBain
A man is either reliving something terrible he's done - or having premonitions of what he's about to do. That doesn't matter, really. I enjoyed this story. I'm not sure I'd go searching for Ed McBain, but I certainly wouldn't shy away from him, as I have in the past. - An Autumn Migration - Sharyn McCrumb
Her father-in-law's ghost inspires a depressed woman. I loved this story. It's been a while since I've read McCrumb, but this caused me to remember why I liked her so much. Will have to make up for lost time. - Color Blind - Joyce Carol Oates.
This story had me cringing. A white woman befriends (or so she thinks) her downstairs neighbor, a black man, only to find months later that she's had his name wrong all this time. You know, I have yet to read an Oates story that I like. - A Place for Nathan - Nancy Taylor Rosenberg
A young woman contemplating abortion meets a man who believes in the transmutation of souls. A pretty meh story, overall. Nothing particularly special about it (once you figure out the woman is pregnant - which is dropped out of nowhere - you know how the story is going to end, and pretty much the way the ending will be reached). - The Unsung Song of Mary Gallagher - Linda Lay Shuler
A wallflower comes into her own after being fired from the job she's had for 20 years. Enjoyable. I'd probably read Shuler again
I'm still not sure about the final disposition of this book. What might happen is that I'll keep it until I get around to reading some of the authors so I know whom to look up.
The stories in this anthology were strong enough that I think an aspiring writer could learn from reading them, and that a reader would enjoy most of them.
The White Bone
Author: Barbara Gowdy
POV: Third person limited (Mud, Date Bed, Tall Time)
Genre: Fiction (maybe literature?)
I've had this book for a few years, and have always meant to read it. Last night I finally got around to it. I didn't feel like watching TV, or like writing, or really much of anything. It's been a long month, and my mental and creative reserves are depleted. So I thought about reading, and couldn't decide if I wanted to read an old comfort book (Sunshine and A Fistful of Sky being my first two options) or start a new book. When I went to actually look at the books, though, I didn't feel like re-reading old favorites, so I decided to read something new.
I'm only explaining that I was in a weird mood when I decided to finally read this book to potentially help explain when I can't decide how I actually feel about this book. The characters are African elephants; the main character's name is Mud (a baby-name). Mud belongs to the She-S tribe. The region they, and other tribes, inhabit is experiencing severe drought. Additionally, the elephants are being demolished by poachers. The elephants have heard of a white bone that will point the way to a Safe Place - free of both drought and humans.
Gar, was this a depressing book. Most everyone dies. Maybe I'm just a girl for happy endings, and that's why I can't make up my mind. Because, here's the thing: it's not just as 'cute' book about humanized elephants. These stand on their own, with their own culture. The elephants have their own rituals and ways and explanations. Gowdy has created a neat mythology for the elephants, and some have clairvoyant gifts (one is each tribe is a visionary, one a mind-talker). One bull elephant, Tall Time, is obsessed with, for want of a better word, old-wife's tales. He thinks he's collected them all. There is, actually, a lot to like in this book.
I was compelled enough by the book that I read it in one day. However, that being said, I never did get all that emotionally attached to the characters, and I can't imagine reading this again. The narrative is shared by three elephants: Mud, Date Bed, and Tall Time. Mud was orphaned and rescued by Date Bed's tribe, the She-S's. Tall Time is the bull that collects links (their word for the tales). He's been in love with Mud since he met her when she was a baby. Elephants don't fall in love, though, so this is a strange aberration (one that is never resolved nor explained).
This book starts off with a tragedy (the slaughter of most of the She-S's) and never gets better. Things never look up for the characters. They basically wander around a drought-stricken landscape searching for the white bone and the lost members of their tribe. Most die. The final pages have the few remaining She-S's heading off to what they think is the Safe Place. Everyone else we've been introduced to has died.
