Saturday, February 28, 2009

1% Well-Read Challenge

Since I'm not signed up for any challenges at the moment, I've decided to jump on board with the next iteration of the 1% Well-Read Challenge that begins tomorrow. Here are the details:

Michelle from 1 More Chapter is once again hosting this popular challenge - but there are a couple of changes. Michelle writes:

The editors of the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die threw a kink into our challenge when they updated the books with new titles last year. So, I’ve got three options for you on this next challenge:

1. Read 10 titles from the original list from March 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009.
2. Read 10 titles from the new list from March 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009.
3. Read 13 titles from the combined list (of almost 1300 titles) from March 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010. In other words, “What were they thinking dropping titles from Dostoevsky and Jane Austen?”


According to my tracking on the new list, I've read 73 of these books (it was 86 on the old list). I think the next 10 titles from the updated list that I will read are:

1. Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow - review 11/17/09
2. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - review 6/8/09
3. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell - review 8/31/09
4. In A Glass Darkly - Sheridan Le Fanu - review 10/8/09
5. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons - review 8/3/09
6. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier - review 5/14/09
7. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold - John Le Carre - review 8/11/09
8. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh - review 12/21/09
9. The Thin Man - Dashiell Hammett - review 7/6/09
10. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote - review 3/11/09

I have 4 of these on my shelves already so this will encourage me to get going on reading them. And yes, I haven't read Pride and Prejudice even though I've seen every movie and mini-series version possible, including my secret favorite, Bride and Prejudice!

Working toward 10% well-read,
K

Friday, February 27, 2009

Poe Fridays: Never Bet the Devil Your Head


This week's Poe short story is Never Bet the Devil Your Head: A Tale With a Moral. Poe starts this tale by stating that he has critics who say his stories have no morals. He argues that all stories have morals, whether planned or not, but that he will oblige and write one with an obvious moral -- one that is right in the title of the story.

Poe has returned to first person narration in this story which always seems to work best for him. This tale made me laugh out loud but it was also quite ridiculous at parts. He describes his friend "Toby Dammit" thusly:

"The fact is that his precocity in vice was awful. At five months of age he used to get into such passion that he was unable to articulate. ... At eight months he peremptorily refused to put his signature to the Temperance pledge. Thus he went on increasing in iniquity, month after month, until, at the close of the first year, he not only insisted upon wearing moustaches, but had contracted a propensity for cursing and swearing, and for backing his assertions by bets."

Of course, his bets are not of a monetary nature but just word play. Eventually, his favorite phrase becomes "I'll bet the Devil my head ...". As Poe said, the moral is in the title.

"I hurried up to him and found that he had received what might be termed a serious injury. The truth is, he had been deprived of his head, which after a close search I could not find anywhere."

I'll leave it to you to find out how Toby Dammit loses his head. It's quite amusing, in a completely grotesque way! This was a fun little story from a totally demented mind.

As I skip around through my Poe volume, I think the next story will be The Angel of the Odd, due to its subtitle An Extravaganza. I'm enjoying reading some new stories that I don't recall reading before.

Avoiding any bets with the devil,
K

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Early Review: The Kingmaking

The Kingmaking, the first book in Helen Hollick's The Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, is one author's vision of the life of young Arthur Pendragon and his rise to power as King of the future British Isles. As is told in the title of this novel, this book covers the period from AD 450 to 457, when Arthur rises from being a young man of fifteen to his victory over the Saxon warlord Hengest to become a young king.

As you may know, there is much debate as to whether Arthur was a real man or simply one of legend. Tales of this great warrior king are part of Celtic mythology but there is little to no historical documentation of his existence or his story due to the fact that his rule was supposed to have happened during Britain's "Dark Ages". Therefore, Hollick was free to create a trilogy based on the various legends and suppositions that exist today. What she imagined was a man as passionate as he was intelligent. Although I liked her presentation of Arthur, the character that I really enjoyed was Gwenhwyfar. Though her true history is not known, Hollick made her into a strong horsewoman, a trained warrior and a loyal friend and lover.

The writing in these books is engaging and occasionally funny. I am really looking forward to the remaining two volumes of the story. Conflicts have been set up that have yet to be resolved and some relationships have only just begun.

This book will be released on March 1 by Sourcebooks Landmark.

Wondering if you can ever distinguish history from myth,
K


Buy The Kingmaking: Book One of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy on Amazon or find it at your local library.


Read other guest posts, interviews and reviews of The Kingmaking at the following sites:

On 20 Feb: Harriet Devine's Blog
On 20 Feb: Lazy Habits of Thinking (interview on 27 Feb)
On 23 Feb: Carpe Libris Reviews
Historical Novels.info
Musings of a Bibliophile
Reading Extravaganza (guest blog on 25 Feb)
On 24 Feb: Medieval Bookworm
On 25 Feb: Books are my only friends
On 26 Feb: Peeking Between the Pages (guest blog on 27 Feb)
A Hoyden's Look at Literature
On 01 Mar: Books Ahoy!
S. Krishna's Books
Jennifer's Random Musings
RhiReading
On 02 Mar: Passages to the Past
The Tome Traveller's Weblog
StevenTill.com
Savvy Verse & Wit (interview on 03 Mar)
On 03 Mar: Carla Nayland
A Reader's Respite (interview on 05 Mar)
On 04 Mar: Library Queue
the bookworm
On 05 Mar: My Friend Amy
Sam's Book Blog
Good Books, Bright Side

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

A Trip to Devon


I have just this moment decided that I need to take a trip to Devon.

"The holiday home that was once described by murder mystery writer Agatha Christie as “the loveliest place in the world” is opening to the public for the first time this week, as a £5.4m restoration returns it to how it looked in its 1950s heyday.

Among the rooms being opened to the public at Greenway House in Devon is the drawing room in which Christie used to spend summer evenings reading a chapter from whichever was her latest novel – described as the “Christie for Christmas” – to family and friends, who had to guess “whodunnit”."

The Independent also has an article about the appeal of Agatha in modern days. Can you believe she still sells millions of books a year?



Booking an imaginary flight as we speak,
K

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Book v. Movie: The Spiderwick Chronicles

Last summer I watched Nickelodeon's The Spiderwick Chronicles because I was curious about the series and I really like Freddie Highmore who plays the twins Simon and Jared Grace. I liked it enough to want to eventually read the books and I finally got around to that over the past couple of weeks. Then I rewatched the movie today to remind myself of how they treated the story in it. If you're unfamiliar with the series, it's a set of five small books that tell the story of the Grace siblings and their adventures with the fantastical creatures that they discover living all around their new home. Their parents have just separated and they move with their mother to a home that their Aunt Lucinda used to live in. They find the secret study of their great, great uncle Arthur Spiderwick -- a naturalist of the unseen world -- and they find the field guide that he created and gave his natural life to keep safe.

When I started reading the books, the first thing I noticed was the improved dynamic between the family members. The part of the movie that bothered me the most was the stereotyped "bad" son and the completely tyrannical and unreasonable older sister. They were very flat characters that seemed unable to learn from experience. In the books the siblings are much more supportive of each other and they change as different evidence comes to light. The adults in the book are also better characters. For some reason, in the movie, they make the father an adulterer and Aunt Lucinda Spiderwick is a weak character who gives up on life.

Overall, I think the main difference between the books and the movie is that in the books the characters are put into bad situations and come out as better people for it. They deal with things like loss and abandonment in the best ways. They work together and become a stronger family unit. I think the books are a better choice for an older child to explore. The movie is a fun little adventure but has less value as a good story.

Verdict: Read the books and watch the movie but keep them separate. They're different enough to be their own entities.

Bunnies in my yard but no fairies that I can see,
K


Buy The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set) and The Spiderwick Chronicles on Amazon or find them locally.

Monday, February 23, 2009

"If my sister Alma had lived, I never would have begun the seances."

There is nothing more satisfying than discovering a new author who writes exactly what you want to read. In recent years, those authors for me have been Jasper Fforde, Michael Cox and now John Harwood. I read Harwood's first book, The Ghost Writer a few months ago. I enjoyed the book but was left a bit unsatisfied at the end. I chalked it up to the fact that it was his first novel (though he has written in other genres before). His sophomore effort, The Seance, turned out to be everything I wanted and more. The pacing is perfect, the ending was completely satisfying and the characters were familiar but somehow different.

The Seance is a story about two women in two different time periods -- Constance in 1889 and Eleanor (Nell) about twenty years earlier. Constance becomes interested in spiritualism in order to help her mother grieve the passing of her younger daughter, Alma. Then she inherits Wraxford Hall from a distant relative and the mystery and scandal that comes with it. The central character to that mystery is Eleanor, a reluctant medium and accused murderer. Constance follows the clues to discover the truth behind the two-decades-old events and to clear the name of Eleanor, whom she has developed a strange affinity for.

This book is told through various narrators, a technique first used by Wilkie Collins in The Moonstone. There are also some characters that remind one of characters in some of Collins' novels. However, this book is definitely its own story and a compelling one at that. To be honest, I pulled an all-nighter and finished it at five a.m. on the day after I began it. This book was exactly what I like to read -- a good Victorian mystery with a bit of the supernatural. I can't wait (though I will have to) for John Harwood's next novel.