So, depressing. But I'm not even sure that's my main quibble with the book. I found the names confusing (every female elephant's name, once they've been mated with, changes to She-something; the something will start with the letter of the tribe them belong to). Mud's name has just been changed to She-Spurns. Other members of the She-S tribe include She-Soothes, She-Screams, She-Sees, She-Scares, She-Snorts, etc. I lost track of who was who.
Gowdy also invented a language. For instance, flow-sticks are snakes. But she doesn't use this consistently. They will be called both flow-sticks and snakes, often in the same narrative. Choose one and stick with it. I think one of my hesitations to start this book was the fact that I'd have to pick up a new vocabulary. Not really necessary. There's the nice dictionary at the front, but she also footnotes throughout.
And it comes down to narrative, too. She used a third-person limited narration, and it threw me to have animals and that described by their human names (like Grant's gazelles). I don't think she ever called zebras ribs (the elephant name for them), although I could have missed that. Trust the reader. The reader can figure it out from context.
All that being said, I did feel the writing was solid and pleasurable, and I would probably read another of her books. I would just hope it was not quite as depressing.
Disposition: Sale/Donation (it's likely someone will appreciate this book far more than I - and as I said, I can't imagine wanting to reread it).
Recommendations: There's not many people I can imagine wanting to read this book, mostly because it is so depressing. Maybe someone else seeking to write non-human characters (again, I thought that was very well done). More of a craft read than a pleasure read.
As a side note/random observation, this book was published in 1998. It's one of the first fiction books with footnotes in it that I can think of - I believe Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell came out a few years later.
POV: Third person limited (Mud, Date Bed, Tall Time)
Genre: Fiction (maybe literature?)
I've had this book for a few years, and have always meant to read it. Last night I finally got around to it. I didn't feel like watching TV, or like writing, or really much of anything. It's been a long month, and my mental and creative reserves are depleted. So I thought about reading, and couldn't decide if I wanted to read an old comfort book (Sunshine and A Fistful of Sky being my first two options) or start a new book. When I went to actually look at the books, though, I didn't feel like re-reading old favorites, so I decided to read something new.
I'm only explaining that I was in a weird mood when I decided to finally read this book to potentially help explain when I can't decide how I actually feel about this book. The characters are African elephants; the main character's name is Mud (a baby-name). Mud belongs to the She-S tribe. The region they, and other tribes, inhabit is experiencing severe drought. Additionally, the elephants are being demolished by poachers. The elephants have heard of a white bone that will point the way to a Safe Place - free of both drought and humans.
Gar, was this a depressing book. Most everyone dies. Maybe I'm just a girl for happy endings, and that's why I can't make up my mind. Because, here's the thing: it's not just as 'cute' book about humanized elephants. These stand on their own, with their own culture. The elephants have their own rituals and ways and explanations. Gowdy has created a neat mythology for the elephants, and some have clairvoyant gifts (one is each tribe is a visionary, one a mind-talker). One bull elephant, Tall Time, is obsessed with, for want of a better word, old-wife's tales. He thinks he's collected them all. There is, actually, a lot to like in this book.
I was compelled enough by the book that I read it in one day. However, that being said, I never did get all that emotionally attached to the characters, and I can't imagine reading this again. The narrative is shared by three elephants: Mud, Date Bed, and Tall Time. Mud was orphaned and rescued by Date Bed's tribe, the She-S's. Tall Time is the bull that collects links (their word for the tales). He's been in love with Mud since he met her when she was a baby. Elephants don't fall in love, though, so this is a strange aberration (one that is never resolved nor explained).
This book starts off with a tragedy (the slaughter of most of the She-S's) and never gets better. Things never look up for the characters. They basically wander around a drought-stricken landscape searching for the white bone and the lost members of their tribe. Most die. The final pages have the few remaining She-S's heading off to what they think is the Safe Place. Everyone else we've been introduced to has died.