Kicking the table and ringing the bell,
K


Buy The Seance on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Coraline Update

Z and I decided to do a weekday afternoon showing of Coraline this past week. I opted for a 2D showing after the fun that was the Monsters versus Aliens 3D commercial during the Superbowl. We tried the 3D glasses thing and I got "Mom, can you help me?" every minute or two when he knocked the glasses off. I know that the glasses at the theater would be better made than the paper ones but I just didn't want to deal with that.

A few of you were curious if this movie would be appropriate for younger viewers and the verdict is this -- if your kid does okay with most animated suspense, they should be fine with this movie. Scenes in Coraline are sometimes creepy and regularly suspenseful but only briefly scary. If your kids get scared during Snow White, Sleeping Beauty or Monsters Inc., they would probably get a little scared during this movie. But if they can get through some intimidation and short chase scenes, that's most of what is in this one. Z wasn't scared at all and, in fact, he seemed a bit bored at times when there wasn't action. He is, after all, four. I was amazed at the quality of the film and I definitely need to see it many more times because I know I missed a lot of it. I kept getting caught up in a single detail, missing the bigger action. It was technically amazing and the changed story held up well. I didn't have any problem with the addition of Wybee. I thought the ending was a little bit abrupt but I think most anything is going to be anti-climactic after being chased by the Other Mother's disembodied metallic hand.

Now I have to be a bit snarky and tell you a story. When we left the theater, we had to wait for a friend to come out and while we were waiting there was a twenty-something couple there. The guy was rubbing his eyes and the girl asked what was wrong. He said "My eyes are burning. This is what happens when you watch a 3D movie in 2D". Because everyone knows that a 2D showing of a movie is just the 3D version where they don't give you glasses, right? ;) Ahh ... I'm so mean. But come on, guy ... use a little common sense. I couldn't tell if she believed him or not.

Out to look for a copy of John Linnell's Coraline song,
K and Z

Friday, February 20, 2009

Poe Fridays: Hop-Frog

This week's Poe Friday reading was the short story Hop-Frog. As always, if you haven't had a chance to read it yet, click over and take a quick look. This one is about 7 1/2 printed pages long.

Hop-Frog is the name of a crippled dwarf that lives in a castle and is tasked with amusing the king and his seven corpulent advisors. My favorite line of the story was "I believe the name 'Hop-Frog' was not that given to the dwarf by his sponsors at baptism". I should think not. His only friend is a small but normally developed woman who dances for the court. After suffering yet another abuse, Hop-Frog decides to get his revenge on the king and his men. He helps them dress up as "ourang-outangs" for a masquerade which they agree to because of their sick senses of humor. They want the opportunity to severely scare the other attendants of the party. But instead, they become trapped by Hop-Frog who uses their tar and rush outfits as fuel to light them all on fire and burn them to a crisp. Quite a revenge!

This story started out tragically and turned out to be incredibly gruesome. However, I felt little or no sympathy for the cruel king and his revolting followers. This was a strange attempt at a period piece. I guess it could be considered a fable of sorts. It certainly had themes of revenge and just-desserts. It also exposed a sad part of history where the physical deficiencies of people made them complete outcasts in society who were stripped of their humanity and turned into jokes. I can't help but see Poe's satisfaction come through as the powerful bullies are destroyed by those that they crush under heel. This was a very typical Poe theme.

For next week, I'm choosing Never Bet the Devil Your Head: A Tale With a Moral. The title makes me chuckle and I'm guessing the moral is another painful one!

Treating all people with equal respect and kindness so I don't get burned,
K

Thursday, February 19, 2009

"'Books!' said Tuppence."

I just finished reading the last Agatha Christie book in the Tommy and Tuppence series, Postern of Fate, and sadly, I was disappointed. This was the last novel that Christie wrote and I apparently am not the only one who didn't enjoy it. At the time of its publishing, the critics thought it to be some of her poorest work.

In this book, Tommy and Tuppence are in their seventies. They have moved to a new house which of course turns out to have a mystery attached to it. The mystery itself is okay but the dialogue is scattered and extremely hard to follow. The main characters themselves rarely finish a train of thought. They also neglect to follow up on some pretty obvious leads that they get. You never really gain any information pertinent to the case except for the main clue which is painfully obvious yet they don't figure it out until almost the end. Also, Tommy and Tuppence vacillate between being sprightly and bright to arthritic and forgetful constantly.

I honestly couldn't tell if they were supposed to be written as if they were elderly and on the edge of their rockers or if the author was the one in that state. This book had dog conversations (translations of what the dog's barking must have meant) and repetitive references to the past. It just made me feel a bit sad.

I would love to hear from anyone else who has read this series or this book. Did you feel the same way? Was this final book in the series -- and in the Christie canon -- a disappointment to you?

Wishing things could have ended differently,
K


Buy Postern of Fate on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Anyone Can Write

Last week the librarian at the school where I volunteer read this book, Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk, to the kids and I thought that Z would enjoy it too. The titular mouse, Sam, lives in a library and comes out at night to read all sorts of books. Eventually he tries his own paw at writing and makes a small book, Squeak! A Mouse's Life. He tucks it away in the biography section and some kids find it the next day. Then he writes a second book, The Lonely Cheese, a picture book this time. Finally he writes a mystery that the kids love. They leave a note asking the mysterious Sam to come to their "Meet the Author Day". Being a mouse, he can't attend but sets up a little surprise for them. He sets up a mirror under a sign that says "Meet the Author" and in this way gets each of the kids to write their own books to add to the shelves.

This is a pretty text heavy picture book so for younger ones (like Z), it's probably a good one to read ahead and paraphrase. The illustrations are bright and happy and Z loved the idea of little mouse-sized books.

The sequel to this book, Library Mouse: A Friend's Tale, comes out on March 1.

Loving books of all sizes,
K and Z


Buy Library Mouse on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

"Dear Sidney, ..."

I couldn't have timed my reading of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society any better. I had just become utterly depressed by the destitution of the civilian population during World War II and the magnitude of the atrocities that I read about in Winter in Madrid. Then I picked up this book, set right after the war ended, and experienced a sense of hope and renewal that was perfect for that moment.

This book, co-authored by aunt/niece pair Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, is written as a series of letters between an author, Juliet Ashton, and the various people in her real-life and work-life. Thus, it is a quick read but such a satisfying one. Of course there are discussions of hardship and some very painful losses as they revisit the war but there are also new bonds formed that are safe from the destructive powers of the occupation that they endured on Guernsey, one of the British Channel islands.

Juliet, the main character, has much of the spunk of Helene Hanff (from 84, Charing Cross Road) but is more adventurous and able to get out into the world. She makes brave decisions but doesn't rush into anything. Ultimately, she is able to find true happiness which makes this a very sweet and satisfying story. Many people have already reviewed this book but it deserves the acclaim that it has received.

Adding the Channel Islands to my imaginary British tour,
K


Buy The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Monday, February 16, 2009

"Bernie had lain at the foot of the knoll for hours, half conscious."

There are certain books that you know are going to end badly. Whether they begin with "This is how I died" or are based on a true story that you know the ending to, you go into the book with mixed feelings of curiosity and dread. This book, Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom, gave me that feeling. Being a story based in Spain under Franco's regime and during World War II, you knew that it couldn't have a completely happy ending. It would have been a farce. This book, sadly, didn't disappoint.

Set briefly in London and then in Spain, this book takes place between about 1937 and 1941. Harry Brett, Bernie Piper and Sandy Forsyth all attended Rookwood, a public school in England, when they were young. Sandy was expelled for bad behavior and Bernie became a communist and ended up fighting and presumably dying in the Spanish Civil War. Now, Harry has been asked by the British government to go to Madrid and spy on Sandy whom they think is involved with a new business venture that will possibly lead Spain to join the war on the side of the Germans. When in Spain, Harry discovers that Sandy is living with a woman he once knew as Bernie's girlfriend, Barbara. Plots twist together as Barbara discovers that Bernie is alive and in a prison camp and that she needs Harry's help to rescue him. Meanwhile, Harry tries his hand at spying but his heart is not in it.

Sansom is very clear in his writing that both sides were at fault in this time of strife and unrest in Spain. He seems to believe that the only ones that are blameless are those that remained apolitical, who only tried to survive. It is very sad to read about the poverty and famine that the Spanish people had to endure during this time, even as they were being attacked by their own government. Though this book was not predictable -- and even had a somewhat surprising plot twist near the end -- it was a foregone conclusion that all of these characters would not make it out unscathed. With the types of people that they had to interact with and the system that they had to work in, life was difficult for both the haves and have-nots.

I have read one other book by Sansom (Dissolution) and I appreciate his style and the amount of research he does. This isn't your typical spy or war novel with sex and profanity and senseless violence. It is a well-presented fiction that takes place in a time in Spain's history that was all too real. In fact, my own great-grandparents fled Spain and came to America when Franco gained control of the government. I am now motivated to find out more about their story.

Wishing in vain for world peace,
K


Buy Winter in Madrid: A Novel on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Twelve Things That Make Us Happy

I've been tagged by Booklogged at A Reader's Journal for the "6 Things That Make Me Happy" meme. Since there are technically two of us here, I thought it would be fun to have Z give his answers too.