So, depressing. But I'm not even sure that's my main quibble with the book. I found the names confusing (every female elephant's name, once they've been mated with, changes to She-something; the something will start with the letter of the tribe them belong to). Mud's name has just been changed to She-Spurns. Other members of the She-S tribe include She-Soothes, She-Screams, She-Sees, She-Scares, She-Snorts, etc. I lost track of who was who.
Gowdy also invented a language. For instance, flow-sticks are snakes. But she doesn't use this consistently. They will be called both flow-sticks and snakes, often in the same narrative. Choose one and stick with it. I think one of my hesitations to start this book was the fact that I'd have to pick up a new vocabulary. Not really necessary. There's the nice dictionary at the front, but she also footnotes throughout.
And it comes down to narrative, too. She used a third-person limited narration, and it threw me to have animals and that described by their human names (like Grant's gazelles). I don't think she ever called zebras ribs (the elephant name for them), although I could have missed that. Trust the reader. The reader can figure it out from context.
All that being said, I did feel the writing was solid and pleasurable, and I would probably read another of her books. I would just hope it was not quite as depressing.
Disposition: Sale/Donation (it's likely someone will appreciate this book far more than I - and as I said, I can't imagine wanting to reread it).
Recommendations: There's not many people I can imagine wanting to read this book, mostly because it is so depressing. Maybe someone else seeking to write non-human characters (again, I thought that was very well done). More of a craft read than a pleasure read.
As a side note/random observation, this book was published in 1998. It's one of the first fiction books with footnotes in it that I can think of - I believe Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell came out a few years later.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Woman Who Loved the Moon
Author: Elizabeth A. Lynn
Year: 1981
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
So. I'm still working on how I want to format my reviews. Where and how should I indicate what inspired me to read this? Where I got it? Why? And what the final disposition is? In short, will I ever read this book again? Recommend it to a friend? Keep it in case I want to refer to a particularly adroit example of storytelling or skill?
This book brings up all of those questions for me. I'd never heard of Elizabeth A. Lynn before, nor have I read anything else or seen other books of hers lurking around. I do remember deciding to buy it, however. I was in our local book swap shoppe, checking out the fantasy section, and the title interested me. Apparently the title story won the 1980 World Fantasy Award. Cool. That really got my attention: the other deciding factor was a blurb on the inside by Marge Piercy (no, I don't think she's related to the Piercys in The World According to Garp, although I don't otherwise recognize the name): "Her women have dignity and strength!"
OK. I'd like to read stories where the women are not set pieces. I wondered what the 80's version of female dignity and strength looked like, so I paid my money and took my chances. Granted, it's taken me a while to read it - this has been sitting on my TBR pile for years.
The stories are:
A lot of the female protagonists end up with other women. There's really very little said about it, and definitely no reaction from their society. On one hand, I like the thought that these relationships happen with little to no commentary. However, we're never really sure what attracts one character to another, and that may be one of the reasons why I find the stories so stale.
Much to my amusement, the first story doesn't even have a woman in it (unless you count the girl conjured by one sorcerer). I thought the title story was OK, but it was nothing that particularly entranced me. I can't say there was anything new about the women portrayed, or different - but it has been thirty years, after all, since this book came out, and I may be writing this from a vantage point of being exposed to "strong" heroines (although we could always use more). At least these women didn't sit around and wait for anyone to rescue them.
The best story by far was "Jubilee's Story." In it, a group of four women are traveling together. They are apparently from a society where women have power and control. During their travels, they are asked to help deliver a baby. The family they assist is very patriarchal, and opposes what these women represent. I thought it was so powerful because we are told so much in details - we aren't beat over the head with explanation or back story. This was probably the most moving story in the entire book as well, mostly because you can deduce what the mother's life has been like, and what horror she endured.
"The Man Who Was Pregnant" reminded me of a much better pregnant male story: Daniel P. Dern's "Yes Sir That's My," which I read in the anthology Smart Dragons, Foolish Elves. Dern's story touched more on gender and rights than Lynn's did, which really surprised me. The anthology was printed in 1991; interesting the difference a decade can make. Plus, Dern's story was slyly funny. Lynn apparently lacks humor.