Six things that make K happy are:
-- the scent of the ocean
-- getting the perfect picture
-- breakfast foods all day long
-- kelp forests and sea otters
-- reading outside
-- See's scotchmallow candy


Six things that make Z happy are:
-- bugs
-- kisses
-- singing Do Re Mi
-- blowing out candles
-- playing pirates
-- bubbles

Feel free to participate ... we aren't going to tag anyone specific but we would love to see some other people's lists!

Heading into a week-long school vacation (which makes us very happy!),
K and Z

Friday, February 13, 2009

Poe Fridays: The Black Cat

I think I subconsciously tried to make this Friday the 13th the spookiest possible by choosing The Black Cat for today's Poe Fridays reading. If you haven't read it yet, it's only about 7 printed pages so go read it now.

This story is quite similar to last week's The Tell-Tale Heart in that is the confession of a murderer. This story is a bit more bizarre though since it's about a guy who gets raging drunk and kills his cat. He feels some remorse so he goes out and finds a similar cat but begins to hate that one too. When the cat almost trips him on the stairs, he goes to kill it with an axe but ends up killing his wife instead. He disposes of the body by plastering it behind the wall in the basement. Little does he know that he also walled-up the live cat in there and the cat gives an eerie, deathly howl while the police are there and the man is caught.

I thought that this story read like a campfire story. It builds slowly, gives you a sense of security and then "aaah!", the scary cat screams! The premise of this story was a bit odd and I never felt any connection to the narrator. I don't think that this will be one of my favorite Poe stories but my favorite passage was this one, when he almost gets tripped by the cat. Having also had some cat-on-the-stairs incidents, I understand his murderous feelings!

One day she accompanied me, upon some household errand, into the cellar of the old building which our poverty compelled us to inhabit. The cat followed me down the steep stairs, and, nearly throwing me headlong, exasperated me to madness. Uplifting an axe, and forgetting, in my wrath, the childish dread which had hitherto stayed my hand, I aimed a blow at the animal which, of course, would have proved instantly fatal had it descended as I wished.

For next week, let's try something different with the short story Hop-Frog.

Wondering if Poe was an animal lover or hater,
K

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Origins

I had to write a second post today since it slipped my blogging mind that it is Charles Darwin's 200th birthday! It's Darwin Day in the UK and The Guardian has some Darwin-related videos up.

In honor of Darwin this year, I am going to finally stop procrastinating and will read On the Origin of Species. I found a beautiful illustrated version that includes some of his sketches and journal entries from the Beagle voyage along with beautiful color photographs. He didn't formalize his theory in this book until he was 50 years old. As a science student, Darwin always amazed me in the sheer variety of topics he was able to study and understand -- geology, zoology, biology and botany to name a few. He was dedicated to study and learning and his impact on science is undeniable. The world is a better place for having had him in it.

Happy birthday Mr. Darwin,
K

(And no slouch himself, today is also Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday.)


Buy On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Kindle-ing Interest

I can't decide if I want a Kindle. Of course, I can't decide if I want any e-reading device for that matter. Do I love gadgets? Yes. Do I love books? Yes. Do I want to pay $359 just to be able to keep buying the books I want? I honestly don't know. The up-front price is prohibitive but the new Kindle 2 is certainly tempting! It can supposedly hold over 1500 books -- if you were to be able to keep up with that large of a library. Of course, I don't know what size book they are considering. Those of us who like our "chunksters" might find it to be a smaller number. And the Kindle now has 16 shades of gray for a more book-like experience. We all know how hard it is to read page after page of computer text. The most tempting thing is getting magazines without all of the paper waste each month. I really don't like reading something once and then recycling it. It still seems wasteful.

I am actually having the same sort of dilemma in switching to digital music. I like the tactile experience of books and liner notes and all other sorts of paper with words on it. Do I buy the random song on itunes? Of course. Am I still buying new CDs? Yes, I am. I don't want to give them up but then again, I may just have to if I want to be a responsible steward of the earth. Books are a precious resource and maybe we have to let go of our notion that they are tied to another resource -- paper. You can read here about the environmental impact of e-books. And March 8-14 is apparently Read an E-Book week.

Or maybe the Kindle is just annoying and will freak out and delete my hundreds of books ...

What do you think about e-books and reading devices?

Unsure of my position on this issue,
K

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

"The first murders were committed nineteen years before the second, on a dry and unremarkable day along the Sutlej Frontier in Punjab."

A couple of months ago I reviewed Charles Finch's first book, A Beautiful Blue Death. I really enjoyed that book and the introduction of the Victorian gentleman detective Charles Lenox. I was very excited to read the sequel, The September Society, and I wasn't left disappointed.