Speaking of changing times and humor: I did get a grin out of "Obsessions" as one character was a smoker, and was furious that he couldn't smoke in someone else's office. Just you wait, buddy: today you wouldn't even be able to smoke in the building.
I have a game with myself: which stories would I put in an anthology if someone were ever insane enough to offer me the opportunity? "Jubilee's Story" might make the cut - nothing else would.
I can't say I'm inspired to try to find more of Lynn's work. I do wonder, though, if she has grown as a writer and has managed to connect to her characters.
This book will go into the resale/give away box, and I'll move on.
Year: 1981
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
So. I'm still working on how I want to format my reviews. Where and how should I indicate what inspired me to read this? Where I got it? Why? And what the final disposition is? In short, will I ever read this book again? Recommend it to a friend? Keep it in case I want to refer to a particularly adroit example of storytelling or skill?
This book brings up all of those questions for me. I'd never heard of Elizabeth A. Lynn before, nor have I read anything else or seen other books of hers lurking around. I do remember deciding to buy it, however. I was in our local book swap shoppe, checking out the fantasy section, and the title interested me. Apparently the title story won the 1980 World Fantasy Award. Cool. That really got my attention: the other deciding factor was a blurb on the inside by Marge Piercy (no, I don't think she's related to the Piercys in The World According to Garp, although I don't otherwise recognize the name): "Her women have dignity and strength!"
OK. I'd like to read stories where the women are not set pieces. I wondered what the 80's version of female dignity and strength looked like, so I paid my money and took my chances. Granted, it's taken me a while to read it - this has been sitting on my TBR pile for years.
The stories are:
- Wizard's Domain - a sea wizard, with the help of a man who betrayed him, fights a fire wizard.
- The Gods of Reorth - Jael impersonates a goddess by using the technology from her civilization.
- We All Have To Go - A television show records the last moments of the dying. Strangely prescient of our current fascination with reality television. One quibble; you knew more or less what the ending would be, although not quite how it would come about.
- The Saints of Driman - Explorers are leaving a planet. One is fascinated with the saints there.
- I Dream of a Fish, I Dream of a Bird - A mother's discovery saves her injured son.
- The Island - A man sees his dead wife on a mysterious island.
- The Dragon That Lived in the Sea - A dragon unknowingly terrorizes a small fishing village until a child is born who has no fear.
- Mindseye - A retelling of "The Ice Queen" given the setting of planetary exploration.
- The Man Who Was Pregnant - A man becomes pregnant and hangs out in an orange caftan.
- Obsessions - A urban development board burns down old houses.
- The Woman in the Phone Booth - A stranger discovers that a woman sitting in a phone booth is an alien and the booth is her ship. (Dr. Who, much? Although this alien is apparently taking classes, not fighting Daleks.)
- Don't Look at Me - A dwarf magician on an interplanetary entertainment circuit solves a murder.
- Jubilee's Story - A group of women deliver a child as they travel through rough territory.
- The Circus That Disappeared - A small circus is hiding a big secret.
- The White King's Dream - A resident in a nursing home lives on despite her wishes.
- The Woman Who Loved The Moon - One of three sisters fights, then falls in love with, the Moon.
A lot of the female protagonists end up with other women. There's really very little said about it, and definitely no reaction from their society. On one hand, I like the thought that these relationships happen with little to no commentary. However, we're never really sure what attracts one character to another, and that may be one of the reasons why I find the stories so stale.
Much to my amusement, the first story doesn't even have a woman in it (unless you count the girl conjured by one sorcerer). I thought the title story was OK, but it was nothing that particularly entranced me. I can't say there was anything new about the women portrayed, or different - but it has been thirty years, after all, since this book came out, and I may be writing this from a vantage point of being exposed to "strong" heroines (although we could always use more). At least these women didn't sit around and wait for anyone to rescue them.