An Oxford college student goes missing and his mother asks Lenox for help finding him. Lenox investigates the boy's room and finds various things strewn about that are obviously clues but Lenox can't build them into any useful leads. When a boy's body appears in a field, Lenox starts understanding the clues but is in the dark on a motive. He must find links to the past and to the mysterious September Society in order to solve the mystery.

This is a very satisfying sequel. Lenox's doctor friend McConnell assists him again but he also takes on an apprentice, Dallington, a younger son of a titled friend. They are both interesting characters and add depth to the story. Lenox himself is a very noble and likeable character, a sort of anti-Poirot (Eva, you might like him). He is a detective for the sake of the clients, not his own ego, and is therefore willing to share his information with the police and the family members. He is also in love which is quite endearing. This is a great series and I hope it continues (and continues to have such attractive book covers!).

Waiting for the day I can finally set eyes on Oxford,
K


Buy The September Society on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Wasting Time with Wordle

I just spent too much time on Wordle ... but I came up with this awesome visual of my blog. Thankfully, it agrees that I write about books.



Feeling the power of words,
K

Monday, February 9, 2009

"There was so much noise in the market-place, such a hubbub of shouting and chaffering ..."

The subtitle of Georgette Heyer's The Conqueror is "A Novel of William the Conqueror, the Bastard Son Who Overpowered a Kingdom and the Woman Who Melted His Heart". Somehow, that title, as long as it is, doesn't do this book justice. Heyer has written an excellent historical fiction that brings alive a time period that I didn't know much about before reading this book.

At the heart of the story is the political unrest in Western Europe almost 1000 years ago. This book briefly tells of William's birth but this is essentially the story from a point during his tenure as Duke of Normandy (1047) to the Battle of Hastings where he defeats Earl Harold Godwinson to become the conqueror King of England (1066) which he ruled for almost 21 years. This was a short time period in which to become a very powerful man -- he was 38 when was declared King. The story also includes his marriage to Matilda of Flanders and some of the doings of his children.

I like this type of book because, assuming a certain level of fictionalizing of events to make for a better story, I am always inspired to do some research after the book to see what was true and what facts were embellished. While Heyer's main character, Raoul de Harcourt, appears to be fictional, her depiction of William and of the political strife of the time seems quite accurate.

While this book wasn't a page-turner, it definitely held my interest and was well-written. I wouldn't mind reading another historical fiction about William the Conqueror in the near future to get another perspective on this amazing man. Heyer continues to amaze me with the versatility of her writing through different genres. I would love to read one of her mysteries next.

Finally understanding the difference between Normans and Saxons,
K


Buy The Conqueror on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Pimping Coraline

Z and I are so excited that the Coraline movie was released this weekend! We are both big fans of Henry Selick, maker of The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. (And yes, this four year old knows who Henry Selick and Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman are.) We always wait a few weeks before going to the movies since Z likes to read the titles and credits out loud and pre-say the lines that he already knows from previews.

If you are considering taking your kid (or your unashamed adult self) but aren't familiar with the story yet, Harper Collins awesomely has the entire text available for free online right now. And here is my review of the story from last November. Of course the movie script veers a bit from the book so be sure and read the movie reviews to find out if this is the right movie for your younger half. Neil Gaiman himself loved the New York Times review and so did I. I would like to quote the same opening paragraph that Neil did --

"There are many scenes and images in “Coraline” that are likely to scare children. This is not a warning but rather a recommendation, since the cultivation of fright can be one of the great pleasures of youthful moviegoing. As long as it doesn’t go too far toward violence or mortal dread, a film that elicits a tingle of unease or a tremor of spookiness can be a tonic to sensibilities dulled by wholesome, anodyne, school-approved entertainments."

Or in the simple words of The Nightmare Before Christmas -- "Life's no fun without a good scare."

Impatiently awaiting our goose-flesh,
K and Z


Note: This is a PG movie so if you or your offspring aren't ready for this film yet, you can still have fun on the Coraline movie website with the amazing flower creator. Z spends quite a bit of time building beautiful and eerie flowers these days.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Poe Fridays: The Tell-Tale Heart

This week's Poe Friday selection is the fairly short story The Tell-Tale Heart. Since this is a 4 page story, here a couple of passages:

"It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture - a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees - very gradually - I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever."

"No doubt I now grew very pale; - but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased - and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound - much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath - and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly - more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men - but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what could I do? I foamed - I raved - I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder - louder - louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! - no, no! They heard! - they suspected! - they knew! - they were making a mockery of my horror!-this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! and now - again! - hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!
'Villains!' I shrieked, 'dissemble no more! I admit the deed! - tear up the planks! here, here! - It is the beating of his hideous heart!'"

One of the reasons that I don't read a lot of short stories is that they are usually a glimpse of life rather than a tale with a plot. However, Poe has the ability to pack so much emotion and suspense into a few short pages that his stories are always compelling. This is one of my favorite ones because of the questionable mental health of the narrator from the very start of the tale. Though he has committed murder and lost his mind, he still tries to justify his actions. I'm fairly certain, though, that "his eye was creeping me out" wouldn't hold up against a murder charge in court.

For next week I have chosen another short story, The Black Cat.

Checking and finding my sanity intact,
K

Thursday, February 5, 2009

A Random Trio

This week Z finally got to activate the library card that Santa put in his stocking and he picked out a couple of books. I don't think that he could have chosen a more random set of books.

One of Z's favorite set of characters are David Kirk's Sunny Patch bugs. This book, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids, is the story of the formation of Miss Spider's family. She has five little spiders of her own and adopts a dragonfly, a bedbug and a jewel beetle. The little family finds an egg and must help reunite it with its mother. This book is written in verse so it has a nice rhythm to it. The pictures are bright and happy and the message is that all mothers love their babies.

The second book that Z pulled from the shelves is the starkly different Cinderella Penguin or The Little Glass Flipper by Janet Perlman. This author has written a few similar books of classic fairy tales starring penguins. Apparently this book was based on an animated film. This is the standard Cinderella tale with a wicked stepmother and two terrible stepsisters. The illustrations are cute -- I've never seen so many angry and mean penguins though! And if you want a strange mental picture, think "penguin in a corset".

I chose the third book, Alistair and Kip's Great Adventure! written and illustrated by John Segal. This is a great little book from 2008 about a cat (Alistair) and a beagle (Kip). They build a boat and set off on a voyage to the ocean. They are overturned by a large wave and go deep into the sea. They find what they think is an island but it is really a whale. Luckily, it's a very kind whale who is willing to help them get back home. I really like the illustration style in this book. Z however, is less than thrilled that the dog is drawn smaller than the cat and he insists that it is really a story about a cat and a mouse.

I'm glad that Z doesn't have any prejudices yet about books being for girls or boys. I can't wait to see what he picks next time!

Enjoying a week of animal stories,
K and Z


Buy Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids, Cinderella Penguin: Little Glass Flipper and Alistair and Kip's Great Adventure! on Amazon or find them at your local library.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Book v. Movie: Wuthering Heights

I couldn't sleep last night so I stayed up and watched two and a half hours of Masterpiece Classic. This was a new edition of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, showing for the first time on television. Wuthering Heights was one of the first "adult" books that my mom suggested I read when I was a young teen (the other being Jane Eyre). From the start, I fell for the tumultuous and ill-fated love of Catherine and Heathcliff. I also fell for the moors and have always had a desire to run and hide and climb through the heather.

This Masterpiece retelling was not your 1939 Laurence Olivier version with a brooding and cruel Heathcliff. It was filmed in West Yorkshire and has a haunting, feral feeling to it. The music is very elemental and has Celtic rhythms. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth given to the character of Heathcliff, played by Tom Hardy. In essence, this story is about Heathcliff -- the gypsy boy brought home, improved by his adoptive father, abused by his foster brother (also well-played by Burn Gorman -- Owen from Torchwood) and driven to madness by unrequited love for his foster sister.

I re-read this book last July and the thing that I found most annoying this time through was the story of young Cathy, the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar Linton. She is disobedient, self-centered and deceitful. Her role in this film was minimal which was fine with me. I was a little disappointed to see Hareton played more civilized and confident than he should have been. On the whole, though, this movie was true to the spirit and plot of book and was an acceptable performance.

Book versus Movie Verdict: Read the book and then watch this on Masterpiece.

Still dreaming of the moors,
K


Buy Wuthering Heights on Amazon and watch the miniseries on PBS.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

"Nadya? I wouldn't have recognized her."

When I agreed to a review copy of Alla Avilova's Revelation of Fire, I didn't realize that the basic plot was so similar to another book I recently read, People of the Book. This is also the tale of an ancient book and we learn of its history by hearing the stories of the hands through which the book passed. Luckily, the similarities ended there and this story was fresh and different.

The main characters of the story are a Dutch literature specialist and a Russian historian/librarian who find that a manuscript is missing from a Russian archive. They set about tracing it, both in modern times and in the past. The book, entitled "Revelation of Fire" is a Russian mystical text that originated in a monastery at the end of a line of mystical monks called Cenergites. The origins of the first Cenergite, Father Eularios, remain a mystery but the path of the book is actually followed from the sixteenth century to modern times.