The best story by far was "Jubilee's Story." In it, a group of four women are traveling together. They are apparently from a society where women have power and control. During their travels, they are asked to help deliver a baby. The family they assist is very patriarchal, and opposes what these women represent. I thought it was so powerful because we are told so much in details - we aren't beat over the head with explanation or back story. This was probably the most moving story in the entire book as well, mostly because you can deduce what the mother's life has been like, and what horror she endured.
"The Man Who Was Pregnant" reminded me of a much better pregnant male story: Daniel P. Dern's "Yes Sir That's My," which I read in the anthology Smart Dragons, Foolish Elves. Dern's story touched more on gender and rights than Lynn's did, which really surprised me. The anthology was printed in 1991; interesting the difference a decade can make. Plus, Dern's story was slyly funny. Lynn apparently lacks humor.
Speaking of changing times and humor: I did get a grin out of "Obsessions" as one character was a smoker, and was furious that he couldn't smoke in someone else's office. Just you wait, buddy: today you wouldn't even be able to smoke in the building.
I have a game with myself: which stories would I put in an anthology if someone were ever insane enough to offer me the opportunity? "Jubilee's Story" might make the cut - nothing else would.
I can't say I'm inspired to try to find more of Lynn's work. I do wonder, though, if she has grown as a writer and has managed to connect to her characters.
This book will go into the resale/give away box, and I'll move on.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
So whence the blog title?
It took me a while to figure out what to call this blog, as it is to primarily be a place for me to capture thoughts on things I've read, watched or experienced. As I am a writer, I'm interested in dissecting the story, and what did - or did not - work for me. Thusly, I have no plans to be coy and avoid discussing plot twists. I'm always for a good plot twist, but it doesn't ruin the story for me if it's revealed before I have a chance to experience it for myself. That, and I have a fuzzy memory, so by the time I get around to reading/watching/whatever, I will probably have forgotten all about it anyhow.
There was something else I needed to consider, however - the fact that I might well wander off topic. After all, what fun is writing if you can't write what you want? And that includes writing reviews.
I was inspired, in fact, by a book by Wislawa Szymborska (a Polish poet, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996). What? Never heard of her? Me neither (despite my B.A. in Creative Writing), until her book nonrequiered reading: prose pieces came out. I have no idea how I heard about that, although I think Entertainment Weekly, of all magazines, had a review on it and it caught my fancy.
So, two things: now I'm going to try to capture why I read the books (or saw the movie, or started watching the series, etc.) and how I found them. Because I like to know those things. I'm not sure it does me any good, but sometimes I wonder what made me pick this up.
I vividly remember finding nonrequired reading. I had a gift card (a Christmas gift from a difficult boss) to our local independent. The store had a sidewalk sale, and as I was wondering around I saw the book. I think I squealed (I'm embarrassing like that). I remember snatching it up and cradling it.
So, you ask, what is this book about? The book I was so blasted exited to get my hands on? Yes. A collection of book reviews done by Szymborska over a number of years for her local newspaper. Or that is what they purported to be. She mostly addressed the topic of the book (most are non-fiction) and usually includes an anecdote form the work in question. Mostly these are small essays in which intelligence and wit shine through.
I should mention they're translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh. I think she did an excellent job - there's a flow and a wit to these pieces: they seem conversational.
I do recommend this book (with the understanding that it may be almost impossible to find). There's no way that I'm going to lend my copy to anyone. It sits on my favorites shelf, and I pick it up and leaf through it, knowing that I'll never read any of the books reviewed (age and geography mostly conspire against that happening), but enjoying the command of language.
Only practice, of course, gives that command; I am not saying that my writing compares to Szymborska's, only that she inspired me.
There was something else I needed to consider, however - the fact that I might well wander off topic. After all, what fun is writing if you can't write what you want? And that includes writing reviews.
I was inspired, in fact, by a book by Wislawa Szymborska (a Polish poet, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996). What? Never heard of her? Me neither (despite my B.A. in Creative Writing), until her book nonrequiered reading: prose pieces came out. I have no idea how I heard about that, although I think Entertainment Weekly, of all magazines, had a review on it and it caught my fancy.
So, two things: now I'm going to try to capture why I read the books (or saw the movie, or started watching the series, etc.) and how I found them. Because I like to know those things. I'm not sure it does me any good, but sometimes I wonder what made me pick this up.
I vividly remember finding nonrequired reading. I had a gift card (a Christmas gift from a difficult boss) to our local independent. The store had a sidewalk sale, and as I was wondering around I saw the book. I think I squealed (I'm embarrassing like that). I remember snatching it up and cradling it.
So, you ask, what is this book about? The book I was so blasted exited to get my hands on? Yes. A collection of book reviews done by Szymborska over a number of years for her local newspaper. Or that is what they purported to be. She mostly addressed the topic of the book (most are non-fiction) and usually includes an anecdote form the work in question. Mostly these are small essays in which intelligence and wit shine through.
I should mention they're translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh. I think she did an excellent job - there's a flow and a wit to these pieces: they seem conversational.
I do recommend this book (with the understanding that it may be almost impossible to find). There's no way that I'm going to lend my copy to anyone. It sits on my favorites shelf, and I pick it up and leaf through it, knowing that I'll never read any of the books reviewed (age and geography mostly conspire against that happening), but enjoying the command of language.
Only practice, of course, gives that command; I am not saying that my writing compares to Szymborska's, only that she inspired me.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
There by Candlelight
I'm not quite sure of the first Diana Wynne Jones book I read - it might have been "A Sudden Wild Magic." The title is stuck in my mind, even if the plot isn't. I probably read it when I was finishing high school. It counts as one of her "adult" works. I remember loving the twists and turns - I actually have vague memories of checking it out and reading it twice. It's been close to twenty years, though, so I'm not terribly surprised I've forgotten some details.
I fell in love when I read The Chronicles of Chrestomanci. I had bought Volumes 1 and 2, and remember starting to read them while I was staying over at a friend's house, but for the life of me I can't remember what made me pick them up. Or buy them. Had I just heard her name somewhere and thought I should read some of her books? Did the covers catch my attention? The description of the enclosed novels? I really wish I could remember. I don't think I realized she'd written A Sudden Wild Magic for quite a while - the tone between her adult work and YA fiction is different.
Mrs. Jones (or should it be Wynne-Jones? I'm not entirely sure) died last Saturday. Many people have written her wonderful tributes. One thing that I've noted in all the commentary is that so many people wish they'd found her books when they were younger.
I'm among them. I didn't read the Chrestomanci books until I was in my mid-twenties. I love them now, but what a revelation they would have been when I was in my teens. How did I miss them? I haunted our libraries - the Book Mobile librarian protested at how many books I checked out each week. "She won't be able to read all of those," he'd tell Mom. "Oh yes, she will," Mom would reply. She'd happily conspire in my book frenzy. Family friends would constantly bring books to us. I remember reading various authors: Zilpha Keatly Snyder. John Bellairs. Lois Duncan. Natalie Babbitt. How did I miss Diana Wynne Jones? I didn't let genre stop me, or "age group" or any of that - if it interested me, I picked it up. And her books would have definitely grabbed me.
I think I like her "young adult" books more. Happily, I could be proven wrong - there's still many I haven't found. I keep hoping the books will be re-released as the fantasy craze continues.
Some of my very favorite books of hers include:
The Dark Lord of Derkhelm
Howl's Moving Castle*
The Lives of Christopher Chant
**The movie version of Howl's Moving Castle is a great movie, and an excellent example of how one artist can take the work of another, put their individual stamp upon it, and yet still retain the spirit of the original.