This book was difficult to begin as the translation from Russian didn't always have the best flow or syntax. However, once I got going, the translation either got better or I stopped noticing. The mysticism and spiritualism in the book are based on many Eastern philosophies and are simple to understand and were thought-provoking. The analysis of solitude was quite interesting. The book also gives some brief insight into Russian history, relative to the Orthodox church, but this wasn't a main focus.

Dedicated to discovering my own philosophy,
K


Buy Revelation of Fire on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Monday, February 2, 2009

One Book Meme

Passed on by Eva at A Striped Armchair ...

One book you’re currently reading: The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer
One book that changed your life: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
One book you’d want on a deserted island: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
One book you’ve read more than once: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
One book you’ve never been able to finish: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
One book that made you laugh: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
One book that made you cry: Woman in the Mists by Farley Mowat
One book you keep rereading: The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie
One book you’ve been meaning to read: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
One book you believe everyone should read: The Odyssey by Homer

Finally,
Grab the nearest book. Open it to page 56. Find the fifth sentence:

"This was a man to die for, even as he had dreamed in those far-off days at Harcourt." From The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer (a historical novel about William the Conqueror).

Comment here if you decide to do this meme ... I would love to read your responses!

Suddenly considering some re-reads,
K

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Follow Up to People of the Book

Recently I posted a review of People of the Book. Here is a short discussion written by Geraldine Brooks about one of the aspects of her writing. I found it rather interesting.

Wondering which questions really only have one answer,
K


Faith
By Geraldine Brooks, Author of People of the Book

"How come your novels always have vicars in them?"

The question came as part of the Q and A after a talk I'd given on my second novel, March, whose protagonist is a minister with the Union Army during the Civil War. My first novel, Year of Wonders, had featured a clergyman leading a rural Derbyshire village through a year of plague. My questioner had no way of knowing it, but the novel I was just then finishing, People of the Book, also had a priest in it. And a rabbi. And an imam. Sort of like the set up for a bad joke. I hadn't consciously set out to write about religious people and yet they kept popping up in my fiction like uninvited guests at a party. I mumbled something about being attracted to stories of the past, when religious leaders loomed so large in people's lives, shaping fates and dictating behavior. But later I realized that answer was woefully incomplete.

My life has been one big oscillation between the attractions and the repulsions of faith. Raised Catholic in an old-fashioned, heady and sensuous Baroque style (incense, Angelus bells, lace mantillas, dripping wax and stained glass; the gleaming starburst of the monstrance and the litanies of Mary that taught me metaphor -- Lily of Valley, Mystic Rose, Star of the Sea) I had felt the disconnect very early between what the prayers said and how the people around me lived: "To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears" was an odd sort of prayer for merry little schoolgirls growing up in the sun-splashed, hedonistic paradise that was Sydney in the early 1970s. By the time I was a teenager I'd decided it was all a patriarchal plot to suppress women and thwart positive social change, buying people off with fairy tales about rewards in the next world instead of a decent life in this one. And I hated the way religion so often isolated people into little gnarly knots of Us and Them.

I was an atheist. So why did I pray? Whenever I heard and ambulance siren, the little thought balloon would go up: "Please help them." There was no recipient for this message, I knew that. Nor the other kind: "Thank you for this" -- sunshine, seascape, flower, glass of good wine, loaf of bread.

In 1984 I married a Jew and converted to his faith, not that he actually had one, being an even more strident atheist than I was. Most people were baffled by my decision: "You don't believe in God, why would you do that?" God, I explained, had nothing to do with it. It was all about history. Since Judaism is passed through the maternal line (a fact I admired for its hard headed pragmatism as well as its feminist implications) there was no way I was going to become the end of a line of tradition that had made it through Roman sackings, Babylonian exile, Spanish Inquisition, Russian pogrom and Shoah. To have a child who would not be a Jew was, to me, the same thing as adding one more loss to the toll of the Holocaust.

And I like the prayers: the mournful, sinuous melodies and the hard plosive consonants of Hebrew words that sounded like a desert wind slapping against a goat hair tent. They're my kind of prayers, mostly; little noticings of the good things in life, like the bread and wine, the first crescent of new moon, the dew on the grass in the morning. And I felt comfortable with the fact that in synagogue, what you bow to is not a deity, but a book.

Salman Rushdie once observed that there's a God-shaped hole in modern life. I fill it by prayers that go wafting off to no fixed address, and by writing novels about people who believe in a way that remains mysterious, elusive and fascinating to me.


©2008 Geraldine Brooks

Author Bio
Geraldine Brooks is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March and Year of Wonders and the nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. Previously. Brooks was a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal in Bosnia, Somalia, and the Middle East. Born and raised in Australia, she lives on Martha's Vineyard with her husband Tony Horwitz, their son Nathaniel, and three dogs.
www.geraldinebrooks.com