I fell in love when I read The Chronicles of Chrestomanci. I had bought Volumes 1 and 2, and remember starting to read them while I was staying over at a friend's house, but for the life of me I can't remember what made me pick them up. Or buy them. Had I just heard her name somewhere and thought I should read some of her books? Did the covers catch my attention? The description of the enclosed novels? I really wish I could remember. I don't think I realized she'd written A Sudden Wild Magic for quite a while - the tone between her adult work and YA fiction is different.
Mrs. Jones (or should it be Wynne-Jones? I'm not entirely sure) died last Saturday. Many people have written her wonderful tributes. One thing that I've noted in all the commentary is that so many people wish they'd found her books when they were younger.
I'm among them. I didn't read the Chrestomanci books until I was in my mid-twenties. I love them now, but what a revelation they would have been when I was in my teens. How did I miss them? I haunted our libraries - the Book Mobile librarian protested at how many books I checked out each week. "She won't be able to read all of those," he'd tell Mom. "Oh yes, she will," Mom would reply. She'd happily conspire in my book frenzy. Family friends would constantly bring books to us. I remember reading various authors: Zilpha Keatly Snyder. John Bellairs. Lois Duncan. Natalie Babbitt. How did I miss Diana Wynne Jones? I didn't let genre stop me, or "age group" or any of that - if it interested me, I picked it up. And her books would have definitely grabbed me.
I think I like her "young adult" books more. Happily, I could be proven wrong - there's still many I haven't found. I keep hoping the books will be re-released as the fantasy craze continues.
Some of my very favorite books of hers include:
The Dark Lord of Derkhelm
Howl's Moving Castle*
The Lives of Christopher Chant
**The movie version of Howl's Moving Castle is a great movie, and an excellent example of how one artist can take the work of another, put their individual stamp upon it, and yet still retain the spirit of the original.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Fire and Hemlock
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: Fantasy
Setting: England, 1980s
POV: Third Person Singular (Polly Whittacker)
Mythos: Tam Lin / Thomas the Rhymer
In a word, tedious.
I have loved other books by Diana Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle is one of my all-time favorites. Wynne Jones' send-up of fantasy tropes in Dark Lord of Derkhelm is spectacular - she writes a great fantasy while mocking the conventions of quests, elves, dragons, and (ahem!) Dark Lords. So hopes were high for this book.
The story begins when 19-year-old Polly is packing to go to college and realizes that she has two sets of memories dating from the time she was ten and accidentally crashed a funeral at a neighboring manor house, to the time she was fifteen. The first part of the book is her remembering the second set of memories, in which she and a man she met at this funeral carry on a friendship. Polly then must remember what she did to be made to forget the man, Tom Lynne, and their friendship - not only forget, but to have him obliterated from everyone else's memory as well so they cannot help her remember.
Tom Lynne is never given an age, although when Polly first meets him she thinks him old. He is a concert cellist for the British Philharmonic, and has actually been married and divorced from Laurel Perry, the matriarch of the strange family at the manor house; I'd say that makes him mid-twenties.
The two start a lengthy game of "Let's Pretend" that encompasses several visits and many letters over the four years that Polly now remembers. Tom Lynne sends Polly many books, most of them familiar fantasy classics. There are several unusual and spooky occurrences whenever they do manage to meet; Tom's strange family has forbidden Polly to have anything to do with him, and has apparently magical means to back up the dictate.
This could have been such a cool book. I think because Polly is so young it simply does not work. Polly's memories retain their youthfulness - the older Polly does not provide perspective at all when caught in the memories. Tom Lynne never really stands out as a character - we do not know how seriously to take him, and Polly spends a lot of her time thinking he's just having fun at her expense, although there are times he seems to take their game of "Let's Pretend" far more seriously then she does.
As Polly works on remembering exactly what it was she'd done to get Tom expelled from her memories she realizes who he is, and that the many books of fantasy were the only clues he could give her. She has to go back to the manor house and rescue him.
I don't suppose it's their friendship that rings false so much as their relationship; according to the back jacket copy, "Polly must uncover the secret, or her true love - and perhaps Polly herself - will be lost." Exactly when and how did Tom become Polly's true love? And isn't that a wee bit creepy, given their age difference and how young Polly is? And keeping in mind that it's been four years since she's seen him? And she was all of fifteen at that time? Yeah. This is what I'm having problems with. I suppose I want much more out of a book where the heroine is an avid reader of fantasy and known for being smart.
As far as actual writing/structure goes: Jones is a master at detail. We get a great feel for Polly's mundane life without ever being totally drowned in it. Some of the creepy things are made creepier by the few select details Jones gives.
The cover art (by Doug Beekman) is awful. It screams Gothic Romance (stately spooky house in the background, ominous male figure). Polly (there's no one else it could be) looks like she's 35 and, due to all the lace at her throat, some kind of Victorian/Edwardian heroine.
Reading Pleasure: 2/5
Learning Craft: 4/5
Read: October 2010
Genre: Fantasy
Setting: England, 1980s
POV: Third Person Singular (Polly Whittacker)
Mythos: Tam Lin / Thomas the Rhymer
In a word, tedious.
I have loved other books by Diana Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle is one of my all-time favorites. Wynne Jones' send-up of fantasy tropes in Dark Lord of Derkhelm is spectacular - she writes a great fantasy while mocking the conventions of quests, elves, dragons, and (ahem!) Dark Lords. So hopes were high for this book.
The story begins when 19-year-old Polly is packing to go to college and realizes that she has two sets of memories dating from the time she was ten and accidentally crashed a funeral at a neighboring manor house, to the time she was fifteen. The first part of the book is her remembering the second set of memories, in which she and a man she met at this funeral carry on a friendship. Polly then must remember what she did to be made to forget the man, Tom Lynne, and their friendship - not only forget, but to have him obliterated from everyone else's memory as well so they cannot help her remember.
Tom Lynne is never given an age, although when Polly first meets him she thinks him old. He is a concert cellist for the British Philharmonic, and has actually been married and divorced from Laurel Perry, the matriarch of the strange family at the manor house; I'd say that makes him mid-twenties.
The two start a lengthy game of "Let's Pretend" that encompasses several visits and many letters over the four years that Polly now remembers. Tom Lynne sends Polly many books, most of them familiar fantasy classics. There are several unusual and spooky occurrences whenever they do manage to meet; Tom's strange family has forbidden Polly to have anything to do with him, and has apparently magical means to back up the dictate.
This could have been such a cool book. I think because Polly is so young it simply does not work. Polly's memories retain their youthfulness - the older Polly does not provide perspective at all when caught in the memories. Tom Lynne never really stands out as a character - we do not know how seriously to take him, and Polly spends a lot of her time thinking he's just having fun at her expense, although there are times he seems to take their game of "Let's Pretend" far more seriously then she does.
As Polly works on remembering exactly what it was she'd done to get Tom expelled from her memories she realizes who he is, and that the many books of fantasy were the only clues he could give her. She has to go back to the manor house and rescue him.
I don't suppose it's their friendship that rings false so much as their relationship; according to the back jacket copy, "Polly must uncover the secret, or her true love - and perhaps Polly herself - will be lost." Exactly when and how did Tom become Polly's true love? And isn't that a wee bit creepy, given their age difference and how young Polly is? And keeping in mind that it's been four years since she's seen him? And she was all of fifteen at that time? Yeah. This is what I'm having problems with. I suppose I want much more out of a book where the heroine is an avid reader of fantasy and known for being smart.
As far as actual writing/structure goes: Jones is a master at detail. We get a great feel for Polly's mundane life without ever being totally drowned in it. Some of the creepy things are made creepier by the few select details Jones gives.
The cover art (by Doug Beekman) is awful. It screams Gothic Romance (stately spooky house in the background, ominous male figure). Polly (there's no one else it could be) looks like she's 35 and, due to all the lace at her throat, some kind of Victorian/Edwardian heroine.
Reading Pleasure: 2/5
Learning Craft: 4/5
Read: October 2010
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